The book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is very interesting. It’s about a girl named Melinda Sordino who never speaks to anyone. The only person she gets close to talking to is Heather. Melinda doesn’t really consider Heather as a friend; she’s more of a disposable friend or a person she could sit with just so she doesn’t look stupid. Melinda’s life in school is miserable. She has no friends and almost everybody hates her, including Rachel, her ex-best friend from middle school. I don’t understand why everyone hates her though. It can be the fact that she called the cops on Kyle Rodger’s party in the end of the summer, but if that’s the case can’t people just get over it? Is what she caused that summer really that bad? And why did she call the cops at them? She knew they were all going to get in trouble, but is that what she wanted? There could’ve been another reason, but not one that she was willing to talk about.
At home, Melinda’s life was basically the same – except no one made fun of her or hated her. But there was some tension between her parents. Her mom was usually very busy doing stuff for work, and her dad I don’t think he much. It’s like they are so focused on their work that they forget that they have a teenage daughter with a very serious level of depression. One day when she received terrible grades on her report card, her parents got angry and yelled at her. She didn’t say anything to them; she didn’t even look at them as they were talking. They told her to try her best in school; each talking turns to say something to her. Melinda’s mom told her to look at her when she was talking, but she didn’t listen. No matter how much she raised her voice, Melinda kept her eyes glued to the ground. But I noticed that they never offered any help to her, it was only demands and yelling. After that they faced each other and argued. At home, Melinda’s parents never mention anything about her silence; it never occurs to them that she needs therapeutic help.
No comments:
Post a Comment