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The Symbolism Of Coming Of Age In The Movie Speak

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The movie Speak is classified as the coming of age genre. Coming of Age means that throughout the plot, it shows the maturing of the main character(s). Coming of Age is a popular genre for adolescents, possibly because it depicts characters of the same or similar age going through what are often times relatable struggles. Although some may say that a story about rape is not relatable, many young girls experience sexual harassment before the age of 18. The coming of age genre tends to have either a lot of dialogue or an internal monologue happening throughout the story. The movie speak has very little conversation, but does include Melinda’s inner monologue. It stars Kristen Stewart, famous from the movie Twilight, as Melinda Sordino, the main character. The screenplay was written by Annie Young Frisbie, and was directed by Jessica Sharzer. …show more content…

For example, the movie opens with the main character, Melinda, putting on lipstick. This is important because lipstick, and makeup in general, is seen as a right of passage for young women. This movie is laden with symbolism. In another instance, the movie points out a parallel between Melinda and one of her teachers. The teacher has hair covering her face and is clearly nervous, or anxious. Melinda starts wearing her hair in front of her face too. Later in the movie, the teacher comes in with her hair pulled back and a positive demeanor. Melinda is still struggling, and still wears her hair across her face, but the hair is important. The hair shows that she is trying to hide away, try to become less noticeable. Because the movie contains a lot of symbolism, it gives the movie a deeper meaning than may be at first seen. Perhaps this is what makes the movie so

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There are specific people who helped her mature in a certain way. She slowly opens up over the course of the year with support from different people. There are several people in this novel who help Melinda find her “voice”. Mr. Freeman, for example, was an important part of Melinda’s growth. He is Melinda’s art teacher who came off as weird at first

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Melinda’s character develops tremendously over the course of the book. In the beginning of the book, she says, “ I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to sit with. I am an outcast” (Anderson, 4). At the start, Melinda had lost all of her friends after she busted a party last summer, but nobody knows that a senior boy at the party raped her.

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This shows that she is a strong person. And on page 195,”I hold it to Andy Evans 's neck. He freezes. I push just hard enough to raise one drop of blood.” This shows that Melinda can stand up for herself and isn’t afraid anymore.

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Melinda does not like her appearance. She can not stand the way she

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As everyone looks at her, she says that and Melinda freezes. It was an awkward moment and anyone would freeze if there was that much tension. To further make it more tense, another girl shares how her brother got arrested, making Melinda appear more like a villain. Everyone at this point has a grudge against Melinda,

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This finally shows how much Melinda has grown and how much she has found her voice. Melinda's growth is demonstrated through her finally being able to say no to Andy unlike the first time, and Melinda saying no shows how she was able to find her voice. Melinda's growth and escape from depression is expressed at the end of the

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Hannah Noel Mrs. Walsh English 2 Honors 22 January 2018 GOW Synthesis Chapters 5&6 One major idea that author, John Steinbeck, touches on in chapter five of his book, Grapes of Wrath, is the fact that the bank is a monster. The bank is a monster that would die without profits and the fields are dying because the farmers only planted cotton and did not rotate crops.

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Heather pointing this out is another opportunity for Melinda to explain herself and speak up about why she acts that way, and is another opportunity that she turns down. When Melinda stays silent and gives up this chance, she allows Heather to leave, despite not wanting her to leave. Another time Melinda avoids conflict is after Melinda falls asleep in the broom closet and goes to the basketball game, David invites Melinda to a party after school, when she refuses, thinking to herself, “Nope. I don’t do parties. No thanks.

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Melinda only communicates non-verbally. She writes sticky notes and places them onto kitchen counters. She expresses her emotion by biting her lip or running away. When Heather tells Melinda that they can no longer be friends, Melinda then says, "I try to think of something b*tchy, something wicked and cruel.

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This causes her to be unable to speak as normal and express herself only through self physical acts of hurting herself. However, through her pain, she begins to grow from a victim to a survivor and understands that the only way to go against evil is to speak out against it. Melinda in Speak is a high school freshman who is raped by Andy Evans who is a senior in high school. Due to him raping her she loses her ability to speak normally and say what she feels and how she feels. Melinda gains her confidence to speak in public freely again by the end of the story.

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At the end of the story she finally found her voice and was able to stand up for herself. In the beginning, Melinda didn't talk to anyone, barely even to her parents. She says, “I have tried so hard to forget every second of that stupid party and here I am in the middle of a hostile crowd that hates me for what I had to do. I can't tell them what really happened” (Anderson, 28).

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The new Melinda sees that she needs to say something and she works up the courage to help her once-friend. This really shows Melinda development as a person. She is overcoming her pain and

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Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. In Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson uses literary devices to help the reader better understand Melinda’s personal changes and growth. Trees, lips, and coldness are all symbolically used to represent the changes of Melinda. Throughout the novel, trees play a big part in symbolizing Melinda. Melinda is constantly drawing and relating to trees in the book.

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The cause of Melinda’s dreary mood obviously comes from IT’s abuse. Andy Evans constantly harassing Melinda in the hallways reminds her of the horrid rape and keeps the image in her mind. This is why Melinda cannot wake up from her nightmare and is emotionally unstable. To sum up, Melinda’s dismal mood is greatly portrayed through the metaphors of

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Melinda, in a lot of ways, starts out like that it the book. She becomes a shell of herself from before the party happened and because no one else was there, she is lonely and doesn't have anybody to go to and to make matters even worse, she’s covered by the reputation that she has formed. In the book, Laurie Halse Anderson uses symbolism to convey exactly what Melinda can't say. In the beginning of the book, Melinda starts high school carrying her emotional wounds with her after something happens mysterious to her at a party during the summer.

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