Journal #9

The novel I read, "Perks of Being a Wallflower", definitely captured the theme of "Coming of Age." In the beginning of the book, Charlie is sort of an "UN-SOCIAL" type of a person where he doesn't hangout with anyone, and no one even knows him at school. He's incredibly emotional and cries at simple things. But when Charlie meets Sam and Patrick, his whole life changes and he discovers so much things, both the DARK and LIGHT side of life. Sam and Patrick teach him about how to have friends, how to "participate", and other things. Drugs, sexuality, and alcohol are some things that sort of affect Charlie's life. You can see that as the book reaches the end, the things he writes about show his maturity. There was an incident that really tested Charlie's honesty to show what he really thinks and feels. When Mary Elizabeth, one of the people Charlie has met through Sam and Patrick, reveals that she has a crush on Charlie and starts "clinging" to him, he doesn't know whether he should be nice and let her do what she's doing, or whether he should honestly tell Mary Elizabeth that he doesn't even like her because he actually likes Sam. But his life seems to mess up when he was dared in one party to kiss the girl who he thought was the prettiest, he kisses Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth. Growing up, maturing, and experiencing difficult things all supported the theme of "Coming of Age."