Speak Final Essay

What Happens to Melinda?

      What happens to Melinda after the end of the book? Does she go back to her old self like she was at the beginning of the year, or does she remain confident and gain more friends? Events throughout the book can reflect the results of her future.

Her parents are most likely cheating on each other as is said on page 72 when mom gets home close to 2 in the morning and dad gets home before sunup so that’s not a good sign. In fact it’s more of a pre-cursor to divorce. Melinda could be effected by the confusion, anger, and sadness caused by a divorce. If her parents did get a divorce, Melinda might need emotional support from friends through that time therefore causing her to gain friends. Gaining friends would give her a sense of security and comfort along with a better reputation than just being the “party spoiler” from the summer.

Events that happened summer before 9^th Grade began also could affect her friends. The second to last chapter talks about when Andy Evans tries to rape Melinda again in the closet. She screams for help but is able to stop Andy. When she opens the door, Nicole and the La Crosse team see what was going on. From then on, I think Melinda has Nicole on her side because she saw what happened and feels she should be there for Melinda. Even one friend would be good to give her that sense of security and protection.

In my opinion, Melinda’s life and relationships will improve and help her become more confident. Instead of being behind the social tree, she’ll be on it.   

Comparisons of Different Times

How do people change? Do they change through experience? Do they change by advice? Whatever the reason, characters in books develop differently such as Huckleberry Finn, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Guy Montag, in Fahrenheit 451.

            Huckleberry Finn started off as a low class, typical, southern boy in the 1800’s with a drunken dad, and a widow who was trying to “reform” him. His father then took him to his cottage in southern Illinois, where he was locked up. After Huckleberry escaped, his views began to change thanks to Jim, a runaway slave who he was friends with before he left for his father’s cabin. He begins to realize that slavery isn’t right and figures that sometimes you have to go upstream and against the flow. It’s the same thing with Guy Montag from Fahrenheit 451.

            Guy Montag is a fireman in the future, except his job isn’t to put out fires, it’s to start them. He’s always enjoyed going on midnight raids, burning houses, watching the dancing flames consume the house, but it isn’t until he meets a teenage girl named Clarisse that he learns that sometimes, you need to stop and think. He begins to try this and it helps him throughout his chaotic life.