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Evilness In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

816 Words4 Pages

In Speak, Melinda was raped by Andy at a party. Melinda called the police and the party ended. She refused to say what happened until after Andy start dating her best friend Rachel. Andy try to rape her for the second time after he found out what she did. Luckily, Melinda was saved when people outside heard the movement. Afterward, Melinda finally decided to talk to her mother about the situation. This film talk about a centered on a character who gains strength over time to overcome trauma. When necessary, seek help from the outside world (counselor, friend, parents, etc.) to talk about problems. Don’t let fears back ou off, it will only harm yourself and release the evilness. At the beginning of the movie, Melinda used a black pen draw …show more content…

“I see a few friends - people I used to think were my friends - but they look away”(Anderson 8). It might also be the reason why she chose to remain silent. “I don’t want to be cool. I want to grab her by the neck and shake her and scream at her to stop treating me like dirt. She didn’t even bother to find out the truth - what kind of friend is that?”(Anderson 21). I feel like it showed a clear situation of how the victim has fear or bad memory of something and wants to just forget about it and move on with her life. “Even when I discard memory, it stays with me, staining me. My closet is a great thing, a quiet place that helps me keep these thoughts in my head so no one can hear them”(Anderson 51). But she can’t forget about it and almost resulted in getting raped again by Andy. Then she learned to call for help and told her parents. I feel sad for Melinda in the book, misunderstood and abandoned by her peers. But she’s still a very independent and well-meaning person. I have no interest in this book other than that, it’s boring. In real life, many people are the same as Melinda. Speak is suitable for all teenagers and adults to read. So that can let more people that's in need get better and effective communication in their situation. Adults(mostly parents) can also try to know children's problems, because

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While she’s drunk, she meets a senior named Andy Evans who is extremely captivating. They dance together and then he starts to kiss her. However, Melinda doesn’t like what he’s doing but she’s too drunk to reject him, it then escalates and he rapes Melinda. After the assault, she contacts the police but cannot bring herself to tell them what happened.

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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.

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Melinda Sordino Melinda Sordino is the main character in Laurie Halse Anderson’s award-winning book, Speak. Speak is about a young teenager who experienced a great trauma. Melinda Sordino was raped at a high school party before the start of her freshman year. She struggles with letting her secret be known. Melinda is very independent, lonely, and depressed.

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Also, the closet her “safe place” she always used to hide what happened at the party from everyone else becomes a dangerous place. “It”, also known as Andy Evans the boy who rapes her at the party breaks into the closet and tries to sexually assault her again. Melinda realizes she can't let this happen again and therefore fights back with everything she has. She realizes that her closet is not safe anymore and that she can't hide from her trauma. And that she can't hide from this problem, and she needs to stand up and speak to the problem.

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The author’s greater purpose with this conflict is to connect with readers who may be survivors of rape. She wants to create a familiar setting and tone with these readers so they may relate to the story. Melinda’s mental state at this point of story leaves you wondering: Will she be able to conquer her

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This causes her to be unable to speak as normal and express herself only through self physical acts of hurting herself. However, through her pain, she begins to grow from a victim to a survivor and understands that the only way to go against evil is to speak out against it. Melinda in Speak is a high school freshman who is raped by Andy Evans who is a senior in high school. Due to him raping her she loses her ability to speak normally and say what she feels and how she feels. Melinda gains her confidence to speak in public freely again by the end of the story.

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Melinda is raped by an older boy at a party the summer before her freshman year of high school. The impacts of this event are socially and psychologically devastating for Melinda. Her declining mental health renders her physically unable to speak about being raped over the summer. She is unable to cope with her trauma, and forced to suffer alone. However, she eventually becomes empowered to speak up for herself and about her experience.

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Melinda avoids talking about her assault as she is struggling with feelings of guilt, shame and fear, fear of being judged or not believed if she tells someone about what happened to her. Melinda is haunted by the memory of her rape which contributes to her decision to keep her assault a secret. Therefore,with Melindas

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At the end of the story she finally found her voice and was able to stand up for herself. In the beginning, Melinda didn't talk to anyone, barely even to her parents. She says, “I have tried so hard to forget every second of that stupid party and here I am in the middle of a hostile crowd that hates me for what I had to do. I can't tell them what really happened” (Anderson, 28).

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Because Melinda called the police after the rape, the party got stopped, and Melinda became an outcast from there on out. Melinda struggles with making new friends at school because she is a part of the group of outcasts within the school. Throughout the book, the reader is shown

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Drunk, dazed and violated she called the police on the huge party she was at. She soon developed a case of post traumatic stress disorder. Melinda became closed off and stopped talking. She never told anyone about her rape. All of her old friends rejected her after the call to the police.

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Melinda was able to speak at the end of the novel Speak by Laurie Hals Anderson, because she ultimately realized that she had the vital support surrounding her. At the beginning of the novel, Melinda has lost all of her friends due to a misunderstanding during the summer, however as the book moves along she establishes valuable connections with new and old people. Ivy and Melinda had gone through a troublesome time in their friendship, but by renewing the connection they had the past year, Melinda then had someone she knew she could trust. Ivy never bullied Melinda, but she grew apart from Melinda when Rachel and Nicole did, when Melinda sees Ivy and other “people [she] used to think were [her] friends, they look away” (9), however towards the end of the year Melinda starts to open up to Ivy about what happened over the summer by making her list of “Guys to Stay Away From” on the bathroom wall (175). Throughout the year it is present that Melinda and Ivy’s friendship evolves and Melinda is then able to trust Ivy with the truth.

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Rachel, Melinda's friend also normalizes Andy’s actions because she does not believe that he would ever do such a thing. Overall, the social issue of rape in this book perfectly mirrors rape and rape culture in real life. Summary

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After Melinda admits to herself that she was raped, Melinda starts to realize that

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Melinda, in a lot of ways, starts out like that it the book. She becomes a shell of herself from before the party happened and because no one else was there, she is lonely and doesn't have anybody to go to and to make matters even worse, she’s covered by the reputation that she has formed. In the book, Laurie Halse Anderson uses symbolism to convey exactly what Melinda can't say. In the beginning of the book, Melinda starts high school carrying her emotional wounds with her after something happens mysterious to her at a party during the summer.

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