Perks Of Being A Wallflower Charlie Essay

Perks of Being a Wallflower: Charlie’s Psychoanalysis

Charlie’s adolescence has been an emotional RollerCoaster, and according to Erik Erikson's theory of “Initiative vs Guilt” his problem as an adolescent young man is that charlie simply cannot convince himself that if he wants something so much then he would have to take initiative (Mcleod Saul.”Erik Erikson”) . The first reason would be how Charlie feels like without Sam or Patrick when he would not feel like he could fit in, secondly throughout the story Charlie had been making many decisions that have conflicted with his desires, lastly towards the end of the book Charlie begins to realize how strange his actions and past had affected him until the present.

Charlie’s feeling of wanting to have a place to fit in with others is Charlie’s goal in the story that compels him to try new things. However, though his flaw of pleasing others in hopes of keeping them with him, Erikson’s “Theory of Identity vs Role Confusion” (Mcleod “Erik Erikson”) can underline what may indulge Charlie on the tasks of others rather than improving on himself. An example of this would be when after Charlie talks to his friends Patrick, and Sam about the past,

One piece of evidence that may affect his persona is when after the “Enlightenment” scene with Sam, he realizes something from the past that befuddles him “And I just couldn’t talk with Mary Elizabeth or anybody or my brother or anybody in my family. Except maybe my aunt Helen. But she’s gone. And even if she were here, I don’t think I could talk to her either. Because I’m starting to feel like what I dreamt about her last night was true. And my psychiatrist’s questions weren’t weird after all”.(Pg 205, Chbosky) This could have played a key role in causing grief to Charlie when he did not realize it all along, possibly hindering his decision making