Melinda Anderson Character Analysis

On Thanksgiving morning, Melinda's mother fails in cooking a turkey, her father decides to bury it in their pet cemetery. But Melinda wants to "make a memorial" for it (Anderson 71) so, she takes the turkey's bones to art class and she starts to use its bones to make shapes. Mr. Freeman; her art teacher is impressed and says that her work shows "pain" (Anderson 75) This shows that Melinda's unconscious is full of pain and remorse and it appears in her paintings and works. She cannot get over the idea of being raped which affects her psychologically, mentally, and physically. Even when she decides that she really, really wants to tell her secret and to "confess everything, and to hand over the guilt, mistake and anger to someone else" (Anderson 59) she remembers that this will not get rid of the horrible memory she has. Not only Melinda represents anger, but also there are other characters who symbolize violence and anger too. Andy Evans, "Melinda's rapist", commits verbal, physical, and psychological violence against her whenever he encounters her and even …show more content…
Once she feels that Melinda is weird and up normal, and everyone in the school is neglecting her because of her friendship with Melinda, she decides to leave her and to cut off their friendship. She tells Melinda that they really don't have much in common, and that she is the most depressed person she's ever met and that she needs "professional help". (Anderson 123) She hurts and destroys her feelings. Melinda's only friend believes the gossips that had been told on Melinda's reputation. On Valentine's Day Heather returns back the friendship necklace Melinda gave her for the Christmas. She feels like she's breaking inside. She runs to the supply closet and shuts herself in. Now she can bite her wrist and cry. She can bang her head against the brick