The Importance Of Staying Silent In Speak

In the novel Speak, it is written, “It is easier not to say anything…nobody really wants to hear what you have to say” (Anderson 9). Staying silent can be very dangerous because voice is power and it should have the ability to be heard and spoken. The ability of staying silent comes with all sorts of consequences; Melinda’s silence causes her to suffer mentally, physically, and emotionally. Silence is not a good source of great strength due to the fact that someone can ache internally; therefore in the novel Speak, Melinda Sordino suffers mentally. Throughout the novel Melinda is not yet mentally recovered due to what had happened to her at a party that took place over the summer. She narrates, “My goal is to go home and take a nap” (Anderson 24). Sleeping is a way she copes with her not wanting to speak about the terrible experience she went through. If Melinda were …show more content…
Melinda narrates, “I am dying to tell what really happened” (Anderson 5). She really wants to let people know what truly happened to her the night of the party. She wants to confess and not live with the guilt she’s feeling anymore. “I get out of bed and take down the mirror” (Anderson 17). After the situation she was in she completely doesn’t like herself in how she looks. She calls herself not pretty and not smart. Melinda tries to either cover or hide all sorts of mirrors just so she won’t have to look at her reflection and feel some type of shame. Melinda has an art class and expresses her feelings through her drawings and creation. “Mr. Freeman: This has meaning pain” (Anderson 65). It’s getting harder for Melinda to speak. So she speaks through her art and her art teacher seems to catch on to her emotional pain. She is going through. Melinda is running away from her emotional feelings which are not healthy because it can’t result in unhealthy decisions such as suicide and