Relationships In Outcast By Laurie Halse Anderson

Speaking Relations

What could he possibly have done to hurt her so immensely? Holding her pain in, she slowly tears herself apart on the inside. She shuts herself off from the world. She doesn’t care about school anymore or the people there. Her home life becomes even worse. All because of a monster, otherwise known as IT, best known as Andy Evans, fools her, holds her down, and rapes her. When Melinda is attacked, her relationships are affected by her feelings of insecurity, unimportance, and fear.

Bound by insecurities, Melinda’s relationships begin to crumble, which is shown by her insecurity. She says, “If I kicked both of them out of my head, who would be left?” (Anderson, 132). Looking directly at herself she says, “I adjust the mirrors

On the first day of school she notices how everyone fits into a category, everyone except her. She states, “I am Outcast.” (Anderson, 4), when she realizes she fits nowhere. No one wants to be her friend, or at least that’s how she feels. Whenever someone tries to get talk to her, to be her friend, she tells herself, “Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say,” (Anderson, 9). Since she doesn’t talk, she ends up separating herself from students, teachers, and even her family. At some point she realizes, “... I am the only person sitting alone,”(Anderson,3). She blocks everyone out because of the shame. She doesn’t think people would care if she told them what happened and ends up feeling without meaning and

Walking home in the dark one night she thinks, “The world’s a dangerous place... Assume the worst.”(Anderson, 132). The rape causes this paranoia, which keeps her from enjoying herself and spending time with friends, namely David. She thinks back to what has happened, what IT has done to her, “ In my head my voice is clear as a bell: ‘NO I DON’T WANT TO!’ But I can’t spit it out,”(Anderson, 135). She’s afraid and doesn’t want Andy to hurt her but can’t find her voice to speak. The rape causes her to separate herself from everyone. Then Heather tells her that they are too different and that she doesn’t want to be friends anymore. Melinda expresses her thoughts in this matter by saying, “... I had never seriously thought of Heather as my one true friend...”(Anderson,105). Melinda fears the loss of her only friend but is also afraid to reach out and make new