The Perks of being a wallflower

The elements of literature

• Setting: 1991-1992, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania
• Structure: four parts and an epilogue, series of letters to an unnamed "friend"
• Narrator: 9th grade student Charlie, first person perspective
• Tense: past tense
• Tone: how it feels, honest, humorous
• Plot: first year of high school, Charlie is intelligent and shy, he is lonely in high school, gets a girlfriend, loses them all
• Protagonist: main character is the protagonist Charlie
• Antagonist: society and his own mental issues
• Themes: How we connect to family and friends, the transition from childhood to adulthood

Characters

• Charlie: narrator, fifteen to sixteen, just beginning high school
• Patrick: one of Charlie's first friends in high school, stepsister is Sam, openly gay, secret relationship with Brad (a star footballer), "Nothing"
• Sam: stepbrother is Patrick, Charlie has a crush for her but she tells him he is too young for her, starts seeing Craig, Charlie and her will become good friends
• Charlie's father: fair, moved from Ohio, never hit his kids
• Charlie's mother: easygoing, understands Charlie
• Charlie's sister: her boyfriend hit her once, has to see her boyfriend in secret, pregnant
• Charlie's brother: at Penn State but returns a few times during the year, star football player, family is proud of him
• Aunt Helen: Charlie's mother's sister, died in a car crash while trying to buy Charlie a present
• Bill: his English teacher, act as a mentor, gives him " special" books
• Mary Elizabeth: his first real girlfriend, she generelly just talks and Charlie listens
• Bob: has or does drugs, sells Charlie marijuana
• Craig: Sam's boyfriend, in college, sleeps with other girls without Sam's knowledge
• Peter: new boyfriend from Mary Elizabeth, Craig's friend, forces Craig to tell Sam how he has cheated on her
• Dave: older high school student, forces his girlfriend to have sex with him
• Michael: was a good friend from Charlie during the previous school year, killed himself
• Susan: was a good friend of Charlie and Michael's, too cool for Charlie, dumbed herself down to appeal to boys
• Sean: bothers Charlie in his first days of high school, Charlie attacks back and Sean leaves him alone after that

Chapter summaries and commentary

• PART 1 (August 25, 1991- October 28, 1991
• - August 25, 1991: introduction from Charlie, his family and his social problems; talks about Michael, who killed himself last year; hints of Charlie's own darker thoughts
• - September 7, 1991: begins at high school and dislikes it
• - September 11, 1991: Bill gives him special books to read; Bill simply sees potential in Charlie
• - September 16, 1991: sister has a boyfriend, and Charlie sees him hit her and Charlie sees them having sex
• - September 18, 1991: Patrick, who will become one of Charlie's best friend, is introduced
• - September 29, 1991: seeing his dad cry in the kitchen, a secret between Charlie and his dad; it is clear that unlike some kids his age, Charlie loves his family a lot
• October 6, 1991: goes to one of his high school football games and sees Patrick there cheering with a girl named Sam, who Charlie believes is Patrick's girlfriend but she is actually his stepsister and Patrick is gay (we will learn that he is seeing Brad, a football player); has sexual thoughts and dreams about Sam
• October 14, 1991: he tells Sam how he has been thinking about her and she tells him, that he is too young for her; Patrick tries to explain girls to Charlie; when Charlie gets home he realizes that Bill called his parents to tell them about his sister getting hit and she is not allowed to see her boyfriend anymore and she tells Charlie that she hates him
• October 15, 1991: Charlie is masturbating regulary; Charlie tries to fid a reason for why the boy hit his sister
• October 28, 1991: at a football game, Sam and Patrick invite Charlie to an party it is his first real party; a couple came into his room as he slept; that party was famous; at the homecoming dance, Charlie wants to attack Dave, but Sam stopped him; Charlie sees his sister at the dance; Charlie also goes with Sam and Patrick through a tunnel; Charlie goes to the party; there are older kids there and people taking drugs and drink; he sees Patrick kiss Brad and Brad is very nervous that his secret of being gay will get out but Patrick says that Charlie is a wallflower: he sees things, observes and can keep quiet