Chbosky's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" Quiz

Answer: Michael

At the beginning, we are introduced to the format of the novel and some key characters. The book is written in a series of letters to an unnamed recipient who was chosen by the protagonist because someone "said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have". The protagonist, Charlie, chooses to give fake generic names to people in his life for the letters because "I don't want you to find me". Charlie informs the reader that his friend, Michael, committed suicide, and he had been going to grief counselling with some others to help deal with the loss. He also tells the reader that the main reason he is writing to them is "because I start high school tomorrow and I am really afraid of going".

The other names were chosen at random.

Answer: "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

Charlie instantly dislikes high school, finding it difficult to make friends and finding a lot of small things quite odd. He's bullied by a kid named Sean, which results in Charlie hurting him quite badly in self-defence. His advanced English class is his only solace. The teacher, who asks Charlie to call him Bill outside class, says that Charlie has "a great skill at reading and understanding language" and assigns him extra books and assignments as a friendly means of encouraging this. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is the first book Bill asks Charlie to write an essay for. The other options are other books he assigns Charlie throughout the novel.

Charlie also tells us more about his family life. His brother is a professional football player in the making, having received a scholarship into an esteemed college based on his sport ability. His sister has been seeing a potential new boyfriend, one in a long line of lovers, as she is "very pretty". The boy makes her a playlist called "Autumn Leaves", which Charlie listens to and takes a great liking to the song "Asleep" by The Smiths (which is an excellent song, in my opinion) as a result. However, one night things turned sour when the boy hits Charlie's sister after she provokes him about not standing up to bullies. She forgives him and they begin dating, but Charlie is a bit uneasy about this.

Answer: Milkshakes

Charlie meets Patrick (who is known by the nickname "Nothing" at school) and his half-sister Sam at a school football match and they become friends quickly. Charlie develops quite a crush on Sam, who tells him that he is "too young" for her and that she "doesn't want to want to waste your time thinking about me that way", but continues to be his friend. They take him to a party with some of their friends. He is offered a brownie and accepts it, not realising it had weed in it, and becomes stoned, much to the amusement of those at the party. Sam asks a series of questions, including what he'd like to drink, to which he responds "a milkshake". As Sam makes him a milkshake, Charlie witnesses Patrick kissing his secret boyfriend Brad, and is told to keep it a secret, as Brad "doesn't want people to know". Patrick and Sam's friends accept Charlie, and they call him a "wallflower" ("You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand") and toast to him.

Charlie also reminisces on some important (to him) moments in his life- such as witnessing his father crying over the finale of the show "M*A*S*H" and witnessing a rape at a party his sister held at their house.

Charlie ends the first part by describing the homecoming dance, which he tries to "participate" in by dancing. He describes a beautiful moment in Sam's pickup truck as they drove through a tunnel, ending the part with the famous sentence "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."

Answer: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Charlie describes Mary Elizabeth as "a very interesting person because she has a tattoo that symbolises Buddhism and a belly button ring and wears her hair to make somebody mad". She runs a fanzine called "Punk Rocky", which is dedicated to punk rock and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", and runs the local showings of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". At these showings, some kids dress up as the characters and act out the movie in front of the screen. On Halloween, Patrick and Sam take Charlie to one of the screenings. Patrick plays Frank 'N Furter and Sam plays Janet. Sam's new boyfriend Craig plays Rocky. Charlie says he wants Sam to stop liking Craig because Charlie is in love with her, but says he is not jealous because Craig makes her happy.

Charlie also becomes good friends with Brad and finds out more about his and Patrick's secret relationship. Brad's father is abusive and doesn't accept his son's sexuality, so they meet in secret or at parties and do not tell many people that they are seeing each other. Charlie also talks more about his family, especially his brother and his sport team. His brother doesn't talk much on the phone when he calls home, and is unable to make it home for Thanksgiving, which disappoints his mother especially. At an awkward Thanksgiving with Charlie's extended family, a VCR tape of his brother playing brings the family together as they are all proud of him.

Answer: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones

The playlist includes, in order: "Asleep" by The Smiths, "Vapour Trail" by Ride, "Scarborough Fair" by Simon & Garfunkel, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum, "Time of No Reply" by Nick Drake, "Dear Prudence" by The Beatles, "Gypsy" by Suzanne Vega, "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues, "Daydream" by Smashing Pumpkins, "Dusk" by Genesis, "MLK" by U2, "Blackbird" by The Beatles, "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac and "Asleep" by The Smiths again. The other side has a lot of songs by bands like Village People and Blondie, who Patrick apparently enjoys. His second present was magnetic poetry, his third watercolour paints and paper and his forth a harmonica and a book on playing it. His final present was a poem that he recited in front of him and his friends, apparently about a teenager's suicidal thoughts.

Charlie and his friends also have a Christmas party together. In the course of the party friends exchanged gifts (Sam and Patrick give Charlie a typewriter, with Sam asking him to "write about me sometime"), they all drank, and Sam kisses Charlie because she wants to "make sure that the first person you kiss loves you".

Charlie celebrates his birthday, which is on Christmas Eve, with his family, and they have a family Christmas with his dad's family, in which the same events that generally happen at such events take place. Charlie's brother and sister also have a fight about his brother's new girlfriend Kelly, however they make up. Charlie also tells us more about his aunt Helen, who suffered a tragic life including being molested and suffering from substance abuse before dying in a car crash. Charlie visits her grave and tells her about his life, and also tells the reader that his own mental state is badly deteriorating.

Answer: Her favourite band is Nirvana

Charlie goes to a New Year's Eve party. He takes LSD and has a bad trip- he describes watching a tree turn into a dragon, shovelling the host's driveway and feeling suicidal due to hearing Sam and her boyfriend Craig having sex. He also takes a chunk of his hair out, which his sister helps fix up.

After the party, Charlie says, "I've been putting my life back together", but doesn't find ease in the things he usually does (reading especially). He takes up smoking. However, after a concerned conversation with Sam and Patrick, he finds himself improving and begins reading again and attending all his classes (he doesn't quit smoking, however). He also starts seeing a "nice" psychiatrist, and has an intellectual conversation with his friends at a Big Boy about problems in the world.

Charlie and Mary Elizabeth get romantically involved after Charlie has to fill in last minute for Rocky at a showing for the "Rocky Horror Picture Show". Mary Elizabeth asks him to the Sadie Hawkins dance (in which the girl asks the guy), and Sam tells Charlie to mostly just ask questions and let her talk. Charlie gives the reader a list of the things he learns about Mary Elizabeth as a result, but her favourite band is not something that is mentioned. The other options are things he mentions, however. They agree to go out again (not exactly because Charlie wants to but because he is too awkward to say no). The dance isn't much fun for anyone- Charlie witnesses his sister and her boyfriend having a big fight, and Sam has to take Patrick to the dance because her boyfriend Craig doesn't want to go to a "stupid high school dance".

Answer: She's pregnant

After Mary Elizabeth drops him home, Charlie finds his sister crying in the basement and persistently asks her what is wrong. After attempting to avoid the question, she hugs him and finally tells him that she is pregnant. She hasn't told anyone else as she is afraid of their reaction, and her boyfriend refuses to admit the baby is his. Charlie drives her to the abortion clinic, where he ponders on the shallowness of women's magazines in the waiting room and reminisces on important live events involving his sister. When his sister leaves, she lectures him on smoking and expresses her love for him, which obviously means a lot to Charlie. The two come up with a clever way to disguise where they really were to their parents.

Charlie also goes on another date with Mary Elizabeth. They see a foreign language movie and visit an underground record store. They also have sex for the first time in her basement. However, as the relationship progresses, Charlie expresses frustration at it. He feels Mary Elizabeth talks far too much and doesn't ask Charlie enough questions, and is also annoyed at her constantly showing off to her friends the things she gets Charlie as gifts. He feels she doesn't appreciate him or the effort he puts in enough. He seeks advice from numerous people, including his sister, brother and psychiatrist, who tell him to be "honest with his feelings". Later, at a party, Charlie is dared to kiss "the prettiest girl in the room on the lips" by Patrick, and Charlie kisses Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth, which results in a lot of tension and the dissolving of their relationship. Charlie attempts to apologise to her numerous times, but they're rejected.

Answer: Peter

After Charlie's less than ideal breakup with Mary Elizabeth, he is overwhelmed with guilt and loses contact with most of his friends, who apparently avoid him to let things settle. He tells the reader about hanging around shopping centres to fill time, and details an awkward confrontation with one of his old friends, Susan (who was also friends with Michael, the boy who committed suicide at the start of the novel).

He visits Bob a few times, but only to get pot. He finds out from him that Brad's father found Patrick and Brad together and badly beat Brad.

At school, Brad yells a slur at Patrick in front of his friends and they get in a fist fight, which Charlie has to (violently) breakup, resulting in a week's suspension for Patrick and a month's detention for Charlie and Brad.

After the last detention, Sam drives Charlie home and ridicules him for how he dealt with the Mary Elizabeth situation (which resulted in tension between her and Mary Elizabeth). Charlie asks if it is okay to be friends with her and everyone else again, and Sam replies "of course".

At a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" showing, Charlie finds out Mary Elizabeth has a new boyfriend, Peter, who is in college and appeals to Mary Elizabeth because he is "opinionated" and can debate with her, an asset Charlie lacked. Charlie says that it "really didn't matter that much" to him, in fact he calls it "the biggest reason for everything being okay" (though possibly because he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol).

Answer: The guy who does the sports on the TV news

Patrick feels a need to hang out with Charlie a lot due to heavy emotions, so they spend a lot of time together. They visit places he and Brad used to go to a lot, and one evening sit at a golf course telling each other stories they heard from various people about people at their school. Patrick even kisses Charlie, who doesn't stop him because "that's what friends are for". One night, at a "park where men go to find each other", a man asks Charlie if he has an extra cigarette while he is smoking and waiting for Patrick. Charlie recognises his voice as the "guy who does the sports on the TV news" and asks him what it's like being on television, which is apparently the wrong thing to ask as the man leaves. They continue going to various places, and Patrick occasionally finds other men. One night, Patrick sees Brad with another man, and decides to quit drinking and sort out his life.

The end of the school year is fast approaching, and Charlie's senior friends discuss their plans upon finishing intently. They prank the school by filling the swimming pool with tons of Kool-Aid. Charlie's English teacher Bill grows sentimental as he feels his first year of teaching ending, and gives Charlie one last book to write an essay on- "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. On the last day of school, Charlie and his friends celebrate by going to the Big Boy and smoking, and have a beautiful moment where they run towards the sunset together. They perform at perhaps the final "Rocky Horror Picture Show" showing, and Charlie even convinces his sister to see it with her new boyfriend. They then have a party at Craig's house, where Charlie DJs and lets his friends reminisce.

Prom night reportedly goes well for the seniors, though Craig and Sam break up. Sam finds out that Craig had been cheating on her for a long time, and Peter, who had known but felt too awkward to speak up, forces him to tell Sam the truth.

Bill invites Charlie over to his house and they, along with Bill's girlfriend, have a discussion about life. Bill tells Charlie he is "one of the most gifted people I've ever known", which means a lot to Charlie, and tells him he considers him a friend and offers to be always open for discussions next year when he is not his teacher.

Answer: "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

Charlie's extended family (including his brother) come over to watch his sister's graduation. His sister finished second in her class and gives a speech, and Charlie gets to watch his friends graduating. Charlie and his friends go to a dance club to celebrate, and Sam and Charlie dance together. They then go back to Peter's apartment and Charlie gives his friends numerous gifts. He gives Sam and Patrick the most special ones - copies of his favourite books (and a note written on a typewriter telling them they're his favourite people). For Patrick, he gives "On the Road", "Naked Lunch", "The Stranger", "This Side of Paradise", "Peter Pan" and "A Separate Peace", and to Sam he gives "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Catcher in the Rye", "The Great Gatsby", "Hamlet", "Walden" and "The Fountainhead".

At school, Charlie realises he had no friends in his own year, and finds the last few days of school difficult. He does, however, get straight As. One night, Charlie and his friends meet at Sam and Patrick's house before they leave for various colleges. Sam tells Charlie he wishes he acted on his emotions for her earlier and tells him he needs to start really living his life and not just doing what others tell him to do. They almost have sex, however Charlie stops because he starts feeling "terrible". She drives him home, and Charlie has a dream of his aunt Helen molesting him. He says goodbye to everyone, and has somewhat of a mental breakdown. He realises his dream about aunt Helen really happened and he had been repressing the memory.

In the epilogue we find out that Charlie had been staying at a hospital for two months after his flashback of aunt Helen. He had apparently been found sitting on the couch naked, and no one could wake him up. He realises his aunt molested him every Saturday as they watched television. A lot of people visit Charlie or send him gifts and well wishes, including Patrick, Mary Elizabeth (who stays longer than the others), Alice, Bob, Peter and Craig (Sam promises to come visit at the end of August). Charlie ponders on a lot of things about life in hospital, including how he doesn't blame his aunt. Sam and Patrick take Charlie to the Big Boy ("just like we always did") and they tell him about college life. The novel ends with Charlie telling the reader he will be starting his sophomore year tomorrow and won't write anymore, as he will be busy "participating".