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Perks Of Wallflower

Decent Essays

Perks of Being a Wallflower Investigative Essay
Different mediums of creative outlets such as music, books, and movies, often guide people through their lives. Various texts translate meaning into any circumstance, and allow discoveries to be made in order to deepen understanding of not only oneself, but of the world around as well. In Stephen Chbosky’s, Perks of Being a Wallflower, the main protagonist Charlie, finds himself discovering a plethora of new experiences, from his own sexuality, to the use of drugs. These experiences are often guided by different pieces of literature provided by his teacher and mentor, Bill. Likewise, works of music and movies provided by his closest friends Sam and Patrick, allow Charlie to discover himself throughout …show more content…

His musical taste is not only gained from the mixtape that is given to him by his sister, but also from Sam and Patrick, who both heavily influence him. The novel mentions countless songs, with Charlie’s mixtapes being comprised of many classic melodies. The ‘Secret Santa’ mixtape is a compilation of songs including: MLK, by U2, Asleep, by The Smiths, and Smells Like Teen Spirit, by Nirvana. The mixtape also includes Landslide, by Fleetwood Mac, and it is initially referenced in the novel when Charlie, Sam and Patrick drive through the tunnel for the first time. Charlie claims that Landslide, is “a beautiful song” (pg. 42), and it assists him in the euphoric state of feeling “infinite”, but also relates to how he changes over the progression of the novel. The line: “well, I’ve been afraid of changing”, in the chorus of Landslide, enables the audience to connect the song, to capture how Charlie overcomes his vicious shyness. Charlie’s ‘changing’, or discovery of outgoingness, can be first correlated to when he approaches Patrick at the football game. He states that he himself, is normally very shy, but overcomes this because Patrick “seemed like the kind of guy you could just walk up to” (pg. 21). Therefore connecting the terror of ‘changing’ within the song, to Charlie …show more content…

He adores every book he reads, and with that, his English teacher, Bill, provides him with extra stimulus for his class. One of the extra pieces of literature assigned to Charlie, was The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger. The main protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden, has many similar traits to Charlie, as the two books parallel each other. Both protagonists are both classified as wallflowers, and throughout their respective novels, they go through a self-discovery process. Within both books, there is also a predominant discovery of love, which is made through Charlie and Holden’s new profound self-discovery. In Perks, Charlie realises the reality of relationships, and how difficult they can be. Furthermore, when it comes to relationships, Charlie lacks experience, additionally his love for Sam is overwhelming, and he often became confused surrounding the topic. “I love Sam. It’s not a movie kind of love either. I just look at her sometimes, and I think she’s the prettiest and nicest person in the world” (pg. 51). Being socially inept at times, Charlie finds it hard to comprehend his love. This is how The Catcher in the Rye, is similar to Charlie. Both protagonists are unable to connect with others, such as women, and they both assume very comparable roles. Charlie and Holden, discover the ideology of

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