By Its Cover

Author’s Note: I am writing this piece to show my knowledge of conflict and resolution, by analyzing this in the story Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I hope you enjoy this piece as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

By Its Cover

            It is amazing how fast everything can be ripped from your grasp. Melinda –the main character, from the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, knows this better than anyone. For someone who used to have everything, Melinda knows that even the smallest action can take it all away. For example at an end-of-summer party, Melinda is raped by a boy named Andy Evans. So she calls the cops, but ends up running from the scene out of fear. When the kids at school found out about Melinda calling the cops at the party, she loses everything; her reputation, her friends and most of all, herself. This is what makes the main conflict of this story person verses society.

            One of the reasons that this is the conflict of the story is person verses society is because of the way everyone in Melinda’s high school, found out about Melinda calling the cops, so everyone started to exclude her. This is an example of person verses society, due to the fact that for Melinda, the people in her high school make up their own society. Also because all of these kids in this society constantly are putting Melinda down and making her life seem as it was a living nightmare. This is why the conflict of this story is person verses society.

            While the conflict in this book is very drastic, there is an even stronger message that goes along with the resolution. The resolution of this story is that, when Andy Evans traps Melinda in a closet and tries to hurt (rape) her again, Melinda finally speaks up for herself and in a turn of events Nicole –one of the friends that she had lost earlier in the book, finds her and stops Andy. After this happens, everyone in her school finally starts to except her and realize what really happened at that party. Overall the message to this resolution is to never judge a book by its cover.

            Another book that shares the same conflict is The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. This story tells a tale of a boy named Ponyboy and his band of friends the Greasers. We know that the conflict of this story is person verses society because of the society that they live in judges them by the way they wear their hair, their clothes and the financial situations that they have. Due to this fact this book does relate to Speak because of the way the Greasers and Melinda are judged by the smallest of things without these people who are judging them even knowing them enough to create, a sufficient judgment.

            This story has a great message and has really taught me a lot about standing up for myself. Speak I can say is single handedly one of the best books I have ever read and I could never forget the message it taught me. From this book I can take away the lesson of never judging a book by its cover and I will take from that something I will use from now through the rest of my life.