The Perks Of Being A Wallflower: Movie Analysis
Past childhood scars affect the present and future
Unresolved issues from one’s childhood have an effect on their mental wellbeing when they enter adolescence. This can be seen from the character Holden in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger and Charlie from the movie “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” written and directed by Stephen Chbosky. This is shown through unresolved issues from their childhood, their coping mechanisms to deal with their issues, and how deeply they let the issues affect them.
To begin, Holden and Charlie both have unresolved issues from their childhood. They both have suffered loss and other traumatic incidents that have an effect on them later in their lives. Holden’s first unresolved issue is suffering …show more content…
Holden's primary coping skill is being negative and pessimistic towards everything. He always looks at the negative side of things. When Holden is on a date with Sally, he tells her that his school is full of phonies and he does not like the social system: “Everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques. The guys that are on the basketball team stick together, the Catholics stick together, the goddam intellectuals stick together, the guys that play bridge stick together” (Salinger 131). Holden lashes out and convinces himself that the world is against him, and that he is better off by himself. Holden tells himself that the world is full of phonies so he does not have to realize that he is alone. It is easier for Holden to be alone because he hates everyone instead of the truth; he is alone because he will not let anyone in. Holden is negative as a result of not properly healing from the issues he faced when he was younger, and uses his pessimistic views to push people away so he can protect himself. This way, he does not have to deal with anymore unwanted distress. Holden’s second coping strategy is writing. Holden fails all of his classes except English at Pencey, and this is because Holden uses writing as a way to release his emotions. Holden is a very insightful character, which gives him an interesting perspective on things. Holden sees and feels things that others do not, and notices small details. When Holden visits Phoebe's school, he notices that someone had written something vulgar on the wall. Holden is very upset by this, and he tells the readers: “While I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written ‘[F*ck] you’ on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy” (Salinger 201). This proves that Holden has a different perspective and attention to detail. Holden has such a diverse thinking
Unresolved issues from one’s childhood have an effect on their mental wellbeing when they enter adolescence. This can be seen from the character Holden in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger and Charlie from the movie “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” written and directed by Stephen Chbosky. This is shown through unresolved issues from their childhood, their coping mechanisms to deal with their issues, and how deeply they let the issues affect them.
To begin, Holden and Charlie both have unresolved issues from their childhood. They both have suffered loss and other traumatic incidents that have an effect on them later in their lives. Holden’s first unresolved issue is suffering …show more content…
Holden's primary coping skill is being negative and pessimistic towards everything. He always looks at the negative side of things. When Holden is on a date with Sally, he tells her that his school is full of phonies and he does not like the social system: “Everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques. The guys that are on the basketball team stick together, the Catholics stick together, the goddam intellectuals stick together, the guys that play bridge stick together” (Salinger 131). Holden lashes out and convinces himself that the world is against him, and that he is better off by himself. Holden tells himself that the world is full of phonies so he does not have to realize that he is alone. It is easier for Holden to be alone because he hates everyone instead of the truth; he is alone because he will not let anyone in. Holden is negative as a result of not properly healing from the issues he faced when he was younger, and uses his pessimistic views to push people away so he can protect himself. This way, he does not have to deal with anymore unwanted distress. Holden’s second coping strategy is writing. Holden fails all of his classes except English at Pencey, and this is because Holden uses writing as a way to release his emotions. Holden is a very insightful character, which gives him an interesting perspective on things. Holden sees and feels things that others do not, and notices small details. When Holden visits Phoebe's school, he notices that someone had written something vulgar on the wall. Holden is very upset by this, and he tells the readers: “While I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written ‘[F*ck] you’ on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy” (Salinger 201). This proves that Holden has a different perspective and attention to detail. Holden has such a diverse thinking