There are many themes in Perks of Being a Wallflower. The first to come to mind is friendship. In this book, Charlie struggles through battles of depression, loneliness, and family problems. Without his friends he wouldn't be able to get through all those hard times. Actually, without his friends Charlie wouldn't have been able to find himself during this book. Looking for Alaska has a similar theme. A boy who is very reserved and quiet gets picked up by a group of people who help him come out of his shell and descover who he is. Charlie, the main character in Perks of Being a Wallflower, starts out the book being very shy but finishes just the opposite with the help of his friends.