Writing through Growth, Growth through Writing: The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the Narrative of Development

Abstract

issues discussed in its pages have assured its position as a contemporary young adult and literary classic. This discussion will call attention to the issue of social and personal development in Perks, focusing on how the novel appropriates and transmutes the conventions of the formation novel, formally known as the Bildungsroman2, through the process and configuration of letter writing. Although the novel is written in an epistolary fashion, focusing on a series of letters sent to an undisclosed recipient, the overarching themes of these musings create a social space in which the protagonist can record, evaluate, and A long with celebrated novels such as J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (henceforth Perks) is approached by many as one of the most honest literary portrayals of teenage life within the last decades. Since its original publication in 1999, it is considered an influential text for young readers across the country due to its sincere and candid depiction of contemporary American teenage life. However, it has also gained infamy for being one of the most banned books in recent times (according to the American Library Association1) because of its depiction of controversial themes and issues such as sexual abuse, drug use, and homosexuality, among others. Despite this notoriety, the popularity of Perks and the fascination it has exerted upon contemporary readers is undisputed. It is thus somewhat foreseeable that Perks is commonly found within the top ten books in the “Classic literature and fiction” section in Amazon.com, often surpassing eminent texts such as William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954/ 2003) and even Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939/2002). Hence, despite the fact that the book’s protagonist is a teenager, and despite the fact that the text is primarily approached by readers in a high school context, the quality of the writing, the novel’s realistic tone, and the depth of the