A glimpse inside the teenage world with The Perks of Being a

Wallflower and Go Ask Alice

You can think that two novels that came out 28 years apart from each other would
be completely different, considering they were written by authors with different
genres, in different time frames and with different writing styles. It cannot be more
wrong when talking about the novels: The perks of being a wallflower (1999) and
Go ask Alice (1971).
They not only share topics or talk about teenagers around the same age, but they
address their experiences in almost the same way, and they may have a similar
intention on what does each book had to transmit to the reader. Throughout this
essay, I will make sure the reader comprehends not only the main similarities and
differences of both novels but the authors intention engaging plot, characters,
situations and respective endings, including now and then my personal opinion.
We need to focus on the fact that both authors wanted their characters identities to
be secret. In the beginning of the P.B.W we encounter Charlie telling his secret
friend that he would use different names so that he could be sure his story would
be a secret:
I will call people by different names or generic names because I dont want
you to find me. I didnt enclose a return address for the same reason.
(Chbosky, 1999, p. 7)
Being that, we cannot be that sure that his name is indeed Charlie.
Simultaneously, we have this other girl, pouring all her life and deepest secrets in a
book, in which its never actually sure her name is in fact Alice. She never
presents herself, not to mention that dialogues in that book are nonexistent,
making it impossible for the reader to confirm her real name. For the purposes of
this essay, I will use these names to refer to the characters.
In one hand we have Chbosky with Charlie in The perks of being a wallflower
(P.B.W for now on) opening the book in what one understands as this boy who is
sending letters to a completely stranger only because she said you listen and
understand (Chbosky, 1999, p.1). This stranger quickly escalates in his life and
begins sending letters every now and then recounting his everyday experiences;
may I point not once is said these letters actually get a reply or that he even knows
this guy, so it can be seen as he is actually talking to himself. Nevertheless, the
more you read the book, the more you care for Charlie.
On the other hand we have Alice. A young girl with the typical teenage problems:
weight, self-esteem, love, fitting in at school and dealing with all kinds of
temptations. Since the beginning of the book you can see that Alice is a much
more active person that Charlie is. She lives everything and feels everything too
much. Her life is full of up and downs, and that is what drags her into the
dangerous course of teenage sex and hardcore drugs. Unlike P.B.W, I didnt
connect with her, and through most of the book I was only curious about what
would happen to her if she continued like that, but never really care for her.
I will continue by talking about Alices and Charlies personalities and their first
impression to the reader. Like the title suggests, Charlie behaves throughout the
entire book as a wallflower, making allusion of a decorating paper drawing in the
wall, or as Patrick describes it: "You see things. You keep quiet about them. And
you understand" (Chbosky, 1999, pp 89). We see this kind of behavior in the entire
book.
Not only is Charlie socially awkward and shy, but also he has no tact whatsoever,
meaning he says things without any filter, which can be thought as having
Aspergers disease
1
. He is so pure-hearted that can go under the impression of
being innocent or nave, but he sure knows how to differentiate between good and
bad, he just sometimes lets it go to save anyone some trouble. These, combined
with his passive aggressive behavior, make Charlie a living time bomb, which
ultimately exploded.
A very strange phenomenon I could notice is that his life is really simple; the real
action is taking place only in his mind, since he is very emotional. If we take a
deeper look and imagine that anyone else is recounting Charlies life, we will be left
with nothing but a plain kid with adaptation problems that are not that serious. The
real deal is the way he expresses himself and his life, all of it inside his own mind.
For instance, lets look at the following extract:
Patrick started driving really fast. [] Sam stood up and the wind
turned her dress into ocean waves. [] When we got out, Sam

1
Aspergers syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social
interaction and nonverbal communication, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.
screamed this really fun scream. [] And in that moment, I swear we
were infinite. (Chbosky, 1999, p. 89)

Subsequently, we have Alice. At first sight, it might seem as a girl that lives the
same way all the middle-upper class does. She has a stable family group; she
goes to school and is subject to continuous mood swings, which is why she is
prone to depression. In few words, there is nothing extraordinary about Alice.
Her unlimited desire to fit in at her school or be noticed by the guy she has a crush
on makes her rational judgment to be almost nonexistent. She can be dragged
anywhere, do anything, for the tiniest bit of approval and attention. As any other
teenage girl, she looks for someone to understand her, and she finally finds this
person on her precious Diary. You can see she even personifies this book since
the beginning till the end with lines like Dear precious Diary (Anonymous, 1971, p
15) or Sorry I didnt talk to you on Thanksgiving (idem). This can only
demonstrates her feeling of alienation and lack of support system, and her
necessity to create someone that listens and understands, just like Charlie did.
Now, I will list some obvious similarities between these 2 novels. Both Charlie and
Alice write in first person. Early in the book they change or enter to a new school.
They both seem to achieve good grades in school, and they also enjoy reading
books. The most important thing they have in common is their first approach to the
world of drugs, which they didnt choose, but were exposed to it by a third party.
While Charlie consumed marihuana in brownie that tasted a little weird (Chbosky,
1999, pg 78), Alice tried it inside a coke while playing with her friends. All the things
that happen next diverge completely, and have everything to do with the
environment in which they are developing.
At first sight, we see that our characters have a main difference in their lives: their
family and friends, that is to say: support system. It is said that for adolescents,
family support is the most important element in their lives. In a personality research
done by Corey M. Clark, it is stated that Inadequate support from the parents will
likely increase the chance of getting depression among adolescents (2005).
Considering this, it is easy to speculate the reason of the two so different endings
of the novels.
With this in mind, lets analyze Charlie and Alices situation. Charlies story is
different from Alice in a simple way: He has a support system, in his friends and in
his family. He has two older brothers who help and give him advice from time to
time. His parents make more presence, or at least, he makes them more present.
He tries to understand their point of view and he is grateful towards them. Sam and
Patrick are also an important part of his life, with them he discovers not only
friendship, but also that there is a world outside of his head, that he is a part of
something beyond his comprehension, and that is what keeps him in the right path.
With Alice, we encounter a different story, beginning with the fact that she has
young siblings. She is the one that should be setting the example, not otherwise,
so when her parents compare her with the other two, she loses it. Her parents are
present, but she doesnt seem to notice. She only focuses on the bad things or in
the things they dont do. She doesnt feel them close nor interested. She doesnt
have any real friends, friends who care for her. She wants them to be, and that is
the reason she stumbles from one bad choice into another one.
All of these lead into their respective, dramatic endings. In both novels, we find
ourselves immerse into two totally unexpected developments. In Charlies story, he
realizes that her aunt had molested him as a child and then has a major
breakdown, which ultimately takes him to the hospital. In Alices story, we have a
similar development, with different outcomes. Although Alice is sexually assaulted,
what takes her into the hospital, and later young rehab, is a relapse into acid that
triggers a series of hallucinations that takes her over the edge.
In a not so surprising ending, they both seem to be getting along with their lives.
They both hope of a better tomorrow and they have plans for the future. With
Charlie, he affirms:
So, if this does end up being my last letter, please believe that things are
good with me, and even when they are not, they will be soon enough.
And I will believe the same about you. (Chbosky, 1999, p 449)
And with Alice, its almost the same ending:
I know its going to be all right because I have Joel and my new super
straight friends and theyll help me. Besides Im much stronger than I
used to be. I know I am. [] Its all been good in its own special way, I
guess. (Anonymous, 1971, p. 319)
Nevertheless, in the epilogue, it is stated that Alice died three weeks after this
statement because of an overdose. I didnt see that coming (even though I was
spoiled before, my brain just ditch it).
To sum up, I think that both novels have a clear literal message: the life of a
teenager is extremely hard. Everything is impossible to achieve, it seems like its
the end of the world every single day. Adolescents dont know how to manage
frustration in a constructive way, and thats why they recur to drugs.
My main observation for the 2 different endings has everything to do with a
characteristic I mentioned before: support system. And I think one of the authors
intentions is exactly that, to show the importance of family and friends and the
difference and major impact that it can make in a teenagers life. Because at the
end of the day, no matter at what stage of your life you are in, you need to feel a
part of something, to feel appreciated and needed, otherwise, you will seek for that
comfort in other places and almost always is found in the worst ones, and your life
is changed forever.






References:

Anonymous.(1971) Go Ask Alice. Ed. New York: Simon Pulse.
Chobsky, Stephen (1999). The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: Gallery Print.
Clark, M. (2005) Relations Between Social Support and Physical Health. Available in:
http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/clark.html
Shmoop (s.f.) The perks of being a wallflower. Shmoop. Available in:
http://www.shmoop.com/perks-of-being-a-wallflower/summary.html
Kimayoung. (2012) Personal Notes & Questions. Wordpress. Available in:
http://kimayoung.wordpress.com/personal-notes/
La youth (2013) Interview with Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a
Wallflower Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://www.layouth.com/interview-with-stephen-
chbosky-author-of-the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower/
Levingston, M. (2010) Textual Analysis On Go Ask Alice by Anonmyous. Wordpress.
Available in: http://ea8411.wordpress.com/artifact-analyses/textual-analysis/
Movies Coming soon. (8/09/2012) [Video] The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Interview -
Logan Lerman. Available in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhae2Fan_3Y
National Autistic Society.(2014) What is Asperger syndrome? Available in:
http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-
introduction/what-is-asperger-syndrome.aspx