Comparative Analysis of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "The Catcher in the Rye"

J.D. Salinger and Steven Chbosky’s interpretations work well in the novel and film for young adults. Both novels were written during a period of change in American society. Themes prevalent in young adult literature include alienation and disillusionment, coping with family diverseness, peer relationships, overcoming obstacles, and broadening of perspectives. In Perks of Being a Wallflower, there were changes in society which appear common nowadays. Chbosky tackles issues that teens were wrestling in their worlds, changes that hit the teen population of the time in a hard way these include, homosexuality, dating and drug use. The conversational tone of both novels appeal to the younger audience, both authors captured the voice of teens remarkably well. Both authors main characters are teenagers themselves.

Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Catcher in the Rye: similarities

Both texts emphasize the importance of relationships by elaborating on the time that the two main characters have spent alone. Within the Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlie's almost awkward relationship with his parents as well as his non-existent peers is evident that his social anxiety and mental instability stops him from making friends easily.

Much like Holden within Salinger's novel, he is generally unavailable, his relationship with his parents is very dysfunctional, he rarely talks to them and avoids seeing them in person, well that is except Phoebe. Holden's parent’s agenda doesn’t include him within the family as he is off at Pencey with all of the 'phonies'. The only obligation his parents fulfil is attending to his financial needs which include paying his tuition to his school.

Furthermore, Charlie and Holden have a peculiar relationship with their teachers. For Charlie its Anderson and for Holden, it’s both Spencer and Antolini. Anderson is Charlies advanced English teacher is constantly giving Charlie books do decipher, this brings their relationship tighter by Charlie feeling comfortable to speak to Anderson as Charlie hasn’t got many close friends. Anderson offers Charlie helpful advice and wisdom that he can’t otherwise assimilate himself, which in Charlie's case, the absence of his parental counsel. Anderson's advice compared with Charlie's father makes him think about his friends from a different perspective. Anderson says that 'we accept the love we think we deserve', this makes Charlie think about Sam and Craig’s relationship and how Sam should've been with someone else that sees him for who's he is not what she is. Meanwhile, Holden's teachers are considered 'phoney' except a few, from his point of view. Antolini is another teacher of Holden's who is very similar when being compared to Charlie's version, Anderson.

When we consider the contact that Holden and Charlie have with friends both in and outside of school, we are presented with a range of dynamics within these relationships. Holden, for instance, seems like he has a negative outlook and frame of mind which worsens his social anxiety. This further distorts his ability to make friends and renders him incapable of seeing anything but negative qualities in the people around him.

The only positive comments Holden has to make are very brief which are aimed at only three people, these people are Titchener, Campbell and Brossard. Holden doesn’t go into detail with these characters like and why he likes them as much as he degrades the people he despises. He is almost afraid to show affection. Holden may do this because he wants to show the reader that he is tough and doesn’t let small things get to him, he wants a different persona than what he is really like he would much prefer to stress the negativity like it causes more of a distraction to make the positive obsolete. What Holden does it he fails to accept that anything is possible, and he would prefer to expect the worst.

Charlie’s progression shows despair, loyalty as well as final growth. Charlie is a reliable narrator revealed through a set of letters sent to a stranger, only labelled friend. This friend is someone that Charlie does not know, so he feels he can be honest and forthright in his letters, despite the fact that he changes all the names, including his own. “I will call people by different names or generic names because I don’t want you to find me.” Through this set of letters, the reader is exposed to a teen boy who is different from his peers. He is smarter, awkward, and a wallflower, as noted by Charlie’s friend Patrick: “You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.” Throughout the book, Charlie grows as a character in his relationships with his peers, but remains awkward and never truly learns to advocate for himself until the end of the novel. He makes friends and begins learning how to be a friend himself. Yet, as Sam points out in the following quote, he remains a wallflower. Sam says that 'You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things.”

Mental illness is another theme explored by both Salinger and Chbosky. Both writers end their novels with their characters receiving psychiatric care. Both novels look deep inside the mind of a hurting teen. For Holden, Salinger makes the hospitalization a part of the realization of the character’s problems with taking ownership of his life. Holden is depressed by the death of his older brother, the suicide of his roommate is feeling hopeless in the streets of New York City, and has a mental breakdown 'Allie, don’t let me disappear. Allie don’t let me disappear. Please, Allie.’ Then when I’d reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I’d thank him. Chbosky’s Charlie also has a psychotic break at the end of Wallflower when the memory of his Aunt molesting him came flooding back “I did what she told me. And just before I fell asleep, I said something".

These events that have happened to the characters has affected their mental health, hence why mental health is such a large theme within both the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which is set in a time much before Perks of Being a Wallflower. These events just prove that having reliable support networks is vital to a teenager whether its 68 years ago or present time.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a modern version of The Catcher in the Rye. It’s that same actualisation of a teenager trying to find their way through life. Unlike Holden who withdraws himself from his version of reality, Charlie looks for someone to listen and understand. The unstable mind of a teenager is still as relevant as it was 68 years ago when being compared to our modern era. J.D. Salinger and Stephen Chbosky deal with similar themes in different ways.

Both authors successfully gave a voice to the teens of their decade. They both explored which at the time were restricted topics, both explore teens that are coming of age. Which ultimately proves that having reliable support systems betters the mental stability of developing teenagers.

References

1. Chbosky, S. (1999). The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Pocket Books.
2. Salinger, J. D. (1951). The Catcher in the Rye. Little, Brown and Company.
3. Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2000). J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Infobase Publishing.
4. Ford, S. (2013). An existentialist analysis of The Catcher in the Rye. Existential Analysis, 24(1), 2-11.
5. Hayes, K. (2015). The Perks of Being a Wallflower: “A pure and shining thing”. In 21st-Century Gothic (pp. 99-118). Springer, Cham.