Commentary on Speak Essay

Speak

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a teenage girl who has to overcome one of the hardest challenges of life. Melinda was raped at a party and has to deal with it on her own because it seems as though she has lost her voice. By the beginning of her freshman year, she has no friends because she called the police on the party she was raped at so she feels like an outcast...a nobody. Anderson shows Melinda's stages of well being through an art project that was assigned to her by her art teacher, Mr. Freeman.

When Melinda gets to her art class, her teacher, Mr. Freeman, tells them they will all be doing one project for the whole year. When Melinda gets her assignment, a tree, she thinks it will be too easy. As she tries to pick out another project, Mr. Freeman stops her and says, "Ah, ah, ah, you just chose your destiny...you can't change that." (Page 12). At first, all of Melinda's drawings were almost dead or unrealistic. "For a solid week, ever since the pep rally, I have been painting watercolors of trees that have been hit by lightning. I tried to paint them so they are nearly dead, but not totally." (page 31). When Melinda says she tries to paint the trees as if they were almost dead, but not totally, she is saying that even though the tree is dying there is still some life. So, there is still some life and hope for Melinda, but it is buried deep under all the broken pieces of her life. Melinda feels like a nobody, a nothing. "I wash my face in the sink until there is nothing left of it, no eyes, no nose, no mouth. A slick nothing." (page 45).

As Melinda keeps spiraling down with a feeling of guilt and worthlessness, Mr. Freeman gives a few words of encouragement. "Art without emotion is like chocolate cake without sugar. It makes you gag. The next time you work on your trees, don't think about trees. Think about love or hate or joy or rage.

Whatever makes your feel something, makes your palms sweat, or your toes curl. Focus on that feeling. When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time." Mr. Freeman can tell there is something bothering Melinda and can tell she is not expressing herself. That's why he warns her that when people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time.

As time goes on, Melinda realizes she is getting better. She is starting to feel alive. "We sit there trading pencils. I draw a trunk, Ivy adds a branch. I extend the branch, but it is too long and spindly. I start to erase it, but Ivy stops me. It is fine the way it is, it just needs some leaves. Layer the leaves and make them slightly different sizes and it will look great. You have a great start here. She is right" (page 146). Melinda is starting to see that mistakes are okay and life goes on. Melinda is starting to really think about what happened to her and is becoming aware of the past few months. "Like Picasso, I have gone through different phases. There is a confused period, when I wasn't sure what the assignment really was. The spaz period, when I couldn't draw a tree to save my life. The dead period, when all my trees looked like they had been through a forest fire or a blight. I am getting better. Don't know what to call this phase yet." (page 152). Melinda knows she is getting better. She can feel it. She knows there is someone alive and kicking somewhere inside her.

As Melinda's freshman year comes to an end, she comes to terms with what happened to her. She was raped by Andy Evans at a party and was too drunk and young to know what was happening. She will grow and she knows it. Melinda's last tree tells it all. "My tree is definitely breathing; little shallow breaths like it just shot up through the ground this morning. This one is not perfectly symmetrical. The bark is rough. I tried to make it look as if initials had been carved in it a long time ago. One of the lower branches is sick. If this tree really lives some place, the branch better drop soon so it doesn't kill the whole thing. Roots knob out of the ground and the crown reaches for the sun, tall and healthy. The new growth is the best part." (page 196). Melinda's tree shows that she is not perfect and has some history, but is strong and healthy. Melinda has her life back and has found her voice. She has learned to not dwell on the past and that she is a survivor. She will not let her experience destroy her. She is strong and worthy of growing...and she will.