Being A Wallflower Response

“He 's a wallflower. You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.”
Written by Stephen Chbosky, ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and is said to be the current generation’s version of ‘The Breakfast Club.’ The book was first published in February 1999 by Pocket Books through its MTV Books imprint. Though the book was published in 1999, the main theme still highlights the present day situation of teenagers’ universally and is not confined to any particular social class. Chbosky presents his story in the form of letters that the protagonist Charlie has written to an anonymous person i.e. the readers.
“Dear friend, I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand,” says the opening

We find out that Patrick is gay and Sam on the other hand, has a history of being with boys that mentally abuse her. The story takes us through the parties, Rocky Horror shows and teenagers trying to cope with life in different ways such as doing drugs, indulging in promiscuous activity, using music to cope with stress and so on. We are introduced to Charlie’s Aunt Helen who was molested when she was younger and ended up indulging in drugs and drinking excessively. “She was an unhappy person most of her life”, said Charlie. We later learn that Charlie was molested by his Aunt Helen at a younger age and therefore exhibits symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which includes recurring memories, nightmares along with insomnia and persistent distorted blame of

She then turned her life around and strived to enhance her self esteem. She is portrayed to be smart, beautiful and bright but suffers from low self esteem. Through this, Chbosky throws light on the subject of teenagers all over the world who are beautiful in their own way and yet suffer from low self esteem. This is a reason as to why she surrounded herself with negative relationships in the past. According to Maslow 's Hierarchy of Needs, Self-Esteem is the ranked fourth. Sam suffers internally and therefore prove herself by engaging in drug abuse and