In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse
Anderson, the protagonist Melinda Sordino faces challenges that she learns to
overcome with the help of Mr. Freeman, her art teacher. Many motifs, a
recurring subject in a literary work, were included in this novel, but one main
one was a tree. Throughout the novel, the tree is constantly being brought up. In
the beginning of her high school journey as a freshman, Melinda was required to
turn an object, her tree, into art and make it mean something. When the reader
thinks of a tree, growth and purity come to mind. As we later find out towards
the end of the novel, Melinda was raped by senior Andy Evans during an end of
summer party. Melinda spends the whole year working on her tree. The tree
symbolizes her growth as an individual from the day she was raped to the
character she becomes in the end. Character building was an important key in
this novel. Melinda was this mute person at first, but in the end she learned
to speak the truth. She matured into this strong, independent, hard- working
character, and was no longer afraid. The cover page of the novel is a tree,
with someone hiding behind it. Even before reading the novel, one can predict
that the main character was hiding from something or someone. Mr. Freeman was
the teacher who pushed her to do her best. All in all, the novel unravels the
importance of speaking the truth and dealing with difficult situations, such as
rape.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Blog #1
In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, a fictional tale,
Melinda Sordino struggles with self-doubt and insecurity. Just like the title
of the play Death of a Salesman, the title of this novel is self-explanatory. The
novel is told through the protagonist, Melinda Sordino, which allows the reader
to go more in depth with the character’s emotions and feelings towards others. In
the beginning of the novel, it is revealed that over the summer Melinda and her
friends attended an end of the summer party where an incident led her to call the
cops and lose all her friends. The book opens with Melinda’s first day as a
ninth grader at Merryweather High School. “I have entered high school with the
wrong hair, the wrong clothes…And I don’t have anyone to sit with” ( Anderson
4). Already Melinda is off to a rough start, leading her in the wrong path. The fear of being alone at school with no friends by her side to give her advice. Not only does she struggle with social skills, she struggles to communicate and express her true thoughts. “I see IT. IT goes to
Merryweather…IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I’d
throw up” (Anderson 45-46). Readers are able to predict that something or someone
caused her to become this mute person and eventually foreshadow the incident.
Many motifs, and one being lips, is a recurring subject in this novel. Her lips
are sealed from her mysterious past that is secretly killing her on the inside.
So when will Melinda finally speak the truth?
Melinda Sordino struggles with self-doubt and insecurity. Just like the title
of the play Death of a Salesman, the title of this novel is self-explanatory. The
novel is told through the protagonist, Melinda Sordino, which allows the reader
to go more in depth with the character’s emotions and feelings towards others. In
the beginning of the novel, it is revealed that over the summer Melinda and her
friends attended an end of the summer party where an incident led her to call the
cops and lose all her friends. The book opens with Melinda’s first day as a
ninth grader at Merryweather High School. “I have entered high school with the
wrong hair, the wrong clothes…And I don’t have anyone to sit with” ( Anderson
4). Already Melinda is off to a rough start, leading her in the wrong path. The fear of being alone at school with no friends by her side to give her advice. Not only does she struggle with social skills, she struggles to communicate and express her true thoughts. “I see IT. IT goes to
Merryweather…IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I’d
throw up” (Anderson 45-46). Readers are able to predict that something or someone
caused her to become this mute person and eventually foreshadow the incident.
Many motifs, and one being lips, is a recurring subject in this novel. Her lips
are sealed from her mysterious past that is secretly killing her on the inside.
So when will Melinda finally speak the truth?
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