Symbolism In Laurie Anderson's 'Speak:' Locked Inside A Mute Body?

Speak is a cleaver and an ironic title for a story in which the main character chooses not to speak. The story is written in first-person narration from the point of view of protagonist, Melinda Sordino. Speak is written like an interior monologue in the mind of an introverted teenage girl, like excerpts from her personal diary during her miserable freshman year of high school. Instead of blending in and finding her way through high school. She withdraws and secludes herself from the other students. She calls herself an "outcast." Melinda is so desperate to hide from the world; she turns an old janitor's closet at the high school into her safe haven. She cuts classes to hide in her closet. How lonely could this teenage girl be? All

Another example of symbolism is the speaker. The speaker represents authority and power. In the book the people of the community always obeyed the speaker. “IMMEDIATELY, the rasping voice through the speakers had said, LEAVE YOUR BICYCLES WHERE THEY ARE. Instantly, obediently, Jonas had dropped his bike on its side on the path behind his family’s dwelling,” (Lowry, 2). The last example is pale eyes, which symbolize difference. In the community difference is not. Jonas is tired of obeying the community rules and will leave the community.

Symbolism is a major literary device that helps people see a book through symbols that often have a deeper meaning. A symbol is used to explain something in a different way, using images, objects, etc. instead of just saying it in words. As you search for a deeper meaning in a work of art or literature it can help you understand the author’s intentions and the deeper significance of a work. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, symbols help reinforce the major themes of the book.

Within “SPEAK,” Laurie Halse Anderson uses Melinda’s artwork to express Melinda. At the Beginning of the story Melinda gets a year long art project to draw a tree. At the beginning, she struggles because she is still feeling pain and depression from getting raped. But, Throughout the story, she slowly grows and comes out of her “shell,” and becomes better and better with it; So by the

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.

Many authors use symbolism to help their readers grasp the concepts they are trying to convey. They take concrete items or ideas to represent something abstract.

“It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache,” (Anderson 3). These are Melinda Sordino's first thoughts as she enters her first year of high school. Melinda dreads having to be around so many people and is shunned by other students for calling the police at a summer party. She falls into depression and decides to stay silent about what happened. As the school year goes on, Melinda knows that she will have to face her biggest fear: to speak. Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak, uses numerous archetypes and allusions to put a powerful impact on readers. These archetypes and allusions make Melinda’s struggles relatable to real life problems and situations and reflect universal

Hairwomen is hammering it to death” (Anderson 101). This shows that Melinda doesn’t really enjoy how they’re reading the book because of how the class is reading one sentence at a time and analyzing every small thing in the book. Melinda was thinking why Nathaniel couldn’t just say what he meant straightforward but figured how it would be boring if he just repeated everything he said in the book. That’s why he used symbolism in the story to make it more interesting. In another example, Melinda says “I can see us, living in the woods, her wearing that A, me with an S maybe, S for silent, for stupid, for scared. S for silly. For shame” (Anderson 101). This shows that Melinda is emotionally unstable and thinks of herself in many bad ways such as her being dumb and afraid. It also shows that Melinda is kind of mad at herself for the person she is. For that, she makes herself feel ashamed.

A symbol is a person, place, event, or object that suggests more than just its normal meaning. The symbols in this story, “Everyday Use”, were pretty clever and told a lot of clues about the story. Also Little peepholes that would dig into deeper meanings, and hints in the story.

Speak, a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, portrays the struggles of high school through the eyes of freshman Melinda Sordino, as she makes her way through cliques and clubs after she being raped at a party by an upperclassman. Anderson discusses many topics throughout the novel, including fear from the past and loneliness. Laurie Halse Anderson uses metaphors and mood to illustrate the idea that past experiences can cause overpowering fear that affects our behavior and attitude in the present. Laurie Halse Anderson uses metaphors to illustrate Firstly, Laurie Halse Anderson uses metaphors to show how Melinda’s fear from the past affects her in the present. She uses these metaphors many times throughout the book, showing how Melinda’s fear

Every single person has a secret or an experience that they prefer not to talk about. In this case, Melinda Sordino suffers with the traumatic memory of rape. Within the novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Sordino’s entire life changes as Andy Evans takes advantage of her innocence by raping her during a party in August. As a result, Sordino’s trauma causes the alteration of her personality and perspective of the world. Sordino ventures throughout the story to rediscover herself as a person and faces several obstacles such as family troubles, disrespectful peers, and the person who has inflicted her with the most mental agony she can possibly withstand.

For example, when the lightning hit the tree, it shows that she is being hurt because the tree represents her emotions. Melinda says “I’ve been painting watercolors of trees that have been hit by lightning. I try to paint them so they are nearly dead, but not totally.” (30-31) This shows that Melinda is hurt at the pep rally because that is where she is painting the trees being hit by lightning.

In the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Andy Evans impacted Melinda Sordino in a very negative way. Melinda was raped by Andy Evans at a party weeks before she started high school as a freshman. Melinda, who was scared and unsure, called the cops. But she was too horrified to say anything and ends up going home before they arrived. But the police do come and arrest people at the party.

Towards the end of the year, there is a clear change in Melinda and she is confident of herself. When Andy tries to attack her again she says “NNNOOO!!!"(188) This shows how much she has grown because she decides not to be a silent victim anymore. Now she is a “definitely breathing”(197) tree. She came up struggling and feeling alone by herself, but she knew that she made a lot of progress from the start.

Symbolism is a literary technique that is used to clarify the author's intent. Sometimes it is used to great effect, while other times it only seems to muddle the meaning of a passage. In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne uses objects and people as symbols to allegorically reveal his message to the reader.