Perks of Being a Wall Flower English Literature (Essay Sample)

Perks of being a wall flower
Name
Institution.
Everyone want to have a sense of belonging this is part of human nature, the value we place when interacting with friends in our social settings are reflections of our families, friends and community views. It sometimes get worse when one needs to have a sense of belonging but feels helpless to stand up for what he feels in not right .As much as we want to join group to have a senses of belonging many teenagers simply lack the right direction on how to go about this process. They end up hanging around abusive friends just to have a sense of belonging. This further complicates their lives because they constantly struggle to please their friends and avoid hurting their feelings. Eventually they are caught in a dilemma resulting to them not liking life out of experience.
For example in the movie “perks of being a wall flower” Charlie is a perfect example of how adolescence really struggle to belong to make friends that will accept him as a freshman in high school. In the movie Charlie has never had trouble in middle school because he had most friends and his brother to look up to but in the event that he is going to join high school this becomes one of his worries as he always wrote to his anonymous friend to express how he feels. (The Perks of Being a Wallflower ,2012).
Before his first day in school he visualizes how high school would be compared to middle school. He is writing a letter as he hopes to meet friends. As he joins high school, he feels he has a long way to go as he counts the number of days remaining on the first day. On his first day at school things are different from what he had imagined. The people he used to associate with in middle school like his old friend Susan does not want to greet him, his sister Candies and his boyfriend Derrick cannot sit with him over lunch because he is a freshman and they are seniors. In class Charlie is hesitant because he feels intimidated by most of his classmate .as much as he is capable he lacks the courage to express himself. This is witnessed when he could not raise his hand to answer a question yet he had the answer. The teacher is supportive and advices him to try and interact with other students. According to the teacher this would help him overcome some of his fears. During counseling sessions in school after Michaels death students expressed different feelings as one of them reported to have thought of committing suicide at times. Charlie is very emotional especially with the death of Michael he could not cope without his older brother s; support as he had started developing fear for school .Charlie character bring the innocence of childhood who enters adolescence he his very insecure and has trouble coping in school (The Perks of Being a Wallflower ,2012).
Charlie’s conscious always follows him around as he wants to do the right thing as required of him ,for example he wants to maintain good grades follow his advanced English teachers advice and always helping around in the house as required. Charlie follows rule and does all his schoolwork but with some provocation he becomes defensive .This is a common scenario for adolescence where conflict will always arise as people try to overpower others. (Csikszentmihaly, 1997).
All these are confusing moments for him as he writes in his first letter to an anonymous friend expressing life. He feels happy and sad at the same time. He struggles to cope many events around him like his family the casing point being Aunt Helen. His Aunt reasons for staying with them were never discussed but he was curious to know more. His father slapped him as his aunt defended him by rebuking Charlie’s father for slapping Charlie. It’s only his mother that had to come out and explain to him what happened to his aunt. Though his older brother was very supportive alongside his friends Sam and Patrick.
In this movie Charlie can be referred to as a mastermind because he is naturally good .As much as Charlie did not talks to girls in school but he had a way of attracting their attention .Even though he was not very intelligent but his ability to influence others was the one that made him stand out. These are some of the features of a mastermind according to (Csikszentmihaly , 1997). Charlie is faced with challenges both at home and in school, his family made him feel awkward like in the case when he inquired severally what happened to his Aunt Helen and why they were staying with her.
In this movie in explaining some of the challenges Charlie faced in school, we see Shawn acting as the bouncer .Shawn on noticing Charlie’s quiet behavior, thought that was a walkover. Shawn waited him after the gym class and told him nasty words and started bullying him by beating Charlie. Although Charlie was small compared to Shawn who was huge he was more strong did not show it off until the day he was provoked by Shawn who constantly teased him .When Shawn beat Charlie, Charlie hit Shawn hard in self defense a tactic he borrowed from his older brother of starting to hit someone you, go for the knees eyes and eyes as he was taught by his older brother. (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012). In any group bullies always wants to gain power over others. Conflicts are inevitable but how we stand up for morals and ethics when we are part of such groups is the most important aspect of life. The mastermind Charlie became famous in school for beating Shawn. Charlie always looked up to his older brother and this added to his fame in high school. His advanced English teacher was influential by encouraging him to do better in advanced English class.
According to Charlie his sister can be compared to a fly she is a member of the earth club in school and she draw attention of all the boys ,she made friends by bragging as much as people tolerated her but eventually give up. He didn’t not understand why her sister was mean to boys. One particular boy trying to please his sister instead his sister gave a tape given to her to Charlie. Her sister used Charlie to provide feedback to this boy instead of having time to listen to music. They boy is respectful to Charlie, the boy had always had been viewed as soft. This boy eventually got frustrated and hit her sister when he got tired of her bullying which eventually paid off (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012).
Charlie’s journey to adolescence is full of unexpected emotional outcomes especially when it comes to maintain relationship. Charlie’s innocence and naiveness is witnessed when he was too afraid to ask of his friends to hang out with during lunch time. The ends up sitting alone in a corner as he watch others chatting along with their friends. In a similar situation Charlie naiveness prevents him from actively participating in class as he prefers not to raise his hand up for fear of being called a spaz. His English teacher encourages him to make new friend this would help. In trying to make friends the first person Charlie meets is Patrick in a foot ball game. Charlie is too afraid to express himself he fumbles for the right word to start a conversation with Patrick who once in a while starts up to cheer loudly at the school team. This is the same place that he meets Sam .According to Charlie she is the ...