A person is never truly perfect, and never truly evil. They are always made up of good and bad qualities which makes them whole. The Perks of Being a Wallflower delves into the life of a young adolescent, Charlie. The novel explores Charlie`s friendships in high school, the struggles of his past, and the complicated relationships with his classmates. One character who stands out in this novel is Brad, a secretly gay football player who keeps a secret relationship with Patrick, one of Charlie`s best friends. Brad is a shining example of a character who has both positive and negative traits, and blends them seamlessly throughout the novel. He shows an inspiring amount of love and tenderness, one of his strongest qualities, yet he also demonstrates terrifying viciousness, and incredible terror which influences all of his actions.

Brad`s most apparent personality trait is the tenderness which he shows with Patrick. Although he has a girlfriend, he has fallen in love with Patrick, and his affection deeply scares him. "When they were finished, Brad started to cry really hard. He had been drinking a lot. And getting really really stoned. No matter what Patrick did, Brad kept crying." (Chbosky,) Brad has finally realized his feeling for Patrick, yet is afraid to accept them. He doesn`t want to come out of the closet yet, but he understands that he can`t hide his emotions anymore. His ability to express his inner feelings, even through so much outside hate and peer pressure, shows how much love he has within him, and is what enables him to overpower much of the hostility he feels towards the idea of being gay.

Brad is very loving, however just like most other teenagers, he cares too much about how others perceive him. This quality begins to alienate those he cares for, and deeply hurt them. "And they ended up fooling around right there in the basement..... But Monday in school, Brad kept saying the same thing. `Man, I was so wasted. I don`t remember a thing." He said it to everyone who was at the party. He said it a few times to the same people. He even said it to Patrick.