Ask an average teenager what they know about sexual assault, and they may refer to “locker room talk” or dramatized rape scenes in movies. It is misconceptions like these that can drive a victim further into seclusion, because their situation is so unknown to the average person, leaving them in solitary. In the United States alone, one in five women and one in seventy-five men will be raped at some point throughout their lifetime, yet only 37% of these incidents are reported to authorities (Department of Justice 1). There are many factors that contribute to this, but one major reason this occurs is that victims feel as if they are on one's own and lack someone to assist them in their time of need. In the novel Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
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Prior to this, Ivy is in the bathroom with Melinda when they see “Entire conversations scroll down the bathroom stall. It's like a community chat room, a metal newspaper… I start another subject thread on the wall: Guys to Stay Away From. The first entry is the Beast himself: Andy Evans” (Anderson 175). Because there were other messages, Melinda felt brave enough to add on to the stall by writing a warning. She is willing to protect others from her situation because she doesn't want anyone to have to go through what she did. Time goes by without any acknowledgment of the stall until Ivy shows Melinda what has been added: “There's more. Different pens, different handwriting, conversations between some writers, arrows to longer paragraphs. It's better than taking out a billboard. I feel like I can fly” (Anderson 186). Melinda feels uplifted by the similar messages and uses the phrase, “feel like I can fly” to convey positivity. It demonstrates how only one message can lead to much more because it is an inspiration for those wanting to speak up. Both of the selected quotes reveal that one action can result in a chain reaction because one person will express their feelings, then another, and so
Prior to this, Ivy is in the bathroom with Melinda when they see “Entire conversations scroll down the bathroom stall. It's like a community chat room, a metal newspaper… I start another subject thread on the wall: Guys to Stay Away From. The first entry is the Beast himself: Andy Evans” (Anderson 175). Because there were other messages, Melinda felt brave enough to add on to the stall by writing a warning. She is willing to protect others from her situation because she doesn't want anyone to have to go through what she did. Time goes by without any acknowledgment of the stall until Ivy shows Melinda what has been added: “There's more. Different pens, different handwriting, conversations between some writers, arrows to longer paragraphs. It's better than taking out a billboard. I feel like I can fly” (Anderson 186). Melinda feels uplifted by the similar messages and uses the phrase, “feel like I can fly” to convey positivity. It demonstrates how only one message can lead to much more because it is an inspiration for those wanting to speak up. Both of the selected quotes reveal that one action can result in a chain reaction because one person will express their feelings, then another, and so