The Peripeteia

The book has come to its ending. Thoughts are running through the head. “This can’t be true”, was the first thought that came up. “How come I didn´t realized this until now?” was the second.

The ending has a very big twist. Something you never thought of came up. Charlie had been molested by Aunt Helen as a child. When the twist come it´s still unknown that Charlie got molested, but it´s known that something has happened to Charlie in the past.

It´s clear where the twist takes place. Because it´s after a special moment between Charlie and Sam when everything change. It´s when Sam and Charlie are on their way having sex, but suddenly Charlie says stop. Even though this is one of his dreams and even though he loves Sam he still says stop. It feels like he says stop out of the blue. But in fact Charlie remembers something, something that has happened in the past. It´s in this moment that he remembers what Aunt Helen did to him as a child.

Here comes a quotation where Charlie dreams about Aunt Helen in a weird way. It´s still unknown if his dream about the molesting is true. With this quotation he also says that he can´t hide their secret anymore and he can´t live in a lie. The second quote is from later in the book and it proves that Charlie’s dream was true. The third quotation proves that Charlie´s parent´s didn´t know that he got molested by Aunt Helen.

I did what she told me. And just before I fell asleep, I said something.

“I can´t do that anymore. I´m sorry,” I said. “It´s okay, Charlie. Just go to sleep,” Sam said.

But I wasn´t talking to Sam anymore. I was talking to someone else.

When I fell asleep, I had this dream. My brother and my sister and I were watching television with my Aunt Helen. Everything was in slow motion. The sound was thick. And she was doing what Sam was doing. That´s when I woke up.

(The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 220)

But I kind of figured out that everything I dreamt about my aunt Helen was true. And after a while, I realized that it happened every Saturday when we would watch television. (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 224)

The hardest part was sitting in the doctor's office when the doctor told my mom and dad what had happened. I have never seen my mother cry so much. Or my father look so angry. Because they didn't know it was happening when it was.

(The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 224-225)

When he realized what had happen to him as a child he couldn´t participate in life. His mind and his body didn´t cooperate anymore. Here´s two proofs:

“Finally, Sam climbed into her pickup, and Patrick started it up. And a great song was playing. And everyone smiled. Including me. But I wasn´t there anymore.” (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 221)

“I just went to the couch in the family room where the TV is. And I Could see the Tv shows, but the TV wasn´t on.” (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 222)

After the event in the last quotation Charlie gets hospitalized. There he gets the help he needs to go back to normal.

“Charlie got molested. Charlie took drugs, Charlie drank (sometimes a lot), Charlie went in and out on hospitals and finally he went to hospital that helped him figure our things enough to make things normal” (short summon from the book made by myself)

I will just say that my Aunt Helen was molested. (---). My Aunt Helen drank a lot. My Aunt Helen to drugs a lot. (---). She went to hospitals all the time. (---). Finally she went to a hospital that helped her (…).  (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 99-100)

How come that they are so alike? Are they the same person?

No they aren’t the same person. But they are very similar. It´s more like this story that Charlie’s doctor told him.  

My doctor told me a story of these two brothers whose dad was a bad alcoholic. One brother grew up to be a successful carpenter who never drank. The other brother ended up being a drinker as bad as his dad was. (…).  (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 227)

In this case Charlie is the brother who didn´t drink while Aunt Helen is the one who drank. Sure Charlie drank and he took drugs. But he put his act together earlier then Aunt Helen.

The message of this book is that you always have a choice just like the brothers from the story. You can choose to move on with your life or choose to stay in your old bad habits.

But it´s also as Charlie says:

It's like if I blamed my aunt Helen, I would have to blame her dad for hitting her and the friend of the family that fooled around with her when she was little. And the person that fooled around with him. And God for not stopping all this and things that are much worse. And I did do that for a while, but then I just couldn't anymore. Because it wasn't going anywhere. Because it wasn't the point. (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 227)

You should not blame other persons about things in your life. Because that doesn’t make you till a better person. Instead you get stuck in that part in your life that you want to leave. You can´t change your past but you can choose you future.
To end this analyze here comes a quotation that describes exactly what the message of the book.

So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them. (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 227)

 (I don’t know if I’m allowed to write more when I have used maximum of words. Anyway if you have time to read I have written some about what I thought about the ending here for you to read.

The ending wasn´t as expected. In the beginning of the book, when Charlie got in love with Sam, the ending was clear. The ending wood be a classical American romance ending.  Sam and Charlie would be a couple and they would live happily ever after. But after the twist you realized that it wouldn´t be that way. In fact the end of this book was better than the end I created. This end made it to a book that everyone should read. Because it´s in the end were you get all the answers of the questions that Chabosky has created in your head. The end gives you wisdom of life.) 

The Conflicts

This book is all about internal conflicts, almost. Some external conflicts exist. But the book center person is Charlie. It´s his thoughts that the book is about and it’s his fights with himself that we got to follow.

Charlie is thinking a lot and it’s this that is his conflicts. He starts thinking about something and then it just continues. Here comes a quotation to clear this up.

I look at people holding hands in the hallways, and I try to think about how it all works. At the school dances, I sit in the background, and I tap my toe, and I wonder how many couples will dance to "their song." In the hallways, I see the girls wearing the guys' jackets, and I think about the idea of property. And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are. (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 31)

This shows that he thinks a lot not only about himself but also about everything and everyone around him. At the same time this is an internal conflict, when it´s his own thoughts.

Following comes one more quotation and it´s both an internal and external conflict.

The counselor said that he suspected that Michael had "problems at home" and didn't feel like he had anyone to talk to. That’s maybe why he felt all alone and killed himself. Then, I started screaming at the guidance counselor that Michael could have talked to me. And I started crying even harder. He tried to calm me down by saying that he meant an adult like a teacher or a guidance counselor. But it didn't work. (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 11)

In this quotation it shows that Charlie somehow was concerned about Michael’s death. He wondered why Michael didn´t come talking to him and that made him very sad. He almost felt betrayed. In one way he has a conflict with Michel.  But in another why he has internal conflict. However Michel is dead, therefor it cannot be an external conflict? Or can it? The answer is partly yes.  It is an internal conflict in the way that Charlie thinks, “Did I do something wrong” “Why didn´t he trust him” “Could I have done something to save Michel´s life”. He somehow blame himself, or he cannot come to an answer if he should blame himself. But at the same time this is a conflict between Charlie and Michel. Because it is about two persons, it is about their friendship. Therefore it is an external conflict.

To end this blog log here comes a quotation that show that people was concerned about Charlie.  In this quotation it is clear that Bill is a little bit concerned about that Charlie thinks a lot.

Bill looked at me looking at people, and after class, he asked me what I was thinking about, and I told him. He listened, and he nodded and made "affirmation" sounds. When I had finished, his face changed into a "serious talk" face.

"Do you always think this much, Charlie?"

"Is that bad?" I just wanted someone to tell me the truth.

"Not necessarily. It's just that sometimes people use thought to not participate in life." (The perks of being a wallflower, 1999. Stephen Chabosky, p. 32)

What Bill says is true. Because thinking very much is like being a workaholic. Both of them may not participate in life. Because when you’re a workaholic you just want to work and almost just think about work. You don´t participate in life. The same about thinking too much. Because if you think too much you lost track from reality, and then if you keep on thinking it may lead to that you not participate in life.