Reading Response on The Perks of Being a Wall Flower by Stephen Shbosky

Eli Hecht 802

For many teens, high school involves a struggle to figure out identity, and understanding who they really are and how others view them.  Stephen Chbosky's novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, paints a riveting picture of life for Charlie and his group of semi popular friends.  Through the endeavor of Charlie and his peers, it is made clear that the need to classify and group teens into stereotypes impacts many teens.

One example of this is the realization of Charlie that he is considered an outcast by his peers.  At a party a few weeks into his meeting Sam and Patrick, his new found friends, Patrick says to their friend, Bob, "He's a wallflower."  In response to this, Charlie states, "I didn't know that other people thought things about me. I didn't know that they looked."  This is interesting to me because it shows how even though Charlie is a silent observer, people do notice him, and that while he was watching he didn't realize that they even noticed him.  This also shows how despite their awareness of Charlie, many of his peers don't make an effort to involve him because he didn't try to be involved or break the standards of being a "wallflower".  Another example of Charlie's discovering his identity as an outcast is when his teacher, Bill, whom he has a close relationship with, tells him to "participate" more and be involved with social activity.  Bill says to Charlie that, "sometimes people use thought to not participate in life."  Bill is making an effort to push Charlie out of his comfort zone and be more involved in the world around him.  In telling Charlie this, Bill puts Charlie in a place where he sees himself in new ways, and helps him try to break the boundaries he's set for himself.  Many people in Charlie's life see him as a social pariah and they help push him to see that, so he can help himself change.

Another example of teens struggling to figure there lives out, is the secret relationship of Patrick and Brad, the schools' football quarterback.  Brad takes many measures to hide his relationship with Patrick, including having a "girlfriend," who he goes to school dances with.  In explaining their relationship to Charlie, Patrick tells Charlie that, "Brad doesn't want people to know … because he's scared."  Brad worries about turning from being classified as the football quarterback to being known as a homosexual.  Because of this he buries himself in his lies and only allows a select group of people to see his true identity.  Also, Charlie states that "They only fooled around at parties on Fridays, but Patrick said Brad couldn't even look at him in the hall, let alone speak with him. And it was hard, too, because Patrick really liked Brad."  Patrick wants to be open about his relationship but outside of parties, Patrick means nothing to Brad, who wants to preserve his social status and friend group.  This quote made me feel sorry for Patrick because even though he has come to terms with his homosexuality and is open about it, Brad's fear of being classified as "gay" is still affecting him.  Brad is afraid of his identity so he keeps his friends from seeing who he really is, which also directly impacts Patrick.

In addition, both Sam and Charlie's sister have low respect for themselves because of the way the boys in their life view and treat them.  Charlie's sister and her boyfriend fought a lot and she was very bitter towards him until he physically abused her, and then they were suddenly happy together.  When Charlie spoke to Bill about his sister's abuse he replies with, "Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve." In modern society, we believe that many of the gender roles in relationships no longer exist, but Charlie's sister's boyfriend was discontented when she was classified by their peers as the stronger of the two, but they were both accepting when he was in control.  This quote also shows how if you accept the stereotypes others fit you into, you are often limited to them for had Charlie's sister broken up with the boy after he hit her, she would be asserting herself and breaking down his perception of her.  Also, when Charlie is talking about his friend, Sam's, relationship with her boyfriend, he says that "It's very hard for me to see Sam feel better about herself just because an older boy sees her that way."  Sam satisfies her need to raise her self-esteem by dating a boy that's older than her because she is unhappy with who she is without the reassurance of others.  Sam is unsatisfied with how she perceives herself so she seeks out others to give her what she thinks is an authoritative opinion and makes her feel important.  In the book, both Charlie's sister and his friend, Sam, accept the ways their boyfriends perceive them.

In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky explains the attempts of teens to discover, and in some cases hide, their identity.  This story and its message connects to me and many teens in the world because even in middle school, everyone feels the need to classify or be classified into certain groups.  Many teens don't affiliate with the group they're classified into by their peers or don't feel that they fit into stereotypes. This novel is an important message to many teens in that it teaches them to be themselves, and not expect the standards others limit us to.