In the novel, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the chapter prey shows that the main character, Melinda, learns from her mistake and stands up against her worst nightmare, Andy Evans. After algebra class, Melinda goes to her closet and grabs her Maya Angelou poster. After Melinda is finished grabbing her things from her closet, Andy Evans pushes Melinda back into her closet, “somebody slams into my chest back into the closet. The lights flicks and the door closes. I am trapped with Andy Evans” (193). Melinda is scared for her life because of Andy and states him as “made out of slabs of stone” and “enormous” (193). The first time that Andy and Melinda were together, Melinda was drunk and Andy raped her and she did not fight back. During the time Melinda said a small “no” but Andy covered her mouth and kept doing what he was doing. …show more content…
In the closet Andy tries to rape Melinda again, “His mouth is on my face. I twist my head. His lips are wet, his teeth knock against my cheekbone” (194). Andy thinks Melinda is an easy target because the first time this occurred she did not fight back. Therefore, Melinda will not stand up for herself if this instance takes place again. Andy is a very strong man and he keeps grabbing her and slamming her body. But Melinda can only make a “whimper” (194) sound. In this moment, Melinda remembers what happened the first time and comes to a realization of needing to fight back and stand up for herself. As Andy keeps touching Melinda, she screams out “NNNOOO!!!” (194) for Andy to stop. Melinda tries her hardest to to push off and fight