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Summary And Symbolism In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

441 Words2 Pages

Have you ever felt like you were trapped in a secret that you couldn’t find the power to share it with anyone? Author, Laurie Halse Anderson wrote her young-adult novel Speak, to show the what its like to face something like that. What’s her secret you might ask? Melinda a ninth grade student about to enter high school was a victim to a sexual assult by one of her peers that past summer at a party. Many teens face this and even though it seems impossible to conquer, Anderson, using humor, and complex symbolism which brings to light on how a real life issue evolved into a new way. Anderson uses a closet(s) to symbolize the life an growth and fading darkness inside Melinda.

First, the most difficult things victims of a sexual assult face is facing that it actually happened; often they think of themselves has someone who is different and put themselves into a box which is( similar to a closet) to provide a home for the memories of what happened. At the start of this novel, the author leads up to …show more content…

These types of art allow themselves to free their mind and show what there feeling in a way that is non physical. In the text, Melinda does eventually learn to use a kind of art as a coping method which is when she creates a comfortable place for herself in a janitors closet in the school.” “The first thing to go is the mirror. It is screwed to the wall, so I cover it with a poster of Maya Angelou” (50). Since the mirror is screwed to the wall represents that Melinda is unable to escape herself and all the trauma that is inside of her. She is able to cover it up by one of the greatest writer, Maya Angelou symbolizes the potential Melinda has. It is showing what she is able to achieve even though she is unable to realize it instead of who she is. Also it is showing how she eventually will use her art to help her talk to someone about what she went

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