Book 4 Reflection

Book 4 Reflection

By, Alex Testerman

For book 4 I read Perks of being a Wallflower By Stephen Chbosky and in terms of likability, Charlie, the story’s protagonist, is the character I would say I like more than any other book character other than Jay Gatsby or Nick Carraway and I will explain why. Charlie is a very misunderstood boy who seems to always to things wrong in other people’s eyes but to him, he didn't want to do the wrong thing. He is a very awkward and quite character that likes to read and is very smart. He has trouble in a social situations because he nervous to talk to people which really get me personally as a reader to start to like Charlie because you feel sorry for him trying to get through High School without anything bad happening. The summer before freshman year of high school his best friend Michael killed himself, which again makes you sympathize with Charlie because not a lot in his life goes his way. Then he meets Patrick and Sam at the football game, they become the most pivotal characters in Charlie’s life and become his best friends.

With the inclusion of Sam and Patrick, Charlie starts to learn to become social and not care what others think about him, to just be free. Throughout the book, the perspective is in letters written by Charlie to a good friend. They explain what happens on a certain day in the life of Charlie whether it be about him getting more books to read from his teacher Bill or something major involving Sam and Patrick or sometimes his family members like his sister, dad, mom, and brother. Charlie towards the end of the novel starts to go into depression and gets very bad. He had spills of these depressive states but he usually could block them out but he couldn't and his life starts to spiral. But with the help of Sam and Patrick he starts to become progressively better.

With the article written by Jennifer Weiner about her liking likable character, directly reflects with The Perks of being a Wallflower and I’ll explain why. If Charlie was a boring, stale, mean character, the book would be garbage. Charlie makes the story, because of him being so likable by teens the story becomes a lot more personal and teens can relate to him. If you were to lose the innocent and sweet nature of Charlie, you wouldn't feel bad at all for what happens to him throughout the book, you wouldn't feel bad at all. He is just such a strong character that you could put him in a lot of different genre stories and he would make the story a little better because of teens ability to relate to his personality.

In a perspective of a stereotypical hero, Charlie would be seen as a weird high school kid. But once you really dive into learning about his life and what he has had to fight through to just be normal calls for him to be a hero. He learns to be himself and have fun with his life no matter how bad it can get. He is a hero for kids in high school who are having troubles with being social or depression because his story is him going through all of this turmoil with his depression, his home life not being the best, and problems that involve Sam and Patrick, and ultimately coming out on top and being able to be himself. It is a great book for kids going through a stage in their life where they don’t know what they want to do and are nervous for the future.