Perks of Being a Wallflower was a book that I loved. It portrays the story of a
freshman boy in a series of letters whom the reader never knows are being sent to.
Throughout each letter, the reader learns more and more about this boy, and how
different he is from the every other regular highschooler. Each letter begins to prove
why the title of this book, “perks of being a wallflower” is a perfect title for this
story. So, in this blog post, I want to discuss what a wallflower is…
When I looked up “wallflower” on Google, this was the first definition I got: a
southern European plant of the cabbage family, with fragrant yellow, orange-red,
dark red, or brown flowers, cultivated for its early spring blooming. After I read that,
I knew this could not be right, so I found another definition, which states: a person
who has no one to dance with or who feels shy, awkward, or excluded at a party.
This was perfect. This definition epitomizes what this book is about.
Charlie, the strange boy, had a different “growing up” than most kids. His
Aunt Helen molested him, and his lower school best friend committed suicide in 5th
grade. The reader understands that because of this, Charlie has a hard time socially.
Charlie is repeatedly encouraged by his English teacher to “participate” and do
things that any other teenager would do during high school. Charlie tried, but never
ended up liking it. He liked watching people, he liked keeping to himself, and he
liked hanging out with friends who didn’t pressure him to participate more. So then
I thought why would it be beneficial to be a “wallflower”? Well, it was Charlie’s
oddness that led him to meet some of his best friends, Patrick and Sam.
The three of them grew a strong bond, even though Charlie was a freshman
and Patrick and Sam were sibling seniors. They took Charlie under their wing, and
gave Charlie a memorable freshman year, which would not of happened if Charlie
was not an outsider; it was a perk of Charlie being a wallflower. My question for you
is whether or not you agree that there are perks to being an outsider, and if you
would rather be an outsider than an “insider” in high school and why.