Lack Of Courage In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak Essay “My head explodes with the noise of fire trucks leaving the station” (39). The book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson shows Melinda being both courageous and having lack of courage. Melinda does go through some tough stages in the book, but is still shows courage sometimes. Some of her lack of courage does come from a traumatic experience at a party before her freshman year of high school.

The first way Melinda shows lack of courage is at a party during the summer going into her first year of high school. Melinda gets sexually harassed at the party and calls 911 because she needed help. On the phone with the officer she doesn't state her emergency, but the cops come to the barn where the party was anyway. Everyone gets mad at her for calling the cops because there was underage drinking. When the cops arrive, she doesn't tell

“I reach in and wrap my fingers around a triangle of glass. I hold it to Andy Evans’s neck” (195). Melinda finally stands up to Andy when he throws her at some glass in the closet. This was the second time in the book that Andy harassed Melinda and she had enough. She was already called a liar and was struggling in school with friends. Melinda was having trouble with friends in school because everyone was mad at her for calling the cops at the party. It was good that she stood up to Andy and it showed that she's not weak.

In conclusion, Melinda shows both courage and lack of courage throughout this book. She shows lack of courage at the party when she doesn't do anything about Andy harassing her, but then later in the book Melinda is more courageous. She is courageous when she tells Rachel the truth about the party. The last way she's courageous is when she puts the glass up to Andy’s neck when he tries to harass her. During the book, Melinda is both courageous and at times she falls short of