Bill's Beneficial Beauty *

Throughout the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, author Stephen Chbosky gives the reader the impression that Charlie, the main character, has great relationships with everyone who is in his life. It is kind of intriguing that one of the closest friendships he has happens to be with his freshman year English teacher, Bill. Giving him so many awesome books to read, Bill has Charlie spend his free time writing extra essays, which serves as a great way to keep him busy. It is apparent to the reader that Charlie has social and/or psychological problems, since he repeatedly describes his thought processes and breakdowns in the letters he writes to an unknown receiver. Somehow, Bill also seems to be familiar with Charlie's instability, and views reading and writing as an escape from reality. Each book acts as a story to Charlie, and he mentions some amazing novels such as: The Fountainhead, Naked Lunch, On the Road, and This side of Paradise. Although Charlie may not fully understand each book, Bill always reassures him that there really is no right way to interoperate this literature. Bill is constantly telling Charlie to act more as a filter than a sponge while reading the books he lends him. This stood out to me because of how easily Charlie's environment is able to negatively influence him, so Bill makes sure Charlie knows to not take the writings too literally. Everything Bill presents to Charlie is so beneficial to his life that the novel would not be complete without him. He is that one teacher that influences you so much that it's inspiring. Charlie views Bill as the best teacher he has had so far, and that's awesome because it is actually Bill's first year teaching! Even though it is Bill's first year and he is just getting familiar with the whole teaching thing, he seems to be able to feel Charlie's pain and acts upon his intuition. Bill provides Charlie with a way to stay occupied that involves something that they both love to do. They share interests and firsts, which is something that really stood out to me about their relationship. They both get lost in reading and writing, and view it as a way to escape reality. Charlie writes letters that constitute the whole entire novel. Charlie and Bill also feel lost in this big school, full of kids and teachers expecting the most out of them, and sometimes even more than they're able to offer. They are going through this high school career together, and when Charlie's closest friends leave for college next fall, Bill will take the role as an equally great friendship. Their relationship isn't forced at all, Bill is his just his English teacher so he really doesn't feel obligated to reach out to Charlie as a friend. But he does, and its awesome that he does. It pretty much saves Charlie. It's his freshman year of high school, and his best friend had just taken his life a year before. The kid is suffering so much and Bill makes him feel comfortable in his class. Bill doesn't think he's a weirdo or make fun of him the way the students do. Charlie doesn't feel lost in Bill's classroom, and the most beautiful thing about their bond is that it's completely natural.