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 “Speak” by Laurie Anderson, Melinda a teenage girl who is struggling to find friends in high school because of an incident at a party. It all started the summer going into freshman year when Andy Evans raped Melinda at a party, resulting in Melinda calling the cops. Since then only a few things are keeping Melinda going her freshman year like art and her few friends. Everyone thinks of Melina as the girl who called the cops now and nobody wanted to be her friend. Until she met a new girl Heather but, that friendship didn't last long. The closet incident with Andy played the most important role in changing Melinda’s identity. Melinda’s identity changed from being depressed and isolated to being happy and having friends once people found out what Andy did to her. This matters because now Melinda doesn't have to keep the secret about why she called the cops on the party because now people will believe her. This shows that people should not be afraid to tell the truth when they know it's the right thing to do no matter what.
This quote show that Melinda is an outcast, “ I have no friends. I have nothing to say. I say nothing" (Anderson 116). This quote shows that Melinda is insecure because, while Melinda is in the guidance counselor's office, her counselor is telling her that she’s been failing her classes and Melinda feels insecure. She feels out of place in the environment. Melinda is self-conscious that she feels she has to try to be pretty in order to gain her popularity back. Since Melinda has lost some friends coming into high school, she’s been feeling down on herself and depressed. Also, Melinda shows that she is insecure by saying, “ I am an outcast “( 8 Anderson). This proves that Melinda is insecure because before the start of High School Melinda was a very popular girl which is now an outcast. Until things went wrong for Melinda and she called the cops. Melinda had called the cops because she had been raped when she was drunk, so her first response was to call the cops. The cops had shown up, making everyone leave the party because of underage drinking and everyone knows Melinda has called the cops. Since that has happened she feels insecure by being an outcast. Because of this Melinda no longer is popular nor has no friends. Melinda feels she is insecure because she’s an outcast and has no friends which these feelings lead
In life there are many changes that can cause a true friendship to go wary such as marriage, divorce, birth of children, new careers, and sickness. However, through each of those events the two must remember to keep the intimacy, the letting down of emotional barriers and the expression of innermost thoughts and feelings, “that which makes friendships thrive must be an enjoyable one” and to “always interact” (Karbo 3). Although psychologists continue to research the formation of friendships the great philosopher Aristotle knew exactly how friendships formed and how the lasted.
Melinda isn't speaking to anyone, and no one will talk to her, except the new girl, Heather, who moved from the state of Ohio. Realistically, Heather being the new girl just wants to make friends. Heather doesn't know what is really going on with Melinda because she just moved to town. Heather has no idea what happened the night when Melinda called the police, which busted a summer party. In fact, no one knows, except for Melinda, what happened to her at the party? She is convinced that because she is a victim, no one understands her. The whole world, including her world, is out to get her and so it is best for her to remain silent.
friend can completely change a person’s outlook on life, change the way they live their life and even help them live their life to the fullest. Friends often have more impact on the life of an individual than family because friends are people who you choose to have in your life, and are not people who are just there. With the busy lives that people lead these days, people often feel neglected by their loved ones. This can lead people down negative paths when they feel they have no one there for them. In the novel, Shattered, by Eric Walters, it is proven that no matter how badly a relationship may begin, it can blossom into a great bond between two
Friendship. What is friendship? Wikipedia defines friendship as “a relationship of mutual affection between two or more people. Friendship is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association.”, which is exactly what I think is friendship. I know most of my friends for many, many years and throughout these years we had fights and good moments and this is what forms this strong “interpersonal bond” also known as friendship. In our novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Henry and his friends faces different challenges throughout the story which strengthens their ties. In Jamie Ford’s novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Ford communicates the theme that friendship is needed especially during difficult times through the character’s actions in the books.
In the modern age friendship comes in many different shapes and sizes. There's the good and there's the bad. You might even find some types of friendships surprising, for example an "entrepreneurial relationship". In the book "Of Mice and Men" Lennie and George are friends, but not very good friends. George is unfortunately friends with Lennie for the wrong reasons.
There are many valuable aspects in life that may mean a lot to a person. In this case, friendship is one of the most important relationships a person can have. Human interaction is something necessary to survive, having a friend is essential to the well being of everyone. However, not all relationships with people can be considered a friendship because some may take advantage of others to gain something for themselves. Whereas, other friendships may last years and remain strong between the two people, but if there is no trust then there is a possibility of losing a friend. On the other hand, positive friendships still exist and are the ones to cherish and appreciate the most. The novel Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson is based on a fourteen year-old girl named Melinda, who was sexually assaulted at a summer party. She called the police for help but since none of her friends knew what occurred, they assumed she called to get them all in trouble. This made her an outcast and she spent her ninth-grade year by herself. The theme of friendship is evident in the novel Speak as it impacts the protagonist Melinda. This is seen through Melinda 's friendship with Rachel, Mr. Freeman, and Heather.
It was wrong to dump Melinda when she needed friends the most. Her friends should have tried to talk to her so they could have found out the reason why she called the cops. In the end; most of her friends weren’t actual friends, none of her friends should have stopped talking to her because she called the cops to the party. If they would have talked to her they would have discovered that Andy had raped Melinda. The way Melinda’s friend treated her was unfair. They were never her real friends anyways, but they could have at least tried to be there for her. Everyone could see that she was sad and lonely.
The friends almost played the role of companions and helpers. They felt shocked when they knew Alice was raped, some even passed out after hearing this and they tried to give her help as much as they could, such as her best friend Mary Alice coming to the hospital to talk to her and gave her what she needed most, a small smile. But some were foggy and off to the side. They were watching her life as if it were a movie. Knowing a victim is like knowing a celebrity, particularly when the crime is clouded in taboo.(Sebold, 23 ) Alice’s experience also effected the behaviors of her friends, for example, Mary Alice had done instinctively what few people do in the face of a crisis: She had signed on for the whole ride. (Sebold, 27)
Melinda Sordino is a troubled freshmen because she has no friends and she feels the whole world is falling around her because she got a party busted because she was shocked because she was sexually assaulted. Melinda's family affected her growth mentally, physically, and emotionally. It is common for a girl, after being sexually assaulted, in result of that her growth in all three of those areas. Melinda's family life is not abusive, but she has problems communicating and connecting with them.