Archetypes In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

677 Words2 Pages

The novel, “The Perks Of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky is an eye-opening story about a high school student named Charlie who has to overcome the horrors of his best-friend’s suicide. In doing so, he befriends two senior students named Patrick and Sam. Patrick and Sam go to parties, do drugs, and lead Charlie down a bad path. Charlie, the Martyr; Patrick, the Warrior; and Sam, the Innocent; are all unique in their own ways, and these uniquenesses form their archetypal personalities. Charlie’s archetypal personality is a Martyr. Charlie sacrifices himself to save others. Charlie demonstrates that he sacrificed himself to save others when he fights off Patrick’s attackers and tells the leader of the group, “If you ever do this again, …show more content…

A warrior's physical health is enjoying team sports. “I listened to [Patrick] yell at the field. And I listened to his play-by-play analysis. And I figured out that this was a kid who knew football very well. He actually knew football as well as my brother” (Chbosky 19). This is an example of Patrick showing a warrior's physical health, because he is passionate about football. A warrior's response to the dragon is to slay. Patrick demonstrates this when he, “threw the first punch [at Brad]” (Chbosky 151). This is an example of Patrick slaying the dragon because he doesn’t hesitate to strike Brad when he is challenged by him. The warriors task is respect and assertiveness. Patrick shows this when he states, “Listen, you either call me Patrick, or you call me nothing” (Chbosky 13). This is an example of Patrick demanding respect and assertiveness because he settles for nothing less than what he …show more content…

The Innocent’s physical health is being youthful but frail. Sam demonstrates being youthful but frail when she says, “She was seven. And she told nobody about it except for Mary Elizabeth and then Patrick a year ago. She then started to cry” (Chbosky 70). This is an example of Sam being youthful but frail because she chooses to discuss her childhood, but emotionally breaks down while doing so. The Innocent’s motto is that life is joy. Sam demonstrates this in the pickup truck when she “screamed this really fun scream” (Chbosky 39) driving out of the tunnel. This is an example of Sam expressing joy because she screamed in excitement. The Innocent’s worst fear is exploitation. Sam demonstrates her fear of exploitation when she finds out, “Craig had been cheating on [her] ever since they started going out” (Chbosky 177) and she began “sobbing” (Chbosky 178). This quotation shows Sam’s worst fear is being exploited, because she reacts very emotionally to finding out she had

Open Document