Summary of Monochrome Days Pt. II

In the second portion of Monochrome Days, Cait Irwin’s thoughts about suicide still continue to haunt her. After a long, grueling appointment with a psychiatrist and staying in a hospital for eight days, she concludes that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Although the whole treatment process was difficult for her to endure, Irwin states that psychiatric hospitals are one of the best ways to treat depression because of the various group sessions and different types of therapy. One key factor that Irwin discovers after her treatment was that the medications that treat depression may not work well for some people because everyone's brain chemistry is different. In addition, a key turning point for Irwin’s depression is when she works on a car with her dad. She starts to divert her attention away from her depression and even says “[the car] was a great distraction from the Beast” (75), however she highlights the fact that going back to school and interacting with others proved challenging due to the persistence of her depression. Despite the ups and downs of the emotional rollercoaster she is experiencing, she remains positive and points out that “Once you hit rock bottom, there is nowhere left to go but up” (52).

Teen Stress Essential Question

Question: Why do teens experience stress/depression during their years of education?

Claim: In today's society, teens in school are pressured to do good, get excellent grades and keep up on various assignments. Education has the most important effect on teens as they move up through the grade levels, which progressively increase in difficulty.

Specifically, Junior year is the most challenging year for teens because colleges look at this year to determine whether if the student can go study at their campus or not. Students are also pressured to make decisions of their own in order to get into the college they desire, ultimately deciding their future. A majority of high schools have Honors and Advanced Placement classes, which students are free to take. However, most choose to not enroll in these classes, or enroll and suddenly drop out. The reason behind this is because of the tremendous work load, or fear of failure if the student is not yet enrolled in the class.

Some may argue that family or friends have more of an impact than education. While in some cases that may be true, teens are pressured to make more of their own choices and decide how their future is going to be.

Summary of Monochrome Days (Chapter 1)

Cait Irwin reluctantly visits the darkest days of her life in her book Monochrome Days to teach and offer help to those that are unaware of or currently experiencing depression. Irwin examines the causes of stress based on experiences from herself and other people and concludes that outside factors like family, friends and school have a huge impact on the individual. She points out that depression is an infirmity, not a state of mind, and mentions a few examples of how other people, including herself, have felt sick or deprived of energy at times. As her own case of depression progressively gets worse, Irwin states that she attempted suicide at one point. She urges the readers to see that suicide is not an effective way of ending depression, nor does it benefit anyone. As she receives treatment and notices how her family is changing because of her negative attitude, Irwin starts to pull herself out of the pit she dug for herself little by little. She continues to stress the fact that depression is only temporary, even though it may not seem to be at times.

Teen Stress Survey

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Importance of Aunt Helen's Death/Effects on Charlie

Discuss why Aunt Helen's death is so significant to Charlie. How would it affect his optimistic outlook on his life?

Charlie blames himself for Aunt Helen's death, even though it evidently isn't his fault. Whenever he thinks about this dire event it dramatically worsens his depression, stealing any optimistic thoughts he starts to develop.

Throughout the novel he constantly is battling with himself over this situation, and it becomes extremely difficult for him to stay positive. It was Charlie's birthday, and Aunt Helen was leaving for reasons unknown to Charlie. She told him she wanted the reason to be a secret between them. The words that continuously echo in Charlie's mind were "I'm going to buy your birthday present" (102). Aunt Helen leaves on a snowy evening to buy Charlie a gift, only to be involved in a fatal car accident moments later. A police officer told Charlie the news, but he was in denial and refused to accept the fact that Aunt Helen was no longer alive.

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In addition to many other factors that deeply affect Charlie, the death of Aunt Helen has severely impacted his life in several ways. He has to constantly seek help from psychiatrists (who do a poor job) and write more frequently to the unknown friend in hopes of escaping a deep pit he dug for himself. He writes to his friend "She would be alive if I were born on a day that didn't snow. I would do anything to make this go away. I miss her terribly. I have to stop writing now because I am too sad" (103). Charlie is not just thinking about being born on a day that didn't snow, he's thinking about not being born altogether.

All in all, Charlie has been deeply affected by the loss of Aunt Helen. He even felt guilty for something he didn't know would happen. It wasn't right for him to think that way, and he's very lucky to have very supportive family members and friends.


***After reading this book, I understand the effects of depression and stress on one's life. It has touched me in many ways, and it's funny to think I didn't want to read this book in the first place. The way the author wrote it makes it seem like YOU are Charlie's friend, which makes it easier to understand what he is going through. I would recommend reading this book because it will teach you the importance of self worth and optimism if you should ever face the same issues as Charlie. 

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Perks of Being a Wallflower: Optimism

Discuss why Charlie writes his letters to a person he doesn't know. What is his motive?

Charlie's main motive for writing letters to an anonymous person he calls a "friend" is to get his feelings out without being judged. The letters encourage the friend to look on the positive side of every event, no matter how bad the end result may be. Charlie has experienced many events that traumatized him, such as the death of his best friend and feeling guilty about the death of Aunt Helen. To make things worse, he's constantly in the middle of family disputes. Charlie is always trying to pull himself out of a rut and get his life back on track. The letters help him do that.

There is an event that gives the reader a sense of how Charlie feels. He stays up late one night and sees an infomercial for a product he doesn't need. He calls the number up anyway, only to tell Michelle (the operator) on the other line that he doesn't want the product but instead says, " I hope you are having a good night" (133). Michelle hangs up without saying a word. Charlie says he didn't mind a bit, but it is obvious he feels no one seems to understand what he is going through.

Towards the end of Charlie's series of letters, it is clear to the reader that Charlie doesn't know the person that he has written to for over a year. In his last letter, he tells his friend "...please believe that things are good with me, and even when they're not, they will be soon enough. And I will believe the same about you" (224). It's almost as if Charlie himself is the friend he is writing to, and not the person he picked through a phone book. He encourages himself and his friend that everything will be fine, and gets himself out of depression as a result.

In addition to the theme of self-worth, optimism is key to getting out of depression. His friend did not judge him and his feelings, and Charlie appreciates the fact that his friend understands what he is going through. If Charlie hadn't changed his outlook on life while writing to his friend, he would've ended his own.

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