Charlie is a teenager who just lost a friend which causes his peer group to fall apart. As he tries to find new friends, he is confronted with typical teenage issues, such as romance, drugs and family issues. However, the underlying issue to all of his problems is way darker than you think at first

The main plot

feeling responsible for the death of his aunt Helen: She died in a car accident when Charlie was 7. She wanted to get him a birthday present, that’s why she took the car.having a crush on one of his best friends: She tells him to stop thinking of her that way which Charlie can’t. He gets together with another girl which he ends up hurting because he can’t develop feelings.Sister has an abusive boyfriend: His sister is getting hit by her boyfriend. Charlie told a friend, who told his parents, which is why his sister is mad at him, because the parents now forbid her to see him again.

Charlie‘s problems

We accept the love we think we deserve

The crucial moment happens the night before Sam, the friend Charlie has a crush on, needs to go to college. He confesses that he still hasn’t lost feelings for her and doesn’t know what to do.Sam said that she didn’t like about Charlie how he never took the chance. He is mostly just listening and doing what people told him to. He is trying to please everybody and be a good friend but Sam criticizes that he wasn’t honest enough.If someone isn’t honest and not showing their true self, their friends don’t know who they are friends with, so Sam encourages Charlie to do whatever he wants.

the crucial moment

Why would I care whether or not he loved me, when he didn’t really even know me?

When Charlie takes Sam‘s advice and starts kissing her because he wants to, he suddenly stops as the situation develops into being more intimate. Charlie is confused, he doesn’t understand what’s wrong, is getting upset and doesn’t notice his surroundings anymore. He wants to go home.At home, his parents find him naked sitting in front of the television which is turned off. They bring him to a hospital

Charlie‘s trauma

Charlie went seeing a psychiatrist twice in his life. Once before the happenings of the event and a second time when his deprsssion came back during the events of the book. He points out that he finds it weird, that his psychiatrist is always asking „stupid“ questions about his childhood.

Character: The psychiatrist

Charlie loves his dead aunt Helen. He visits his grave often, thinks of her and feels so guilty of her death. His favorite memory is when his aunt Helen used to live with them and was watching television on Saturday evening when his parents weren’t there and let him stay up longer.

Character: Aunt Helen

As he wakes up in the hospital, he remembers a dream he had. He was doing the same thing with his aunt Helen as with Sam last night while they are watching TV every Saturday.He realizes that this wasn’t a dream but he was molested by his aunt every Saturday which is why the experience with Sam brought up trauma. The psychiatrist realizes and tells Charlie‘s parents, who never knew.

The hospital scene

She was the only one giving affection to Charlie in his family. You can see that his family is rather cold and fights often in the scenes where they visit each other for special occasions like Christmas.

Why does Charlie love aunt Helen

He doesn't blame his aunt Helen, because for him, that didn't lead anywhere.(Everyone has their own way of dealing with Trauma ⚠)For him, it is important to remember it and to be aware that this shaped his character.Nevertheless, there are many things that make you who you are. Two people could grow up under the exact same circumstances and turn out to be completely different people.You‘ll never know all of the reasons why you are the way you are, but that also means your character isn't defined by where you come from, but where you want to go.(Being impacted by your past is not a bad thing ⚠)

What Charlie Wants You to Know

I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.

Understand the Main Idea of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and what it can teach you about yourself and trauma response. This content might be triggering and is not spoiler-free. ⚠️

Read the cult-favorite coming-of-age story that takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory. Now a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a funny, touching, and haunting modern classic. The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. A years-long #1 New York Times bestseller, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and Best Book for Reluctant Readers, and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or “wallflowers” of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.

Understand yourself and those around you.

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Stephen Chbosky grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing Program. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win Best Narrative Feature honors at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. He is the recipient of the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award for his screenplay Everything Divided as well as a participant in the Sundance Institute's filmmakers' lab for his current project, Fingernails and Smooth Skin. Chbosky lives in New York.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Belle Matthews