Character Clues
Character Analysis
Sex and Love
Let's recap here: Andre's had casual sex with a few girls, but it's nothing like sleeping with Jenna. Kendra's had sex with Sean and a sleazy casting director, but it's nothing like sleeping with Conner. Sean's had sex with a cheerleader or two, but it's nothing like sleeping with Cara. And as for Cara, we won't talk about her sexual experience with Sean. We'll just say that it was nothing, nothing like sleeping with Dani.
What makes the difference? Love.
Separating sex from love when you're a teenager can be difficult. The big stereotype is that girls have sex and fall in love, while guys have sex and lose interest. That's not the case in Perfect, though. Both the male narrators are crazy in love, and it drives both to act against their best interests—Andre by dating a girl with a serious drinking problem; Sean by committing date rape and stalking.
As for the girls, Cara reacts to love by finding the courage to come out, which means taking a step on the path toward becoming her own person. Of the four narrators, she's the only one for whom love is an unequivocally positive thing. Kendra's eating disorder, for instance, is—not entirely, of course, but partially—driven by a desire for Conner to want her again after he gets out of Aspen Springs.
The moral of the story is this: Love can mend your life, or love can break your heart. (Thanks, Sting.)
Family Life
Oof, where do we begin? None of these characters would be who they are if they didn't have some seriously messed-up families. Heck, you could also say they wouldn't be who they aren't. (No, that's not a double negative. Go with us here.)
If Cara didn't have to deal with her parents, she might have come out a long time ago, and if Kendra didn't have to deal with hers, she might not have an eating disorder. If Andre didn't have to deal with his, he might have been one of those kids enrolled in ballet, tap, and jazz lessons at age five—and if Sean still had parents, they might have been more attentive than Uncle Jeff and Aunt Mo. Chad might not have become a drug dealer, and Sean might not have turned to steroids.
Most importantly, Conner might still be alive.
On the other hand, the narrators are rich kids. They drive fancy cars, wear nice clothes, and can afford lift tickets whenever they want to go skiing. If they want nose jobs, boob jobs, and private-school educations, they get them. If your parents are working two jobs to make ends meet, they don't have time to laser-focus on your future. Would the narrators feel the same pressure to be perfect if their families didn't have money? Maybe. Would their parents constantly hover over them talking about Stanford? Perhaps not.
As the saying goes, money can't buy happiness. And in Perfect, sometimes it buys profound sadness.
Clothing
And now, we're going to tell you something you already knew: Clothes matter to teenagers.
Take a walk down the hallway of any high school—one in which the students don't wear uniforms, that is—and you'll see that people use clothing as a kind of shorthand. You might notice the hipsters wearing skinny jeans, the Goth kids wearing all black, and the rich kids dressed in designer outfits they rarely wear twice. They're communicating who they are, what they're into, and how they want to be seen.
The characters whose clothing reveals the most about them—or, as the case may be, of them—are Andre and Jenna. When Andre needs money for dance lessons, he tells his mom he's going shopping for clothes. "Perception is everything to Mom, and style/is a vital component," he says. "She wants her son to be a fashion trendsetter" (8.25). It's the perfect, er, cover for what Andre really wants.
As for Jenna, when Andre goes to pick her up for their date to the amusement park, he says:
I'm not
expecting to see her
dressed the way she is. Then again,
it is Jenna, so why am I surprised
that she has chosen
butt-clinging shorts and a low-cut
sweater that leaves absolutely nothing
to the imagination?
At least she brought a very small, very
tight leather jacket. (16.22-25)
Both Andre and Jenna dress to impress, but in completely different ways. Andre's wardrobe is all about status; Jenna's is about proving she's as sexy as Kendra, who's modeling for a teen fashion line. Jenna's clothing is one way we know she's on a quest for premature adulthood.
There's also the scene in which Cara goes to the queer spring break party with Dani. She agonizes over getting dressed, like you do when you have a date with someone you really like. After analyzing all her sweaters, she says, "I choose the amethyst. It's soft,/warm, and clings to my body like oil/on skin. Uggs? No. Black leather/boots with tall spike heels. Overall,/the look is dominatrix girly" (29.18-19)—and totally calculated.
Dani thinks she looks hot, but Dani's ex-girlfriend doesn't believe Cara's a "real" lesbian, because she's dressed too "femme." Ugh. See what we mean about shorthand? Fortunately, Dani's there to defend her, saying, "You know I'm/not much into stereotypes./Guess she is femme. Pretty, too" (29.57). Sigh. If only there were more Danis in the world.