The Role Of Isolation In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

Alienation is the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to which one should belong or in which one should be involved. Those groups include teams or friendships, and when someone is alienated, the others find a reason for them to be pushed away. Isolation can be the cause of depression with most, as they find themselves alone with no one who cares. This idea of alienations is shown in Speak, a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. Speak is a novel about Melinda Sordino, a freshman girl in high school who was raped, and then had to deal with all of the suffering that came with it. Throughout the school year, she slowly gets through the aftermath of her attack, but she does it all alone. While it may be said that Melinda’s isolation allowed her to come out of her shell and tell people what happened, her …show more content…
After her parents receive the news of their poor grades, they explode on her at the dinner table. Melinda, somewhat overwhelmed isn't even taking in what they're saying. All her parents do is scream at her, and ask her what she's doing. Not once do they express concern as for why her grades her dropping. They just don't care, causing Melinda to need to rely on herself entirely, when it shouldn't be like that. She should have the unconventional support of her parents. Not too long after, Melinda hides away in her closet, and starts to cut at her wrists with a paper clip. Upon finding her, her mother sighs, and says, “‘I don't have time for this, Melinda’” (Anderson 88). Once more, there is no concern. She's only thinking about what is best for her, and what will fit into her plan, which one would think would include her daughter. Her mother doesn't question why she is cutting her wrists, or burrowing away in her closet. All she does is walk away, more or less showing Melinda that her parents will not be there for her when she is so desperately crying out for