Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower is, on the surface, a typical coming of age story about a boy going through the ordeals of high school and the trials he encounters, but it deviates from the norm with its introverted protagonist, Charlie. We follow Charlie’s journey as he navigates his first year of high school through a series of letters he writes to an unnamed friend. Stephen Hawking once stated that “Quiet people have the loudest minds,” and Chbosky’s Charlie proves this quote to be true. He spends more time thinking and observing his surrounding than actively participating with others. Charlie’s passive nature negatively impacts his life by preventing him from developing relationships and obtaining happiness. In a way, …show more content…
Patrick started engaging in dangerous behaviors such as drinking constantly and picking up random men. Charlie stated that it was “hard to see a friend hurt this much” and wanted to “stop” him from hurting, but in the end he decided he “can’t do anything except “be there”,” a conclusion that he came to without any action (161). Never once did he try to stop Patrick from hurting himself or try to snap him out of these behaviors. Similar to how he never stopped his relationship with Mary Elizabeth before things got out of control, he never stopped Patrick from drinking or even from kissing him. Both were examples of things that Charlie didn’t want to continue or happen but didn’t terminate because of his passive nature. He kept dating Mary Elizabeth even though he didn’t like her and was becoming increasingly frustrated with her just like he kept allowing Patrick to drink and have sex with strangers. In the end, both Charlie and his friends got …show more content…
He loves her, but he can’t even act on his feelings for her. When Sam and Craig broke up, Charlie didn’t make a move on her because he wanted to be considerate of her feelings, but Sam doesn’t want or need that. It’s great that Charlie “can listen and be a shoulder to someone” but sometimes people don’t need “a shoulder.” They want actions instead. Charlies believes that by putting “everybody’s lives ahead” of his he is exhibiting his “love” for them, but he can’t always do that (200). Sam tells him this. Charlie needs to act for himself too. If he wanted to kiss Sam, he should have. If he wanted to ask her on a date, he should go do it. Because he never acted on his feelings, he never had the chance to develop a romantic relationship with