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Imagery And Symbolism In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

687 Words3 Pages

"Forgiving is not forgetting. It's letting go of the hurt". What this quote means is that instead of holding onto something that has hurt us, we should let it go so that we are able to move on and not have pain burden us for the rest of our lives. In the novel Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson, we are introduced to the main character, Melinda Sordino. Melinda busted an end-of-summer-party by calling the cops due to something mortifying that happened to her. Due to her inability to tell anyone what happened she loses the ability to speak and she starts distancing herself from her family and friends. Throughout the book, there are symbolic items that help us know how Melinda is feeling and they also represent the stages Melinda went through …show more content…

The mirrors in this novel represent Melinda's feelings. She feels very insecure about herself and she wants nothing to do with how she looks. Melinda's feels like after the rape she cannot look at herself which shows that she does not want to face her feelings. "I get out of my bed and take down the mirror. I put it back in my closet facing the wall."(Anderson pg.17). This quote represents Melinda's insecurity and that she feels ugly and never wants to see herself. As the novel goes on Melinda avoids looking at the mirror until she comes face to face with her fear. "I hit the wood against the poster, and the mirror under it, again. Shards of glass slip down the wall and into the sink. IT pulls away from me, puzzled. I reach in and wrap my fingers around a triangle of glass. I hold it to Andy Evans' neck. He freezes."(Anderson pg195). In this pivotal part of the moment we realize that throughout the novel Melinda sees her reflection and thinks that she is worthless because of what Andy did to her but in this scene she uses a piece of the mirror to defend herself. This represents that now she is finally speaking up and facing her fears and that she is finally breaking free. The mirrors in this novel symbolize Melinda because whenever she sees her reflection she notices her all her flaws and feels disgusted by herself. The hatred of her own image symbolizes that she is very

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