Melinda Sordino elucidates the many components of a mentally challenged character. Some of which are positive, such as her creative emotional ways of expressing herself, however, she undoubtedly highlights the negative torments of mental illness, like constant lack of enthusiasm, grave instability, and inability to love. For all of these reasons, I would not want to be friends with Melinda Sordino. Firstly, due to Melinda’s overwhelming struggle with depression, she consistently projects her absence of enthusiasm onto everyone around her. When Heather, Melinda’s incredibly optimistic and only friend, encourages Melinda to join a club with her, Melinda unkindly responds, “clubs are stupid” (23). Friendship relies on shared support of one another, …show more content…
Her emotional and social performance relies on fickle solidity that influences those around her. After Heather recommended Melinda seek professional help for her depression after breaking up their friendship, Melinda asks, “Isn’t that what friends are for, helping each other out in bad times?” (106). I interpret this quote as a tactic of manipulation, with the intention of making Heather feel sorry for defending her own well-being. Though Heather, as a social climber, broke their friendship for the wrong reasons, Melinda’s reaction is enough for me to understand her morals and perspectives on what friendship means to her. Although I would like to help her navigate herself during hardship, she does not consider nor care for her impact on others. If Melinda truly loved her friends, she would be able to comprehend the importance of balance between struggle and effort. This leads to my third point, Melinda does not have the capacity to love. Her situation is far from her fault, as she carries an emptiness within her in response to unwieldy trauma. I believe this emptiness is a result of the absence of self-love. Melinda conceals her truth in the shadows of ignominy she feels toward
Another way Melinda is betrayed by her friends, is when the book quotes on page (105-106) “(Heather)You are the most depressed person i've
Melinda struggles with keeping the same relationships she once had. Melinda’s family becomes very distant and comes to the stage of Melinda is not sure they care like they once
Heather from speak is not guilty of being a bad friend. This is evident when Heather is the only other person that is willing to accept Melinda and listen to what Melinda has to say. Heather sets a plan “[Heather] wants us to join five clubs, one for every day of the week” (Anderson 22). This represents friendly behaviour, as Heather is assisting Melinda in making new friends, while also boosting her own social rank.
She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood.” This showed her love for books, but also acknowledged her loneliness. In Speak, Melinda is traumatized from being taken advantage of and raped by an older boy named Andy Evans. She had called the police at the party they were at, and ever since then has been seen as an outcast.
Consequently, Melinda’s character is one which most teens relate to. Friendship is very important aspect of high school. In high school friendships start to change and so do people. People feel like they have to be cool and popular in high school and that's when everything starts to change for Melinda.
Because Melinda and her family mainly talk like that there is little to no family bonding and Melinda is not getting the love and attention she needs in this rough time in her life. It is not just her parents she is feeling the neglect from. She also wrote to her friends through notes. Melinda has no friends this school year because of what happened over the summer at a party when she called the cops because a senior in high school, Andy Evans, brutally raped her, but everyone in school does not know that. When she finds out that her old friend, Rachel, starts to date Andy, she wants to help her.
In the beginning of Melinda’s story, she has already been invaded with thoughts from the incident, and she is heavily affected physically and psychologically by Andy Evan’s control. This is shown substantially through her outward appearance and attitude in her new school. “I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to sit with. I am Outcast” (Anderson 4).
This is because she believes there is no one to trust or even if she tells someone they will not believe her or even shame her for “lying” about it. If Melinda had sought support, she would’ve realized people were there with similar experiences with the same person. Instead of just spreading the word like she did on the bathroom stall she might’ve received support not just through writing on a wall but maybe from fellow classmates or students who might’ve gone through the same thing Body Paragraph #3 Due: 3/28/23
Later, a scene in which men chop away a dead branch from a tree in order to save the remainder of the tree represents the danger Melinda faces in allowing her misery to take over every area of her life. We learn at the beginning of the book that she feels terrible and is scared of everything and everyone. She prefers to keep to herself, yet she is unconcerned about herself, her academics, or anything else she does. A fantastic illustration of this inside the narrative comes on page 51, in the final paragraph, when Melinda feels nervous and lacks confidence. She says “I know my head isn’t screwed on straight.
“There is no point looking for my ex- friends. Our clan, the Plain Janes, has splintered and the pieces are being absorbed by rival factions”(pg 4) . This shows how Melinda's friend group has split and now with more people of “their liking” such as the popular kids. Melinda then became depressed and lost the ability
Nevertheless, as the story progresses, Rachel's health deteriorates; Seeing Rachel become so wealthy, Greg, Earl, and Rachel's family come together to support her. Along the way, Greg learns valuable life lessons about the importance of friendship, empathy, and acceptance. As Rachel's health gets worse, Greg and Earl provide her with much-needed companionship and comfort, showing how friendships can provide a source of strength and resilience during difficult times. This again reflects the concept of how friendship can serve as a resilience force when facing
Heather says “excuse me for saying this, but you are no fun to be around and I think you need professional help” (Anderson 105). Melinda’s introverted personality led to her being unable to form new friendships demonstrated through her relationship with Heather. Heather was a new girl at school, unaware of the situation that had occurred with Melinda in the past summer, formed a close bond with Melinda. But as Melinda started to perceive Heather as her best friend, Heather found out the rumours about Melinda. Melinda, unable to clear up her name and communicate
Heather claims that they were never really friends, that their tastes are different, and that Melinda truly has no interests at all. Melinda would be told by her that she is the most depressed person she has ever met. Which leads Melinda to say, “ I was the only person who talked to you on the first day of school, and now you’re blowing me off because I'm a little depressed? Isn’t that what friends are for, to help each other out in bad times?” (106).
After the rape her grades drop which means her parents are not only disappointed but they are frustrated with her. (Link) Nevertheless, Melinda is going through other thoughts and feelings inside
In Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel, Speak, Melinda is a dynamic character whose behaviors, thoughts, and words change and reflect the theme of the novel, not to keep ones emotions bottled up. First, Melinda acts in a shy and quiet manner because she had got her friends into trouble when she called the cops at the party. However when Melinda begins to make her own choicesfor herself and not let her emotions get to her, she realizes she will not let other people make her own descions. This is evident when Anderson writes “I mean no I won`t help you” (Anderson 179). This shows how Melinda will not be walked on by her peers.