The Importance Of Peer Pressure In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

When you were younger, did your parents and teachers always encourage you to express yourself and that it’s okay to be different? Not a lot of people seem to realize it, but as children grow up, the amount of pressure to blend in grows, too. In schools all over the U.S., innocent students get ridiculed just because they are unique and stand out from the crowd. In the book, “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda experiences something similar to this type of bullying, otherwise known as peer pressure. Melinda was just a normal girl who loved her friends, until the night she attended a summer party where alcohol was being served. Her friends were all drinking, so Melinda thought she was supposed to as well, and a senior

named Andy took advantage of Melinda’s intoxicated state and raped her. She called the police and the party was broken up, but she kept her mouth shut because of her state of shock. After that, Melinda was transformed into an introverted outcast, who was too petrified to tell anybody what had happened. The unfortunate truth is that this kind of thing happens every day, and teenagers around the globe have to experience the same thing Melinda did. Not just the sexual assault, but the bullying Melinda had to face after the returned to school.
Peer pressure and bullying go hand and hand in “Speak.” Not understanding why Melinda alerted the police, the students believe she did it for no known reason, and in turn, she gets attacked. Her peers say things like, “"I can't believe you did that."” (Page 27), “"I hate you,"” (P. 4), and “"She's creepy."” (P. 44).