Drawing A Tree In Melinda's Speak

Speak is a book about a girl named Melinda. The summer before her freshman year she was raped at a high school party. She called the cops, left the party and didn't tell anyone what happened. At the beginning of the year she was assigned and art project creating a tree. The tree and Melinda are connected throughout the story. As she opens up more and starts talking to other people her tree starts getting better. At the beginning of the story Melinda is really closed off doesn't want to come to terms with get raped and her rapist. “I try to draw a branch coming out of a tree truck for the 315 time. It looks so flat, a cheap, cruddy drawing. I have no idea how to make it come alive.” (55) Her art project isn't going so well. Melinda is starting to talk to her lab partner. They are communicating through notes. They start drawing a tree together. “I draw a picture of Ms. Keen as a robin. David smiles. He draws a branch under her feet and slides the note back to me. I connect the branch to a tree. It looks pretty good, better than anything I have drawn so far in art.” (110) …show more content…
“You get an A+. You worked hard at this. ” He hands me the box of tissues. “ You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”” (198) She has come to terms with being raped and knows it is not her fault. She's finally opening up and is happy with how her tree project ended up. As you can see, the tree grows and improves as Melinda opens up more and comes to terms with being raped. This is important because making connections between symbols and characters can give you a better understanding of the