The Perks of Being a Wallflower blog post

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

What really difficult or complex things are happening in the text?

                                                                                                                                                                                               

            I’m currently reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The entire book is written in letters to a person referred to as “Friend”. The main character, Charlie, is writing to this person about his life and all its ups and downs. However, this “Friend” doesn’t know who Charlie is, and Charlie is writing him anonymously using different names for different people in his book. I think one really difficult and complex issue happening in the text is that Charlie isn’t comfortable enough to talk to someone personally about his problems and has to anonymously write someone to do it.

            Charlie’s going through a lot at the moment; struggling with girls, hanging out with very nice people who do drugs; family issues, etc. A lot of these things are pretty serious, and aren’t things he should be keeping for himself. He is taking a step in the right direction by writing to this person, but since it’s anonymous and he doesn’t put a return address on any of his letters, this person can’t help him at all. The whole point of talking to someone about your issues and struggles is so that you can get help and hopefully and eventually move on from them. However, since Charlie won’t talk to anyone who can actually help him, he won’t get help, and these problems could potentially become dangerous or harmful to Charlie, and others around him.

            The experiences Charlie’s going through aren’t rare, and they happen to many teenagers around his age. Charlie does seem very smart, and can usually differentiate between right and wrong, which may be a tremendous help to him in the future if any of these problems escalate. Some teenagers don’t talk to anyone about their problems, and we always hear about the ones who committed suicide or crime, but we never hear about the ones who made it out okay in the end. Charlie might be one of those people who are smart enough to know when to separate themselves from a crowd or situation that will harm them rather than help them in the future, and not need advice from someone else.

            In conclusion, Charlie may be making the wrong choice by not talking to someone about his problems, but he may be making the best choice at the same time. Everyone is different, some need help to get through tough situations, some can handle it on their own, and others can’t take the pressure. I think that Charlie is smart enough to make the right decisions for himself, and I’ll just have to keep reading to find out if he has.

The Book Thief Blog Post #4: Liesel and Papa’s Relationship

The Book Thief Blog Post #4: Liesel and Papa’s Relationship

            Ever since Papa coaxed Liesel out of the car that brought her to Himmel Street, it’s been evident that Liesel and Papa have a special connection. They’re not technically father and daughter, but they certainly act that way. You can tell Papa loves Liesel, and the feeling is mutual. But now that Papa is being drafted to war, everything is about to change. I think that all relationships change over time, because people change, and they don’t always change at the same rates.

            Whenever Liesel was having a nightmare, Papa would always rush to her side to comfort her. Now that Liesel is old enough, he comforts her, though not directly. When Liesel has a nightmare now, she reads, and without Papa, she wouldn’t know how to read. Papa also helped Liesel get accustomed to life in Munich. Rosa would not have been very beneficial, since she would just curse Liesel out, but Papa helped her ease into life in the Hubermann household, and get used to the behavior that goes on in there.

            Now that Papa is being drafted, I think things will veer into a whole new direction. Without Papa, I think Rosa and Liesel might butt heads a bit. This means that without Papa to insult, Rosa will have to insult Liesel all the time, and without Papa’s soothing behavior to calm Liesel down, I’m afraid she might not take the criticism as well. The house will also be much quieter, without Papa’s joyful accordion. Either Rosa and Liesel won’t get along, or they’ll have nothing to say to one another. Sometimes in a relationship involving three people, when you lose one, it completely changes the dynamic of the relationship.

            I think that all relationships change over time, because people themselves change, and we’re not all wired to some clock that tells us exactly when we’re going to change. In a relationship, there are bound to be some ups and downs, some dramatic, and some less. When one person in a relationship changes quickly, and another changes more slowly, it can mess up the relationship, making it so that people don’t have as much in common. It’s often said that best friends cannot be best friends if they never fight. Things in a relationship can get resolved, or not, but things will always change. 

The Book Thief Blog Post #3

The Book Thief Blog Post

            I am currently reading The Book Thief, and the last thing that happened was that Rudy and Liesel left their group of friends that they stole with. The group’s leader left, and was replaced with a boy that was really rude to both Liesel and Rudy. The last thing Rudy did was spit on the boy’s shoes, after the boy had beaten him up. However, while Rudy was getting beat up, Liesel told the boy to stop, that he was hurting Rudy. I think this shows how much Rudy and Liesel’s friendship has grown since that first soccer game on their street.

            After Liesel defended Rudy, he denied that he was getting hurt. Of course since Liesel and Rudy are still pretty young, Liesel will defend her friend, and won’t care what people will think of him, or her. Since Rudy is also young, he’s going to try to act much older than he is and pretend he’s not getting hurt. I think it’s so cute to see how a girl and boy’s perspective on an issue differ. Not just that, but you can tell that Rudy and Liesel are really good friends. For Liesel to defend Rudy meant for her to stand up to the “big kids”, which shows she really cares about him.

            I think that Liesel is very lucky to have Rudy by her side. He’ll stick with her through thick and thin, and he’s really helped Liesel transition into life in Munich. It was hard for Liesel to make such a quick switch to Munich, and I think she really benefited from Rudy being there to tease her, which in a way I think made her relax and ease into her new life.