Socializing is a tough thing to do, especially around strangers. Traumatic events tend to create stress and pressure inside the human mind, making talking a hard thing to do, as well as some motor skills. When someone tries to reach out to you, it is hard to accept them as a friend, and open up your troubles to them. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson proves that fears can be overcome by self-confidence.
Melinda Sordino was planning to start off freshman year in high-school with a bang. But for some reason, her friends and people she's never met hate her. As her reputation slowly sinks down the high-school ladder, she meets a bright, cheerful student, Heather, who is almost always optimistic, as well as mellow-dramatic. But when two opposites collide, chaos breaks out. Heather always insists that Melinda and her do every activity, meeting, and group act together. Naturally, Melinda's negative personality turns it down. Melinda describes her tormentor as IT a.k.a. Andy Evans, or "The Beast", the student who caused her life to rapidly spin downhill. The only savior in this excruciating building for Melinda, is her art teacher, Mr. Freeman; an open-minded man who doesn't care what the school board's teachers think of him. A very notable quote from the story takes place in art class, spoken by Freeman: "Ah-ah-ah, you just picked your destiny. You can't change that." This could mean that once you pick a certain path that affects the result of your life, you can't take it back, it's destiny. For Melinda, Freshman year was off to a bad start.
Self-confidence can overpower fear as proven in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. When terror strikes your life, talking and movement can become a real challenge. So is trying to release your problem to a stranger reaching out to you. When the human mind experiences fear or mental/physical torture, it is tough to cope with the fact that they will have to continue on as if nothing had happened.
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