“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”

Book Report

Based from Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”

and friendship to show levels of support the characters offer each other. More importantly

the underlying theme of the novel is acceptance and is primarily shown through the actions

of Charlie, the novel’s main character, who falls in love with Sam. Throughout the novel,

Sam and Charlie accept their past and future with the help of each other through love and

support. Acknowledgment of their issues will come with many conflicts and an adult level

of maturity, as everyone finds their paths to the happiness they have all been looking for.  

The novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” explores the unexplainable and

complicated love between many of its characters. Through his characters, Chbosky shows

how some love is returned, some love is not. And just like Sam and Charlie illustrated in the

novel, some love is a friendship love, some love is a romantic love.  At the beginning of the

book, Sam is dating a college boy named Craig and they have a love that is very

complicated, even from the beginning Sam’s feelings were much stronger. Towards the end

of the literature, readers find out Craig has been cheating on Sam from the very start of

their relationship. Sam was heartbroken and devastated by the news of his adultery but it

helped her realize her true potential in loving another. This love is not what anyone wants

but happens more often than not. The whole situation with this couple made Sam into a

stronger person and helped her realize her true affection for Charlie. Sam and Craig’s love

is not the only relationship that doesn’t have the greatest ending. Patrick, Sam's

stepbrother and his lover, Brad have an even more complicated relationship. Patrick is

openly gay but Brad is not. Brad prefers for their relationship to be a secret. Brad is the

highschool’s star quarterback and he is bound to get a scholarship. He has the girlfriend,

the grades, the popularity, the game, but all off it will never satisfy him for he won’t accept
his own sexuality. He is a homosexual but not proud of it like Patrick. In the beginning of

their "relationship", Brad and Patrick only fooled around at parties but Brad always had to

get drunk or high to be with Patrick. This went on for a while, then one day Brad shows up

to a party that wasn't meant for the "popular crowd" and the couple ended up having sex

for the first time. Brad had never felt so awful about having sex with Patrick, then he cried

and would even look at him later on.  Eventually after months, Brad came to Patrick telling

him that it was crucial no one could know about their relationship. Earlier in the book, they

could only see each other at night on golf courses or at low-key parties. After many issues

the lovers had, Brad still persists on staying in the closet and Patrick couldn't take it

anymore. Eventually Patrick accepted Brad's decision and moved on. Although most

examples of love in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" are more complex and unsuccessful,

there is one that will forever be unforgettable and pure. Charlie and Sam have what society

would call a friendship love. From the very start, the duo had an instant connection. Charlie,

Sam and Patrick were the “backbone” to their group of friends. They supported each other

to no end and when one of them fell, Patrick went to a spiral of self-destruction after Brad

and him broke up, they were there to help. But Charlie wanted to be more than friends with

Sam. Charlie fell in love with her and even though not fully returned to the same extent Sam

still loves Charlie. Sam even wanted to take his virginity Charlie but he denied her that

pleasure. At the time, it was all he ever wanted but something inside clicked and he got

scared.  At the end of the book, you find out that Charlie even though he did love his aunt,

he was also molested by her and that constant childhood event is what causes his

depression, blackouts, and disinterest in actually having sex. All these examples of love in

the novel are not just fictional, they happen all the time in our society. “We accept the love
we think we deserve”1 sums up the idea of love in the perfect way. One of the key things in

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is that we all love something or someone but only allow

ourselves to love them if we believe we deserve love at all for ourselves.       

Friendship is a major piece of the construction of this novel, it is carried from start

to finish. There is peer friendship, mentor friendship and finally a family friendship shown

throughout this great novel. Sam, Charlie, and Patrick became fast friends after Charlie

introduces himself to Sam and Patrick. In a very short time frame, Sam and Patrick take

Charlie under their wing and introduce him to a whole new world. They all begin to trust

each other with one another’s secrets. Sam, Charlie and Patrick have that type of peer

friendship where you could be apart for months, even years and it will be like you saw each

other yesterday. They have an unbreakable friendship that will survive the struggles of the

future. There is more than just one type of friendship shown in this great piece of literature.

It also shows a mentor friendship as well. Charlie’s English teacher Bill, although not

written about a lot, adds a great adult perspective into this book. Bill helps Charlie with his

aspiration to become a writer by giving him novels to read and then having Charlie do an

essay or book report on the novel. He also gives Charlie needed advice especially when

Charlie finds out about his sister’s boyfriend hitting her. He is an aspect of this novel that

really gave it the mature teen characteristic. Friendship doesn’t just have to be one where

you aren’t related. Charlie and his sister develop a strong sibling friendship throughout out

the novel. The high point of their supportive friendship was when Charlie’s sister found out

he was pregnant. As a great brother, Charlie took her to the abortion clinic and provided

1 Chbosky, Stephen. "Pg. 24." The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: Pocket, 1999. N. pag. Print.
her with anything she needed. Their bond as not only siblings but as friends as well grew

stronger that day. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep going without a friend. I used

to be able to do it very easily, but that was before I knew what having a friend was like.” 2

Charlie never realized what was missing from his life until he became friends with Sam and

Patrick and also developed the other friendships he has in the novel. Friendships are

essential to human emotional and social survival, once you have had one, good or bad; it’s

hard to forget it.      

Acceptance is the theme that Chbosky has forced you to realize by reading between

the lines of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” novel. If it’s the fact of Charlie accepting that

his aunt Helen took advantage of him or Sam finally accepting her past, all the characters

need to deal with their issues. Charlie had always struggled from depression since the

moment readers were introduced to him. By the end, you find out all for that was because

he had been molested by his aunt. It affected his childhood and his sex life considerably. He

had to grow up faster than his other peers which affected his mental health. It wasn’t only

Charlie that had to mature in a very short amount, Sam during her freshmen year of high

school became the school “Blow Queen”. Even though, in the novel, you never hear how

Sam accepted her past and herself, you see from her words and confidence that she did.

She had such a bad reputation in grade 9 and that reputation continued throughout all her

years of high school even though she had changed. The key thing that got Sam through it

was realizing there is a life after high school and that she wouldn’t see any of her

classmates after graduation. Finally the last person to accept something, maybe not himself

but others decisions, is Patrick. Patrick had to accept Brad’s decision to stay in the closet

2 Chbosky, Stephen. "Pg.144." The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: Pocket, 1999. N. pag. Print.
which hurt Patrick very much. But he accepted it by moving on and looking for other

potential lovers. “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.”3 This quote hands down describes the idea of acceptance of yourself,

your peers and your future all in one. You will never be able to change your past, but there

is always potential to change your way for the future.     

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is an astounding piece of literature that really hits home

to many teenagers across the world. Most kids between the ages of 13 and 20 would have

experienced some of the same situations that Charlie or other characters were faced with

in the novel, like misplaced love, rape and teenage pregnancy. This unique journal style of

writing makes this novel stand out compared to other novels in the mature teen section.

Chbosky easily embraced the perspective of teenager and it shows in the simple language.

The love, support and accepting nature the characters offer and provide each other is

endless and heartwarming. In the end, everyone finds the path of happiness they are

looking for and are all grateful for the experiences they have had.   

3 Chbosky, Stephen. "Pg. 211." The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: Pocket, 1999. N. pag. Print.