Analytic Comparison: 'Perks of Being a Wallflower' Book and Film

This assignment provides a critical comparison and contrast of Stephen Chbosky's novel, 'Perks of Being a Wallflower,' and its film adaptation. The analysis highlights key differences, including the portrayal of characters, narrative style, and thematic emphasis. The essay discusses how the book delves into uncomfortable scenarios and provides detailed descriptions, offering a deeper emotional impact compared to the movie's lighter approach. The author prefers the book due to its comprehensive storytelling and character development, emphasizing the impact of the first-person narration through letters in the book versus the movie's narrative style. The essay also considers the reasons behind the adaptations, such as the need to limit the movie's length and make it more accessible to a wider audience. The conclusion underscores the book's greater impact and the value of its detailed exploration of the story.

Critical writing
A movie and a book it is based on

Perks of being a wallflower
Perks of being a wallflowers is a coming of age novel by Stephen Chbosky. The novel throws
light on an introvert Charlie who writes letter to an unknown receiver and shares his journey in
the world on drugs, sex, alcohol and partying. He has two seniors Sam and Patrick and he
understands the meaning of life through their lens.
There are several key differences in the movie and book. In the book, Charlie’s sister is a big hit
and the same role is underplayed in the movie. The grandfather that is never shown in the movie
is depicted as a racist in the novel. The movie adopts a catholic theme whereas the novel is not
partial towards any religion in particular.
The book is relatively clearer and at the risk of making the reader feel uncomfortable, the movie
is lower key. The book depicts details of uncomfortable scenarios like Charlie’s sister getting
pregnant and Charlie catching her sister having sex. However these scenarios are not depicted in
the movie.
Therefore it can be said that the predominant difference between the movie and the book is the
feeling that either of them offer to the reader and the viewer. The movie is light hearted and the
book cares to explain every little detail of the story in a manner that will give the reader
Goosebumps.
Therefore i prefer the book over the movie owing to its detailed descriptions and explained
scenarios. The book depicts that Charlie is writing letters to a friend whose identity is hidden.
However in the movie, Charlie is narrating the movie to a friend the whole time. The first hand
narration from Charlie fails to accomplish the effect created by the letters written by the
character which include every detail shared by Charlie (Chbosky, 2012).
The reasons behind the differences in the movie and the book could possibly be the length of the
movie which needs to be limited. Also, a largely uncomfortable book is difficult to sell when it
turns into a movie unless certain aspects of the story become more light-hearted. The movie and
book hold a different place in everyone’s life however the impact of the movie is very limited as

compared to the book. It is important to note here that readers enjoy that level of discomfort.
This helps in understanding the story better.
The book Perk of being a wallflower is reduced to its essentials by being converted into a movie.
The characters are not as strong and there definitely a room for improvement in the story line of
the movie. The characters are better defined in the book. I enjoyed the novel more than movie
owing to its dynamic interpretation of Charlie. Also the book helped me in gaining a deeper
insight about how Charlie felt in real life situations. A lot of these minute details were left out in
the movie.

References
Chbosky, S. (2012). The perks of being a wallflower. Simon and Schuster. United States.