Life is about overcoming obstacles and fears to become truly happy, a message that The Perks of Being a Wallflower teaches its readers as Charlie matures through the process of coming of age. The story follows Charlie as he encounters drugs, sexuality, and friendship as he struggles through his freshman year of high school. This involves meeting new people and dealing with conflicts he has never had to deal with before, such as drugs, alcohol and peer pressure. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In Stephen Chbosky's realistic coming-of-age novel, the protagonist, Charlie, moves from naivety to self-awareness and from chastity to sexuality. At the beginning of the book, Charlie is both innocent and naive. An example of his innocence can be seen when Sam invites Charlie into his room to show him the typewriter he bought him for Christmas. Sam asks Charlie if he's ever kissed a girl: “[he] shook [his] no. He was so quiet." This shows how uncomfortable sexuality is for Charlie (70). His discomfort is also evident when he describes his uncomfortable perspective on school dances: "At school dances, [he] sits in the background...wondering how many couples will dance to their song...'" Again, this shows that he attends dances alone (24). Charlie is also very naive at the beginning of the book. For example, when Candace is beaten by her boyfriend , Charlie remains silent, despite the violent attack, because he mistakenly believes that his friendship with his sister is more important than his well-being, since: "... he got angry and hit her hard in the face... He didn't it was completely like him to hit someone. He was the guy who made mix tapes with hand-colored themes and covers until he hit my sister and stopped crying..." This is an example of naivety as Charlie doesn't realize how serious the guy's actions are. Candace and how someone may seem nice on the outside but they are capable of so much more (11) In a similar case, when Charlie attends his first party with Sam and Patrick “[he] ate the brownie, and it tasted good.” a little strange, but it was still a brownie…But this was no ordinary brownie” He eats the brownies without knowing, or even considering, that they might be filled with a pot (35). because of his new relationship with Mary Elizabeth and how his actions are influenced more by what he believes other people would like him to do, rather than what he would like to do. Part of his conflict with Mary Elizabeth is demonstrated by how much he is his relationship is one-sided. That is to say, Charlie struggles to participate meaningfully in any conversation with Mary Elizabeth. This deficiency is seen as the two are trying to have a phone conversation and “The only thing [he] could say was “yes” or “no.” There honestly wasn't room to say anything else... [he] put the phone down, went to the bathroom, and when [he] came back, she was still talking.”(129). Furthermore, Charlie and Mary Elizabeth do not have a physical attraction to each other. Mary Elizabeth is madly in love with Charlie, while Charlie would rather be just friends. This is problematic as Charlie is too shy to break up with the more dominant Mary Elizabeth and this creates tension in their circle of friends, as Patrick and Sam believe it would be unfair for Charlie to continue to keep Mary Elizabeth together. Charlie's inability to do things on his own further contributes to his internal conflict. He does things to please others, but never to make himself happy. An example of Charlie's incompetenceto do things alone is when he comforts the heartbroken Patrick. Patrick kisses him goodnight and continues to kiss Charlie even though Charlie derives no pleasure from the experience: "'Did you want him to kiss you?'... 'I was just trying to be a friend,' [he] said. "" Even though Charlie is not gay, he allowed Patrick to kiss him, he didn't want to upset Patrick further (201) Charlie shows his desire for acceptance again when he starts smoking and skipping classes solely to make Sam and Patrick happy by spending more time with him. them, despite knowing that to skip the school and smoking are unacceptable behaviors. Charlie has two epiphanies regarding his conflicts regarding his relationship with Mary Elizabeth during a game of truth or dare in which Charlie is challenged by Patrick to kiss the prettiest girl in the room: "[he] knew that if [he] kissed Mary Elizabeth [he] would be lying. to everyone. Sam included. Including Patrick. Including Mary Elizabeth. And [he] just couldn't do it anymore…” Charlie finds that faking his feelings for Mary Elizabeth helps no one, including himself (135). After this realization he experiences catharsis by kissing Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth, recognizing his true feelings for Sam. Charlie's second epiphany is based on his inability to do things on his own, and occurs when Sam lectures him about being more self-sufficient: "[he] thought that [he] should just do what [he] ] wanted to do… And if [Sam] didn't like it, then he could just say so. This shows Charlie's progression in becoming self-sufficient as he doesn't care so much about how Sam would feel, but rather what he feels (202). The catharsis that follows is Charlie who kisses Sam again, but this time more passionately. At the end of the novel, Charlie's more aware and experienced example of his newfound awareness is shown when he reflects on his ability to control his own destiny. even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where to go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel good about them. This shows that life is not rainbows and daisies that Charlie doesn't like the outcome of his actions/life. (211). Furthermore, at the end of the book, he realizes the impact his experiences with Sam and Patrick have had on his life and how he will be forever changed by meeting and interacting with them. They taught him many things, such as how to be a good friend and think for himself. Additionally, Charlie has become much more knowledgeable about his sexuality. This is seen when she allows her true feelings for Sam to surface. His sexual experiences led to a failed relationship with Mary Elizabeth, his first crush, first kiss, and attraction to Sam. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Charlie's increased self-awareness and confidence in his ability to control his future, including the relationships he engages in, demonstrates his character's maturity throughout the novel. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky resonates with its readers and leaves them with an important message: embrace differences, as life is about overcoming fears and challenges to become the happiest you can be. Works Cited Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of Being a Wallflower. MTV Books. Corsaro, W. A. ​​(2005). The sociology of childhood. Pine Forge Press.Flesch, J. (2013). Educational fiction (The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction, Vol. 1, pp. 79-86). Wiley-Blackwell.Jenkins, H. (1998). Introduction: Childhood innocence e.