The Perks Of Being A Wallflower By Stephen Chbosky

‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’, written in 1999 by author Stephen Chbosky, is a coming-of-age novel about a 15-year-old high school freshman named Charlie. Charlie, like most high schoolers at his age, is shy, introverted and tends to keep to himself most of the time. Like any other teenager at his age who possess these kinds of personal qualities, he struggles severely with talking to other people and opening up, along with a gloomy depression. Throughout this text, he writes letters to an unnamed pen pal the reader knows as a ‘friend’, and Charlie talks to this person about his high school experience, friends, love life and personal loss. After reading this novel, I found it relatable and a very accurate representation of the struggles

The main example of this in the novel is Sam & Patrick, who accept Charlie for being the nervous, shy teenager he is, but they encourage him to be himself and speak his mind when he can. On top of that, the characters support one another through difficult times and accept each other’s imperfections. I felt that the theme of acceptance in this text balanced out the deep emotion and trauma that is also explored in the text, and reading a book where characters didn’t care for each other’s flaws felt refreshing and new, which I found surprising for a book that was written almost 25 years

The novel emphasises this especially well and is shown in the text with Charlie stepping outside of his comfort zone at many points in the text, like when he has to fill in Craig’s role as Rocky in ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’. This example highlights the point of getting outside of your comfort zone and doing something new and exciting and performing in ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ is something Charlie would’ve never done at the beginning of the book. I think this novel gives the reader another valuable lesson, being accepting and celebrative of people’s diversity. The theme of acceptance shows this as well as showing the potential for positive relationships and growth through acceptance. I’ve gained new learning from this response, as it’s helped me gain a better understanding of the importance of accepting everyone in today’s society, no matter their ethnicity or gender, but rather be accepting of people for their heart and their mind, which is something I will keep with me and be mindful of in the