Symbolism in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

A symbol is a delegacy of something else, often times a material object signifying something abstract. Laurie Halse Andersons young-adult novel Speak is jam-packed with symbolism. Trees are one of the approximately prevalent symbols in the novel, appearance in almost every(prenominal) chapter of the book. Trees represent life and emersion for the main protagonist in the story Melinda, and are emblematic of her journey through her mental recovery after cosmos raped. The authors reoccurring engagement of the head allows the readers to understand Melinda in a different way, beyond the narrators tangible words. Andersons use of the shoe corner aids the reader in seeing Melindas unworthy and recovery. Towards the beginning of the novel as Melinda is assigned a tree for her yearlong art project, she begins to manu situationure trees that parallel her emotional state. At first she struggles to bring her tree to life, the trees she constructs are bare, lifeless, and lacking det ail. Her softness to draw life and lucubrate and express the complexity of a tree, is comparable to her incompetence to hot and share details to others. ever so since Melindas rape, she struggles with opening up to the other people in her life. Several aspects of her first a few(prenominal) art projects represent her pain sensation and depression. After being picked on by a few girls at a gingerroot rally, Melindas trees reflect her misery. For a solid week, ever since the peppiness rally, Ive been painting watercolors of trees that gull been hit by lightning. I try to paint them so they are nearly dead, only not totally. (Anderson 30). Without her sharing her feelings roughly how poorly she was treated, the readers understand her emotions by her artwork and the use of the tree. The fact that they have been hurt exclusively still continue pause on is symbolic of Melindas experience and how defeated she feels.\nTowards the mettle of the novel, arborists cut away a dead branch from a tree in lodge to save the rest of it. This symbolizes ...