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the perks of being a wallflower
stephen chbosky
About: Stephen Chbosky Chbosky, birthed on the 25th of January in 1970, was raised in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania. Chbosky graduated from the University of Southern California’s filmic writing program in 1992 with a B.A. Though best known for his novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Chbosky has written two other books, Pieces: A Collection of New Voices and a musical book known by the title, Kept. In the area of screen writes and directing, Chbosky has participated in some manner in the following plays and movies: Rent, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Sexaholic, Audrey Hepburn’s Neck, Everything Divided and The Four Corners of Nowhere. Chbosky finished filming his movie adaption of his novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower on June 29, 2011. Chbosky has received different awards for his different writings and directing’s. For his first screenplay and directing job, Chbosky's The Four Corners of Nowhere won the Narrative Feature honors at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. Along with the Narrative Feature honor, Chbosky's screenplay, Everything Divided, has received the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award. Chbosky today continues to work on films.
Setting Example One (Mood) "As you enter the tunnel, the wind gets sucked away, and you squint from the lights overhead. When you adjust the lights, you can see the other side in the distance just as the sound of the radio fades to nothing because the waves just can’t reach. Then, you’re in the middle of the tunnel, and everything becomes a calm dream. As you see the opening get closer, you just can’t get there fast enough. And finally, just when you think you’ll never get there, you see the opening right in front of you. And the radio comes back even louder than you remember it. And the wind is waiting. And you fly out of the tunnel onto the bridge. And there it is. The city. A million ligts and buildings and everything seems as exciting as the first time you saw it." (39)
Fort Pitt Tunnel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Setting Example Two (Time) "Dear friend, It was one of those days that I didn't mind going to school because the weather was so pretty. The sky was overcast with clouds, and the air felt like a warm bath. I don't think I've ever felt that clean before. When I got home, I had to mow the lawn for my allowence, but I didn't mind one bit. I just listened to music, and breathed in the day, and remembered things. Things like walking around the neighborhood and looking at the houses and the lawns and the colorful trees and having that be enough." (42)
Charlie's Mix-Tape
READ THIS BOOK! Please, do us both a favor and read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. With each letter Charlie writes in the novel, the some of the biggest of life lessons are shown in ways that seem different from the usual perceptive. Chbosky's writing style is a particular one where any reader can see their own thoughts reflected in Charlie's thoughts and that some of the questions that have been pondered before may get an answer by reading this book, teenagers especially. Adults who read this book are most likely to have a memory of nostalgia and remember when they too asked those questions, but it's different for teenagers. They just might be going through the same problems Charlie is faces throughout the novel. Reading about Charlie's experiences can help readers through their own. Reading the Perks of Being a Wallflower can help anybody really. I would know. It's helped me.
Universal Themes in The Perks of being a Wallflower Many universal themes are apparent in the novel, but love is one of the major themes. With every letter he writes, he begins the letter with "Dear friend"(2) and ends it with "Love always, Charlie."(6) This shows a platonic love for whoever Charlie is writing his letters to because he is not trying to have sexual relations with her, but is instead trying to develop a one sided friendship, so that she can care for Charlie through his letters as he cares for her. Another example of love is familial love when one Thanksgiving night Charlie describes when his family was watching a recorded tape of one of his older brother's games with every person in the room cheering, except for Charlie himself and his grandfather. "When we were all getting ready to leave, I walked up to my grandfather and him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.... But I'm very glad that I did it anyways in case he dies. I never got to do that with my Aunt Helen."(60) He's already lost one family member without saying goodbye. He doesn't want that to happen again. Speaking of Aunt Helen, while she had a familial love for Charlie, she also loved him in a perverted way. When Aunt Helen was younger, the novel tells us that she was molested. That's horrible, but these things happen, sadly. But one time "And she was doing what Sam was doing." (204) In the scene earlier Sam had tried to sexually pleasure Charlie, yet for some reason he started shaking. It's because he was starting to remember his repressed memory of his Aunt Helen molesting him when he was younger. This is quite perverted since Charlie is an autistic child under the age of seven at the time this took place. Perverted love from Aunt Helen, familial love from Charlie towards his grandfather and platonic love for the reader of the letters are three of many examples the story contains.
