Symbols are worth a thousand words. In the book Speak, it’s Melinda’s first and most miserable year of high school. Her friends dumped her because she called the police at a party that had alcohol and then they got in trouble for drinking under age. However Melinda called the police for a very good reason. The senior boy that Melinda calls “Andy Beast” and “IT” raped her. In the book Speak, there are numerous symbols.
To begin with, the first symbol is the tree that David Petrakis and Melinda were drawing together in class. When Melinda pulled her thumbnail back too far, David got her a tissue. Then she wrote a note in her note book thanking him. After that the thank you turned into a bird that’s Ms. Keen, then it turned into a tree. The tree could represent various things, but it represents Melinda and David’s relationship growing the most. A tree represents life and growth, therefore the tree they drew represents the growth of their relationship.
In addition, there aren’t only nice and perfect trees in the book Speak, there are also dead ones. On page 30 and 31 in “The Opposite of Inspiration is… Expiration?” section it says, “ For a solid week, ever since the pep rally, I’ve been painting watercolors of trees that have been hit by lightning. I try to paint them so they are nearly dead, but not totally.” During that chapter she was in Mr. Freeman’s art room trying to perfect her tree project. However that tree that was hit by lightning which Melinda was painting somewhat represents Melinda because all of her friends are dead and gone.
Another symbol is the cover of the book. The cover could mean many things, but it represents Melinda’s Life dark and miserable and gradually growing happy and sunny the most. On the front cover there is a girl's face which is most likely Melinda’s face. However, on one side of the face it is dark and the other light, which represents Melinda’s life at first in her freshman year of high school. Notice then it gets lighter which represents her life at the end of the book in her freshman year. On page 197 in the “Final Cut” section on the seventh paragraph it says, “The seniors look my way before they leave. One girl, not the cheerleader, nods her head, and says, “Way to go. I hope you’re OK.” With hours left in the school year, I have suddenly became popular.” Therefore, the light side of the face represents her life at the end of the book in her freshman year of high school. Also there is a tree on the cover of the book. The tree somewhat looks like a scar on the face, which represents the permanent scar that Andy Evans gave her. Andy gave her that scar by abusively raping her.
In the book Speak there are numerous symbols. The next time you read a book and you identify a symbol don’t always think the obvious. Instead, think outside the box!
