Speak

Speak

by

Laurie Halse Anderson

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Speak: Part 4, Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Feverish and partially delirious, Melinda imagines her life as a talk show, and wonders if she was in fact raped. She decides that Oprah would say that she was, because she was only 13, and because Andy put his hand over her mouth; it doesn’t matter that she was drunk. She imagines Oprah’s co-hosts, Sally Jessy and Jerry, sympathizing with her, offering her tissues, and begging her to tell someone.
Much like the poster of Maya Angelou, the imaginary Oprah cast allows Melinda to voice positive things that she herself can’t say. Significantly, the Oprah passages are the first time that Melinda uses the word “rape,” signaling that she has begun to accept and understand what happened to her, and to see it as something that someone did to her rather than something that she caused to happen to herself.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Communication versus Silence Theme Icon
Isolation, Loneliness, and Depression Theme Icon
Memory and Trauma Theme Icon
Feeling even sicker, Melinda wishes for a coma or amnesia to get rid of her trauma. “Did he rape my head too?” she wonders. In order to escape, she watches Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and falls asleep.
Unable to stop thinking about her trauma, Melinda feels that Andy has violated both her body and her mind. She reverts to childhood once more, symbolized by Mr. Rogers.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Memory and Trauma Theme Icon
Quotes