The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Sam is one of Charlie’s first friends in high school, and his love interest throughout the novel. While Charlie makes other friends, Sam remains his closest confidant. She is there for him during his worst times, including when he unknowingly ingests a marijuana brownie and when he is fearful after taking LSD. Sam is a senior, and for much of the novel she is dating a college boy named Craig. Sam is the prettiest girl Charlie has ever seen, but she is also described as being smart. She loves Nirvana, smokes cigarettes, and plays Janet in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sam initiates Charlie’s first kiss after revealing a friend of her father’s molested her as a child. This moment sets the groundwork for Charlie to confront his own childhood sexual abuse—which he does when Sam later touches his penis.

Patrick is Charlie’s only best friend besides Sam. Patrick is Sam’s stepbrother, and he is also attracted to men. These two attributes define much of Patrick’s character, in that he and Sam are best friends and are always together, and much of the drama in Patrick’s life comes from his relationship with Brad, the school’s quarterback. Patrick is openly gay, but when his secret relationship with Brad is discovered, Brad breaks up with Patrick. Patrick is described as the life of the party and hilarious. These characteristics help Charlie, who is naturally more introverted, come out of his shell. Patrick also encourages Charlie to embrace who he is—a writer. Although Patrick is one of many people to ask Charlie to keep a secret, he also increases Charlie’s self-awareness in pointing out that Charlie is a “wallflower” (37), or a quiet observer.

Charlie’s sister is a senior, and at the start of the novel, she and Charlie don’t have a close relationship. However, after Charlie takes her to get an abortion and keeps her secret, she and Charlie begin confiding in each other and grow to be friends. She is described as exceptionally pretty but mean to the many boys that pursue her at school. While she is a self-proclaimed feminist, she starts dating a boy after he hits her and continues to date him in secret after her parents forbid their relationship. The relationship only ends after she gets pregnant and he breaks up with her. Charlie’s sister is also smart, and she graduates from high school at the top of her class.

Charlie’s older brother is away at college for most of the novel, but it’s clear that he is a huge part of Charlie’s life. Charlie continually imagines what his brother’s life is like at college, and whenever he’s at home, Charlie tries to talk to him about his life. Charlie’s brother is described as loving cars, football, and women. While this is much different than Charlie’s character, by the end of the novel, the two brothers find a common ground.

Mary Elizabeth is Sam’s best friend and a senior. She is a feminist, has a Buddhist tattoo and belly button ring, and runs the fanzine Punk Rocky. She also coordinates The Rocky Horror Picture Show events, loves foreign films and underground punk music, and says she hates her parents. While she is initially stand-offish and even abrasive to Charlie, she suddenly becomes attracted to him after seeing him perform in the Rocky show in his underwear. After asking him to the Sadie Hawkins’ dance, she becomes Charlie’s first girlfriend. However, because she only talks about herself, Charlie quickly gets annoyed with their relationship. After they break up she starts dating a college boy named Peter. While she had admitted to appreciating Charlie’s trait ability to be a good listener, she later says she loves Peter ability to argue with her.

Charlie’s aunt Helen was his mother’s sister. A family friend sexually molested her when she was a child. When she told her parents, no one believed her. This enabled the family friend to repeatedly come to the house and molest her. As an adult, she had troubled relationship with men. She got heavily involved in drinking and doing drugs, and she eventually finds balance when she lives with Charlie and his family. During this time, she gets into therapy and seems to be doing better, but she dies in a car accident on Charlie’s birthday. Helen used to babysit Charlie and his siblings when they were little. Staying up late and watching Saturday Night Live with his aunt was always Charlie’s favorite memory. However, at the end of the novel, it’s revealed that Helen sexually molested Charlie while they watched that show, and he had repressed that part of the memory.