Melinda doesn’t speak because of what happened at the party and she doesn’t think anyone will believe her. Or if they do believe her then Andy would do something to her or tell people that she was lying. Andy is popular so the students would think that Melinda had just said that to receive attention and make people forget what she had done at the party. The truth was that she was raped at the party and when she called the police, all of her friends were angry at her for getting them into trouble. They don’t understand what had actually happened. Melinda didn’t mean to make them angry, but she called the police because she was afraid. She is afraid that if she tells someone about what happened to her there would be severe consequences. They will either not listen, like Rachel, or they will not understand what really happened. …show more content…
Shut your trap; button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.” Melinda’s fear of speaking out loud is shown on pg.156 during her suffragette speech. Her plan for the speech is to stand in front of the class holding a poster to protest the idea of giving a speech. Because she is so terrified of speaking, she is held back from several of the activities and social events in the school. Fear plays a crucial role in the novel and was one of the main reasons that Melinda found it so difficult to speak verbally throughout the