*Authors Note: In this piece I compared the main characters in the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and their reasoning.*
Laurie Halse Anderson gave each of the characters in her book Speak their own very unique personality. None of them even being close to being the other in any way except for one, they have issues. Every single human has their own little problems, just most authors make it seem like everyone is the same. This author made each character their own, an original. Each character had a purpose, or a lesson behind it. You just have to search. The three main characters, Melinda, Heather, and Andy Evans are more different than any three people could be.
Melinda doesn’t say much of anything, but I have a lot to say about her. From the first sentence in the book, anyone could tell she has a negative personality, and doesn’t usually search for the positive in anything. The word to define her would be pessimistic. A lot of people are pessimistic, especially teenagers, but she really sees no good in anything. When I was reading her thoughts I figured something must have happened to her. There are some things that happen that have to have a reason behind it, for example, a newly becoming freshman calling the cops at a high school drinking party. Unless they wanted to ruin their reputation for the next four years, something had to happen.
What happened is Andy Evans, or as Melinda calls him, IT. Andy Evans is the type of guy your parents warned you about, and for good reasoning. He’s hot and he knows it, and uses it to his perverted advantages. The man telling kids that he has candy in his van is the vibe I get from reading how Melinda talks about him. She met him at a party, though she was drunk and partially out of it, she knew what Andy did was wrong. He raped her; he didn’t stop when she was attempting to push him off. She had a great reason to call the cops, but she didn’t speak up about what happened and everyone thought she just called to break the party up. No one wanted to talk to her or communicate with her; they knew if they did they would join her at the bottom of the Pyramid of Popularity.
Every school has that one girl that would do anything to fit in, and in Melinda’s school, that girl is Heather. Melinda meets Heather at lunch; Heather is new and sits down next to her, not knowing what she is getting herself into. Heather is the type of girl who wants everything to be perfect. Popularity is one of her biggest necessities, and her starting off being seen with Melinda probably wasn’t one of the best decisions on her choice. Melinda and Heather are complete opposites, Melinda is a very negative person and Heather is way too positive and peppy, over-the-top. With no problem being outspoken on her current issues and just every topic possible, Heather lets Melinda get away with not having to speak. Even though Melinda was desperate for someone to talk to and not be so alone, Heather was not the type of friend she wanted. She was self centered and only cared about what happened to her, and ditched Melinda later on because of her reputation.
In the book Speak, if you look close enough you will be able to find a lesson in every chapter. Melinda taught me to defend myself, even after something bad has happened, because no matter how minor or how major the conflict, someone or something can help. Heather taught me that if I try to get everything the way I want it to be, I will end up exploding. Or if I ditch the only people that were there for me for “better” people, I will end up regretting it so I just shouldn’t care what anyone else thinks. Do what makes me happy, be friends with people who accept me. Andy Evans made me realize not to trust anyone within an hour of meeting them, or to not think someone is as great as I think they are. They could turn out to be the total opposite. I learned something from each of these three characters, the wannabe, the innocent/mute, and the person who is to blame.
