Examples Of Avoidance Of Conflict In The Novel Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

The main character of the novel Speak, Melinda, struggles to come to terms with her sexual assault and the effects it has had on her. Throughout the book, she ignores the conflicts her experience has caused and attempts to get away from it. In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda’s avoidance of conflict and the ramifications it has on her life reinforces the message that ignoring your problems will only drag out hardships.
The most obvious way that Melinda’s evasion of conflicts can be seen is with her friends. Melinda pushing those around her away is a direct result of her not acknowledging interpersonal conflicts due to the fact it’s easier for her to lose relationships than speak out. One day, while Melinda is eating lunch

You are the most depressed person I’ve ever met, and excuse me for saying this, but you are no fun to be around and I think you need professional help’” (Anderson 105). Heather directly points out Melinda’s avoidance of conflict. Melinda doesn’t bother with social activities or any of Heather’s interests, preferring to be alone. Heather pointing this out is another opportunity for Melinda to explain herself and speak up about why she acts that way, and is another opportunity that she turns down. When Melinda stays silent and gives up this chance, she allows Heather to leave, despite not wanting her to leave. Another time Melinda avoids conflict is after Melinda falls asleep in the broom closet and goes to the basketball game, David invites Melinda to a party after school, when she refuses, thinking to herself, “Nope. I don’t do parties. No thanks. I trot out excuses: homework, strict parents, tuba practice, late night dentist appointment, have to feed the warthogs. I don’t have a good track record with parties” (Anderson 131). Rather than spending time

Melinda ignoring school and the problems that come with it mirrors her internal struggles of acknowledging her trauma. One of the times Melinda is skipping school, she decides to go to the hospital. She goes to the maternity ward where the nurses query about her life, but decides she doesn’t like it because “If I wanted people to ask me questions, I would have gone to school” (Anderson 112). Many people ask Melinda questions: her parents, her peers, her teachers. At school it’s usually about school issues, however at the hospital it’s about Melinda and her life. In both scenarios, people are asking her things she doesn’t want to talk about. Her avoiding school is also avoiding the questions people ask about her, whether it’s her trauma or her schoolwork. By skipping school, she is also getting away from verbally acknowledging her trauma. This pattern of questioning also continues when Melinda and her parents have a meeting with the principal in regards to her grades and attitude, saying that both have been getting worse: “Principal Principal: ‘Melinda. Last year you were a straight-B student, no behavioral problem, few absences. But the reports I’ve been getting…well, what can we say?’” (Anderson 114). This meeting makes it clear that Melinda was previously an attentive student but as her mental health struggles got worse, her school life deteriorated as well. The principal states that last year—before her