The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a modern classic, written by Stephen Chbosky, an American writer. The book was first published in 1999 and was later adapted into a film, released in 2012. It is a coming-of-age story, touching on first love, loss, mental illness and self-discovery. Plot The story is told from the point of view of fifteen-year-old Charlie, in a series of letters he writes to an anonymous recipient, about his life at the beginning of his freshman year of high school. It is not known who exactly he writes to, nor is there a single response he receives from that person. This makes the book more or less a collection of diary entries in which we get to know the protagonist, his thoughts, his opinions and his life. He begins by recounting a recent tragedy that occurred in his life; his best friend, Michael, had committed suicide the previous year. She describes the desolation she felt when she received the news, and the confusion she felt as to why Michael didn't even leave a note. He then goes on to talk about his late aunt named Helen, who died in a car accident when he was 7 years old. He tries to deal with these two deaths as he writes his first letter, and then ends it by admitting that he's starting high school the next day and that he's afraid to go. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay From then on, Charlie's letters speak of his days while attending high school, and although he is initially anxious, he soon finds comfort in his teacher, Bill Anderson, who soon becomes his trusted confidante, and his new friends, Patrick and Sam, two senior brothers and stepbrothers, who integrate him into their group of friends. The three soon form a close-knit trio. The entire school year passes in a whirlwind of events. In terms of relationships and first loves, Charlie realizes she has a crush on Sam and tells him so. She simply treats him with affection, saying that he is too young for her. Charlie eventually meets up with Mary Elizabeth, a girl who is part of their circle of friends. However, things don't work out and they break up. As for Patrick, he is gay and has a secret relationship with the football team's closeted quarterback. When Brad's father finds out about his affair with Patrick, he beats his son and sends him to rehab. This causes Brad to walk away from Patrick and verbally abuse him. They break up after a physical fight broke out between them. Patrick is initially depressed, but eventually finds a way to move forward. Sam meets a boy named Craig, but eventually discovers that he has been cheating on her the whole time. Charlie's sister has an abusive relationship with a boy and becomes pregnant. She suffers an abortion without her parents' knowledge. In terms of family, Charlie's is dysfunctional, but the underlying love between each member is evident. While it may seem like he has a distant relationship with his parents and siblings, he actually has an established bond with them that becomes increasingly clear as the story progresses. For example, despite the seemingly cold relationship between Charlie and his sister, she trusts him enough to ask him to accompany her to the clinic to have an abortion. As for the mental illness aspect, Charlie struggles with his depression and anxiety throughout the book. He often had flashbacks to his time with Aunt Helen, which resurfaced from time to time. The climax of the book, oddly enough, is supposed to be towards the end, at the point where all these flashbacks have been leading up to since the beginning. It's the point where memories of him being molested by his aunt Helen are awakened, and this fact comes as a harsh surprise, not just to the reader,but also for himself. We come to understand that Charlie repressed this series of memories, immediately filing them away in a not easily accessible part of his brain, after each event. He is eventually hospitalized for two months and undergoes therapy sessions to help him come to terms with his long-felt pain, along with healing. He leaves therapy with a much more positive outlook on life, with no desire to blame anyone for his mental disorders, and chooses to look forward. In his last letter we see that Charlie has finally managed to put things into clear perspective; his thoughts are no longer clouded by fear or anxiety. He finally feels liberated, because he faced his demons head on. Characters Charlie (narrator): Charlie is a "wallflower". As the narrator of the story, he is a silent spectator, always witnessing everything and everyone around him, silently observing, but never participating in things himself. As his teacher and confidant, Bill, says, he uses his thoughts to not participate in life. He observes people and forms opinions and thoughts about them, but he himself never goes to dances or dates to put himself in the shoes of the people he observes. He is always aloof and is not often noticed by many. He had a difficult childhood, with some traumatic experiences that led him to have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and also depression, which inadvertently shaped him to be the person he is throughout the story, which is mostly reserved and complacent. When it comes to recounting the events of the day, he is extremely serious, thoughtful and honest. He feels things deeply and in their entirety, which makes his stories so captivating. For example, regarding the girl he knew in middle school and how her appearance and personality changed over the summer, he observes that she no longer seems as happy or lively as she used to. He looks at her and feels sad because they were friends through association with Michael, his late best friend, and he knows how smart and funny she is but she is clearly living a lie by hiding her intelligence and true nature. Something like that probably wouldn't matter that much to someone else, but to Charlie it does, because he feels things on behalf of others. He looks at people, sympathizes and hopes they are happy, even though deep down he knows that many aren't because that's just how high school goes; the trials of adolescence do not spare any adolescent. However, the way Charlie perceives the relationships between the people and events he witnesses suggests that he perceives a lot of unhappiness around him, and this makes the reader wonder what made him this way. It soon comes to light that Charlie witnessed or experienced some incidents in his past that, in a way, damaged him. There was this time when he was around 12 years old, during a party thrown by his older brother at their house when his parents were away, he ended up witnessing a rape incident. Charlie himself, caught in the same room as them, did not have the courage to speak or protest. This, being a traumatic experience for him, would also serve as an example of his passivity. Towards the end of the story, we find out that Charlie had been molested by his aunt Helen when he was younger and no one knew. Meanwhile, Charlie had put the memory of what happened in the back of his head but, evidently, this affected him unconsciously, which led to the eternal conversations he holds in his head, his indescribable feelings of sadness and the way where he has to keep himself busy at times when he feels anxiety is about to strike. However, despite all this, growthCharlie's emotional life is evident as the novel progresses, as he learns to consciously participate in life and not remain a spectator forever. It is his experiences that slowly push him to mature emotionally and not rely on the coping mechanism he has devised for himself: he passively lets things get around him. Patrick Patrick is a senior and is Charlie's friend. He is loyal and a constant pillar of support for Charlie. However, he is unable to extend the same support to himself. He is unable to be kind to himself when it comes to having to deal with problems alone. As a result, she embarks on an unhealthy path of self-destructive behavior when she breaks up with Brad and tortures herself by pretending she's fine. , yet doing absurd things like kissing Charlie. He doesn't face his sadness head on, and instead does everything in his power to avoid it. When he finally recovers, that's when he grows emotionally too, because he finally truly realizes his worth. Sam Sam is a high school senior, Patrick's half-sister, and Charlie's friend and love interest. She is described by Charlie as somehow perfect. This isn't surprising, considering how much he adores her, and eventually realizes that he loves her too. However, Sam also has his fair share of trials and tribulations. When she was younger, she was sexually abused, just like Charlie. It's the reason why she kisses him at one point because she wants her first kiss to come from a person who genuinely loves him. Despite this, she can't see how they could be together in a relationship if Charlie is someone who doesn't know how to openly demonstrate his love for her as she wants. Maybe it's the moment when she tells him that serves as a wake-up call for him to no longer sit back and let others take center stage, but instead, seize opportunities as they arise. It is through Sam that Charlie slowly understands the concept of being able to give and receive love equally, and this helps him greatly in his journey towards personal growth. Setting The story is set in the early 1990s, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the heart of the suburbs. This was the time period in which the story was written and the area where the writer was born. Figurative Language Metaphors A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action, to which it is not literally applicable. Perhaps it would be one of the most famous quotes in the book: the phrase "I feel infinite." This was said by Charlie while going through a tunnel on a car ride with Sam and Patrick, at the end of a wonderful song that was playing. He said it so simply, yet the three words have so much meaning within them. He wanted to say that in that moment everything seemed possible, nothing was holding him back, not his depression, not his past, not even his fears. It was a really important moment when he said that because for the first time there is truly hope that he will be okay in the end, despite all the problems he faces. He said it one more time at the end of the book: "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite," and this time it's a statement that he has truly been freed from what previously held him back. The metaphor of infinity is used, in both cases, to symbolize the vastness of what is out there and how small Charlie, as a person, is compared to everything else. It serves to remind him of hope as a character, because in the end, he can do anything he wants if he sets his mind to it, including overcoming the flaws in his nature and freeing himself from his depressive state. Another metaphor used would be the phrase that Bill said while giving Charlie one of his books entitled "The Fountainhead",to read and analyze. She tells him, “Try to be a filter, not a sponge.” This metaphor initially makes him confused about what his teacher means, and as he reads the book, he becomes increasingly frustrated with its complexity. However, its meaning fades from view after a while, and essentially means: "not to simply mindlessly absorb everything that is read, but to be perceptive enough to be able to retain the best parts of the reading." As an avid reader and aspiring writer, Charlie derives some valuable advice from this metaphor, which he should apply to practically every book he reads, not to mention some aspects of his life. For example, the friends he makes. He should learn from the best parts of their characters and not automatically emulate their every move, because every person has their flaws. There is an instance where Patrick describes Charlie as a "wallflower". And he continues by saying: "You see things, you keep quiet and you understand." The statement "He's a wallflower" uses a metaphor. The word "wallflower" itself is informal, but in essence it is, in a way, a perfect description of Charlie, because he is shy, reserved and doesn't say much, but he is a good listener and friend.PersonificationPersonification is the attribution of traits or human qualities to an inanimate object or something that is not human in nature. There's a point where Charlie states, "And my mind played hopscotch." This is a form of personification that also makes use of a metaphor. It is significant at this juncture, as he states, to describe the emotional turmoil that emerges as he recalls stressful events that occurred previously. It effectively describes what happens in his mind when he loses control of his thoughts. He is affected by various memories and feelings, which may not necessarily be in sequence, or linked together to be considered connected events. This is similar to playing hopscotch. The mind is compared to the person who jumps from one square to another, which are not side by side, and may even have to skip a space. This sudden thought process causes him to faint and indicates the severity of his condition, which is not to be taken lightly and could cause him potential harm. Symbolism Symbolism is the use of symbolic images to convey a specific idea; a symbol is used to represent more than just its original meaning. The most obvious form of symbolism in the book would be the fact that the entire story told by Charlie is in the form of letters. This is crucial to understanding Charlie in depth. The letters serve as an expressive outlet for him. It is a means to understand himself and translate his spiral of thought into words. He is not simply telling a story in vain. The letters are not hastily written scraps, but well-considered representations of his constant introspection; writing them is a way for him to reorder his thoughts. It has a purpose, which is to share the events of his days with the recipient. His anonymity with respect to the recipient of the letters allows him to be open about what he writes. This allows us to gain first-hand insight into his life and, as such, understand his character. Each letter begins with "Dear Friend" and ends with "Love always, Charlie." This leads us to make comparisons with a typical diary and to consider this collection of letters as such, in which we get a glimpse into the character's innermost thoughts, desires, fears and insecurities. Hyperbole Hyperbole are exaggerated statements or statements, which are not to be taken literally. The use of hyperbole can be seen when Charlie's sister defends her abusive boyfriend. She says, “He is my whole world.” This is no doubt said in the heat of the moment, but,.