Speak

Alex Herman
Language Arts Hour 4
Ms. Johann
December 16, 2009
Speak Essay
Speak

Imagine you are at a party, having the time of your life when all of a sudden you hear the police coming. Lots of your fellow classmates get busted for drinking. They find out that a girl named Melinda Sordino made the call and now everyone hates her, including her friends. This is what happened in the novel Speak. Speaks mode line appears to be tragedy as the devastation of being raped impacted Melinda’s life quite seriously, causing her physical and psychological problems.
In a tragedy the main character rises in power. Often tragedies appear to be much like real life and realistic. Despite how true to life it seems the main character is not in control and the main character has a tragic flaw. This flaw leads to their fall from power. Often tragedies end sadly. The novel Speak is a tragedy explaining the 9th grade experiences of Melinda Sordino. As in a tragedy she is popular, she is well liked, she gets along with her parents and friends and things are good. Her tragic flaw , however, is that she wants to be well known by the high school kids. Her tragic fall occur after a horrifying event that she had no control over. The fall includes a series of events that happened to her.
When a person is raped they may blame themselves and go into depression. In this way Melinda goes into depression. Melinda’s life is seriously impacted by the rape. After she was raped Melinda called the police and many fellow students were arrested as a result of the under aged drinking party. People are mad at Melinda and she is disliked, and treated like an outcast. Melinda says that she felt like, “…a wounded zebra in the middle of the auditorium…”(5). Melinda feels wounded by the rape and she is alone because everyone is mad ate her. This feeling continues throughout most of the novel. She says, “They actually sewed her a new skin”(125). She wishes she could change her whole appearance because she feels so bad. The psychological pain that she feels has physical effects on her body. Every morning when she wakes up she feels physical pain and she asks, “What is wrong with me”(51). This is a further sign of her deep depression.
The tragic event that occurs to her is being raped but the tragic events that follow are also out of her control. When Melinda was in eighth grade she was popular, but now she says, “I see a few friends – people I used to think were my friends – but they look away.”(8). The students are now treating her badly, and one says, “you’re in the wrong school! You’re in the wrong country! You’re on the wrong planet!(13). None of this treatment is fair to her; she doesn’t deserve any of it. Throughout the school year she earns bad grades because she has a low self-esteem due to the rape. She has bad relationships with her teachers and parents. Her parents are very angry with her because of her poor grades, and she says, “My parents command me to stay after school every day to get help from the teachers”(50). Because Melinda has remained silent about the rape she is misunderstood by many people and is having a hard time helping herself.
Throughout the story we learn that Melinda is hurt in many ways beyond just the rape itself. She often refers to Andy Evans, the rapist, as “it”. She is very angry with him and says to herself, “I want to kill him”(118). She often expresses that she feels unsafe. If she ever wanted to share this story she wonders if people would believe her, she questions herself, “would you believe me”(114). Despite all the negativity, she is still able to care for a friend Rachel, who turned the back on Melinda. Melinda says, “Andy hangs around and onto Rachel”(143). Thankfully at the end of the novel while other rape victims may remain silent Melinda is finally willing to share her story with a trusted teacher Mr. Freeman.