Victims Of Abuse In Laurie Anderson's Speak

Kieran YE

Mrs.Eizenga

ENG2D

14 January 2022

Unbreakable Silence Victims of abuse are afraid to speak out. These people are hesitant about speaking out, due to the stigma around telling their experiences. Laurie Anderson’s Speak depicts speaking out as unacceptable, represented by Melinda Sordino in high school. Many students in this novel are punished for speaking out. The, the consequences of not speaking are met with the repercussions of speaking out. This novel is about speaking and, how speaking can be is harmful. Speak highlights the stigma and consequences of speaking out, demonstrated by Melinda’s story, the students, and the staff of Merryweather High School.

Melinda is an outstanding example of a sexual assault victim afraid to speak up. Melinda passes out from

If she can, what will she do? Call the cops? Send me to the nuthouse” (Anderson 81). Melinda does not want anyone to find out what happened to her. She thinks that she is going to be the one who ends up in the “nuthouse”. Consistently, when a sexual assault victim speaks out about their expereinces, they . They are shut down, with people claiming that they are only seeking attention. Emily claims “he’s gorgeous… he’s rich” (Anderson 90). D, due to stereotypes in the 1990’s, Andy’s statement (where is Andy’s statement?) is much more significant than Melinda’s. This only adds onto the fear of being disregarded. These fears become a reality when Melinda tells her ex-best friend, Rachel what happened. Rachel says “I can’t believe you. You’re jealous. You’re a twisted little freak” (Anderson 184). Even though Melinda is trying to help Rachel, she is not believing that Andy sexually assaulted Melinda,