What Is the Most Important Theme for the Audience to Learn About in Looking for Alaska and the Perks of Being a Wallflower?

What is the most important theme for the audience to learn about in Looking For Alaska and the Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Life does not stop for anybody. Teenagers everywhere are discovering that fact and it scares them. They must learn to adapt and change while dealing with their own issues such as learning to love and lose. The books Looking for Alaska by John Green and the Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky share both similar and different themes. The two books cover the topic of being a teenager in a new environment and how they have to adapt in order to ‘survive’. This essay will be exploring the similarity of the books through the themes of intimacy, sex and love as well as the theme of friendship. But will also be exploring the differences between the books through the themes of mystery and the unknown and the theme of coming of age.

Charlie and Miles both struggle with intimacy, sex and love; a theme prominent throughout these two books. Miles both lusts and loves Alaska and very similarly Charlie also lusts and loves after Sam. It quite often appears that Miles and Charlie often get confused about their feelings and have trouble coping resulting in them lashing out. An example of this would be when Charlie kisses Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth while playing a game of truth or dare although he is dating Mary Elizabeth. Charlie had felt as if he had been trapped in a corner because he was confused about his feelings for Sam yet he was in a relationship with Mary Elizabeth that he didn’t really want. This resulted in Charlie being outcasted by his only friends and he slowly fell deeper into a pit of depression.

Similarly to Charlie, there was Miles. While in a relationship with Lara, he quite often got confused with his feelings for Alaska. Throughout Miles and Lara’s relationship, they struggle with intimacy and their relationship quite often lacks the emotional intimacy that Miles craves. Lara and Miles share many similar qualities, they are both pretty quiet and think more than they say. They explore sex together but when they get confused and need help, Miles automatically goes to Alaska. Lara and Miles have a pseudo-relationship as they are sexually intimate but they don’t talk to one another which is why Miles still wants Alaska even while in the relationship with Lara. When Alaska dies, Lara offers to help but Miles neglects the help offered as he felt he “was caught in a love triangle with one dead side” and feels guilty about the emotional intimacy he had with Alaska instead of Lara. Charlie and Miles are very similar in both characteristics and problems they face such as the issues they have with intimacy, sex and love. This theme is important because it teaches the audience about how teens face issues and how although they may make mistakes and lash out, they are learning and this also helps the audience appreciate the characters more for dealing with their issues rather than approaching it with a cynical perspective.

Looking For Alaska and The Perks of Being a Wallflower also share the theme of friendship which is very prominent throughout both books. The theme connects the characters together and helps develop the character(s) personality and maturity. Both Miles’ and Charlie’s friends had helped them mature and had stuck with them through thick and thin. Charlie’s struggle with depression and anxiety was somewhat ‘cured’ him. They made him feel safe and secure as well as introduced him to new things such as drugs, smoking and helped him mature. “Patrick and Sam didn't just throw around inside jokes and make me struggle to keep up. Not at all. They asked me questions.” Sam and Patrick were very vital to keep Charlie healthy and sane, they cared about Charlie and also gave him the emotional intimacy he craved after Michaels death. But when they left, Charlie was left with nowhere to go and he had to learn to let go of his friends in order to move on. Letting go of his friends caused Charlie a lot of emotional pain which led to his break down but in the end he let go because he knew it was best and this showed that Charlie cared very much for his friends and sacrificed his own well-being for their well-being’s. After learning to let go, Charlie seems to be a slightly happier character as he gets over the death of his late best friend Michael and as he learns to navigate high school without depending so much on Sam and Patrick.

Miles also had to let go but instead of doing it on his own, like Charlie, he had the help of the Colonel, Takumi and was offered help by Lara. When working through Alaska’s death, it made Miles, Takumi and the Colonel all closer and they created new bonds. Miles getting over Alaska’s death forces him to learn that people’s choices are their own choices and there is no way to change that. Such as how Miles keeps thinking that maybe if he had stopped her and not let her drive away, then she might still be alive. But he soon realises that wouldn’t of ended Alaska’s suffering, she would of found her way out of her labyrinth one way or another. Through learning to let go, it bonded Miles and his friends closer together and together they learned to accept their role in Alaska’s death but it also caused Miles to push people away such as Lara because he felt so much guilt due to Alaska’s death. This theme is important because it gives the audience a

more in depth perspective to the relationships and bonds between the characters as well as gives them a deeper understanding of the character and their characteristics.

Although Looking for Alaska and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are similar in certain aspects they

also cover very different themes and topics. One huge difference between the books is that Looking For Alaska delves more into the theme of mystery and the unknown. Miles first moves to Alabama in order to see his “great perhaps”

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