An Analysis Of Melinda's Injustice

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a coming of age themed fictional Novel based around Melinda Sordino, a freshman at Merryweather High School. During her days at school Melinda found trouble fitting in and speaking because of an incident that happened at a summer party. That incident being that she was raped by a senior named Andy Evans, aka, “IT.” At the time, Melinda panicked and ended up calling the police, which resulted in everyone despising her. Similarly to “high school drama,” the author illustrated gossip and the effects it can have on a person. To compare, when the news hit Melinda, she became silent and isolated staying away from any old friends she glanced upon. Fortunately, Melinda found new hope when a stranger asked, “I’m Heather

“The experience of abuse and trauma is overwhelming emotional pain that threatens the soul and avoids all rationalization.” (Dr. Bill) ‘Speak’, a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson helps you consider how others actions could permanently damage someone’s future and mindset. Melinda Sordino’s past peers incidentally haunt her, making her feel damaged and ghostly. Melinda’s thoughts altered making her think that her speech negatively affects everyone, which is the result of Melinda’s schoolmates bullying her, making her struggle in being positive. Students at Melinda’s school make her feel isolated and even unable to deliver speech by having unhealthy thoughts about herself, resulting in Melinda feeling dirty and cold. Furthermore, throughout the school year, Melinda’s past distress obstructs her maturation process.

Melinda, the main character of speak was raped at a summer party. She calls the cops and that is where it all started. When Melinda reaches high school she is faced with all her old friends. They all hate her and want nothing to do with her, because of her calling the cops. Throughout the whole book Melinda runs into tough situations that eventually lead to her standing up for herself. Eventually, everyone finds out the truth, of why Melinda calls the cops. Although Melinda learns to stand up for herself, throughout the book she shows signs of depression such as poor performance in school, sadness and hopelessness, and withdrawal of friends and activities.

Having to go through sexual assault and then a year of bullying made Melinda speak up. Melinda went down a rough road in her life. Through all this Melinda grew strength and wisdom. At the school Melinda warned the girls about what Andy is capable of doing. She told Rachelle to watch out and to be careful around him. In Melinda’s later years she began writing her about story to help her express her feelings. She began warning others what sexual assault can do people and the harms of bullying. Even tho Melinda’s experience harmed her in many ways it gave her a story to help

In the novel Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, a young girl, Melinda Sordino, is entering high school after a distressing summer, because she was raped. As the book progresses, Melinda’s actions transform her from mentally unstable to finally feeling free. Melinda thinks that her parents do not pay attention to her, and while she is hiding in her closet, she decides to, “[I] open up a paper clip and scratch it across the inside of [my] left wrist” (Anderson 81). Melinda’s hurtful actions of self-harm reveal her desperation for her parents to notice her, and how mentally unstable she is. Regardless of how she acted, Melinda changes throughout the book and towards the end, she acts with conviction in the girl’s bathroom with Ivy. Ivy is

When students are bullied, they are encouraged to speak up about it to a teacher or some other adult; however, many do not, because they may think their cases are not important enough to be told, because no one will believe their stories, or because they are embarrassed by what happened. As these cases turn from simple bullying to a more severe event, this inability to speak up only increases. Laurie Halse Anderson shows this effect with being raped, as well as the emotional damage that goes with it. Through Melinda’s experiences in Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson’s writing reflects the time in which it was written, her views on teens and the adolescent years, and her early life.

Speaking out is a tough task for many people that have dealt with horrible, traumatic situations. In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda, is one of those people who lost their voice. To be able to understand another person’s emotions, feelings, and situations is very difficult to do, especially because of how our society has formed and became a very judgmental place. Melinda Sordino starts her freshman year at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York, to a terrible start; she is a victim of a sexual assault and loses her confidents and voice to speak out. The more she interacts and makes new friends is how she starts to reach out and become more self-sufficient. Few weeks into school Melinda’s only

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, the protagonist, a freshman named Melinda must learn the key to recovery after enduring extreme trauma. She struggled to find someone to speak to, due to the school shunning her for calling the police at the party. Throughout Speak, Melinda seeks to recover from the trauma she experienced, especially the cruel actions from her ex-friends. Through symbolism, Laurie Halse Anderson displays the theme in Melinda's perspective.

In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson the main character Melinda Sordino has a hard trying freshman year. She was raped at a party preceding the school year and hasn’t really recovered from it since. She lost all her friends after that party because she called the cops and busted the party, but told no one why-although nobody really cared to ask anyway. She lost all her friends and isolated herself from everyone while loosing her ability to speak in the process. As the school year went on her grades slipped and she periodically saw the boy that raped her which really put a dent in her already traumatized mental state. On top of that the harassment of the other students-girls and boys- got worse for example “The girl behind me jams her

In Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino experiences something that is almost impossible to forget: rape. After sexually assaulted by a senior as an 8th grader, the one thing she needs, someone to talk to, becomes absent in her life when all of her friends leave her. Many other turning points occur during the story that change and affect her identity. The major turning points that affect her identity are being raped in a field at a party, being attacked again in a closet at her school, and everyone finding out the truth about what happened in the end.

In the novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino is the 14 year old girl who was raped at an end-of-summer party. She finds herself struggling with her life and adjusting to what had happened. Melinda trudges through her freshman year of high school, being constantly reminded of the unspeakable experience. The only thing that gets her through her days, is art. Art gives Melinda the ability to grow mentally and physically stronger, allowing her to open up about her incident, accept what had happened, and confront who she is afraid of most.

“After a traumatic experience, the human system of self preservation seems to go into permanent alert, as if the danger might return at any moment” (Judith Lewis Herman). The psychoanalyst Lewis Herman describes how encountering agonizing pain causes individuals to become more cautious as a result. The psychoanalytic lens is based on Freudian theories and asserts that “ people’s behavior is affected by their unconscious:...the notion that human beings are motivated, even driven, by desire, fears, needs, and conflicts of which they are unaware…” (Tyson 14-15) High schools a place where tragedy are brought upon people, but their voices aren’t heard. Melinda, a high school freshman, is the protagonist in Laurie Halse Anderson’s book, Speak.

“By not coming forward (about rape), you make yourself a victim forever.” Laurie Halse Anderson wrote a book called Speak. Speak is about a girl named Melinda who gets raped and loses all of her friends, which leads to Melinda stop speaking. Don’t let fear stop you from being who you are. In the book there is a symbol, a tree. Throughout the entire book the tree shows growth, and change over time. You can overcome your fears in many ways, just like their are many trees.

A trait that stands out in the book is the symptom of bodily memories. In Melinda’s case, during a frog dissection in her science class, she remembers the opening up and even says, “She doesn’t say a word. She is already dead. A scream starts in my gut – I can feel the cut, smell the dirt, feel the leaves in my hair.” (81). One of the other symptoms that Melinda has is self-harm. The first time that this is shown in the book, Melinda says this, “I open up a paper clip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this? A whimper, a peep?” (87). Melinda also has a hard time talking to her parents about the rape to which she says, “How can I talk to them about that night? How can I start?” (72). Some victims recover from such a traumatic experience, while others don’t and live a lifetime of depression and must undergo intense therapy. In Melinda’s case, she finds redemption by talking to her parents and the guidance counselor, and putting her faith into her teachers, friends, and her art project at school. Because rape can affect anybody anywhere, everyone should be aware of the circumstances, and how to deal with it.

This is evident in the novel Speak, since Melinda goes through a traumatizing school year with frequent bullying as well as a sexual assault. Not only is she able to pull through ultimately, she also accepts what happened and asserts that she is willing to learn from the experience. For instance, near the end of the book, Melinda asserts “IT happened. There is no avoiding IT, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying or hiding. Andy Evans raped in August when I was drunk and too young to know what was happening. It wasn’t my fault. And I’m not going to let it kill me. I can grow” (Anderson 198). Again, this quote greatly implies that Melinda has developed a growth mindset which has allowed her to move on from this traumatizing experience and she is essentially stating that she will not contemplate on the horrific incident endlessly but she will instead try to learn and acquire some insights after going through the frequent bullying and the assault. Melinda’s experience is also extremely similar to Maddy’s experience of being sexually assaulted in the book The Pain Eater. Maddy also contemplated on the horrific incident a lot throughout the book, but ultimately, she acknowledged that contemplating on the incident over and over will not change anything and she decided that it was time to stop this mental illness and learn to move on. Melinda also states “let’s talk about it” (Anderson 198) towards her art teacher at the very end of the book when her art teacher inquired her about her school year. This passage reflects her growth mindset even more since this is strong evidence that Melinda is now willing to open up and talk about her troubles. Although Melinda suffered through a school year full of