A Social Issue I Noticed While Reading "Speak"

In the book, Speak, by Laurie Halse, there is a girl named Melinda who messes up during the summer and it causes her some trauma. Because of this, she talks very little and is often picked on because of it and her summer mistake. This book focuses on the social issue of picking on others because they don’t act or are a certain way. This is shown a lot in many books but I think it is presented really well here.

            Melinda speaks very rarely to anyone her own age and when she does she’s very quiet and reserved. Because of this, she gets made fun of and ridiculed. Ridicule because of difference is quite a large social issue, but it’s narrowed down in this book to this kind of quirk, speaking rarely, specifically. Melinda’s parents think her silence is her way of getting attention and don’t try to help her.

During the course of the book, the author shows how different people react to Melinda’s mostly silent personality. The overall effect that the author conveys is that people can be cruel and judgmental even without knowing it, towards other people’s differences.