Short

Analytical Response: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

For this book, I want to focus on the issue of accepting, talking about, and
helping those who go through traumatic experiences. Although at the end of the
story we learn that Charlie has been sexually abused (the traumatic experience), I
also think we can use this book as an advocate for communicating mental illness. I
have read this book multiple times, all with long period of time in between them so
Im never really sure of what happens in the end, and each time I read the book
thinking that Charlie has a form of Autism. This is never clearly stated in the book so
its probably not the case, but studying psychology and special education, he seems
to have a lot of the characteristics a child with mild Autism or Aspergers would
have. Although he is surprisingly emotional, hes literal and has a hard time picking
up on social cues. So as I read this story, each time that I read it, I get angry, in a
sense, at the way the other characters in the novel react to Charlie. Even after we
learn Charlies story, I still believe that the reactions to individuals similar to Charlie
can be the same.

At the very beginning, Charlie is explaining the time when his friend Michael

committed suicide. On page 9, he states in his letter, For the rest of the school year,
the teachers treated me different and gave me better grades even though I didnt get
any smarter. To tell you the truth, I think I made them all nervous. Charlie clearly
struggles throughout the story dealing with his friends death, the loss of his aunt,
his sisters abusive boyfriend, and even the abuse that Sam suffers that we never
hear too much about. It is interesting to get this quote so early in the story, because
throughout the rest of his letters, it is obvious that people often did treat him

different. The only characters that didnt were Patrick, Sam, (I guess Mary Elizabeth
a little bit), and Bill the English Teacher. However, his family often pushed his
reactions, emotions, and intense breakdowns to the side. Yes, they seek him
psychological help, but there is never really an instance in the story where we get
his parents or siblings asking Charlie to talk about what has happened. Perhaps if
Charlie didnt feel like his parents were pushing aside his experiences he would be
more willing to talk about things when hes upset, verbalize his emotions, and he
wouldnt have suppressed his trauma for so long.
Often times, we treat people who have experienced events similar to
Charlies the same way his family does. We want them to get better, but were too
nervous or uncomfortable to do anything real about it. We see Charlies relationship
with Sam and Patrick, but one could argue that they are enablers; allowing Charlie
to drink, smoke, and never really asking him anything personal. I find the story
compelling the way it is, but it is also problematic that we never really see an adult
taking responsibility for Charlies well being. For example, Bill recognizes Charlies
abilities and bonds with him over books, but compared to Mr. Freeman in Speak, it is
unclear whether or not Bill actually recognized any problems with Charlie. As a
future teacher, I find that problematic because teachers are responsible for their
students when they are at school. Did Bill ever follow up after finding out about the
sisters abuse? I would have a hard time as a teacher letting things like that go. I
believe that Bill was genuinely curious but maybe not genuinely concerned.
As much as I enjoy this story, its frustrating because it does address so many
important topics without really showing them being solved. How many times in the

story does Charlie end up in the hospital? And then each time he leaves, no one even
talks about it like it happened. This book is a good advocate for teenagers for
showing that these things need to be talked about, and that they are not alone. The
adults in these students lives need to be willing to talk through the tough situations
with them.
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Research Paper: Why should we teach YA Lit?
Discussing Mental Illness in YA Literature
The article Not as Crazy as It Seems: Discussing the New YA Literature of
Mental Illness in Your Classroom or Library addresses the idea that mental illness
awareness and the way it is written about has gown exponentially. Diane Scrofano
goes about comparing many popular Young Adult (YA) novels that center around
the concept of mental illness and different issues that are prevalent in them,
including medication, family, friends, and feeling like an outsider, to each other and
the way that previous works of literature handled the same concepts. The ignorance
of people surrounding the issue of mental illness and the negative opinions on
getting help constantly impact teenagers, and as a student who loved to read, I wish
someone had told me about books that addressed these issues. I support Sorfanos
argument that adolescents should read these books in order to realize that they are
not crazy. As a future English teacher, I will be better equipped with resources to
give students who may be going through similar situations as the characters in these
books.

Scrofano begins her article by acknowledging the commonality of mental

illness in our society today and how we should be viewing mental illness as a
medical problem rather than madness. She starts by mentioning the book One
Flew over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey, where crazy is used to label members of
the community who are creative or subversive (Scrofano 15). Although works
similar to this are important, Scrofano recognized the need for books that are more
relatable to those that are reading themgoing to therapy, the frustration in trying
out new medication and dealing with the side effects, the stress that it puts on
familyso that they can find comfort in knowing that someone else gets what
theyre going through. Scrofano goes on to mention that there are books revolving
around mental illness that are told from all different points of view. For example, Get
Well Soon, Crazy as I seem, and Its Kind of a Funny Story are all told from the teens
point of view as they are the ones suffering from the mental illness. Crazy and A
Blue So Dark feature a teens point of view as they watch their parent dealing with
schizophrenia. Stop Pretending references a girls experience in watching her sisters
bipolar disorder effect their lives.

As I briefly mentioned before, the article touches on many different themes

within these novels surrounding mental illness. The stigma of mental illness is one
theme that is common in books such as Define Normal, Dirty Little Secrets, and Stop
Pretending. The characters in these stories often feel compelled to overcompensate
for a parent or a siblings mental illness. Another issue is the concept of medication,
and Scrofano critiques the use of Prozac in Ellen Hopkinss Impulse, where Hopkins
mentions the medication having immediate sedative effects. Scrofano reiterates that

this, in a way, plays into the misconceptions, saying that all anti-depressents turns
people into numbed creatures, and this may scare away people from taking
medications when they need them (17). Reactions from family members are also
prevalent in many of these stories, and often times it shows the parents confusion,
anger, frustration, and empathy for the child that has the mental illness. This can be
very relatable to those who are dealing with the illness, as they touch on all common
reactions from the people they care about. Talking about mental illness and options
for how to deal with it can be difficult, and seeing that it is a frustrating and difficult
situation for all involved can help readers feel less like the illness is a problem and
more like an actual medical sickness.

Scrofano addresses the issue of books that address mental illness as

problem novels. In Dirty Little Secrets, the main character burns down her house in
order to stop authorities from sending her to foster care after her mother who was
mentally ill passes away. She burns her mothers body with the house so they have
no proof that her mother has passed, so she is able to stay with her friends and
boyfriends and live a normal life. The main issue of this portion of the essay is the
fear that these books will cause students to do irrational, impulsive things in order
to combat their mental illness. However, I agree with Scrofanos statement that a
book in which neither teens nor adults are seen as wholly good or wholly evil
creates a balance that is more relatable and empathetic to readers than a book
where youre made to absolutely love or hate a character (19). By keeping these
books raw, readers are able to relate better, and that does not mean that now every
reader with a mentally ill parent is going to burn down their house.

This article is extremely helpful for educators of adolescents because it not

only provides resources to give students, but it also educates future teachers that
these are issues that their students will be dealing with. I believe that Scrofano
eloquently addressed a topic that is hard to address, and her points that she made
were accurate, as well as informing. Mental illness is a topic that often scares people
away, but with it becoming more common, we should not be afraid to talk about it.
By encouraging teachers to be educated, we can encourage students not to be
ashamed about mental illness and seek the resources and help that they may need.

Source:
Scrofano, Diane. "Not As Crazy As It Seems: Discussing The New YA Literature
Of Mental Illness In Your Classroom Or Library." Young Adult Library Services
13.2 (2015): 15-20. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.