Perks of Being a Wallflower
For my groups second choice of a young adolescent book, we chose Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. This was another book I really enjoyed in high school, but I do not think I actually understood it as deeply as I do now. Rereading this book sent me in a whirlwind of emotions. I was crying on one page and laughing on the next, forgetting how moving this book is and how many tough topics appear throughout the book in relation to the characters.
Charlie is the narrator of the book as well as the protagonist. Throughout the book, you are presented with a lot of history from his childhood, which was pretty horrendous. You see how these struggles and hardships follow him through his middle adolescent life into his freshman year of high school, which is where his story begins in this book. When he enters school on the first day, he is greeted by some new friends, Patrick and Sam. As the story unfolds, they become very close and they introduce Charlie to their friends as well. Sam and Charlie are able to relate to many things that had happened to them when they were younger, so their bond is the strongest out of all the characters, which you can see as you reach the end of the book. My favorite quote from this book is, "We Accept the Love We Think We Deserve". I think it sums up a good example of why things happen the way they do throughout the book as well as throughout other adolescents lives.
I also noticed a connection between this book and Looking for Alaska. They both deal with some sort of peer pressure as well as mental and physical health problems. I think this will be a reoccurring theme throughout the rest of the books our group reads as well because some of these issues are hard to talk about with adolescents and these books provide a way for them to relate to someone that may have gone through the same thing as them. As we continue to read more books, I hope to pick a newer book that I have not yet read to get a new perspective on what young adolescents are reading today.
Soph, this post was awesome. I loved the way you interpreted the text. We read the same book yet, we both have different experiences when reading it. I find that to be the beauty in reading. You sum up the book in a quick and concise way which is helpful, but not revealing! Your connection to Looking for Alaska was insightful and very intelligent. I didn't think of either of these books in that light. If I didn't know anything about this book, I would be very excited to read it based on your analysis. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the connections between the 2 books.
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