Secret-Keeping

Charlie who was the wallflower in "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" was part of a family that had a long tradition of secret-keeping. And there were reasons for the family keeping those secrets for they were hurtful, sinful and even criminal. Both sides of Charlie's family had legacies of abuse. And both sides learned that it was something that wasn't spoken about. The victims learned not to complain to others.

Charlie was abused by an aunt who always bought him extra presents and told him he was special. They had a special relationship but at seven years of age, Charlie didn't know how wrong it was. He only knew that he wasn't to talk about it with anyone else. After all, he was treated special and was given nice gifts and in exchange all he had to do was remain silent.

There were many examples of secret-keeping...