Andrs Pea

25/9/2014
Block 2
Show, Dont Speak: Symbolism in Speak
On average, one of out every ten 16-year-olds in the United States has gone
through a major depressive episode at least once in the past year, according to the
National Institute of Mental Health (NIH, 2012). This means that out of every 10
highschoolers, on average one has gone two weeks feeling extreme sadness and a
loss of pleasure, appetite, and interest in anything. However, they dont all have a
reason. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson readers step into the mind of a
Syracuse highschooler undergoing the nightmare of every student in America: being
rejected by her friends and emotionally abandoned by her parents. Melinda Sordino
goes through exactly that; she called the police at a party because she had just
been raped by one of her classmates, but her classmates hold the firm belief she
did it to get back at whoever smuggled in the alcohol. Throughout the novel the
objects that surround Melinda form a part of her character and expose readers to
her personality. Two of the most central symbols in Speak are mirrors and closets as
they stand for Melindas transformation by the end of the book.
When we look into mirrors, what do we see? Do we see ourselves as we really
are? Do we see how others view us? Really, all we see is how we look, but Melinda
takes it beyond that; Speak uses mirrors as a window to Melindas personality and
self, where she can see both herself and what people think of her. In the following
quote, readers can see just how much Melinda despises what shes become:
I adjust the mirror so I can see reflections of reflections, miles and miles of
me and my new jeans. I hook my hair behind my ears. I should have washed
it. My face is dirty Am I in there somewhere? I push my ragged mouth
against the mirror. A thousand bleeding, crusted lips push back. What does it
feel like to walk in a new skin? (Anderson, 1999, p. 124).

Andrs Pea
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She describes every minute detail of her face, making it out to be something much
worse than it is. She even fantasizes about having a new skin, a new lifeto start
over. In fact, she places people she admires over her own image:
I hang out in my refurbished closet. It is shaping up nicely The first thing
to go is the mirror. It is screwed to the wall, so I cover it with a poster of Maya
Angelou that the librarian gave me (Anderson, 1999, p. 50).
Maya Angelou lived in a time period when discrimination was at its highest and she
was seen as one of the revolutionary writers of the time. She was braveMelinda
admired that, but strangely, she made no effort to become like Maya Angelou. This
leads readers to believe that she judges herself so strongly that she knows for a fact
she cant change. In a way, this does make sense. She may not have the energy to
really try to change her life, but a new Melinda would be so much easier to deal with
that all she does is daydream and wallow in self-pity, all the while alienating herself
from everything and everyone she has ever loved.
The reason most people use closets to store their clothes is something other
than just needing somewhere to put their unused clothing. They represent a certain
privacy we as humans need by affording us a small space where we can express
ourselves without the need of words or works of artthe moment someone invades
that, our entire world shatters before our eyes. In Melindas case her broom closet is
the only place she ever feels she is not being scrutinized or judged, since even her
own room is decorated by her parents and is completely separate from her
character. This quote from page 50 makes that evident: My closet is a good thing,
a quiet place that helps me hold these thoughts inside my head where no one can
hear them (Anderson, 1999). By the end of the year, when she comes to terms
with what happened, she finally accepts who she is:
I head for my closet after school. I want to take the poster of Maya Angelou
home, and Id like to keep some of my tree pictures and my turkey-bone

Andrs Pea
25/9/2014
Block 2
sculpture. The rest of the stuff can stay, as long as it doesnt have my name
on it. Who knows, some other kids may need a safe place to run to next year
(Anderson, 1999, p. 192).
Melinda wants to take home the poster of that person she admires so much
because it serves as an example that people can change and there is always a
reason to have a good outlook on bad situations. She even takes some of her
paintings and sculptures so that she can remember what makes her who she is
they symbolize her growth. Since she wants to forget all about the terrible things
that happened, she leaves everything that does not have a name behind; in a way
she views that person that was crawling helplessly through ninth grade as someone
else, someone she is not anymore. Her leaving the closet depicts her finally
surpassing what will probably be the worst stage of her life and moving on.
Almost everything in Speak has a meaning beyond literal level, but the two
most important symbols depicting her progress are mirrors and closets. Melinda
may have gone through a period when she thought her life was over, but even after
the suffering she experienced she came out of it a new person ready to come to
terms with the events that transpired in the beginning of the book. So maybe
something that can be taken away is that sometimes no matter how hard we try it is
dumb luck which destroys our future; but sometimes it is also dumb luck which
secures it.