Stephen Chbosky, a writer from the United States, wrote the psychological horror book, Imaginary Friend. It was released by Grand Central Publishing on October 1, 2019, and it quickly became a New York Times Best Seller. It is Chbosky’s much-expected sequel to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which became an international bestseller in 1999.
Kate Reese, a single mother, and her son Christopher leave a violent relationship in the dead of night. Together, they discover that they are lured to Mill Grove, Pennsylvania, and its close-knit neighborhood. At first glance, Mill Grove seems like the ideal location for a new home. Then Christopher disappears for six days before reappearing unhurt but changes from the woods on the outskirts of town. He returns determined to construct a treehouse in the woods by Christmas with a voice in his head that only he can hear.
1. “We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us.” -Stephen Chbosky
This phrase, which refers to a true story about a mother who fled an abusive relationship with her son, Christopher, in the middle of the night, says that one must be brave since fear can swallow us. The mother was determined to make life better for herself and Christopher. She also teaches him that fear only exists in one’s mind, which prevents him from doing things he fears. Living with fear also prevents us from taking risks, and if you don’t go out on the branch, you’ll never get the best fruit. As a result, one must be fearless and not allow fear to control one.
2. “He saw a baby elephant tied to a post with a steel chain. The baby ripped and scratched and tried to get free, but the chain wouldn’t break. Then, he saw a grown elephant tied to a post with nothing but a little piece of rope. He asked his mother how the little piece of rope held the big elephant in place. She explained they chain the babies until they give up. The elephants think that little piece of rope is still a chain.” -Stephen Chbosky
When the child asks his mother about how a small elephant is fighting and scratching and wants to get free whereas the big one is tied with only a rope which it can easily break but still thinks that he is tied up and won’t get free in this quotation, the elephant can be seen and it conveys a great message. Therefore, we may say that people cause the elephant to lose hope that he will ever be able to run free. Until then, the elephant is chained, but once it loses all hope that he will ever be free and grow big, he is just tied with a single rope and no longer has the will to struggle.
3. “The shadows were not terrifying. They were the proof that light exists. The fire and brimstone were all a mirage. The clouds are nothing but steam inside a bathroom. All he needed to do was wipe away the mirror. He didn’t need a key. He was the key.” -Stephen Chbosky
The quote talks about hope because it claims that the shadows were not frightening because they were evidence of light, which means that one knows there is light at the end of the tunnel; the fire and brimstone were all illusions; nothing they saw was real; it was just a nightmare, and the clouds he saw were nothing more than steam rising from the bathroom’s hot water. This quote also implies that his child did not require the key that he is now discovering because he is the key, the one who can remove everything and forget the nightmare while turning on reality and believing in himself to escape the nightmare. It also implies that his child only needed to wipe away the mirror to see the truth about the nightmare and forget about it.
4. “If you fail at your job, you do not blame some outside force. You look right in the mirror and take responsibility. That was the problem with the world. No one took responsibility.” -Stephen Chbosky
This quote talks about blaming others even when you fail, which is bad because once you start blaming other people, you already give up your power, but when you accept responsibility, you regain your power to change your life. You can also improve your life by looking within and beginning to work on yourself rather than blaming others for your failure because it is always simple to blame others, and you can spend your entire life blaming the world, but the successes and failures are equally as important.
5. “Little David Olson looked off the road. The night was silent. Some crickets. A little bit of fog lit the path to the trees. David was terrified, but he couldn’t stop. It was all up to him. He had to finish, or the Hissing lady would get out. And his big brother would be the first to die.” -Stephen Chbosky
The key storyline and thematic components are established in this quotation. Its main theme is isolation, which is emphasized. There is just David Olson. His neighborhood has practically forgotten about him. He is nonetheless committed to doing his part and putting an end to the evil that threatens Mill Grove despite this. He doesn’t feel any anger or animosity; instead, he is merely desperate to protect the people he loves. With David’s willingness to devote himself as the greatest act of love for his brother, Ambrose, the verse also introduces the concept of sacrifice.
6. “The candle flickered in the wind of the hurricane… Then, the light of one hundred billion stars burned out.” -Stephen Chbosky
This quotation talks about the candle flickering, which indicates that there will be darkness in the night where there is no light, but with a sign of hope, it is shown that there must be billions of stars to be burned out to create light and light the path along the way to remove the darkness, which means one must never lose hope even if a hurricane comes and affects the person, the light will always be there. It is the mind that needs to think positively and in the right way.
7. “But I’m not afraid anymore because heaven and hell are not destinations. They are decisions.” -Stephen Chbosky
The narrator of this line is referring to himself when he says that he is not scared of either heaven or hell because they are only choices, and the mind is capable of creating either one from the other. In the same way that deciding to go to heaven or hell depends on the individual because these places are merely states of thought and nothing more, how we create our own space depends on us. It also influences our activities. The two approaches to the world simply diverge in their perspectives.
8. “Never mistake being nice for being weak.” -Stephen Chbosky
This quote is profound because it emphasizes the need not to act weakly because doing so is bad. Instead, one should act bravely when being kind to everyone else, but one should not remain weak when someone is acting unkindly. Instead, one should fight for what one believes in. People must understand not to take advantage of someone being good to them. Never assume that those who are quiet are weak and those who are noisy are strong. Soft is not the same as weak. To maintain your calm in such a terrible world demands courage.
9. “Everyone gets an ending. Whether or not it’s happy is up to them.” -Stephen Chbosky
According to this saying, everyone deserves a happy or sad ending, depending on them, as it obviously relies on where you stop your story. Life is a journey, and how a person handles and lives through it determines how happy or sad an ending they receive. It depends on them whether the ending is joyful or sad since people write their own stories, and since people experience both happy and sad moments, they are ultimately responsible for whether the ending is happy or sad, successful or unsuccessful. Because happiness rarely appears where we look for it, it always does. Everyone deserves a happy ending. You aren’t angry despite everything that occurred to you. You’re not chilly. It’s acceptable that you’ve been a little reserved and reserved. If I were a fairy godmother, I would instantly grant all of your wishes. I would then tell you not to cry while wiping away your tears.
10. “Some people’s fake is more honest than other people’s reality.” -Stephen Chbosky
This quote discusses some people’s dishonesty or their illusion of being sincere while actually being untruthful; hence it speaks of other people’s reality. Being real today is considered disrespectful since being false is so prevalent. People are now loathed for being honest and revered for being false, which is a problem.
11. “You have to live your life before you get to live your Heaven.” -Stephen Chbosky
According to this quote, one must be able to live fully and keep their attention on the positive. They must not second-guess themselves or think about paradise. The goal of life must be to experience everything fully, to stretch out excitedly and fearlessly in search of greater and richer experiences.
12. “Adults are bad at remembering how powerful they can be because somewhere along the line, they were shamed for their imagination.” -Stephen Chbosky
This quote is about adults who are embarrassed by their imagination because they worry about what society will think of them and what if their thinking is not appropriate for their age because, in accordance with society, an adult is permitted to think in a certain way and what if it is not right, so in all these people forget how powerful they are or they can be because they are afraid of getting embarrassed for their imagination and the acceptance of the society, one must be proud of what you have overcome and not feel ashamed of your imagination.