The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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The perks of being a wallflower. By Stephen Chbosky This book is made up of letters to a stranger. The author of these letters; Charlie, is starting his first year of high school in the wake of his best friends suicide and he finds solace in writing about his feelings of loss to a stranger– someone who he once overheard a mutual friend talking about. We never discover to whom he was writing, only that they are trustworthy and addressed by Charlie as “Dear Friend”. During the year over which the letters span, this friend becomes the unwitting outlet for Charlie’s coming-of-age. Always a bit of an introvert, a “wallflower”, Charlie decides that this year will be different – and so it is, as he finally makes some connections with the likes of high school seniors; Sam and Patrick. He even finds friendship with his English teacher, Bill, who encourages him to participate in life. Charlie is silent but observant; shy but determined to please; introverted but filled with love and compassion. As well as dealing with the subject matter of a typical coming-of-age novel; Fitting in, puberty, first love etc. The novel deals with a number of the darker elements of life; from sexual abuse, depression and abortion, to sex, drugs, and suicide. The novel is structured in a one-way epistolary format. It is almost a diary, except that each entry is a letter to an unknown stranger, and that stranger never responds. Because these letters are being sent off to someone who is not expected to reply, and because (we can assume) no copies of the letters are being retained by Charlie, they tend to be much more personal and provocative than a diary or journal could be (because, subconsciously, we all worry that someone might find our diaries and expose our secrets, or confront us with them –especially nosy siblings). For this reason, because the letters are assumed secret,

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