Charlie’s character cares deeply about his family. I get the feeling that this author wanted to make a point within this novel about family dynamics; that one can still find happiness and have hope even with a family as dysfunctional as his. Stephen Chbosky did a great job when creating Charlie’s relatives. His father is a quiet, stern, almost unemotional man with tremendous love and care for his family unit. He exhibits archetypal character traits (the author writes a character who is stereotypical regarding personality, behaviours, and characteristics), shown when he reacts to certain situations involving his family that aren’t ideal. He is loving, caring, passionate, and emotional, but these are hidden by the veil of masculinity he puts up. For example, when the family watch the last episode of M.A.S.H. and Charlie is the only one who sees his father cry; this is an emotionally significant moment in both of their lives, and they keep their little secret to each other throughout the course of the novel.

Now, about mom. Charlie’s mother isn’t talked about very much, for whatever reason. Her character would fit into the ‘flat’ character type, which means their place or purpose within the story doesn’t change as the main character would throughout a book. What we do know about her, though, is that she almost fits into that ‘stereotypical’ mom character, but not quite. She is a patient, caring woman who has lots of love for her husband and children. She is unique in the way that she was abused by her father, which adds depth to her character. I would visualize this type of character (analytically) to be flat, but with a few distinct ridges which keep her interesting to read about. Just because she isn’t the focus of this story doesn’t mean she isn’t interesting. She is also passionate when it comes to big family arguments not involving distant relatives. In one ‘entry’, Charlie says this about his mother,

“My mom chooses her battles carefully, and I can tell you one thing about my family. When my mom does say something, she always gets her way.”

This shows a level of determination in his mother, something Charlie struggles with himself, which is a powerful thing to show in a fictional family dynamic. His parents are similar, but also wildly different, which plays a part in Charlie’s confusion as he grows up.

Charlie’s brother, Chris, plays a bigger role in this story than their mother since Charlie seems to interact with him more often. Even when he goes away to college, Charlie is still telling people stories about his brother, how good he is at football, and how much he appreciates him. When Charlie’s friend Michael commits suicide, Chris is the one who picks him up from school the day he finds out and helps him compose himself before they get home. We also know that Chris had taught Charlie how to box when he was younger because of a bully who was bothering him at school. This could seem simple to write into a story, and it is, but it is also quite a significant piece in their relationship. As much as Chris displays a carefree attitude to everyone around him, he still took the time out of his day to make sure his little brother was okay and knew how to defend himself. It’s quite sweet.

Candace plays a larger part in Charlie’s life than any of his other family members, in my opinion. As his sister, she does as good a job as she can, under their families’ circumstances. She also deals with a lot of her own issues including abusive boyfriends, keeping her grades up, and staying thin. Within the context of this story, Charlie’s sister falling in and out of love with abusive men makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that the two closest female figures in her life have been abused as well. It’s all that she knows, and that’s what makes her character such a sad one to read about. I am not sure if Candace has the right idea of what love should feel like, though she does show at in the appropriate times to her family. Charlie and Candace also have an interesting way of showing respect for one another. Even though she has a ‘mean’ demeanor towards everyone, when something bad happens to Candace which would have negative consequences, he keeps them a secret. People can debate whether the decision to keep all these bad things a secret between them was a good one or not, but their sibling relationship would have been vastly different if Charlie was written as a tattletale. The book would have been a different one entirely.

Though this next family member is one that is deceased throughout the whole book, she plays the biggest part in Charlie’s life and is the biggest turning point in the novel near the end. Aunt Helen is very uniquely written. Her character is dead, but as Charlie recalls memories and little details about her, she suddenly turns into a round, developed, dynamic person. We are told a lot about her, but one of the biggest details we are reminded of every time she did something wrong, was that she lived her whole life being abused by every single important male figure she came across. Her father hit her and her sister (Charlie’s mother), as well as the many bad boyfriends throughout her life. The book mentions that she had depression during and after all this abuse she had to endure. The only male she wasn’t hurt by was Charlie, her nephew. This is likely the reason she hurt Charlie as badly as she did before her death, though they did care about each other. Her and Charlie’s relationship is never short of a tragedy. The worst part about it was, she most likely didn’t know that her actions were wrong because it was what she had experienced as a young child as well. She thought it was normal. Her death also played a big part in how Charlie’s mental state is shaped throughout the story since she died suddenly in a car accident on her way to get Charlie’s birthday gift.

So, when you take a glance at Charlie’s family, you get to know Charlie more deeply. You understand how and why he thinks the way he thinks and acts the way he acts. Without all the details and firsthand experiences we get with Charlie and his family, one wouldn’t be able to sympathize with or even care about him. The big climax of the plot would be unimpactful or completely taken out. The element of family (especially this one) was a perfect one to have for this kind of story since the overall theme is growth and overcoming hardships while dealing with mental illness. The integration of family into the plot and the effect someone’s family has on their mental wellbeing is an excellent way of delivering the type of message the author wanted to give his readers. Being someone with a flawed family dynamic, reading about a teenager around my age with mental health issues and this type of family showed me quite a bit about my own perception of the concept. This book forced me to consider developing a stronger relationship with my own relatives but also taught me that you can still find happiness and have hope with a family like Charlie’s.