ipl-logo

Perks Of Being A Wallflower Symbolism Essay

1405 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Charlies important background perks of wallflower

In the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, symbolism is used to represent different themes in the book such as friendship, loss, and hope. Symbolism is used to make these emotions stronger and to make the reader think deeper about the meaning of a certain thing, place, or person in the book.

Friendship is symbolized through a mixtape that Charlie gives to Patrick. Charlie, the main character, does his first Secret Santa gift exchange with his new friend group and gets Patrick. Charlie tries his best to pick out the perfect gifts for Patrick, and one of the first gifts that he gives him is a mixtape. “I spent all night working on it, and I hope that Patrick likes it as much as I do. Especially the second side. I hope …show more content…

I hope it can be like that for him.”(page 62 part 2). Through this mix tape, Charlie shows Patrick how much his friendship means to him and how he wants Patrick to feel how Charlie feels when he’s with him; like he belongs to something. After making the tape, Charlie describes how it felt to hold it knowing that he was passing it on to Patrick. “I had an amazing feeling when I finally held up the tape in my hand. I just thought to myself that in the palm of my hand, there was this one tape that had all of these memories and feelings and great joy and sadness.”(page 62 part 2). Later in the book, Patrick becomes depressed after losing Brad, his boyfriend. He feels alone and unloved, just like how Charlie felt before becoming friends with Patrick and Sam. Patrick listens to the mix tape and feels just how Charlie wanted him to feel; like he is a …show more content…

At the beginning of the book, Charlie has no friends and decides that he hates high school. After becoming friends with Sam and Patrick, his feelings change and he is hopeful for the future. The first time he ever met them, they went through a tunnel in Patrick’s car. After going through the tunnel, Charlie tells Sam and Patrick that he “feels infinite”. On the way back home from Charlie’s first party, he goes through the tunnel again and experiences the same feeling. “Anyway, Patrick started driving really fast, and just before we got to the tunnel, Sam stood up, and the wind turned her dress into ocean waves. When we hit the tunnel all the sound got scooped up into a vacuum, and it was replaced by a song on the tape player. A beautiful song called “Landslide”. When we got out of the tunnel, Sam screamed this really fun scream, and there it was. Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. Sam sat down and started laughing. Patrick started laughing. I started laughing. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” (page 39, part 1). This isn’t the only time the tunnel comes up in the book, from then on, the tunnel is a recurring place that Charlie visits and talks about. For the reader to get more of a sense of what he means when he feels “infinite”, he explains how it feels to be in the tunnel. “There’s just

Show More
Related
1011 Words | 5 Pages

Yet questions about his reformation linger” (Rosenblum). In the opening scene, Charlie is a sole survivor, while all of the other members of the previous crowd he was with succumb to death, disease, or dishonor. While everything about his casual demeanor towards drinks suggest he has moved on from his past, it still leaves the readers questioning whether or not he can be truly trusted on this matter, and wondering if Charlie really has fought his

Read More
293 Words | 2 Pages

1. Charlie doesn’t feel like he belongs ever. Either he is not smart enough or too smart. There is never a happy medium with society. When he can tell he obviously is different it makes it harder when everyone points it out.

Read More
497 Words | 2 Pages

Next, Charlie searching for his identity is shown when meeting the mentally challenged boy. According to Keys, on page 89, Charlie states, “Charlie laughed at the boy then felt ashamed.” (Keys 89) This shows Charlie searching for his identity because Charlie realized that he was laughing at a boy who Charlie used to be like. Finally, Charlie searches for his identity when Algernon dies.

Read More
820 Words | 4 Pages

After leaving the prison, the narrator is invited to see Sony and his band playing music. Sony plays the song pouring out his emotions, and the narrator

Read More
907 Words | 4 Pages

He was previously worried that no one would want to be seen with him or be known as the kid who spent his summer in the mental hospital. At first he ate alone but when meeting Patrick at a football game, who he previously recognized in shop class, he introduced himself and sat with him. Soon after Patricks friend, Sam, Joined them. As a result Charlie went to an after party at Patricks friend's house where we met the friend group. They offer Charlie a special brownie that he eats unknowingly, therefore he gets high.

Read More
590 Words | 3 Pages

Although he was motivated before, now that he knew what it was like to be smart he wanted to try even harder to have that feeling again. Although he doesn’t remember much of what happened at that time, he has reminders like certain books. This is evident when Charlie says, “ I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and I am grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit … I remember a little bit how nice I had a feeling with the blue book” (Keyes 215). This shows how even though he lost it all he still wants to try again. This shows how he still has hope left in him and if anything that hope has grown.

Read More
720 Words | 3 Pages

It's also mentioned multiple times that Charlie disconnected himself from the world when he remembers about the past. At the end of the book he is working towards healing himself just like Amari fought to heal her inner self by not giving up on her brother and changing everyone's view about

Read More
776 Words | 4 Pages

The author uses this device to show the character’s realization of how American society values intelligence and education. As Charlie’s intelligence grows, he is able to understand and connect with his peers, as shown when he says, “I am beginning to understand Algernon’s behavior, and it’s beginning to make sense to me” (Keyes, 23). This quote highlights how knowledge can foster empathy and understanding, which is

Read More
897 Words | 4 Pages

  This reveals that Charlie has relationships at work.   However, this quote reveals that the people he has relationships with only make fun of him and on not really his friends.  

Read More
437 Words | 2 Pages

A central theme of the song is how Jonathan doesn't want to waste time. Even out of context, this is a powerful and relatable message, but it is made more impactful after learning that his friend is dying. In the song, Michael becomes Jonathan's motivation. Before this, Jonathan felt like he was running out of time to create his musical, but now he feels regret for not understanding his friend's struggles with running out of time.

Read More
435 Words | 2 Pages

Lastly, nobody wants to die. After Charlie experienced all of these fascinating things, it will all be taken away not only by progressive amnesia, but by death, the worst cost from his adventure. Algernon the mouse died because of the surgery, and Charlie will soon come to the same fate. Charlie states, “I’ve got to try to hold on to some of it.

Read More
1817 Words | 8 Pages

The film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, follows the story of Charlie as he braves through the challenges of freshman year. Throughout his first year, Charlies experiences friendship, alienation, love, mistakes, depression, acceptance of past events and newfound motivation. With the help of his love interest Sam, her stepbrother Patrick, and other likeminded individuals, Charlie is able to gain a sense of belonging and a boost of confidence that ensures his survival for the high school years yet to come (Halfon, Chbosky, 2012). This essay will delve into an in-depth analysis of adolescence from a socio-cultural perspective, using events from the film to provide examples and further enhance arguments. Furthermore, topics highlighting what I believe to be the most crucial aspects of adolescence will be discussed.

Read More
1046 Words | 5 Pages

2. Charlie is an unpopular and introverted teen who 's going through a new phase in life – High school. Everything is new to him, which makes him even more lost and confused. It all starts when Charlie 's only friend from middle school committed suicide; since then Charlie 's been lonely and poignant. Additionally, his 'favorite person in the world ' Aunt Helen died in a car crash prior to the story.

Read More
598 Words | 3 Pages

Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming of age novel that was first published in 1999. After five years of having random ideas such as “a boy standing in a tunnel”, a girl he likes, and parties he goes, the author began to write the novel when he was facing difficult times in his life. Set in the 1990s, the novel follows Charlie through his first year of high school where he faces challenges many teenagers may experience, including drugs and alcohol, sex, love, depression, homosexuality, and just feeling like you don’t belong. Chbosky has stated in interviews that he wrote the book as “a blueprint for survival... for people who have been through terrible things and need hope and support.” Perks was intended to be an unparalleled

Read More
926 Words | 4 Pages

He never loved someone, never knew what it was like to be in a relationship. Charlie never had friends that would want to hang out and have fun with him. One time when he thought he had friends they were just using him for entertainment. He said, “ It’s a funny thing I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me”. After the operation, Charlie had expressed what he thought was wrong and right.

Read More

More about Perks Of Being A Wallflower Symbolism Essay

Related Topics

Open Document