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The perks of being a wallflower film essay
The perks of being a wallflower compared to the film
The perks of being a wallflower film essay
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The role of identity plays an important role in all adolescence which can help shape their future. In psychology, identity is the conception, qualities, beliefs, and expressions that make a person or group. The movie, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, illustrates how teens struggle with identity. Charlie is an anti-social freshman who is befriended by a group of high school seniors, who introduces him to the world of drugs, love, sexulatity, friendship, and lies. His friends play a huge role in his development. Throughout the movie, Charlie was able to build upon his character and develop friendships that gave him a new perspective that life needs, to live life rather than watching it. Erik Erikson formulated a model to understand the developmental tasks involved in the social and emotional development of children and teenagers which continues into adulthood. Each stage is regarded by Erikson as a “psychosocial crisis,” which arises and demands resolution before the next stage can be satisfactorily negotiated. Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a …show more content…
reduced ability to complete further stages and, therefore, a more unhealthy personality and sense of self. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” best exemplifies Erikson’s fifth stage of psychosocial development, identity versus role confusion. The transition from childhood to adulthood, teens may begin to feel confused or insecure about themselves and how they fit into society. According to Erikson, this is important to the process of forming a strong identity and developing a sense of direction in life. In the beginning, Charlie was characterized as a wallflower because of his obsession with observation, and is urged by many people- such as Bill, Sam, and Patrick- to participate more and truly engage his acquaintances and companions.
Charlie struggles with apparent mental illness throughout his letters, but he never explicitly addresses this problem. His friends make him realize that he is different and it is okay to be different from everyone else. This change in perspective gives Charlie new opportunities to experience life from a side he was unfamiliar with. Without these new friends, Charlie would have never dared to try on the things he has. His friends have helped him develop from an antisocial wallflower to an adventurous young man who is both brave and loyal. Transitioning shapes how the individual enters into the workforce, live independently and gain some control over their future
lives. High school best exemplifies the idea of transitioning out of childhood into adulthood. High school is the place where an individual is able to explore endless opportunities to express and find himself. Comparing myself to freshmen year, I was totally different. I was able to express myself through clubs, classes, and the people who I socialize with. It was difficult to understand what you want to do in the future when you have not even figure yourself out and what you want now. Through trial and errors, we are able to constantly improve ourselves and learn from those experiences.
Eric Erikson developed eight different psychosocial stages which emphasize the lifespan development during the major periods in life. The first psychosocial stage is infancy and it embraces the age of birth to one year old. The infancy crisis is trust versus mistrust which emphasizes that if children are taken care of; they will be able to gain confidence as well as trust. In the other hand, if they developed mistrust they will develop a sense of insecurity. Erickson’s second stage is toddlerhood which embraces the ages of one to three and deals with the stage crisis of autonomy versus shame and doubt. In the toddlerhood stage, toddlers are able to use mental skills and are able to start deciding for themselves. The third stage is early childhood, and it embraces the ages of three to six with the stage crisis of initiative versus guilt. During the early childhood stage children are able to gain the characteristics of ambition and responsibility and it is developed through the parent’s support. On the other hand if parents are too demanding children will develop guilt. The next stage is middle adulthood which ranges in the ages of six to eleven; children are able to develop the characteristic cooperation but, inferiority can also arise with negative experiences which can cause a stage crisis of industry versus i...
Self-identity allows you to be your own individual person; it allows you to be able to fit in with certain groups. However being a teen and trying to develop a self-identity of you own is very difficult.In Evan Hunter story "On the Sidewalk Bleeding" the theme of self-identity and its cause and effects have been explored.This will be shown through an analysis of why Andy joined the gang, the reasoning of why the couple did not help him, and also Andys thoughts about the identity he has chosen towards the end of the story.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower touches every imaginable thing a teenager faces during growing years. This is and will be an important novel in teen culture for a long time. The story shows that you may have gone through things, there may be drastic changes you face daily and it is painful and hard, but you can make it through. There is light at the end of the tunnel and our mistakes and flaws don’t define us. There is help for someone struggling and friends who will get you through.
82). As human beings, we are constantly encountering and resolving conflict events, which Erikson called developmental crisis. The approach we take to resolve these crises depends on the influences that are around us and the actions that we take. After examining each stage and my experiences with each one, I feel as if I have a better understanding of how I became the person I am today. My parents, family members, teachers, and coaches, along with all of the other people in my life, have helped me to create an identity for myself as I have moved through the stages of psychosocial development. Analyzing Erikson’s theory in this manner has granted me a better understanding of psychosocial development, which will be invaluable for my future career as an
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming of age film that chronicles the life of a boy named Charlie. Charlie is 15 years old and has just begun his first year of high school. He will give a detailed account of the joys and pains of his freshman year in high school. He begins by writing letters to an unknown stranger, but then, you realize that stranger is you. Through these Charlie tells his story from his perspective. He will experience many highs and lows related to the adolescence phase. The highlights of the paper will focus on the biological/physical, psychological, social, spiritual, cultural issues, as well as his strengths and challenges.
Teenagers are faced with many life changing decisions everyday, whether it is to study for the upcoming test or to how to express their sexuality. In the The Perks of being a Wallflower these issues are faced by Charlie everyday. Stephen Chbosky, writes this book through the words of a 15 year old freshmen in high school. Charlie faces many crossroads throughout this story, but in the end he was able to learn from these struggles and become the man he has always wanted to be. Stephen Chbosky shows the struggles of being teenager through imagery and various life changing events.
Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. (2011, September 1). Retrieved September 4, 2011, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erikson's_stages_of_psychosocial_development
They are all middle to upper middle class Caucasian adolescents living in a suburban environment. Sam, Patrick, and the other 3 members of their clique are all seniors in high school and Charlie is only a freshman. Through the experiences of Charlie and his new friends, The Perks of Being a Wallflower provides excellent examples of cliques and crowds, dating scripts, the identity status model, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and
Insecurities often trouble young people making high school difficult to manage. There are many new pressures that come with being a teenager and friendships are often the key to surviving high school. At such a young age, most teenagers have not discovered themselves yet and they need the help of others to uncover their true potential. In the coming of age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, Charlie searches for his identity and finds it with the help of his friends. Charlies good friend Sam, physically and mentally influences Charlie to becomes a more mature and confident person when she teaches him how to navigate relationships and helps him rediscover his past.
Eric Erikson was one of the most famous theorists of the twentieth century; he created many theories. One of the most talked about theories is his theory of psychosocial development. This is a theory that describes stages in which an individual should pass as they are going through life. His theory includes nine stages all together. The original theory only included eight stages but Erikson‘s wife found a ninth stage and published it after his death. The nine stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair, and hope and faith vs. despair (Crandell and Crandell, p.35-36)).
The perks of being a wallflowers is about Charlie, a 15 year old freshman student that is about to start his high school year. He lives with his parents and older sister. Charlie has as an older brother too, but he lives away because he is attending college. As the movie starts goes, it is implied that when Charlie was a kid he was molested by his aunt, who later dies in a car accident on Christmas Eve, (which is also Charlie’s birthday). His family seems to have a strong bond, they each follow a role, and they support each other. During some scenes in the movie, Charlie seems to be having internalizing problems. As the movie progressed, it is revealed that Charlie had a friend that committed suicide, and this event made Charlie to feel sorrowful. When he enters high school, Charlie appears to be very concern of what others may think about him, as well as
Erik Erikson developed eight psychosocial stages that occur through life. These stages help parents of younger children understand what the child is thinking and why they are acting the way that they do. For a person to become a well-rounded adult they need to succeed in each level. This essay will discuss the first six stages into young adulthood.
Psychosocial development is development on a social realm. Psychosocial development is how one develops their mind, maturity level, and emotions over the course of one’s life. The rate of development depends on different factors such as biological processes as well as environmental factors. A man named Erik Erikson who was a psychoanalyst who believed that early childhood successes and failures were responsible for influencing later developmental stages developed this theory. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development is based around the theory that social experience has an impact over an entire lifespan. There are eight stages developmental stages of development in the psychosocial theory and I will briefly examine all eight stages in this
Erik Erikson was a developmental psychologist known for his theory on psychosocial development. Unlike other theorists of his time Erikson’s theory focused on human development across the lifespan from birth to late adulthood. Erickson believed that development change occurs through out our lives in eight distinctive stages that emerge in a fixed pattern and are similar for all people. Erickson argued that each stage presents a crisis or conflict which results in either a positive or negative outcome (Feldman). In this essay I will identify incidents in my own life that demonstrate each stage of development according to Erickson that I have lived through. I will also interview my Aunt Tami who will share her experiences for the remainder stages of Erickson’s development that I have not gone through thus far.
After the operation, Charlie also suffered from disillusionment. In the bakery he used to have friends. Friends that would talk to him and care about him. "...Why? Because all of the sudden your a bigshot. You think you are better than the rest of us..." Charlie then realized that he had no friends but merely knew people that made fun of him. The bakery employees just liked him because they could blame their mistakes on Charlie. Then, they could not do this after the operation, so they all turned against Charlie. "...I had to find out just how much they knew. I found out. Nothing..." "Both frauds" Charlie also found out about Nemur and Strauss. He realized they were not professionals, but two men that were taking a shot in the dark. Charlie felt like an expendable lab specimen. Thus, Charlie had lost his friends and knew now he was just a like a lab rat. Charlie had lacked faith in his fellow man. "...Thoughts of suicide to stop it all while I am still in control..." Everyday Charlie lost a piece of himself. He was starting to regress and thought about suicide to end his up and down life. He became irritable and edgy around people at the university. He would become mad at people very quickly and then yell at them. His self-centered and arrogant personality was a symptom of his regression. People stayed away from him because he was becoming a madman and was unpredictable. Because of this, Charlie became lonely in his last weeks before he regressed totally. "...Intelligence without the ability to give and receive affection can lead to a mental breakdown..." Charlie experienced social inadequacies while he was intelligent. "...You know as well as I do, you don't need to work here anymore..." Charlie lost his job because he was to smart to work in a bakery. He could not socially interact with people he worked with and the people he met. Also, Charlie could not perform with Alice or Fay. "...I saw him watching me with his eyes wide open. I couldn't do it..." He experienced illusions when he tried to make love with Alice. The "Charlie" inside of himself emerged and started to regain control of his mind. All in all, Charlie suffered from the pain of not knowing how to deal with his peers and decisions.