It could be argued that Charlie's greatest friend and ally is Sam. Sam is the person who originally brings him into her friend group, makes him feel comfortable, and tries to help him have a better high school experience. However, when Charlie makes a mistake and is rejected from the group, it is only Patrick that continues to spend time with Charlie and make him feel worthwhile. This would imply that perhaps Patrick is actually Charlie's greatest ally.
Charlie's worst influence is his Aunt Helen. Although she passed away before these situations occurred in Charlie's life, Charlie is suppressing a traumatic experience that happened to him in his childhood, of which she was the cause. He will not accept what his Aunt Helen did to him, how she abused him. He does not make this realization until he has a sexual experience with Sam which brings back these buried, traumatic memories. Aunt Helen is his worst influence because she is the cause of his depression throughout the novel, even at the points where he does not realize it.
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