Similarities Between Speak And The Art Of Resilience

As Julie Andrews once said, “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th” (AZ Quotes). Throughout several texts, a theme of striving for a better outcome is expressed. Man versus man conflicts push Melinda Sordino, a ninth grade rape victim, and a patient of a psychiatrist to strive for determination. Throughout Speak and The Art of Resilience, the authors use flashbacks to weave in the overall theme. In both previously mentioned fiction and non-fiction texts, figurative language, specifically metaphors, is utilized to compare, describe, and explain the idea of maintaining persistence for the greater good. Throughout various, diverse situations, such as the effects of rape, the process of resilience, and the difficulty of moving

on, persistence is needed to overcome conflicts and change personal predicaments.
The literary tool, conflict, contains information that ties and connects to the main theme of the texts. Melinda’s rapist, Andy Evans, traps Melinda in a closet at school and attempts to injure and rape her a second time. After Andy begins attacking her, Melinda yells, “’NNNOOO!!!’ I follow the sound, pushing Andy Evans off balance” (page 194, Anderson). Melinda has had enough of Andy Evans, and wants to rid of him. Now faced with a situation involving him similar to the initial rape, Melinda puts her all into fighting Andy. She continues on and on, pushing, punching, breaking the mirror and using the glass as a weapon, etc. Melinda is determined and does everything she can to stop Andy, which, she eventually does. In The Third and Final Continent, Mrs. Croft, a woman who rents out a room in her house to college men, speaks about the flag being on the moon with the narrator, former boarder at her home. The narrator does not respond to her the way she would like. She then proceeds to command the narrator to say “Splendid!” Though unnatural to the narrator, he does as he’s told. Weeks after moving out of Mrs. Croft’s house, the narrator and his wife visit her after she broke her hip. Mrs. Croft asks the narrator what he should say to the situation and “with no hesitation at all,” the narrator “cried out, ‘Splendid!’” (Lahiri). When just meeting Mrs. Croft, the narrator feels it to be unfitting and uncomfortable to use “Splendid!” Over time, it becomes natural to him to use that type of terminology. Likewise to the use of conflict to portray theme, flashbacks can be seen as a tool in the chosen texts to convey their shared, overall theme.
Aspects connecting to persistence are fused into the conflicts of texts.
Authors Laurie Anderson and Hara Marano utilize flashbacks to integrate the idea of persistence and determination being required for change to occur.

As described by Hara Marano, psychiatrist Steven Wolin had assisted a woman in the hardships of changing and resiliency to improve her traumatic experiences. Wolin explains the experience “of a woman who felt helpless” and had repeatedly been beat by her father as a child (Hara Marano). He had helped her in “eventually learned [learning] to recognize her father’s morals and respond to them” (Marano). The woman had to learn and try over time to change her relationship with her father. After struggling with this conflict most likely the majority of her life, and with the assistance of Steven Wolin, she was able to persevere to fix her dilemma. Melinda Sordino, from Laurie Anderson’s Speak, fought back while being raped and remained strong-willed until she could phone the police. In a flashback of the novel, Melinda’s rape is explained. Her thoughts are screaming “’NO I DON’T WANT TO!’” but she does not speak (page 135, Laurie Anderson). She does, however, attempt to push the rapist off of herself, but fails to succeed. After being raped, and several thoughts and attempts to halt it, Melinda “saw the telephone” and “called 911” (page 136, Anderson). When Melinda could somewhat process what was happening, she knew it needed to be stopped. Though Melinda’s protests did not stop the rape, she remained determined and called the

police afterwards to better her situation. After the police arrived, she was able to escape the scene of the crime and head to her safe home. In addition to the use of flashbacks, figurative language was placed in the texts to further merge the idea of persevering to change one’s conflicts.
Throughout Speak and The Art of Resilience, figurative language, metaphors in particular, convey the message of persistence.

When stuck shopping with her mother, Melinda must stand her ground in order for her and her mother to remotely agree on an item to purchase. As Melinda ponders the idea of clothes shopping with her mother, she compares the typical situation to go down as follows, “Mother is the rock, I am the ocean. I have to pout and roll my eyes for hours until she finally wears down and crumbles into a thousand grains of beach sand” (page 120, Anderson). Melinda’s comparison to the erosion process between the ocean and rocks portrays an example of determination Melinda possesses. In order for the current situation (what clothing to purchase) to be resolved, Melinda must remain determined on her side to eventually break down her mother. When faced with a conflict, a person has the option to remain a pessimist, or become an optimist. Resilient people must make the transition from pessimism to optimism. Marano describes the process of becoming resilient as “a way of shifting focus from the cup half empty to the cup half full” (Marano). Marano’s descriptions of the cup’s fullness/emptiness debate to resilient people helps show and explain what exactly must be done to become resilient, and how difficult it can be. Transitioning from pessimist to optimist is troublesome, and requires much hope and self-dedication. By taking this common idea and comparing it to

resilience, many can understand what it takes for such a task to be completed. Aspects connecting to persistence are fused into figurative language, particularly metaphors, of Speak and The Art of Resilience.
Speak, The Art of Resilience, and The Third and Final Continent all portray a similar message; determination is a requirement in order for a personal issue to be defeated. Throughout conflicts in Speak and The Third and Final Continent, such as Andy Evans attempting to rape Melinda a second time and Mrs. Croft demanding the narrator to use a certain word, connections to the overall theme can be found. In The Art of Resilience, a psychiatrist flashbacks to a situation in which he helped a patient become resilient. Additionally, Speak has Melinda flashback to her rape scene where she has to be persistent to prevent being raped. In both Speak and The Art of Resilience, metaphors are utilized as a comparison to the characters’ need for perseverance. Whether it is rape, moving on, or resilience, determination is a necessity for a person’s dilemma to be resolved.