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Kyle Kerr I live in Boston and was lucky enough to get to go to an Advance Screening of the PERKS movie when it first came out, and Stephen attended. During the Q&A I actually asked him about this, and he essentially responded that he DID intend for it to be a person in Charlie's world somewhere, but that what his readers turned it into (the debate on who it is, such as the readers themselves, or any of their other theories) were better than the person who he actually intended it to be. So he wouldn't say who it was, just that it WAS a person, but we'd turned it into something better than he intended.

Bookfan202 i don't know if anyone of you guys has ever said it in the comments, but i think that the person is not related to the story at all. I don't know why but in my language the book's title is translated into "Atskalūno laiškai"( letters from a wallflower). so I just thought that maybe Charlie is just describing his situation to a random person (maybe the reader) in letters. and i just think that knowing that someone out there is reading them and thinking about him, somehow supporting him makes it easier for Charlie to recover from what he had gone through.

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Alan Daniels When you read the beginning, Charlie says “I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have. Please don't try to figure out who she is because then you might figure out who I am, and I really don't want you to do that. I will call people by different names or generic names because I don't want you to find me. I didn't enclose a return address for the same reason. I mean nothing bad by this. Honest.

”

Excerpt From: Stephen Chbosky. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” iBooks.

So it is someone fictional in Charlie's life and it isn't the reader ;-; But, if you would like it to be you, go right on ahead.

C.E. Dimond It's supposed to be to himself. I believe the whole writing letters thing is part of his therapy treatment a way to purge everything he's been through on paper. Sort of like a journal I guess.

The Ethiopian girl I just finished reading the book and I loved it. What I understand is that the identity of the person is unclear but I think it's an older person and Charlie knows this person because in part 3 after he took the LSD he said, "I wrote your address and walked down the hill to the post office." Also at the end, he says " I want to thank you for being one of those people who listens.... I don't want you to think that I picked your name out of the phone book.... I saw a girl in class, who didn't notice me, and she talked about you to a friend of hers. and even though I don't know you, I felt like I did because you sounded like such a good person. the kind of person who wouldn't mind receiving letters from a kid."

Simone I've always believed he was writing to us, the reader. He begins by saying "She told me you were a great listener" and the fact that we chose to read this book because we wanted to, is the same as saying we want to listen to him. Therefore i believe that he is writing to the reader, because he knows we will listen/read it.

Malik Aqsa The kid who uses Charlie as an alias is writing to his friend. I think the Author wrote it to the readers. What i understand from it is that Charlie could be anyone, its could be you, it could be me. The point is that nobody knows anyone else's story. What i absorbed from the book was not to judge anyone, coz you have no idea what others could be going through.

Aine ʚ♡⃛ɞ It could be that person Charlie says hi to once, the person who's locker is next to his. It's probably not him but idk it might be

Gaia Koren I usally am really curious about these things, but I think the beauty in this book is that it doesn't matter.

Darshi The person Charlie is writing to is a random person he heard two girls talking about in class, Charlie explains in the last letter before he snaps that he wouldn't want him to think that he picked him randomly from a phone book, that he heard two girls talking about him and thought he is a nice person, one who wouldn't mind receiving letters from an unknown kid.
So from that, we can derive the girls he overheard talking were saying something of the order that, he didn't sleep with someone when he could have. He is the kind of person Charlie would like because in the book Charlie mentions something about his siblings' hosting a party at their house and a guy forcing himself on his girlfriend even though she kept saying no! To which he later asks Sam, the girl was raped, wasn't she?.

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Manuel I liked the idea of thinking that the letters are being sent to the reader, but Charlie makes it clear that it is in fact someone who attends his same high school and knows the same people as he.
At the beginning Charlie says he will use nicknames to not give away anyone's identity. Also, both at the beginning and towards the end of the book he mentions he overheard a girl at school talking about this person she wrote letters to, so he decided to investigate who this person is and starts writing the letters to him/her.

What I'm still confused about is why Charlie would emphasize on the fact that the person he's writing the letters to "did not sleep with someone's girl even if they had the chance to". What does this refer to?

Nick Maybe it's the reader

Aishwarya From what i could understand, Charlie had overheard a classmate describe another student and he felt that he was the one whom he could tell his story to. Yes at the bginning he did address to us, the readers but the guy he posted his letters to was another student

Julia Hörmayer I thought it was some random guy/girl he got to know on a party or something and wasn't really close to but however wanted to tell his story to. But that's only what I was thinking.

Ashley We never know. I wished we did! It isn't anyone in the book, but, rather, a character separate from it all.

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Cielomar Carrot I think Stephen intends to make the readers (us) feel that we are part of the story. So we are Charlie's good listener friend and every letter is addressed to us.

Amarnath he is writing to us. He is assuming us to be one of the nice person one who participates and one who makes him feel at ease talking to.

Majo Pereira From my personal perspective, I thought he was sending the letters to God.

Elena It's not a person Charlie knows directly, he's sending it to someone who he's heard really good things about ( I think that person was close with the boy that committed suicide). Sorry if I'm wrong...

Marija Mateska He's writing to you.(the reader)

Sevin Muslum The main character is writing to somebody he calls

AJ the book specifically said that it was no one Charlie knew personally, that it was a friend of someone in his class that he heard her talking about. We don't know specifically how he got the friend's contact info, but it is implied that he heard the girl talking about them and then he looked up their name in the phonebook. However, based on the ending of the book and his explanation, we can rule out the possibility of it being Michael. (It can't be him because he specifically said that the person he's writing to doesn't know him, but he was good friends with Michael.)

Cory Brooks Near the end of the book, it's revealed that the recipient of the letters is someone that one of Charlie's female classmates used to talk about. No names are given, but because Charlie never says "you" when referring to an event he was directly related to, we can assume it's someone Charlie knows of, but does not know personally.

Amy I'm not sure, but I think the author did that to make it seem more personal. With it written as "dear friend" it makes the reader fell as if he or she is that friend. Also, the reader can feel as if he or she were on the journey all along and helped Charlie through it all.

Jessica Reeves I don't think that he is writing to anyone in particular. I think he is writing to feel like someone cares and is listening to him. I know for me I am the same way, I write to release my feelings and to just get my thoughts out of my head.

😌 I personally think, that he is writing it to the readers, but indirectedly. He said in the book that he writes a return address, because he didn't have a friend in the very beggining of the novel. It's kind of like a diary, but it's not. Does anyone know what I mean?

Bruno It's us. He's talking to who's reading the book.

Nicolás Alleri It is suppose to be for you, the one who is reading the book, the person who is holding "the letters".

Liz Barlow I like to think he was writing to me because as a reader he trusted me to be non judgemental. Don't care what the real answer is 😎

JuandaReadings Charlie send the letters to the reader

sayas Although numerous people have various ideas on the topic, when Charlie is referring to his "friend" I've always liked to think he is referring to the reader, or you.

Azure He is sending the letters to a person who was friends with his classmate. They do not know each other and we the readers, are supposed to be that person. This is explained on the first page.

Sky It never says specifically, just someone unrelated to the story. Personally, I think he's writing to the reader.

Amber I don't know for sure, but wasn't it mentioned in the book that it is a random person, in the same country that he took the adress from the phonebook? It what i recall about this topic.

Giselle charlie picked a random person out of a phone book and decided to write and mail the letters to that person.

Alex Birch-Ares After reading the book, I recommended it to a friend, once he finished the first chapter he asked me that question and I told him my opinion "that the identity of the intended recipient of the letters is irrelevant to the plot. However I considered it to be most likely that the reader is the intended recipient. Furthermore, the device Chbosky used in purposefully structuring and conveying the story through letters written by Charlie, was intended to implicitly suggest that the intended recipient was a device used by Charlie as a literary catalyst allowing him to speak freely and honestly explaining to the reader every intimate detail of his life without shame or regret."

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Celina So charlie is writing to no one, but we can infer that after charlie wrote these letters, he would feel pretty relaxed and rescued though there's no place for him to stress out. the author uses a different kind of writing genre to depict charlie's inner world.

Maja Bender As I understood, and I thought also that is directed toward us (readers) is that Charlie sends real letters to person, who he might know through some friends, sister, or someone like that. That person doesn't know Charlie in person, but he might recognize who is he, so Charlie uses aliases. I might be wrong, but somehow I remember he said, toward the end of the book that he found receivers address in phone book, and decided to write to that person because Charlie heard he is understanding and he felt he should tell his story.

Amy Knight I think it is addressed to the reader as it is designed to make you feel closer to the characters and is inviting you into Charlie's world. This is what I think, but there are hundreds of possibilities so it really doesn't matter if you don't agree

Mai Nguyen I think he write to someone he doesn't even know. Someone who isn't related to the story at all.

DC Matthews Honestly, in my opinion, he is writing in a journal. He says at the end of the book (I'm pretty sure, the book is not in front of me) that he is going to stop writing because he is going to try to be more social and not look like a loser. So once again, i think he is writing in a journal.

Dana I am still reading it, but my impression was that he was writing in a diary.

Renn My best guess is he is writing to himself in the future because in the book's there will be a moment's pause and he will write something like "you, of course, know all about this because you are older."
My second best guess is he is targeting the reader as his audience.

Brooke Kelly I believe that this story being in letter or diary format adds to the personal connection with Charlie. After actually reading his diary, you become emotionally invested, and lose perspective.

Aishwarya From what i could understand, Charlie had overheard a classmate describe another student and he felt that he was the one whom he could tell his story to. Yes at the bginning he did address to us, the readers but the guy he posted his letters to was another student

Jose

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Krystol I had a hard time trying to figure out who Charlie was writing the letters to. I thought it was his grandmother, then Sam and now (I have not seen the film), so I think it's Michael, the friend that dies. But, I could be wrong.

Mary Catherine That very well could be, i never saw the film, but it was definitely a near stranger and someone he felt very at ease with, because it comes out almost autobiographical.

Maggie Charlie is sending the letters to the reader, making us feel special. We as readers don't know for sure. But, we can assume Chbosky wrote this way to make us wonder who Charlie is writing to. To make us ask questions.

David Germain Us, Charlie has been talking to us. Unfortunately I can't put this thought into bulletin points so don't believe me on faith.

Lauren During the book I had different ideas about who it could be but I have come to the conclusion that Charlie was sending the books to us. The readers. I'm thinking this because he says "...and even though I didn't know you, I felt like I did..." But I don't think anyone will really figure out who it's written to.

Aliaa though at first i was like who is reading all his writing..is it a journal or diary..it can be diary or journal too..
but at last...i think..it is us, the readers.

bookstoread Couldn't it be his sister? I mean in the end she does have more sympathy towards him than in the beginning. In the subsequent letters everything is clearer than in the first ones. I know it is weird, but maybe it was his way to create a bond.

Alejandra No, nos la envían a nosotros mismos, en el libro te darás cuenta!

Ishaan Tiwari Yeah,the film suggests it's the friend but the book has an unknown guy ..I can be wrong but I think he switched the names of Patrick and Sam(in the book)

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

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