Sexual Violence In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

Every sixty-eight seconds, an American is sexually assaulted, and it is stated that only twenty-five out of every one thousand perpetrators will see the consequences of their actions (RAINN). Now, imagine if the world was a place where victims felt as if they could speak up and receive proper assistance without question and judgment. Imagine if every sexual assault case concluded with justice for the victim. Laurie Halse Anderson tells her own story of sexual violence and the struggles of the aftermath through the eyes of high school freshman, Melinda Sordino, in her work Speak. Throughout the novel, Melinda internally fights with herself on who to protect, herself and other females around her, or her attacker’s reputation. This inner battle

Despite being the most hated among her classmates and all alone, Melinda is forced to attend the first day of school. Also being alone due to being the new student from Ohio, Melinda is put with ‘Heather from Ohio’ and almost assigned to be friends with her. Though they are very different people, Melinda allows herself to be acquaintances with Heather. Feeling confident enough in her trust for Heather, Melinda is tempted to tell her of Andy Evans. Heather, however, decides that she does not want to continue this “friendship” that she and Melinda have. She even tells Melinda, “We were never really, really friends, were we?” (Anderson 105) then proceeds to say that Melinda acts “weird”. Now, was Heather right to abandon this relationship? According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, PTSD Center, “5% to 10% of survivors may have lasting relationship problems,”. The symptoms of PTSD can cause problems with trust, closeness, communication, and problem-solving. These problems may affect the way a victim acts with those around them.
Depression and PTSD go hand in hand–Melinda expresses her loss of this connection in her life when she says, “I have no friends. I have nothing. I say nothing. I am nothing,” (Anderson 116). This feeling of self-deprecation demonstrates the mental effect that sexual assault has on an individual. One situation

From seeing him at the mall on her skip day to being cornered after she tried to warn Rachel of what he is capable of, to being locked in a closet with him, Melinda is forced to speak up for herself and those around her. Sitting in the library with Rachel, Melinda attempted to tell her…“‘I didn’t call the cops to break up the party’ I write. ‘I called-’ I put the pencil down. I pick it up again. ‘I called [them] because some guy raped me’”. (Anderson 183). Acting with much attention and concern, Rachel suddenly wanted to know all the details of her situation. However, as soon as Melinda provided the name of Rachel’s boyfriend, her assaulter, Rachel made sure to defend Andy and derail Melinda’s warning. It is not until Andy locks Melinda in her hideaway closet that light is shed on their interaction. It is not until this time that Melinda fully realizes what happened to her and can find the fire in her to say, “No,” to Andy: “A sound explodes from me. ‘NNNOOO!!!’ I follow the sound, pushing off the wall, pushing Andy Evans,” (Anderson 194). As Melinda says, she “explodes”. The anger, the fear, and every other feeling she has battled in the recovery of her assault is let loose on the only person who deserves it: Andy Evans who most likely figured he would always get away with it. The magnitude of self-respect is so deeply shown through Melinda’s progression of herself in this