Last Blog

Dear everyone,

One scene that was really memorable to me was the one where the main character Charlie, is dared to kiss who he thinks is the prettiest girl in the room. Charlie is a very shy kid so it is cute when he has to do little things like this. What’s bad about this is that he has a “girlfriend” who is also in the room at this time. So instead of kissing his girlfriend, who he didn’t like too much in the first place, he kisses the one girl he truly thinks is the prettiest. What I like most about this section in the novel is that it helps the reader to get to know Charlie’s personality even better. Charlie doesn’t think about some of the things he does or says, which is what makes people think he is weird. He wanted to be honest with the people he was with, even though he didn’t think about how it would hurt them. I like this about Charlie and think it is a genuine quality in a person. Wanting not to hurt anyone reminds me of myself sometimes, but he didn’t think that just being honest would cause so much drama. Sometimes Charlie can be so clueless, which reminds me of myself as well.
Another scene that I enjoyed was when Charlie went to Bill’s house. I thought Bill was just a teacher who makes you do too much work, but he’s not. When Bill had Charlie over to his house I was a little hesitant about it. Charlie and Bill seemed more like friends during this scene more than they did anything else. Bill told Charlie how exceptional he was, and why he gave all those books to Charlie. I really enjoyed this scene because Charlie talked about how good he felt after Bill called him “special”. Charlie seemed like a very bright student the whole novel; however I thought Bill really helped let Charlie know he was. Bill reminds me of a teacher that I used to have, which is why I like him so much. Though I didn’t go to my teacher’s house or read other books on the side, my teacher really inspired me to look past the grade you get in a class and just value the learning you did. Bill helped to broaden Charlie’s mind, which is what a great teacher does.
The most memorable scene in this novel was when Charlie and his sister went to the clinic for her abortion. I thought that this was a very powerful scene where Charlie and his sister bonded. I loved how Charlie was there for his sister, even when he began to cry at the clinic. Charlie didn’t want to do anything to further upset his sister which showed that he cared about her even though they fight. When everything was finished at the clinic, Charlie’s sister still found a way to be a good older sibling and tell Charlie to stop smoking. I learned a lot of things from this scene. The bond between siblings is a very important thing to have and to cherish. I want to have that kind of bond with my brother, even if he is a 1,000 miles away. Also the whole abortion problem raised a few lessons as well. I saw the way her boyfriend acted when it came to her being pregnant and it helps me to think what I would do in a situation like that. I wonder if I would be as strong as Charlie’s sister seemed to be. Overall, the idea of an abortion lets me think about how careful I need to be in relationships and how to prevent certain things from happening.
After I finished the book of course I would recommend it to another reader. As a matter of fact, I already did. I enjoyed the layout of the novel and I thought that it was very easy to read. The ending was definitely a shock to me. I would have never guessed that the reason why Charlie acted the way he did was because he was molested. This came as even more of a shock when I found out that it was his Aunt that did it. Charlie loved his aunt more than anything, and he visited her grave whenever he was upset. I don’t understand how Charlie loved her so much when she was doing that to him, or how his aunt could do such a thing. A situation like this must be so hard to deal with, especially for Charlie’s mother. I’m disgusted with the way people can act in this world and how people could do the things they do. I think that the ending was a great way to end the novel, even if it did make me mad. I felt for Charlie and was upset that he acted the way he did because of his aunt. Of course I will read the book again, and I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did.
Well this is my last blog. Thanks for a fun semester everyone.
Dana C