Our community is a big part of who we are, and is an aspect of our lives that helps shape us into who we are. The book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson starts with a girl named Melinda Sordino starting her freshman year of highschool after being raped the summer before and not telling anyone. In the book Melinda is who she is because of the environment she is.
We see that her community affects her at the very beginning of the book. She gets on a school bus, and right away we see how she is isolated from the rest of the people. She doesn't know where to sit, and at school is all alone during lunch. When she tried to tell her ex-bestfriend what happened to her at the party where she got raped, Rachel ends up calling her a liar. When she thinks about telling her mother what happened, she is so sure that her mother won't believe her she never considers bringing it up. In the beginning of the book her community is a negative place, and it makes it difficult for her to mature happily.
Later towards the middle and end of the book her community starts to become a place where she can talk about the tragic experience she went through. There are some people that are truly there for her, such as her art teacher Mr. Freeman. This is shown when he tells her; "You're a good kid. I think you have a lot to say. I'd like to hear it." There is a scene in the book where without even thinking about it first, she speaks to him not just one or two words but a paragraph on her thoughts. At the end of the book, she is with him and the book ends with her saying "Let me tell you about it." (Referring to her past.)
The book Speak makes me think about just how much everything in our lives affect us. Everything dealing with growing up can lead us to "what if" questions. What if Melinda had never gone to the party? What if she had gone directly to the cops? How different would her coming of age experience be if the answers to these questions were different?
