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The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a la Shmoop. Flowers have it pretty easy. Soak up the sun,

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feed some honeybees, and maybe try to fit in a little photosynthesis before dinner.

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But flowers aren’t really known for their social skills. Mostly, they’re content to

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be a part of the scenery. In Stephen Chbosky’s <Shah-boss-key’s>

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novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlie…

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…the “Guy With No Last Name”…

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…spends more time in his head than he does in the real world.

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He’s a wannabe writer who doesn’t write…

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…And he’d rather spin records… or tapes… than hit the dance floor.

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He also has romantic problems. He’d rather suffer through a boring relationship than

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end it…

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…and when his crush breaks up with her boyfriend, he takes action by… doing nothing.

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Charlie seems content to live life as a passenger…

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… instead of taking the wheel himself.

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While this is one way of surviving high school, is it necessarily the best way?

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What are the perks of being a wallflower? Well, since shy people aren’t exactly known

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for their game…

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…their close friends are there because of the real person beneath all the issues…

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…not the candy coated outside.

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Charlie’s a great listener, and his zipped lips are really good at keeping secrets. What’s

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not to love?

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Charlie doesn’t have a ton of friends, but he’s definitely doing something right, since

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Patrick and Sam are willing to stick with him through the hard times.

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That’s much better than a random hookup. Also, wallflowers get all the good dirt.

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Charlie absorbs all of the human interaction around him, good or bad. He seems to see or

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hear anything, from secret gay relationships to who’s pregnant.

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Attention to detail is a handy tool for a writer…

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…and Charlie’s keen eye for the human experience will definitely help him out--if

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he ever gets around to writing anything. Or maybe there are no perks. Charlie isn’t

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exactly a happy dude, and sometimes he loses it in a pretty big way.

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His observations make him a more sensitive person, but they also cause him to shut down

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emotionally.

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Charlie protects Patrick and Sam, but he doesn’t take very good care of himself. It’s obvious

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that he’s got some secrets which need to be told.

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By the end of the book, our wallflower is ready for some fresh air.

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So what are the perks of being a wallflower?

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The ability to form close, genuine relationships? …

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…Those uncanny observational skills?

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Or is being a wallflower… not all it’s cracked up to be?

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Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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