Melinda Monologue

Melinda begins high school as an outcast. She has no one to sit beside, no one to match class schedules with, and no one to eat with. The kids at school are angry at Melinda because she called the cops. Melinda won’t talk about what happened that night with anyone that she was raped. “she won’t say anything! I can’t get a word out of her. She’s mute” (Anderson 114). Melinda becomes nearly mute, unable to speak. She puts a picture in front of the mirror she does not even want to look at herself. Melinda cannot move on because she blames herself for what happened that night. “Her eyes meet mine for a second. I hate you, Rachel mouths silently.” (Anderson 5) Melinda and Rachel have been best friends for a long time. “[They] communicate with notes …show more content…
"I don't know what I'm supposed to feel. What am I doing?...When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time. (Anderson 122) These injuries are significant because it shows Melinda's pain with her depression. In the end, Melinda does not stay silent forever. Melinda blossoms by revealing the secret. As the school year comes to an end, Melinda confronts Andy when he corners her in her janitor's closet. She defends herself and get the respect of the other girls have also suffered from Andy's attacks. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Melinda has the role of a survivor and sees herself as a seed, ready to grow and flower. Melinda has grown through her ability to stand up to Andy. “I said no” When Melinda holds a shard of glass up to Andy's neck, he cannot speak. Melinda and Andy are in reversed roles. By rejecting Heather's cries for help, Melinda learns to say no. By speaking up, Melinda shows that she is finally ready to let herself heal. A poster of Maya Angelou covers a cracked mirror in an abandoned janitor’s closet. Maya Angelou wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography where young Maya transforms from a victim of racism and being raped at a young age silenced for years to an honorable and confident woman capable of answering to bias opinions. Here, the Caged Bird is Maya and Melinda. Melinda knows that she no longer belongs in the closet. …show more content…
"He's not chopping it down. He's saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage, you make it possible for the tree to grow again. By the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block."(Anderson 187) The Oak tree is a symbol of Melinda. Melinda has branches that have died from disease. Near the end of the book, she realizes to cut off these dead damaged branches, no matter how painful it may be, in order to grow again. The oak tree is also significant because it forces Melinda to go for a bike ride, where she confronts the past. “[she] ride like [she] [has] wings. [Melinda] [is] not tired. [She] don't think [she'll] ever have to sleep again.” (Anderson 190) To admit what happened gives her the chance to move on. Her obsession with raking leaves is the metaphor of her as a tree. She is sweeping up the dead, pieces, the same way that she must get rid of the dead pieces of her own personality. “IT happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding. Andy Evans raped me in August when I was drunk and too young to know what was happening. It wasn't my fault. He hurt me. It wasn't my fault. And I am not going to let it kill me. I can grow.” (Anderson 198). She now knows that she cannot escape the memory of her rape and she recognizes that she should not feel guilty. This quote indicates