There are many themes from this book that people growing up in America can relate to, of that I am certain. In some ways the story about Charlie and his friends can be summed up by quoting Sam's monologue in the last letter before the epilogue:
"So tomorrow, I'm leaving. And I'm not going to let that happen again with anyone else. I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going the be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is. But right now I'm here with you. And I want to know where you are, what you need, and what you want to do."
Charlie writes to us, the readers. He trusts us as listeners and as people who don't "try to sleep with people even though you could have." I won't go into much detail about the book, but I wish I had read it in high school. I wish I would have read it my freshman year of high school. I found myself thinking, throughout the story, that I had had a teacher who was like Bill. Maybe things could have gone differently. But then again, as Charlie astutely points out in the epilogue, as he comes to understand himself and really "be there" :
"We don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there."
Dear Charlie,
Thanks.
Love always,
Dan
Up next: After 21 years of my life, I am going to read On the Road... and I hope it doesn't ruin me.
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