Speak Character Analysis Essay

Bullying’s Impact Analysis

Bullying has become a prevalent social issue among teenagers, and its consequences can be devastating to a teen's mental health. In the novel Speak, the main character Melinda goes through the struggles of the aftermath of sexual assault at a summer party before her freshman year of high school. Throughout the book she also deals with bullying and that heavily impacts her behavior and the way she responds, as well as the way she thinks and views herself . While Speak shows what it is like to be the target of bullies, the article “I Used to be a Bully and Why I stopped” shows the perspective of a former bully, the author of this article gives the reader more understanding about bullying from a former bully’s perspective.

Verbal Abuse is a part of bullying remarks as well as crude language towards the person can damage their confidence, as a result they start to distance themselves as their mental health starts to spiral downwards. An example that is noticed is the novel Speak. Speak shows a first person narrative of the main character Melinda. Throughout the novel Melinda goes through the struggles of the aftermath of sexual assault at a summer party last year before her freshman year of highschool. No one is aware that she had been raped at that party. Unaware that she had called the cops in complete fear, they believe that she called the cops to snitch about the party and are resentful towards her. “If there is anyone in the entire galaxy I am dying to tell what really happened, it’s Rachel. My throat burns. Her eyes meet mine for a second. “I hate you,” she mouths silently. She turns her back to me and laughs with her friends.” (Anderson 5) This quote points out the classmate's clear resentment towards her. While no physical aggression has been shown, the classmates' resentment towards only Melinda makes her singled out. This is also the start of her viewing herself as an outcast. Like, when Melinda says “I am an outcast” (Anderson 4) This is meant to portray how Melinda sees herself as a social reject. She lists how everyone has this sort of clique and group to

Bullying happens because of the bully wanting to assert his or her power, and having control over the victim, stemming from their own insecurities and need for validation. Nevertheless, the impact of bullying can be incredibly harmful for the victims, shattering their confidence is what inevitably ties into falling into depression. The article, “I used to be a bully and this is why I stopped” shows a former bully’s perspective and how they bullied others. “. . .and I definitely wasn’t confident in myself. I didn't know who I wanted to be or what group I wanted to be part of, but what I did know is I wanted people to notice me and like me. That’s when the crude joking and teasing of others truly began. It was in an effort to boost my own self worth that I bullied others, tearing down the confidence they seemed to possess.” (Erin Ze 1) The narrator admits that she tears down others in an attempt to make her confidence rise. The narrator first admits how she wasn't confident in herself and her need for validation from others is what started her path on bullying others. She saw that the only way that she could boost her own confidence while getting people to like her was by destroying the confidence in others'. “We focused on other people’s inhibitions, which made me forget about mine. This time I had people around me that not