Student Essay on Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Summary:   Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a cleaver and an ironic title for a story in which the main character chooses not to speak. The story is written in first-person narration from the point of view of protagonist, Melinda Sordino.

Speak is a cleaver and an ironic title for a story in which the main character chooses not to speak. The story is written in first-person narration from the point of view of protagonist, Melinda Sordino. Speak is written like an interior monologue in the mind of an introverted teenage girl, like excerpts from her personal diary during her miserable freshman year of high school. Instead of blending in and finding her way through high school. She withdraws and secludes herself from the other students. She calls herself an "outcast." Melinda is so desperate to hide from the world; she turns an old janitor's closet at the high school into her safe haven. She cuts classes to hide in her closet. How lonely could this teenage girl be? All of these characteristics are common in assault victims. Melinda has been seriously disturbed by something traumatic and doesn't feel comfortable talking about it, nor does she really trust anyone. Teenage depression is a common

The story takes place from Melinda's perspective. Every character's description, emotions and behaviors are written as Melinda sees them. The characters in the story are people in Melinda's life. Her family life seems boring and uninteresting. Her mother, Mrs. Sordino is wrapped up in her retail sales job. So, there is an obvious lack of mother/daughter compassion in their relationship. Her father is mean, strict and uninvolved. He doesn't care about how she feels, and he doesn't play much of a role in Melinda's life. She has names for the people she doesn't like. For example, her English teacher is a scary looking woman and her hair looks as if she never combs it, so Melinda refers to her as "Hairwoman." She also refers to her enemy/rapist, Andy Evans, as "It" or "The Beast." She doesn't even try to integrate with the other students. Melinda's best friends who graduated 8th grade with her are not speaking to her. And there is a clique of girls at the school who refer to their group as "the Marathas," that is the Martha Stewart wannabes. There doesn't seem to be a place where Melinda fits in. Where does a girl who has been sexually assaulted fit-in?

Melinda isn't speaking to anyone, and no one will talk to her, except the new girl, Heather, who moved from the state of Ohio. Realistically, Heather being the new girl just wants to make friends. Heather doesn't know what is really going on with Melinda because she just moved to town. Heather has no idea what happened the night when Melinda called the police, which busted a summer party. In fact, no one knows, except for Melinda, what happened to her at the party? She is convinced that because she is a victim, no one understands her. The whole world, including her world, is out to get her and so it is best for her to remain silent.

Ironically, the person Melinda finds as the outlet to help her express her feelings is her art teacher, Mr. Freeman. In a class assignment, Melinda is assigned to create an art project based on a tree. She begins to express her inner angst through this art project. At one point, she uses dried bones to sculpt a picture of a skeleton. Then she glues broken knives and forks to the project so that the bones look like the plastic utensils are stabbing them. It is a grim depiction of how Melinda feels, and is immediately praised by Mr. Freeman. "He almost faints in delight" (63). "Excellent, excellent. What does this say to you"" He asks. She eventually tells him what she sees in her project. And for the first time she speaks up about how she feels and what she understands.

It is only in "Lunchroom Doom," when Melinda's only friend, Heather tells her that she never really thought that they were friends to being with, because she thinks Melinda is weird, depressed and boring. These are the words that actually speak to Melinda. She is crushed because the things she didn't want to hear about herself have finally spoken to her. But things only get worse for Melinda's in the friendship department before they get better. In "Communication 101," Melinda thought that things were looking up between she and Rachel, and when Rachel probes Melinda about who raped her, Melinda finally tells Rachel that her boyfriend, Andy raped her. Rachel yells at her and tells her that she is jealous and lying. The first person Melinda finally confided her secret into, doesn't believe her. Eventually, Melinda finds the courage to stand up and the evidence she needed to back up her story.

Luckily, for Melinda she found the strength she needed in a special person and project to support and encourage her expression. So many victims of sexual assault are trapped inside their minds, kind of like the way this book reads. Like a series of letters, trapped from within someone else's mind. They are afraid to tell their story, for fear they will not be believed. But finding that one outlet that builds your inner strength gives you the courage to face your fears. The character transformation that Melinda made was remarkable. She started her freshman year out as an outsider and ended up feeling confident and rejuvenated.