Author’s Note: This is a problem/ solution essay on the book, Speak, by Laurie Anderson Halse. I’m going to explain what the problem was, and how it was resolved, also how it could’ve been resolved.
According to Melinda, the main character in the book, Speak, High School is a frightening place. Melinda started freshman year, shy and with only one friend who she describes as ‘too happy’ and kind of ‘weird’. Melinda’s teachers hated her, except for her art teacher, and her gym teacher just never paid much attention to her.
Her kind of ex-bestfriend, Rachel had got them into the “End of the summer” high school- cheerleader party. When they got there it was chaios! They did stuff that night that they can’t even believe… They were both drunk and dirty dancing! When Melinda was dancing, a senior boy, came behind her and caught her before she fell to the ground. She thought for a second that she would actually have a boyfriend, someone sweet and dreamy. They were slow dancing, then suddenly, he kissed her! She thought it was sweet, she thought it was a real moment! Then, he asked her a frankly embarrassing question… She had no clue what to say before she knew it, she was on the ground, shirt up, shorts down, and he had raped her… She didn’t know what to do, so she called the cops and it all when downhill from there.
Throughout this book, she tells absolutely no one what had really happened, and every person in high school hates her for calling the cops. Except for her science partner, who has a crush on her and the freshman who didn’t go to the party. She didn’t try to solve her problem in the middle of the book because she was scared for her life. Literally, she had a secret hiding spot in an abandoned janitor’s closet.
Towards the end of the book, she starts becoming less shy and insecure. By this time she has a decent amount of friends. But when Rachel goes to senior prom with the boy who had raped her, Andy Evans, Rachel leaves him because he was being such a jerk. The Monday after senior prom, Andy Evans does it again, this time instead of just laying there and not saying anything, she’s hitting him, screaming, and kicking, someone knocks on the door and she Melinda opens it up. And suddenly she’s a hero, she exposed a beast and he gets in trouble and everything is good again. This paragraph explains the solution that occurs in the book.
The situation could’ve been resolved earlier in the story when at the start when someone asked her why she called the cops or gave her grief about it and she could’ve told them why, so then maybe they would understand a little bit. That way, her freshman year wouldn’t have been so bad. I believe this because everybody needs to speak out about their problems to someone so they will understand and maybe they can connect to that.
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