Melinda Sordino, a 14 year old teenager at a high school, gets raped by a senior during the summer before her freshman year. Throughout the novel, Melinda keeps on remembering what Andy Evans, the senior who raped Melinda, had done to her during the summer. In the novel speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the motif “mirror” presents Melinda’s journey to self-acceptance by displaying her first as a girl who refuses to look at herself, then as a girl that tries to seek herself, and lastly as a girl who is able to defend herself using her past.
Towards the starting point of the year, Melinda refuses to look at herself. At this point in the novel, Melinda has gone through a couple days of school and she is now in her room during the weekend. She is trying to hide from her dad and just wants to sleep. “I watch myself in the mirror across the room. Ugh. My hair is completely hidden under the …show more content…
During the last day of school, Andy Evans tries to rape Melinda once more in her secret closet inside the school. “I hit the wood against the poster, and the mirror under it, again. Shards of glass slip down the wall and into the sink. IT pulls away from me, puzzled. I reach in and wrap my fingers around a triangle of glass. I hold it to Andy Evans's neck. He freezes’’(195). Melinda is being confronted by the person who raped her during the summer. She is using this “ piece of mirror” to defend herself against him. Furthermore,The mirror shatters into shards of glass which end up in the sink. Since the shards of glass represent her past, them ending up in the sink could be a symbol that Melinda's memory of Andy Evans did to her are now washed away. This could also potentially mean that Melinda is now able to heal from that memory. Now that Melinda is able to protect herself, she has also accepted herself for what happened during her encounter with Andy during the summer and is using her past to fight him
Towards the starting point of the year, Melinda refuses to look at herself. At this point in the novel, Melinda has gone through a couple days of school and she is now in her room during the weekend. She is trying to hide from her dad and just wants to sleep. “I watch myself in the mirror across the room. Ugh. My hair is completely hidden under the …show more content…
During the last day of school, Andy Evans tries to rape Melinda once more in her secret closet inside the school. “I hit the wood against the poster, and the mirror under it, again. Shards of glass slip down the wall and into the sink. IT pulls away from me, puzzled. I reach in and wrap my fingers around a triangle of glass. I hold it to Andy Evans's neck. He freezes’’(195). Melinda is being confronted by the person who raped her during the summer. She is using this “ piece of mirror” to defend herself against him. Furthermore,The mirror shatters into shards of glass which end up in the sink. Since the shards of glass represent her past, them ending up in the sink could be a symbol that Melinda's memory of Andy Evans did to her are now washed away. This could also potentially mean that Melinda is now able to heal from that memory. Now that Melinda is able to protect herself, she has also accepted herself for what happened during her encounter with Andy during the summer and is using her past to fight him