Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Speak, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age
Communication versus Silence
Appearance versus Reality
Family and Friendship
Isolation, Loneliness, and Depression
Memory and Trauma
Summary
Analysis
Melinda studies for a biology test about seeds, and finds herself interest in the topic, noting the different ways that seeds grow (they even get eaten and expelled by birds), and the many perils that await seeds in the world. “It’s amazing anything survives,” she concludes, describing how tricky it is for a seed to germinate. Lastly, she describes in great detail how seeds grow and bloom. She feels optimistic that she is going to do well on the test.
Because Melinda already feels strongly emotionally attached to seeds, plants, and trees, it makes sense that she enjoys studying for a biology test on the subject, her connection with the topic breaking through her apathy. She identifies with the seeds, believing that she, like they, must try to survive in a perilous and unfriendly world.
Themes
