Preface

This is my portfolio about the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”. I read and covered this book with my class in English class. This portfolio will also include parts of the results from there. I want to cover different points about the book here, but I will especially write about the characters. In general, I will try to summarize various aspects in a good and understandable way and to bring them to the point. So I hope you enjoy it.

Summery

The book “The perks of being a Wallflower” is about the 15-years-old student Charlie, who just begins his first year of high school in the year 1991. The book is a series of letters from Charlie, which he writes in a kind of self-narrator style. Charlie does not mention the addressee of the letters in the course of the book, as he always starts with "Dear Friend". It´s therefore likely that he does not even know him. Charlie describes himself as a “Wallflower”, which sums up his behavior well. He is a quiet person, but very observant and pays close attention to his surroundings. As you can see from his letters, he is very thoughtful and likes to delve into different thoughts. In his first letter, you learn a lot about Charlies current psychological state and his past. He seems a little depressed while he first writes about the death of his former best friend Michael. He then writes about his aunt Helen. He remembers that she was killed in a car accident when he was just seven years old. He writes a lot about his aunt in his letters, as it becomes clear in the course of the book that he has a special connection to her even though she is dead. As the book progresses, he often writes about how he is doing. You can clearly see the changes he is going through as a result of different events. Although Charlie is not particularly looking forward to high school, he finds his way around pretty quickly and soon finds a new best friend: Patrick. Together with Sam, the three form a group of friends. Charlie falls in Love with Sam despite his knowledge of Sam already having a friend. In the further course, Charlie begins to come out of his shell more and more in terms of school life. His English teacher Bill recognizes his talent for writing and his enthusiasm for books. He supports him by giving Charlie books to read and he encourages him to write essays. He later finds out that his friend Patrick is gay and in a relationship with Brad. However, this relationship does not end well, as Brad's father finds out about it and ends the relationship. Later, Charlie helps both Brad and Patrick cope with this situation by ending an argument, accepting kisses from Patrick, and talking to Brad about the situation a little longer. Apart from his school life, he also writes a lot about his family life. As already mentioned, he has a special bond with his aunt Helen, because he has a lot of memories relating to her. Charlie even describes her as "his favourite person in the whole world". The reason for this is because he feels that Helen is the one person in his family that shows him affection. Charlie writes that she often gave him books to read and generally shared his joy in literature with him. After several letters, it becomes clear that the story of Charlie is also reflected in Helen's childhood. Charlie only has the problem now and then that in bad situations he flashbacks to his childhood when Helen was still alive, which usually make him even more depressed. At the end of the book, he remembers being sexually abused by Helen but forgives her. He got this memory when he was in a mental hospital because he was found naked on a couch, presumably under the influence of drugs. This is also the point at which you can say that Charlie is getting worse again after his depression improved over the course of the book. This is made worse by the fact that by the time he ends his first year of high school, all his friends are moving away. but he does not give up and decides to stop writing the letters. He decides to “start participating fully in his life”.

Worksheet: Station 2 – Author’s purpose

What is the purpose of Sam and Patrick’s characters in the novel?

• Overall, particularly important characters for the story

• They are the connection from Charlie to the real world/ normal life

• They show Charlie a “normal” high school life

• They try to get Charlie out of his shell and getting lose of him being a wallflower

What is the purpose of Bill’s character in the novel?

• Helps Charlie to focus more on the future

• Helps him be a better writer

• Supports Charlie's interests in books

Characterization of Patrick

Patrick is the main character in the novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, which was written by Stephen Chbosky and released in 1999. Patrick is a student at a high school, the same high school where the protagonist Charlie goes. Patrick is gay and gets depressed throughout the novel. Apart from that, he is a good friend, especially with Charlie. As said, Patrick goes to the same high school as the protagonist Charlie. Patrick is fairly new to this high school because his father married a new woman after the divorce (p. 17, l. 44). You hardly learn anything in the book about his family situation, at least less than about some other characters. Another point that is still often written about is that Sam is his stepsister (p. 23, l. 57). Furthermore, Patrick is Charlie's "new" best friend. "New" because Charlie's old best friend died by suicide. Charlie even writes in one of his letters that Patrick "replaces" Michael Dobson. At school, Patrick is often called "Nothing" by the other students because he once had a slip of the tongue. Only Charlie does not call him "Nothing", except once in a letter after explaining this (p. 22, l. 19). Speaking of him and Charlie, both of them form a trio of friends together with Sam. For example, they go to parties together or eat together in the school cafeteria. Once, they drive together in a car, doing a road trip, as they drive thru a tunnel and Charlie feels that he was "infinite" (p. 33 l. 61). One big topic accompanies Patrick throughout the whole book. Namely, that he is homosexual. In this respect, you learn a lot from different areas of his life. He is in love with another high school student: Brad. The two get along very well up to a point in the novel. However, an incident occurs: At a party, Patricks sleeps with Bard - and Charlie sees it (p. 41, l. 70). But it is okay with Patrick, knowing that Charlie can keep this a secret. However, Patrick and Brad try not to show their relationship in public. But it is hard for Patrick to do that. One day Brad's father finds out about this relationship. He punishes Brad for it and sends him to a mental hospital. It's difficult for Patrick to come to terms with the situation. In addition, Brad tries to avoid him after a hospital stay. That's why Patrick gets more and more depressed towards the end. So it turns out that Patrick plays an important role in the book. He is a very good companion for Charlie and fits well into the trio of him, Sam and Charlie. However, it also shows that his problems, especially in the relationship with Bard, make him more and more depressed throughout the novel.

Charlies’ relationship with Sam

Sam is a senior student in the same high school as Charlie. She belongs to the same group of friends of Patrick and Charlie. The reason for this is, on the one hand, that Sam is Patrick’s stepsister. On the other hand, Charlie falls in love with her in the beginning of the novel. He likes her very much because she is beautiful and spontaneous, which makes up for Charlie's otherwise monotonous life at the beginning. As the novel goes on, the crush on Sam gets stronger and stronger, even though he knows that she is dating another boy called Craig. This relationship continues this way until the middle of the book. Meanwhile, Charlie was playing truth or dare with a few other students. During that, an incident occurs: Charlie is supposed to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. Thereon he kisses Sam, which also makes Mary Elizabeth pretty angry. This again confirms that he has this strong bond with Sam. Then the relationship between Sam and Craig falls apart after Sam found out that Craig is cheating on her. So Sam turns back to Charlie and gives him even more attention. Although you can tell that Charlie is "happy" (at least he feels better afterwards) about it, he still says, at least that is what he writes in one of his letters, that he feels sad for the two of them. In the further course the “relationship” goes quite well. It becomes clear that the bond with Sam also helps Charlie psychically, as it helps him to a certain extent to a stable mentality. At a certain point in time, because of his love for Sam, his life is going well at first sight. In one of his letters, he writes about a special moment for him when he and Sam drove through a tunnel. At that moment he felt “infinite”. At the end of the book, their relationship becomes more intimate. But only for a short time, as Sam suddenly feels uncomfortable with it. This is probably due to the fact that she was sexually abused in her childhood and gets flashbacks from it. This fact, which they both share, also strengthens the bond between Charlie and Sam. In conclusion, you can say that Sam and her relationship with Charlie play an important role in the book, and especially for Charlie.

My opinion about the book

I'm not exactly sure what to make of the book. Or to put it another way, my opinion on this is divided. On the one hand, it's a (theoretical) interesting story. I absolutely love it, when you can read between the lines or when the story comes together gradually. And the book manages that very well. But on the other hand, I'm not at all a fan of these typical high school stories. I mean, yeah, the story is deeper, however, that doesn't necessarily make it any better. Even if I wouldn't read it again, which I think depends on my basic tasts when it comes to books, I am sure, that there are definitely some people for whom this would be a really good book.