“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson

“Speak” is a novel from the perspective of a freshman in high school who has just been alienated by all of her friends. While at a party during the summer before her freshman year, Melinda was led off into the woods and raped by a senior at her high school. In a panic, Melinda called the police from the party, only to freeze while on the phone with the operator. Friends entered the room and grabbed the phone from her, but it was too late and the police arrived to break up the party.

The novel begins on her first day of freshman year, where Melinda describes sitting among her peers, feeling alienated and despised by not only her friends, but the rest of the freshman class as well. The event that led to Melinda calling the police is only revealed in bits and pieces throughout the novel, yet it is evident that she has entered a downward spiral as she attempts to cope with the loss of her friends as well as the “thing” that made her call the police. As her grades fall apart, her parents initially question her strange behavior but soon lose patience with her.

Melinda slowly stops speaking due to frustration and depression, and her art class becomes the only thing that keeps her going as she slips further and further into herself. She receives an assignment where she must create a representation of a tree, and although frustrating, she throws all of her efforts into this project and slowly begins to cope with the horrendous events of the year. When her previous best friend begins dating her rapist, Melinda must find the strength to warn her friend, even if this means forsaking the friendship to a further extend. Although challenging, Melinda finds strength in this process and begins to heal as her rapist is finally seen what he truly is.

I would absolutely teach this as a whole class book. Although the topic has the potential to become uncomfortable, I think that students will truly enjoy this book, as well as Melinda’s strength and wit.
There are many literary elements that I would focus upon in teaching this novel. Point of view is especially important in “Speak” as Melinda provides the only narration throughout the novel. Due to limited interaction between Melinda and other characters, the reader is left to depend upon Melinda as a trustworthy narrator. Although her parents and teachers occasionally attempt to speak with Melinda, it is evident that she has moved far from the help of those around her and has entered her own secluded world. Even the comments of her family and teachers are reported to the reader by Melinda, thus the reader has no choice but to accept what Melinda is saying as truth. Although only a freshman in high school, her blatant disinterest in all aspects of her home and school life make it evident that Melinda does not care to lie, but is in fact trust worthy. Although Melinda never directly states a feeling of depression, it is evident through her reactions and her ever growing removal from all aspects of her life that she is slipping into a state of depression. The point of view within this novel creates a sense of longing for acceptance as well as help in her struggles. In reading “Speak” and receiving Melinda’s direct narration, the reader becomes her only ally in her struggle through a lonely freshman year.

I would also focus upon “Speak” as a Bildungsroman. Melinda’s struggle is especially relevant to the definition of the Bildungsroman as a repeated tension between the protagonist and the peers of the protagonist. Melinda is not only left to cope with the event which led her to call the police, but calling the police has also made her appear an enemy to many of her peers. Unable to reveal what happened to her, she instead remains silent and bears the disdain of her peers. Terrified of what happened, she eventually removes herself from every aspect of her previous life in order to escape the recurring thoughts of the night which led her to call the police. This novel shows Melinda’s ever present struggle to move beyond the horrendous event which caused her to lose every aspect of her life before that night, and is even more tremendous due to her resolve to recover although she must do so alone. Melinda can be seen growing and changing through every stage of the novel, especially as she chooses to protect her friend from the fate that she was forced to endure, despite her own fear. She overcomes the anger of her peers in order to move beyond the ordeal in daily life. When she is forced to face the nightmare himself, she proves to be stronger than she ever expected, and defeats an aspect of her life which once appeared impossible to her. Throughout the novel, Melinda grows beyond her own means and is finally able to recognize herself as a strong individual, despite desperate circumstances.