Symbolism in Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak (1999) walks the reader through a typical year as a high schooler. The narrator, Melinda, experiences the brutal side of adolescence, including the ever-present cliques, bullies, and petty fights. By using powerful symbols, Anderson brings this novel to life. The images of lips and trees tell Melinda's story, eventually helping her accept the tragedy she has endured.

Anderson first introduces the tree symbol when Melinda chooses her art class topic (p. 12). She involuntarily gets "tree"; however it is evident that the author purposely wrote this object into the text. Anderson could have given Melinda any generic topic to turn into art; however she uses a tree, which typically symbolizes life. In contrast, the tree symbolizes death in Speak since Melinda is dying inside by hiding the details of her rape. Whenever Melinda tries to create her tree in art class, she struggles. Her tree lacks dimension; she "can't bring it to life" (p. 78).

The tree symbol reappears in Melinda's fascination with raking leaves. In an effort to beautify her yard, Melinda cleans piles of neglected leaves out of the bushes in front of her house. She works with the "dead leaves still clinging to the oak branches by the street" (p. 167). Melinda is like these leaves; she feels dead inside and struggles to remain safe, just as the leaves struggle to grasp onto the branches. Not to mention, the tree in Melinda's front yard is literally rotting. Her dad points out that the "branches on the left don't have any buds" (p. 167). One section of the tree is decaying and if left untreated, it will cause the entire tree to weaken and collapse. Melinda's life after the rape is like the sick part of the tree; her pain and suffering threaten to cross over to the other aspects of her life and ruin her entirely.

In addition to the tree is another important symbol, Melinda's mouth. Physically her lips are cut so badly that a fellow student questions whether Melinda's "got a disease or something" (p. 45). Throughout the novel, Melinda picks at her cracked lips, causing them to bleed. Additionally, while working for her father on winter break, Melinda cuts her tongue on the edge of an envelope. Her injury is so bad that her dad "mentions a need for professional help" (p. 74). Anderson does not include these details to disgust her readers; rather, the ugliness of Melinda's mouth symbolizes the ugliness and shame she feels inside. Her swollen lips represent her inability to speak up about the rape.

However, when Melinda finally confronts Andy about the rape, her self-image completely changes. When she finally speaks, Andy becomes the one whose "lips are paralyzed" (p. 195). Additionally, after Melinda lets go of her painful secret, she becomes able to successfully draw her tree for art class. Mr. Freeman's words of advice empower Melinda. When he explains that "perfect trees don't exist", Melinda accepts the pain she has experienced, realizing that the rape was not her fault (p. 153). When Melinda expresses that her "tree is definitely breathing", the reader sees that she is breathing and is moving on with her life. Regarding her tree drawing, Melinda remarks, "one of the lower branches is sick ... that branch better drop soon so it doesn't kill the whole thing". It is evident that she knows that we humans cannot allow tragedies to break our spirits. She acknowledges that her future is bright when commenting that the "new growth [of the tree] is the best part" (p. 196).

Since all students experience high school dilemmas like cliques, popularity contests, and struggles with identity, Speak is definitely a great novel to teach in the classroom. Its content is relevant to today's adolescents, who can relate completely to Melinda. Ideally, this novel would be taught at the end of the students' eighth grade year, as they prepare to enter high school. A great post-reading activity to accompany Speak would consist of role-playing. Since Speak encourages the reader to question what is right and what is wrong, I would extend this into the classroom by breaking the students up into small groups and giving them hypothetical situations that require them to think about ethics. The scenarios could concern date rape, teen pregnancy, alcohol abuse, and depression. The students would consult with one another, deciding how to handle dangerous situations that they may encounter. The goal of the activity would be to rid the students of their "that will never happen to me" attitudes by exposing them to contemporary issues and the survival skills they need in life.

Reference

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. New York, NY: Puffin.