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Michael Dobson was Charlie’s best friend who tragically killed himself when they were in eighth grade. Like Aunt Helen, Michael has a haunting presence in the narrative as Charlie tries to make sense of his friend’s death. Charlie is particularly distressed because Micheal did not leave a suicide note, which would have provided some degree of closure. Instead, Charlie is forced to speculate and wonder what could have pushed his only friend to take such drastic measures—he guesses “problems at home” but he has no way to know for certain. Throughout the novel, Chbosky conflates Michael’s suicide with Aunt Helen’s car accident. For example, Charlie writes about Aunt Helen for the first time immediately after he describes Michael’s funeral. Charlie links the deaths of Michael and Aunt Helen together because, in both cases, someone that Charlie loved and felt understood him was taken away without warning and without closure. This aspect of Charlie’s trauma is essential to our understanding of his character; it explains why Charlie has such a difficult time connecting with people. His two most trusted companions died and left him alone, and as a result, he is hesitant to form new relationships because he is worried that anyone he grows close to will leave him.
Michael’s character introduces key ideas about depression and mental health. Even though Charlie does not want to commit suicide, and tries to consider Michael an example of what he will not do, he comes to understand how Michael could have arrived at such a depressed state of mind. Charlie has three major depressive episodes in the novel: the period surrounding Christmas and his birthday, the period in which he is alienated from his friend group, and the moment when he finally realizes that Aunt Helen molested him. Fortunately for Charlie, he is able to get the help that he needs, even going so far as to stay in a mental hospital for two months at the end of the novel. Michael’s tragic end represents what could have happened if Charlie had no support system, or the means to seek help.
