Non-Verbal Communication In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

For a teenager, life is about the choices people make. Teenagers judge others for who they choose to hang out with, what decisions they make, and how they treat others. At the same time, the actions of others can also alter someone’s life. How people treat someone, what they say to them, and their other non-verbal communication can affect someone’s overall personality and ultimately their current identity. In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, this situation plays out with the main character, Melinda. She becomes an outcast and is ridiculed by her friends due to her 911 call over the summer during a party. Her friends and others believe that she called the police for no reason, and that she only was trying to end or ruin the party. However,
Before the event occurred, Rachel was Melinda’s best friend. After the party happened, Rachel became rude and detrimental to Melinda’s identity: “Her eyes meet mine for a second. ‘I hate you,’ she mouths silently” (5). These simple words describe their new relationship. From this point on Rachel (now known as Rachelle) would only treat Melinda with hate and disregard. Melinda’s other old friends also follow Rachel’s lead, and treat Melinda the same way. These simple actions against Melinda eventually lead to a new, changed identity in Melinda’s life. Melinda perfectly defined her new self in 3 words: “I am Outcast” (4). The other deep carver of Melinda’s life has been Andy Evans. Andy was the beginning of this entire change, as he was perpetrator/aggressor in Melinda’s rape. He (referred to as it) continues to treat her with the same attitude and plays the innocent around her, creating clear confrontation and misery in Melinda’s life: “IT is my nightmare and I cannot wake up. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together...” (46). Andy’s actions— along with her ex-friend's’ actions— caused a clear impact on Melinda’s identity. Their actions caused Melinda to change in various ways, the most painful being her reluctance to speak, and her metaphorical stitching her lips
People are changed by those around them, both directly and indirectly. Melinda’s tale is one that is relatable to many, and one of truth. There are things in life that may hurt, and there are people in life that can hurt. Melinda proves that it is far better to speak up and face the result— positive or negative. Whether it ends in more understanding about the problem— or even less— speaking up is the way to be free from grief and internal pressures (like the ones Melinda faced). Melinda wraps up her experience in one final statement: “IT happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding. Andy Evans raped me in August when I was drunk and too young to know what was happening. It wasn't my fault. He hurt me. It wasn't my fault. And I am not going to let it kill me. I can grow”