Laurie Halse Andersons, Speak, published in 1999 educates the reality of which we must speak out to be heard. Presumptively the novel is set in the late 90's at Merryweather high school in Syracuse New York. Protagonist, Melinda Sordino, narrates her story as a sexual assault victim. We journey through her freshman year and watch her suffer to find her lost voice and overcome her negative convictions . While her persona is revealed, we see that the rape forces change on Melinda through violence. Several months of self mutilation and bitter silence, she finally speaks up for herself and confronts her antagonist. Melinda's introspection through her art allows growth and she becomes a survivor. Her recovery nonetheless was tough and protracted.
Melinda fears the stigma and rejection of others if she speaks the truth. This fear is preventing her from talking about the assault. Her former friends abandon her which is why she is persuading herself that it is better not to speak at all. Her dread carries on throughout the novel and she endures it with great patience. Melinda's journey to recovery is already laborious, as she holds such a strong belief in the benefits of silence.
“It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie.
Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.” (Anderson 9)
This quote reveals Melinda's outlook on the people around her and life in general. This belief is what Melinda must vanquish in order to heal. She thinks there is no point in telling anyone about her distress because they don't care . No one wants...
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... (Anderson 198)
This quote indicates Melinda's growth and development as she ultimately accepts the truth. The revelation of her secret is only the start of her recovery. Melinda recognizes that none of this is her fault. Andy Evans stole her voice along with her innocence. She lost herself and her identity but will no longer let this define who she is. She is not capable of re-writing the past. However she can learn and grow from her experience.
In conclusion fourteen year-old Melinda Sordino, finds her lost voice and is no longer a victim of sexual assault but a survivor. Desperate to regain the person she was before her trauma, she did not realize she has been developing into a stronger person. She is learning and growing from experience, which she is now able to speak of.
Works Cited
http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/118521-speak
The suffering that occurs in Irene’s surroundings causes her to lose her faith in her religion as well as in humanity. People’s perspective may change when they are faced with new or difficult environments.
Tragic events can leave scars but they should not be allowed to define how someone lives their life. After being assaulted, Melinda decides not to talk about it and bottles up her pain, hoping to forget it. “It is easier not to say, shut your trap, button your lip, can it” (Anderson 9). In this quote, Melinda is forthright about her belief in silence. This statement defines Melinda’s behavior for most of the novel.The quote shows that Melinda does have voice she just does not want to use it outside of her own head. While Melinda recognizes that her isolation is harmful, she takes steps to reconnect to others and get help. Speaking up can get you somewhere in life.”Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, or being hated, don’t give way to hating, and yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise” (Kipling lines 6-8). This quote means things will happen to you, people talk, and you are going to lose friends, however, you cannot let this affect you. For the theme of finding one’s voice, the texts might be showing how speaking up and pushing through the awful names people call you can help you be more confident and competent. Finally, characterization is another tool Anderson and Kipling use to develop the theme of finding one’s voice and identity.
This was from the mind of young Grealy, the girl who had a depressed and angry mother, the mother that taught her that it was never okay to show weakness or cry (Grealy 30). Young Grealy believed that the way she earned acceptance during her first visit to the ER could carry over into her home life. I think that this moment encompassed all that Grealy was feeling at this time. The feeling that she was responsible for her mother’s unhappiness and depression, the feeling that if she showed she was not afraid, no one else in her family would be either, and the feeling that if she was not brave, her family would be unhappy forever. This was important because she felt that she had discovered a way to make her family whole again.
...lth declined. Unlike Prynne, Melinda is not indifferent to her fellow companion; instead, she is silent with thoughts and opinions of her companions. Anderson used Melinda’s reactions to the dejection and how deceit, despair, and dejection coincide to allow the readers feel as though Melinda was sitting next to them in class or walking pass them in the store.
So as you can see, in the book "Safe" by Susan Shaw, you can tell there is significant character development in the main character - Tracy. She goes through a horrible experience on June fifteenth... She gets kidnapped and raped by a kid she knew. "Burgess Newman ". She was tortured by her thoughts of it. Throughout the story she was mostly inside isolated from everyone and everything. Until school started again. She had to go, she couldn 't not go. She started off isolated, hurt, feeling unsafe... to slowly healing and feeling safe once
...he shows us her character, not by how she gives herself respect, but by the continued respect that she gives to others: even her tormenters. Her secret shame was kept inside, and it was an impossible burden to bear. She was brave.
Ever since the party, Melinda rarely talked to anybody, including her parents. Nevertheless, I noticed that during the second semester of the year she talked considerably more. “All right, but you said we had to put emotion into our art. I don’t know what that means. I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel.”(p122). This quote is from the third marking period when Melinda was talking to her art teacher Mr.Freeman. I believe that she wouldn’t have said anything had it been earlier in the year. “Stinks. It was a mistake to sign up for art. I just couldn’t see myself taking wood shop.”(p.146). This quote is another example of Melinda talking, this time to Ivy in the mall. I think these quotes prove that Melinda starts talking more as the year progresses.
As the story progresses, you get to see Melinda “grow” and finally speak out about what happened to her at the party. In some cases during the story there are flashbacks. Some would be good and some would be bad.
middle of paper ... ... By not taking action, she is being indifferent, which Wiesel says is “the most insidious danger of all.” Everyone has a responsibility to fulfill towards another. That is, if one were to see injustice happening to another, they are bound to do something to help that person.
And since that day, our voices have only grown louder. I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it is not. It is the story of many girls.” She realized opportunity through this trial would give her if she spoke up about what happened to her, she understood if she gave up the voices of many girls would be unheard, she knew that is was up to her to be the voice of those who can not voice their stories.
Kelly acknowledges a change in emotion, yet still has a physical response (19:07, 19:30). Socratic questioning is effectively used to process through her thoughts while identifying lingering anger about the present discussion, as well as exploring the direction of her anger (19:50). The clinician challenges her emotional turmoil (20:25). Kelly responds by placing blame onto herself for the sexual assault. With the use of Socratic questioning, Kelly’s words are reiterated for self-reflection (20:49), while linking the direction of anger and blame. A pivotal moment is reached when Kelly acknowledges she is unequipped with how to transition back into civilian life precipitating the onset of potential alcohol abuse and pertinent stressors (21:48). The clinician honed in on key points in Kelly’s statement such as the reintegration into “normal society (22:46),” as well as connecting it back to her presenting symptoms of anxiety. The clinician guides Kelly through critical thinking points, challenging her to think of other occasions where the feelings of guilt have arisen and whether those feelings were valid (24:04). She questions Kelly, “What could you have done? (20:20)” By challenging Kelly’s distortions and processing through them, she realized sometimes things happen outside of her own power, and was validated for her frustration that
Each of us had very bad things happen during our time of being in charge. O’Brien’s leader learns a valuable lesson in the jungles of Vietnam. O’Brien’s character Lieutenant Cross is in command of a group of men in the middle of the Vietnam war. While Lieutenant Cross and his men are on a normal patrol in the “Than Khe area” (O’Brien1521) they are ordered to destroy some enemy vietnamese tunnels. O’Brien states Lieutenant Cross, “He carried … the responsibility for the lives of his men” (O’Brien 1519). O’Brien’s Lieutenant Cross is enjoying the lovely vision of a girl he left behind. O’Brien writes Lieutenant Cross, “he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her” (O’Brien 1520). Because O’Brien’s leader is distracted by the images of the girl he left behind, it will ultimately lead to Lieutenant Cross’s misfortune. I had a similar role in my department that I worked in; one of my main responsibilities was to protect my co-workers from injury. My department was located in the center of a tool making plant and was incredibly hot, because it had very large furnaces. Although the dangers in my department were not as life changing as that of O’Brien’s leader they still could be serious and I was about to learn just how serious. On the day of my misfortune, I was helping a co-worker fix one of the furnaces in the department. My distraction was too much trust in my
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson teaches a valuable lesson. The book is about a young girl just entering high school. It shows all her struggles and achievements as a girl recovering from being raped at a party before entering high school. Because of the strength of the lesson Speak teaches, it should not be banned.
In today’s advanced societies, many laws require men and women to be treated equally. However, in many aspects of life they are still in a subordinated position. Women often do not have equal wages as the men in the same areas; they are still referred to as the “more vulnerable” sex and are highly influenced by men. Choosing my Extended Essay topic I wanted to investigate novels that depict stories in which we can see how exposed women are to the will of men surrounding them. I believe that as being woman I can learn from the way these characters overcome their limitations and become independent, fully liberated from their barriers. When I first saw the movie “Precious” (based on Sapphire’s “Push”) I was shocked at how unprotected the heroine, Precious, is towards society. She is an African-American teenage girl who struggles with accepting herself and her past, but the cruel “unwritten laws” of her time constantly prevent her rise until she becomes the part of a community that will empower her to triumph over her barriers. “The Color Purple” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker which tells the story of a black woman’s, Celie’s, striving for emancipation. (Whitted, 2004) These novels share a similar focus, the self-actualization of a multi-disadvantaged character who with the help of her surrounding will be able to triumph over her original status. In both “The Color Purple” and “Push”, the main characters are exposed to the desire of the men surrounding them, and are doubly vulnerable in society because not only are they women but they also belong to the African-American race, which embodies another barrier for them to emancipate in a world where the white race is still superior to, and more desired as theirs.
Treichler, Paula A. "Escaping the Sentence." The Captive Imagination.Ed. Cathrine Golden. New York: The Feminist Press, 1992. 191-210