Symbolism In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

In Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (PBW), secrecy plays a significant role in the development of the main character, Charlie’s, life. In the novel, Charlie is in a position to keep important secrets, all with varying consequences. Some of these secrets are essential for Charlie to keep to avoid people from getting hurt. Some of these secrets have a positive effect on Charlie. They allow him to reflect and provide some happiness and satisfaction to him. Not only is Charlie in a position to decide whether to keep other character’s secrets, but he also has his own secrets. Charlie shares these secrets with the anonymous letter-receiver. These are secrets that he has never told anyone else. These secrets have a drastic effect

on his life. They allow him to bond with family members and friends, but at the same time they also cause him to wonder whether keeping these secrets is what is best for other people, and for himself as well. PBW explores the theme of secrets throughout the novel, focusing on Charlie specifically, and does so effectively portraying the effects it has on his life.
In exploring the way secrecy has a positive effect on Charlie, it is essential to examine some important examples. The first example of how secrets affect Charlie’s life that occurs in the novel is between Charlie and his father. After Charlie’s family watches the M*A*S*H finale, Charlie sees his dad crying in the kitchen. This is the first time Charlie has ever seen his dad cry. Charlie’s dad tells him, “This is our little secret, okay, champ?” (Chbosky, 17). When Charlie remembers this; he remembers it as a special moment between his father and him. Charlie even buys his dad a cassette of the last episode of M*A*S*H for Christmas. This is Charlie’s fondest memory of a secret as it brings him closer to his dad.

Another secret that brings Charlie closer to one of his family member is the secret of his sister’s abortion. His sister gets pregnant with the boy who had actually physically abused her earlier in the novel. The boyfriend then abandons his sister to handle the pregnancy on her own. Charlie and his sister then go to the abortion clinic, which turned into a situation where he bonded with his sister. They connect with each other by discussing each other’s problems. Although this is a negative event in his sister’s life, Charlie reflects on this time when they really bonded and came together. Another secret that has a positive impact on his life is Brad and Patrick’s. Charlie walks into a room where Brad and Patrick are hooking up, and Patrick then makes sure Charlie won’t tell anyone, saying, “…This will be our little secret.” (37). This makes Charlie feel special, as the last time someone said those same words; it was Charlie’s dad. Charlie feels like he is someone who is able to be trusted because of those words, and it makes him feel respected.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower is filled with examples of physical and sexual abuse. These illustrate secrets that have a detrimental effect on Charlie. Charlie

has many secrets about these types of assaults, and he is forced to deal with them throughout the novel. First, Charlie has to make a decision whether to tell someone about his sister’s boyfriend hitting her or to keep it a secret like she asked him to. Charlie ends up telling his English teacher, Bill, about this event, and he tells Charlie’s dad. Charlie is not sure he did the right thing in this situation, as he says, “My sister is still mad at me, but my dad said I did the right thing. I hope that I did, but it’s hard to tell sometimes.” (28). This quote illustrates how hard these decisions are and foreshadows how Charlie will deal with these situations in the future. The next example of an abusive secret is the one he chose to keep for a long time. Charlie witnessed a rape in his bedroom during a party his brother had when Charlie was young, but did not realize what had occurred at the time. Charlie realizes what happened once he is in high school, and while at homecoming, he sees the same couple together, dancing. Charlie talks to Sam and Patrick about this, and says, “We should tell someone, shouldn’t we?” (32). Sam, however says not to tell anyone, since it is near impossible to prove anything. Instead, Charlie pops the tires of this guy’s car, and feels satisfaction about doing it. This decision not to report this is important because it shows that Charlie is indecisive about what to tell people and what not to. He makes the decision to tell someone the secret about his sister getting abused, but then makes the decision not to tell the secret about someone being raped. Charlie, in this case, wanted to tell someone about the abuse, but used his discretion realizing that it would not accomplish anything. This ties into the most important secret of the novel, Aunt Helen’s abuse of Charlie. Throughout the novel, not only does Charlie keep this a secret from his family, friends, and the reader, but he also keeps this secret to himself. Throughout the whole novel, Charlie speaks only positively of Aunt Helen, and blames his depression on the fact that he thinks he killed her. Charlie thinks this because Aunt Helen died in a car accident on her way to buy Charlie his second present. His Aunt would buy him both a Christmas present and a birthday present, as his birthday was Christmas Eve. Despite being in the hospital for a long time after her death - even being held back a grade - and being told multiple times it was not his fault, he still thinks it is. Charlie always remembers Aunt Helen fondly, speaking of when she would stay with his siblings and him and stay up to watch SNL. He never mentions her abusing him. Charlie does however mention that Aunt Helen was abused while she was growing up and into her adult life. This reference infers a level of sympathy Charlie has towards Aunt Helen, and is a possible reason that Charlie kept the abuse a secret.
Secrecy plays a significant role in the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Charlie is deeply affected by secrets throughout the novel, whether they have a positive or negative effect on him. The role of keeping a secret allows Charlie to connect with people and develop a special bond. One way this is demonstrated is by the way he and his sister bond after her pregnancy scare and how his friendship with Patrick blossoms after Patrick tells him about his relationship with Brad. Secrets, however, can have a negative effect on Charlie. Charlie becomes depressed and often questions himself. Whether he tells someone the secret because he wants to help or whether he decides to keep the secret to protect someone, Charlie always ends up questioning his decision. The biggest secret Charlie decides to keep to protect someone is his being abused by Aunt Helen. Charlie feels bad for Aunt Helen, she was abused, so Charlie wants to cut her some slack, but this only makes him depressed and anxious. Charlie uses these letters to an anonymous person to tell other people’s secrets, but he leaves his own out, which ends up costing him, as he becomes depressed. At the end of the novel, Charlie realizes that burying this secret so deep within himself hurts him and he tells the doctors and his parents. Because he finally told someone this secret, it allows him to rehabilitate and recover from this traumatic experience. As Charlie learns, and as his father says, “not everyone has a sob story,

Charlie, and even if they do, it’s no excuse.” (28). This quote demonstrates that no matter what happens to a person, they cannot use that as an excuse. That not only applies to Aunt Helen, but also Charlie. Even though this terrible thing happened to him, keeping it a secret will only make it worse, and he has no excuse to do that. Keeping secrets such as these has a negative impact on Charlie both mentally and emotionally. Secrecy in this novel plays a relevant role in understanding the characters, in particular, Charlie.