Mentor Text #2
Teacher
English Language Arts 8
Date
The Rebels Rage Becoming the Extravagant Explorers in
The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Catcher in The Rye
"But because things change. And friends leave. And life doesn’t stop for anybody,"
(Chbosky 145). This is the main character, Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. He is
showing his feelings towards change, which is true for both characters. Holden Caulfield, in The
Catcher in The Rye and Charlie, from The Perks of Being a Wallflower are two teenage boys,
both suffering from their issues. Holden Caulfield lives in the 1950’s and is tired of his life. He
dislikes how he is taking care of his problems and dealing with all his situations. Charlie, on the
other hand is growing up in the 1990’s and suffering with problems from his past that are still
making a big impact on him, today. Holden, in The Catcher in The Rye and Charlie in The Perks
of Being a Wallflower both are The Rebel archetype slowly converting to The Explorer by trying
to not be an outcast, changing themselves, and dealing with loneliness.
Both, Charlie and Holden are outcasted throughout the book because they are different,
which leads them to be the archetype, The Rebel. The two teens change schools, causing them to
be outcasted since they do not have friends. Holden, from The Catcher in The Rye is an outcast
and different from the pack. He idolized childhood and saw all adults as "phonies" while the rest
of his peers were maturing and growing up. “Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side
where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other
side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game,"
(Salinger 8). Holden feels isolated and outcasted, since he does not do the best in school, even
though he is the son of a successful lawyer. However, he has access to a great education and
wealth. Holden feels separated from the other kids and looks upon the rich teens as "phonies" as
well. Charlie, from The Perks of Being a Wallflower feels different from the pack, leading him
towards sadness and depression. His solution is to neglect all social interactions and sometimes
turn to drugs. Charlie, goes back to school, finally and has no friends. His old friends have
isolated him, which made him further feel outcasted. “Some kids look at me strange in the
hallways because I don't decorate my locker, and I'm the one who beat up Sean and couldn't stop
crying after he did it” (Chbosky 8). Charlie feels disconnected as a broken chain, from the kids in
his school. “‘You're a freak, you know that? You’ve always been a freak. Everyone says so.
They always have,’” (Chbosky 26). Charlie does not fit in well with his classmates at school and
this causes him to feel like an outcast. This paragraph clearly demonstrates that the characters in
The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Catcher in The Rye both include an important character
that is suffering through their life, while feeling isolated from everyone.
Holden and Charlie were both trying to change themselves, which causes them to slowly
become The Explorers, since they are trying and struggling to ‘find’ themselves. Holden, from
The Catcher in The Rye had a strong turn into the character type, The Explorer. He tries to
change himself and become a better person by caring for his sister and changing his bad habits.
He wants to be happy, and struggles finding himself. Until, he decides to be the ‘Catcher in the
Rye,’ to protect innocent children from the ‘corrupt’ adult world. “What I have to do, I have to
catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look
where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day.
I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like
to be” (Salinger 173). Holden wants to change his life around, and not mature/grow up. Charlie,
in Perks of being a Wallflower is trying to change himself after he started his new school. He
slowly becomes social, attending many school events and hanging out with his new friends.
Charlie as well became aware of the right things to say. He is trying/struggling to find himself as
well. “‘So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still
trying to figure out how that could be’” (Chbosky 2). This clearly demonstrates that The Perks of
being a Wallflower and The Catcher in the Rye both struggle/try to ‘find’ themselves, while
changing themselves.
In comparison, the main characters Charlie and Holden are dealing with loneliness in
different ways. They are both teenager boys dealing with this, and trying to solve their issues.
In the book, The Catcher in The Rye, Holden is lonely and feels as if he has no one. No friends,
or family to help him or to talk too. At his school, Pencey Prep, he does not have any friends, the
only person that is almost forced to talk to is his roommate, Stradlater. Holden finds something
wrong with everyone, causing many of his friendships to not work out. “As soon as I was inside,
I couldn’t think of anybody to call up” (Salinger 66). This shows that Holden does not know how
to call when he is feeling down, and when he is feeling alone. In the book, The Perks of being a
Wallflower, Charlie is lonely as well. He enters a new school, after several incidents, like his
friend killing himself he arrives thinking that his old friends will still remember him and sit with
him at lunch, but the opposite happens. Charlie sits alone during his lunch and has no social
life. “Everyone else is either asleep or having sex. I've been watching cable television and eating
jello” (Chbosky 94). This shows how he spent his day alone, unlike many other people in their
schools, which makes them the archetype, The Rebel. The two characters soon after, slowly
became the archetype of The Explorer, since they needed to make decisions concerning
themselves. They were both finding themselves, in the end.
In conclusion, both characters Charlie from The Perks of being a Wallflower and Holden
from The Catcher in The Rye are The Rebel archetype and both slowly converting to The
Explorer by trying to not be an outcast, changing themselves, and dealing with loneliness. Both
characters are teenage boys, dealing with similar problems, although they are in different time
periods and have different solutions. They both changed in the end, from archetypes to their
personalities. These problems shaped them into the person they are today.
Work Cited
Stephen, Chbosky. Perks of Being a Wallflower. United States of America. Penske Media
Corporation. 1999
J. D, Salinger. The Catcher in The Rye. United States of America. Little, Brown and Company.
195.