Brief Summary And Character Analysis: Speak By Laurie Anderson
488 Words2 Pages
Melinda Sordino a ninth grader, who was brutally raped at a party, faces an internal conflict with her mind in the story “Speak” written by Laurie Anderson. Melinda begins her freshman year at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York, with a heavy secret weighing on her. The summer before starting high school, she was raped by a senior named Andy Evans. She nicknamed him “IT”. Laurie tells us that she spends her entire ninth-grade year coming to terms with what happened to her and finding the voice she lost as a result of her trauma to tell the truth. After being brutally raped Melinda’s reluctance to tell the truth about her assault grows, like many victims of rape, it was kept a secret, due to her thoughts that it was her fault or no one will believe her.
Melinda was a little intoxicated during the party, but she was still able to understand what was happening to her. She ended up calling the police, causing her friends and everyone at the party to socially reject her. No one knew what had happened to Melinda. She refused to tell anyone about her sexual assault. She kept it to herself which then led Melinda to spark into a dark depression and she loses her ability to speak with ease.…show more content… She lost all her former close friends, Nicole, Ivy, and Rachel. She spent most of her time in a janitor’s closet to avoid them, they all joined new groups and abandoned her. Andy usually tormented her, he blew kisses and winked at her. She becomes more despondent and begins ditching school. Melinda’s parents and guidance counselor tried reaching out to help her but she refused to talk to them. However, after months of painful silence and keeping everything bottled up, she learned that the only way to counter evil is to speak out against