Aunt Helen?

As my favorite story The Perks of Being a Wallflower unfolds, author Stephen Chbosky displays the main character for what he has truly become; the epitome of a wallflower. Charlie is a high school freshman in the early '90s. The reader is quickly able to assume that Charlie possess social or psychological challenges, due to his continuous explanations of visual feelings and vivid mental experiences he has, through his letters. The reader may also presume that there is a cause for these problems, but what exactly could it be? He is super shy and quiet. He doesn't want to rock the boat, want to speak out, or even want to be noticed at all. At first Charlie seems happy with being alone, but the couple of friendships he develops throughout the book seem to prove this theory wrong. His social abilities are weak, only until he has formed solidified relationships with a select few students who also attend his high school. They happen to be seniors, and their names are Sam and Patrick. No other relationship the reader is exposed to comes close to meaning as much as the friendship Charlie, Sam, and Patrick share. Except, however, that which Charlie shared with his aunt Helen. Charlie recounts many memories he shared with his aunt, and emphasizes the fact that she is the one and only person who brought him both a Christmas and Birthday present, since they were on the same day. This makes him feel special, and compared to his sister and brother, Charlie is Aunt Helen's favorite. There is an underlying background story to Aunt Helen that is obvious to the reader only when we learn that Charlie's mother had been physically abused by her father. This is the time when the reader becomes aware of the fact that Aunt Helen had been also abused as a child, but in her unfortunate case, her abuse was sexually. The theme of abuse is common throughout the novel, because it is a life experience that is also shared by Sam. As Sam and Charlie's friendship grew stronger, Sam felt that she was able to share that personal tragedy with him. Her confession made Charlie much more upset than he assumed anyone else would have been from hearing this, and it puzzled him tremendously. This event leads the reader to question if his reaction was it due to the overwhelming amount of love he had for Sam, or because he could relate to the experience himself. The subtle hints offered by the author throughout the novel will lead the reader to soon discover that both aspects of that particular question are accurate in relevance to Charlie's life. Toward the end of the novel, Charlie explains that his parents had found him in a state of unresponsive trance, in which he confessed to the times he was sexually abused by his beloved aunt. His family had no clue that this had been happening for years when she would babysit the children, nor did the reader expect this to be the cause of his social anxiety. This curveball hits every reader hard, because of how special and touching the relationship is. It's intriguing how easily sexual abuse can go unnoticed by the reader. This was the major plot of the entire novel, and it doesn't even cross the mind of the reader until it is spelled out to us by Charlie.    

nd only person who brought him both a Christmas and Birthday present, since they were on the same day. This makes him feel special, and compared to his sister and brother, Charlie is Aunt Helen's favorite. There is an underlying background story to Aunt Helen that is obvious to the reader only when we learn that Charlie's mother had been physically abused by her father. This is the time when the reader becomes aware of the fact that Aunt Helen had been also abused as a child, but in her unfortunate case, her abuse was sexually. The theme of abuse is common throughout the novel, because it is a life experience that is also shared by Sam. As Sam and Charlie's friendship grew stronger, Sam felt that she was able to share that personal tragedy with him. Her confession made Charlie much more upset than he assumed anyone else would have been from hearing this, and it puzzled him tremendously. This event leads the reader to question if his reaction was it due to the overwhelming amount of love he had for Sam, or because he could relate to the experience himself. The subtle hints offered by the author throughout the novel will lead the reader to soon discover that both aspects of that particular question are accurate in relevance to Charlie's life. Toward the end of the novel, Charlie explains that his parents had found him in a state of unresponsive trance, in which he confessed to the times he was sexually abused by his beloved aunt. His family had no clue that this had been happening for years when she would babysit the children, nor did the reader expect this to be the cause of his social anxiety. This curveball hits every reader hard, because of how special and touching the relationship is. It's intriguing how easily sexual abuse can go unnoticed by the reader. This was the major plot of the entire novel, and it doesn't even cross the mind of the reader until it is spelled out to us by Charlie.