How would you feel if you were an outcast, not accepted by anyone? This is exactly what Melinda, the leading character in Speak, becomes after one fatal night at an end of school year party. No one at her place of learning wanted to be associated with her at all. Not knowing how to cope with that, Melinda fades herself into the background, barely even living. What she does not realize, though, is that her problem could have been fixed, in more ways than one. Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a complex novel that shows how a person could change their own issues, if the eff is set forth.
Being an outcast is an awful situation to be placed in. People who are outcasts have feelings of depression, a feeling of not wanting to continue with everyday life. What these outcasts don’t usually discover, though, is that they can make their lives improve. Melinda files neatly into this category, since there were a few options about her situations that she could have put into action. One idea was to start discussing topics with people, join some clubs, and try to become more involved with school life. If Melinda did this, her fellow colleagues might have responded well. She might have discovered it was possible for her to have acquaintances. What Melinda was terrified of, though, is that her classmates wouldn’t have answered gracefully. Being shunned even more, ignored more, was just one topic that might have gone astray. Rumors could have begun, awful comments said to her face and her back, and physical abuse was something that could have started if Melinda tried to make friends. To her, it simply wasn’t worth the liability.
If Melinda didn’t want to take the risk of attempting to put her spirit out into school life, it might have been a wise decision for her to transfer places of learning. Doing so would have provided a fresh, clean slate. At her latest school, she could have changed her whole personality. It would be possible for Melinda to start getting advanced grades, join after-class activities, and create different relationships outside of her family. Everyone there could have accepted her, and she would finally begin to love classes again. Sadly, it might have not turned out that way. At her new academy, students might have already heard from other acquaintances in her older school about what type of person she was, and what have happened to her. The chance of being able to start anew would have been shattered. If that happened, I don’t think Melinda could cope. Her whole world would have collapsed around her in her eyes, and life could not have been lived anymore.
Situations like Melinda’s are such an intense and horrible place to be in. Those human beings feel like they have no way out, no escape. Most of the time, these people are filled with such suffering that they can’t discover they have options to solve their problems. Melinda had at least two ways to fix her life, yet she wouldn’t, literally couldn’t, take those steps, out of fear of what could happen. The repercussions were so terrifying that she wasn’t willing to take the risk. Laurie Halse Anderson’s has written a beautiful piece of writing that is a thought-inducing piece, making you wonder how people could change their horrible situations.
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