As I finished up the second marking period of the book, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, I noticed that there is a similar theme in the novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez-- Dominant men. In Speak, main character Melinda has been a victim of rape but hasn’t told anyone about it. The rapist, Andy, goes to her school and in sick little ways torments Melinda, thinking what he did wasn’t wrong. For example, if he happens to be in the same area as her, he would do thinks like smile or wave maliciously causing Melinda to either run on instinct or stop dead in her tracks. In How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, the men have ways of keeping their women “in-line,” as if he were the boss. The men in this novel see nothing wrong with how they treat their women and nobody has any say of what they do--especially the women. I think that these two stories have a great purpose or moral but Speak is more realistic. Speak is an example for young women to be unafraid to speak up when situations like rape happen, unlike Melinda who doesn’t say anything at all but keeps all her pain bottled up inside her. I think that the author is hinting at the importance for young adults, or anyone, telling someone about these kinds of situations. She shows what its like to not tell anyone through this young women’s story and anyone who reads this book will see how life changing it could be.
If I had to recommend this book to anyone, it would be to all teenage girls in middle and high school to get them better informed on how to handle dramatic situations like rape. I think that every girl should be aware or cautious of the situations they may put themselves into because it may turn out ugly. Like Melinda where she went to a party with a friend, when they both started to drink and become intoxicated they lose sight of each other and unfortunately one girl was raped and it forever changed her life. that’s what I mean by being cautious of the situations one puts herself or himself in.
