Speak

In life, fear is considered as one of the most difficult obstacles faced. James A. Lafond- Lewis has stated that "People who act in spite of their fear are truly brave." This quote means that it takes a lot of courage to overcome your fears. I agree with the statement that I have interpreted. In the text, Speak, Melinda Sordino shows her bravery by facing her fears against Mr. Neck and Andy Evans.

One example of Melinda's bravery is when she defies Mr. Neck. This example is the conflict between Melinda against Mr. Neck which may be considered as man vs. man (woman). Melinda does not have any advantages against Mr. Neck but does have disadvantages such as not being able to speak. Melinda's inability to speak gives an advantage to Mr. Neck so he changes the project's rule by making everybody read it out orally. In the text, Speak, there is evidence of her bravery being shown "But I've written a really good report and I'm not going to let an idiot teacher jerk me around like this." (Anderson 155) This text shows that her bravery helps face Mr. Neck by giving out copies of the project instead of reading it out to the class. Thus, Melinda shows her bravery by standing up to Mr. Neck and facing her fears.

Similar to her conflict with Mr. Neck, she also shows her bravery when she faces Andy Evans. In the text, Speak, Andy Evans is an example of the term symbolism because he represents Melinda's biggest fear. Andy Evans is the biggest fear because he did the most damage by destroying Melinda's speaking ability. In the text, Speak, there was evidence which said "I am trapped with Andy Evans... He is made out of slabs of stone and gives off a smell that makes me afraid." (Anderson 193). This evidence shows the fear that she has of Andy, but she faces her fear in the closet when she scares Andy to death by putting a piece of glass to neck causing him to lose his ability to speak. Therefore, Melinda shows her bravery by standing up to him.

Mr. Neck and Andy Evans, antagonists, bring out the bravery that was suppressed in Melinda. Even though Melinda was scared of Mr. Neck and had no idea what to do she faced him and his rules with the help of David. The hardest obstacle Melinda had was to face Andy, and she overcame it by having the same effect done to him. "Courage is not the lack of fear but the ability to face it." (Lt. John B. Putnam Jr. (1921-1944))

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