“So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is an epistolary novel narrating the coming-of-age adventures of Charlie. The lyrical letters are written by Charlie, but the intended recipient is unknown. They are simply written to Charlie’s ‘friend’ and are always signed off with ‘Love always, Charlie.’ The story takes place in the early 1990s and follows Charlie as he enters his freshman year of high school. Charlie is not okay, still reeling from the suicide of his only friend, Michael. As well, Charlie keeps on writing about the death of his Aunt Helen, who died when Charlie was seven in a car crash to get Charlie a present. Aunt Helen was a favourite member of Charlie’s family, since she always treated Charlie like he was special. At school, Charlie is quiet and fades into the background most of the time, except for when his peers tease him, in which case he becomes violent and gets into fights. His literary prowess does not go unnoticed by his English teacher, Bill Anderson, who gives Charlie extra reading assignments and acts like a mentor to Charlie for the entirety of the book. Charlie is soon befriended by two seniors, Patrick and Sam, sparking his adventurous and eventful rest of the year. The letters run from August of 1991 to June of 1992, with a two-month break before the epilogue, which takes place in August of 1992. Over the course of one year, Charlie makes friends, forms relationships with others outside of his family, and learns to step out of the shadows, while still maintaining his comforting presence of a wallflower. He is faced with love, hurt, tragedy, and revelations that cause him to take a step back and reflect on the people he wants to keep in his life and who he truly is.
“If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me.”
Chbosky brings you a sweet, simple, and lovely story about a boy who is trying to learn and grow amid cruel loss, past trauma, and surrounding betrayal. Set with the backdrop of high school, therapy, and an uncomfortable backdrop of drug usage, Charlie’s story is skillfully woven into the journey taken by a young boy who has to grow up now. Carefully chosen words and beautifully scripted letters deliver Charlie’s freshman year to you as he learns how to love his family, to love his friends, and to love himself. Secrets are revealed, bonds are mended and torn, and Charlie himself is the victim of much more than he deserves. Regardless, Charlie stays faithful to himself while figuring out who he wants to be. Chbosky’s portrayal of Charlie’s life at home and at school is exactly the kind of exchange you’d expect from a 15-year-old’s personal letters while on the precipice of change – blunt, naive, and overwhelmingly honest. These letters make you want to read his story again and again and again, until each letter of Charlie’s resilience and bravery and goodness are engraved in your mind, reminding you that while no one is invincible and everyone makes mistakes, you can choose to act without bounds, if only for a little while.
“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.”
