Perks of Being a Wallflower #1

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky is a great young adult novel. The storyline and the characters kept me interested throughout the book. The author depicts a freshman in high school that has gone through some troubles in the past and just wants to adjust. The one thing that especially stood out in this novel is the use of teems and motifs. The most prominent aspect or theme in this novel is mental illness. Charlie, the main character, has many battle with mental illness. Charlie suffers from depression, voices in his head, among other problems. His Aunt Helen also suffered from many of these same issues. Another important and influential theme if the book is drugs and alcohol. Charlie and his friends dabble in all kinds of drugs from marijuana to acid. These drugs lead to Charlie's mental relapse into his illnesses. The most important theme of this story is friendship. Charlue has no friends in the beginning of the story. His only friend had committed suicide before the start of school. Sam and "the gang" become his best friends and honestly his saving grace. Charlie's happiest moments of his life are with these friends. The most enjoyable part of the novel was seeing how friendship can alter a persons course in life in the blink of an eye. Without these friends, the story wouldn't be interesting. The last theme is something that doesn't really seem like a theme but I considered it a big part of the novel. This is the role music. Music was an underlying theme in this novel. It showed up in many places such as the tapes made by Charlie and the song in the truck. The music that Charlie and Sam enjoyed was reall sad and depressing. This is an indication of how they were completely messed up but they were meant to be together. Also, when I saw the film I noticed that the music choices reflected this sad and somber music. This novel is an amazing piece of literature and I truly enjoyed it. I would recommend this novel to anyone who wants a great read.