The Perks of Being a Wallflower — Character Discussion
Hello everyone and welcome back!
Have you read our discussion on the plot yet? If yes, thank you! If no, shame on you…please go do it 😬
Now let’s kick off today’s discussion about the characters.
As per usual, let’s remind ourselves of the main characters, as well as the brilliant actors who portray them.
- Charlie Kelmeckis — Logan Lerman
- Samantha “Sam” Button — Emma Watson
- Patrick Stewart — Ezra Miller
For this discussion we will be focusing on these characters.
Charlie Kelmeckis
Charlie is the main character through which we experience the story. He is 15 years old and is starting his freshmen year at High School.
Backstory
He’s a very nervous and introverted character who struggles to make friends. Right at the beginning we see him talking to his pen-pal, saying that he only talked to his family this summer and, that the pen-pal shouldn’t try to figure out who Charlie was, as he did not want that. Unfortunately, we never find out who the pen-pal is, however, we can assume that they don’t personally know each other. But it shows that Charlie prefers talking to someone via text, rather than in person. It also indicates that he doesn’t seem to have a lot, if any friends, especially since he only talked to his family during his summer break.
We don’t find out much about Charlie’s exact past, but we do know that he struggled a lot with bad periods, as well as having spent quite some time in the hospital. It indicates that Charlie must struggle with his mental health and must have, at some point, gotten so bad that he had to be hospitalised.
Charlie’s Mind
We are never told what exactly happened, but we can assume that Charlie suffers from severe depression, past trauma and possibly panic attacks. At the end, he even seems to have suicidal thoughts, as he looks at the kitchen knife moments before he passes out. We know that most of his struggles come from his past, especially due to him being sexually abused by his aunt, when he was still very young (under 7 years old). What is interesting, is that it even seems like Charlie doesn’t fully remember or recognises what his aunt Helen had done to him. I might even think that he only realises it at the end, which leads to his breakdown.
The moment when ‘things get bad’, as he refers to it, are mainly triggered by flashbacks about his aunt’s passing, or when someone he loves is being physically hurt. So we see him raging up when Candace is being slapped by Derek, as well as when Patrick is being beaten up in the cafeteria.
When Charlie sees Candace being hit, he immediately rushes towards Derek, however, a very concerned and possibly scarred Candace is pushing him out the room. She assures him that she can handle Derek and that he should not tell their parents.
During the second scenario, when Patrick is being hit, Charlie enters a state of trance, not realising what he is doing, even blacking out. Additionally, his normally kind and quiet character changes completely, as he not only hits the other students, but even threatens them to blind them if they were to ever touch one of his friends again.
This anger and tendency for violence are again rooted in his relationship with his aunt, as she too was physically and sexually abused by her ex-boyfriend. Having been confronted with this kind of violence, as well as having a lot of suppressed anger due to his trauma, it leads to him not only reacting with violence, but to do anything to protect the person he loves.
Charlie certainly isn’t a violent person, but when he finds himself in these situation, something uncontrollable takes over, which is why he also can’t remember anything that he did.
All these scenes just show how protective and loyal Charlie is. Yes, violence is never the answer, but he did it in order to safe Patrick. And let’s be honest, those jerks deserved it!
Charlie and his Freshmen Year
When starting his first year of high school, we can tell that Charlie is a rather quite, shy, nervous, bullied, lonely, and nerdy kid. He sits alone at lunch, prefers to read, knows all the answers to his advances English class, but is too shy and uncomfortable to raise his hands. Before even starting high school, he already dreads it, counting the days till graduation.
Charlie and Mr. Anderson
I believe that Mr. Anderson played a huge part in Charlie’s freshmen year, as he supported and encouraged Charlie throughout the year, giving him additional books, even gifting him his copy of his favourite book. What I like most about Mr. Anderson, is that he saw that Charlie knew the answers, but that he didn’t point him out and ask him, in front of the class, as to why he wouldn’t raise his hand. Moreover, Mr. Anderson seems to know the ideal answer to Charlie’s questions. The scene where Charlie asks Mr. Anderson, as to why nice people tend to date the wrong people, he responds with something very important we choose the love we think we deserve. Not only does this quote follow Charlie, but it also showed how close they were and that Charlie felt very comfortable and though highly of Mr. Anderson, as he otherwise wouldn’t have asked such a question.
Charlie makes Friends
Charlie obviously doesn’t make friends easily, which is why I thought it was even greater, that he took the initiative to, not only sit near Patrick at the football game, but to actually spark a conversation. Luckily, Patrick immediately takes him on and invites him to grab a bite with him and Sam after the game. What I love most about that first interaction, is that it is very pure and kind. Patrick remembers him from his Shop class and Charlie actually calls him Patrick and not “Nothing”. Even when Sam joins, apart from the fact that Charlie immediately falls in love, they make Charlie feel like he has been part of their group forever. We can see how happy it made Charlie and how huge this step of grabbing a bit was, by the fact that Charlie ended up paying for their dinner. This little gesture just showed how thankful he was for them to invite him.
Charlie’s Relationship with Sam
Charlie sure can’t hide the fact that he likes Sam, however, I believe their relationship goes way beyond that. Like Sam says, she doesn’t just want to be anyone’s crush, and she certainly isn’t just that for Charlie. From the moment they met, you can see that there is something between the two, which is why most of us were probably rooting for them throughout the movie. Even after only knowing each other for a little while, Sam seems to give Charlie a certain confidence he never had before. It seems like they complete each other in a very sweet way. They both seem to be giving each other a very unique type of confidence. While Sam inspires Charlie to be more outgoing and open to other people, he shows her to be confident in herself and to see her own value.
Right from the start, Sam cared very much about Charlie, especially when he told her that his best friend had shot himself the year prior. Even though he is completely high when he tells her, he does become very honest and vulnerable, as he tells her that he would have liked his friend to at least leave a note. Because he is completely stoned, he sort of brushes off the topic, asking for the toilette, but we can clearly see the shock and worry on Sam’s face. Even later on, she is seen observing Charlie with a worried expression, even telling Patrick about his best friend, saying that she believes that he doesn’t have any friends.
This very caring and loving relationship goes on throughout the movie and is showcased in many different scenes, such as when Sam kisses Charlie, to ensure that his first kiss was with someone who loves him, in contrary to how her first kiss was.
Charlie’s Relationship with Patrick
Much like his relationship with Sam, his relationship with Patrick is very kind and loving. Patrick takes Charlie under his wing and even proposes a toast to their new friend, after Sam tells him about Charlie’s best friend committing suicide. Charlie, obviously being very confused about the toast, says that he didn’t think anyone noticed him. This statement clearly brings sadness and even tears to Patrick and Sam, however, Patrick immediately follows with “we didn’t think there was anyone cool left to meet”.
Charlie and Patrick’s relationship gets even stronger, when Charlie accidentally walks in on Patrick and Brad. Even though at this point, Charlie and Patrick had only known each other for very little time, Patrick approaches him in a very calm way, explaining to him why he cannot tell anyone. Charlie, even though being “baked like a cake”, promises not to tell anyone, again showing his very loyal and trustworthy character.
While their relationship has always been close, their friendship goes to a whole new level after Charlie saves and defends Patrick during his fight in the cafeteria. Even though they hadn’t spoken weeks prior to this moment, Charlie still went to Patrick’s rescue, again just showing his character and the love he has for his friends. After that incident, the two start spending a lot of time together and that is when Patrick finally lets down his guard. Charlie’s actions over the past months have given Patrick the confidence to open up and even kiss him. I don’t think that Patrick necessarily had feeling for Charlie, but rather got overwhelmed in that moment, realising that Charlie’s loyalty and kindness is what he may want in a partner.
Charlie’s Evolution
Charlie changes significantly throughout his freshmen year and, while he originally couldn’t wait for high school to be over, he actually starts to dread the end. Cause the end of his first year meant that his friends would be leaving. He started to realise how valuable the time we have is and that we cannot have enough of it, especially when spending it with the people we love.
What I love most is when he tells his pen-pal that he will try to keep on writing him, but that this might be his last letter, as he is too busy participating. This just nicely sums up his change, as he went from being home constantly, only talking to his family or his pen-pal, to spending a lot of time outdoors with his friends, leaving him no more time to sit down and write.
Samantha “Sam” Button
Sam is a very open and outgoing character who really loves music. Unfortunately, she was sexually abused at a very young age, when her father’s boss kissed her when she was 11, mind you, this was also her first kiss. We don’t know much about what happened after this kiss, but we do know that her parents eventually got divorced and that, even though she still sees him occasionally, Sam doesn’t really like her father…understandably.
Due to what happened to her when she was younger, she started going down the wrong path, drinking too much and hooking up with different guys at parties. This eventually led to her getting a certain reputation. The reason for this behaviour, is that she doesn’t think much of herself. I assume that the trauma from her childhood led her to thinking this way. Not only does she not think that she deserve good love, but she even thinks that she doesn’t deserve a good future.
Moreover, Patrick says that she always puts herself down around men, playing dumb even, which is why he hoped that she would finally find someone where she could just be herself.
Sam’s Relationship with Charlie
I already talked a lot about her relationship with Charlie, but I do want to add one more thing. I love that, and she might not always notice, Sam really is herself around him. She doesn’t play dumb, she doesn’t put herself down, and she can honest. All of this comes from Charlie valuing her. When she thinks that she won’t go to a good college because of her SAT scores, Charlie helps her study for the next one. When she thinks she doesn’t deserve a good future, Charlie tells her that she does, that she is a beautiful women who deserve a beautiful life.
Even though the two are very close, there was never any indication of them trying to be more than friends, especially since Sam was interested in Craig. However, towards the end, she actually asks Charlie as to why he never asked her out, indicating that she did like him and would have liked him to ask her out. But maybe she told herself that he was too good for her, which is why she also never made a move.
Patrick Stewart
Much like Sam, Patrick is very outgoing and happy. He enjoys making others laugh and caring for them. Even though we don’t know for sure, it seems like he is openly queer, even though Charlie assumed he and Sam were dating. He confidence is also represented in him playing the lead role, a bisexual transvestite, in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sam describes him as ‘putting the ass in class’ and that might be quite accurate. While he’s not necessarily mean, he sure is classy.
Patrick’s Relationship with Brad
The two first started seeing each other when they were freshmen, however, back then Brad always had to be drunk before he could meet Patrick. He seemed to have been so ashamed of his sexuality, that he also needed his drunkenness as an excuse for the following day. Unfortunately, this excessive alcohol consumption led him to drinking way too much. Luckily for him, Patrick stuck by his side, helped him sober up and the two have kept their relationship a secret ever since. Even though only Patrick’s close friends know about the two, Patrick and Brad do support each other very much. For example, Patrick goes to every football game, meaning that he might just really like football, or he wants to show his boyfriend some support. Brad, on the other hand, also comes to Patrick’s Rocky Horror Picture Shows and cheers him on in the audience. Unfortunately though, Brad is not so supportive when people from school are around, as he doesn’t defend Patrick when he is being called ‘Nothing’ by his football friends, nor does he defend him when Patrick is being tripped.
Even though Brad ends up picking a fit with Patrick in the cafeteria, as well as again not stopping his friends when they start beating Patrick, he does thank Charlie afterwards for stopping the fight, indicating that he very much cares about Patrick.
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This was our discussion on the main characters of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
If you want to discuss any other character, let me know in the comments below.
I wish you all a lovely day.
