A Letter from a Wallflower (Quotable Quotes from The Perks of Being a Wallflower- A novel by Stephen Chbosky)

October 6, 2012

Dear Friend,

So I’ve read this book called “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” because I found out that there is a movie adaptation of this book starring my favorite Emma Watson. Forgive me if I can’t outgrow her Hermione Granger character in Harry Potter, but I don't think I want to see her portraying a different role. But I want to try so that I would love her more as Emma Watson and not as Hermione Granger because that one is a thing in the past.

Anyways, I heard she played the role of Sam, the love interest of Charlie which is the main character in the story. I read it and I couldn’t imagine Emma Watson on Sam’s role. She’s a little bit bitchy (Forgive me for the term) and liberated, but knowing Emma as a talented and versatile actress, I know she can give justice to the character, I just don’t know how.

Yesterday, I’ve checked movie houses so I can watch the movie version since I finished reading the book. I don’t have any high expectations with the movie version because as always, the book is better than the movie, but I always love to see the characters moving, so for the sake of knowing how the story looks like in the movie, I went to see it in the theatre. But much to my dismay when I found out that it is not available anymore. A new movie has replaced it’s slot. Maybe I can just watch  “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” online or just download it online. I hope I can find a pirated copy of this movie online since I failed to catch it in the cinema.

I can tell you I can somehow relate to Charlie’s character. Actually, I am a wallflower. There is this “Charlie-ish” part of me which I can’t get out of my system. I am the one who prefers to sit in the corner and observe and think and sometimes talk to myself. I choose not to participate. But that doesn’t mean I am a loner. I guess we should draw a thick line between a loner and a wallflower. But there are a lot of perks for being a wallflower. Unless you are a wallflower, you wouldn’t know that, and if you really want to know, go read this book or watch the movie.

I don’t want to go into details, I just want to share to you quotable quotes from this novel which somehow created an impact to me as a person, as a friend, as a family and as a wallflower.

Quote Number 1:

“Well, there are rules you follow here not because you want to, but because you have to. You get it?"

- Patrick

Quote Number 2:

“The thing is some girls think they can actually change guys. And what’s funny is that if they actually did change them, they’d get bored. They’d have no challenge left. You just have to give girls some time to think of a new way of doing things, that’s all. Some of them will figure it out here. Some later. Some never. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”

-Patrick

Quote Number 3:

“Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve.”

-Bill

Quote Number 4:

“Not everyone has a sob story, Charlie, and even if they do, it’s no excuse.”

-Charlie's dad

Quote Number 5:

“I feel infinite”

-Charlie

Quote Number 6:

“I’m thankful that my brother played football on television so nobody fought.”

-Charlie

Quote Number 7:

“I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you. Okay?” 

-Sam

Quote number 8:

“The problem with things is that everyone is always comparing everyone with everyone and because of that, it discredits people”

-Craig

Quote Number 9:

“The best thing to do when you don’t know what to do during anything sexual is pay attention to how that person is kissing you and kiss them back the same way.”

-Sam

Quote Number 10:

“I want you to stop smoking, you hear? Because I really do love you”

-Charlie's sister

Quote Number 11:

“I know I’m your old man, but…you can’t be too careful these days, and wear protection,  and if she says no, then you have to assume she means it…because if you force her to do something she doesn’t want to do, then you’re in big trouble, mister …and even if she says no, and really means yes, then quite frankly she’s playing games and isn’t worth the price of dinner.”

-Charlie's Father

Quote Number 12:

“You know, Patrick? If I were gay, I’d want to date you.”

-Charlie

Quote Number 13:

“Very easy to read, but very hard to read well.”

-Bill

Quote Number 14:

“If you ever do this again, I’ll tell everyone. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll blind you.”

-Charlie

Quote Number 15:

“Charlie, you’re so stupid sometimes.”

-Sam

Quote Number 16:

“You ever think, Charlie, that our group is the same as any other group like the football team? And the only real difference between us is what we wear and why we wear it?”

-Patrick

Quote Number 17:

“Be skeptical about this one. It’s a great book. But try to be a filter, not a sponge.”

-Bill

Quote Number 18:

“Do you know that? Charlie, you’re one of the most gifted people I’ve ever known. And I don’t mean in terms of my other students. I mean in terms of anyone I’ve ever met. That’s why I gave you the extra work. I was wondering if you were aware of that?”

-Bill

Quote Number 19:

“Any press is good press.”

-Charlies Father

Quote Number 19:

“I thought that your being sad was much more important to me than Craig not being your boyfriend anymore. And if it meant that I would never get to think of you that way, as long as you were happy, it was okay. That’s when I realized that I really loved you.”

-Charlie

Quote Number 20:

“It’s great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn’t need a shoulder. What if they need the arms or something like 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”

-Sam

Quote Number 21:

“At those times, you weren’t being his friend at all. Because you weren’t honest with him.”

-Sam

Quote Number 22:

“It’s just that I don’t want to be somebody’s crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don’t like, I’ll tell them.”

-Sam

Quote Number 23:

“So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them. “

-Sam

Quote Number 24:

“Maybe it’s good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. “

-Sam

Whoaaa. Those 24 quotes I shared above are really good right? I hope you do enjoy it as much as I enjoyed it. But wait, I want to share to you a poem written by unknown author that has been included in the story. Charlie read this in their Christmass party and everyone went speechless when they heard this poem. It goes like this:

Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines he wrote a poem

And he called it “Chops” because that was the name of his dog

And that’s what it was all about And his teacher gave him an A and a gold star

And his mother hung it on the kitchen door and read it to his aunts

That was the year Father Tracy took all the kids to the zoo

And he let them sing on the bus

And his little sister was born with tiny toenails and no hair

And his mother and father kissed a lot

And the girl around the corner sent him a Valentine signed with a row of X’s

and he had to ask his father what the X’s meant

And his father always tucked him in bed at night

And was always there to do it

Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines he wrote a poem

And he called it “Autumn” because that was the name of the season

And that’s what it was all about

And his teacher gave him an A

and asked him to write more clearly

And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door because of its new paint

And the kids told him that Father Tracy smoked cigars

And left butts on the pews

And sometimes they would burn holes

That was the year his sister got glasses with thick lenses and black frames

And the girl around the corner laughed when he asked her to go see Santa Claus

And the kids told him why his mother and father kissed a lot

And his father never tucked him in bed at night

And his father got mad when he cried for him to do it.

Once on a paper torn from his notebook he wrote a poem

And he called it “Innocence: A Question” because that was the question about his girl

And that’s what it was all about

And his professor gave him an A and a strange steady look

And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door because he never showed her

That was the year that Father Tracy died

And he forgot how the end of the Apostle’s Creed went

And he caught his sister making out on the back porch

And his mother and father never kissed or even talked

And the girl around the corner wore too much makeup

That made him cough when he kissed her but he kissed her anyway because that was the thing to do

And at three A.M. he tucked himself into bed his father snoring soundly

That’s why on the back of a brown paper bag

He tried another poem

And he called it “Absolutely Nothing” Because that’s what it was really all about

And he gave himself an A and a slash on each damned wrist

And he hung it on the bathroom door because this time he didn’t think he could reach the kitchen.

If you think the poem is a suicide note, you are right.

I guess I have to end this letter now, I need to prepare and go to work, and I don’t know if I will write you letter again. Maybe someday. But for now, bye bye.

Somehow, I am INFINITE.

                Love Always,

ProvokedThoughts