Symbolism In Anderson's Speak

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, “Nationally, about 8-10 million girls under the age of 18 have experienced rape or attempted rape. In the book SPEAK by Laurie Anderson, Melinda the main character was assaulted at a party by a senior, known as Andy Evans, so she called the cops and got the party busted. Now everyone at her school sees Melinda as a snitch, without knowing what happened. The image of the tree symbolizes Melinda in multiple ways, including her emotions, strength, and growth. Melinda's emotions tended to show through the look of the trees that she drew. When Mr. Freeman had Melinda choose her prompt for the rest of the year and she went to change it, he said, “Ah ah ah, you just choose your destiny, you

As Melinda starts to heal, her trees start to look more lively and put together. Compared to when she couldn't even draw a tree at the beginning of the year. Her strength also shined through her artwork. She could imagine the tree almost perfectly in her head, but she couldn't put it on paper. On page 78 of the book Melinda stated, “I can see it in my head: a strong old oak tree with a wide scarred trunk and thousands of leaves reaching to the sun.” (Anderson 78). She envisions herself in the future as she grows, gets stronger, as a young adult recovering from an assault. Melinda also became stronger. Melinda becoming dedicated to her art made her look at herself as a survivor and not a victim of Andy Evans. Her reference to the scarring also is related to the impact that the rape has left on her. Melinda's growth by far is shown in most of her drawings of trees. On page 196 it states, “ Roots knob out of the ground and the crown reaches for the sun, tall, and healthy. The new growth is the best part.” (Anderson,