Melinda Sordino is devastated. She spends her first year of high school failing classes and being ridiculed by her peers. She, too, would have been devastated, if not for the key aspects of her life that inspired her to change. This happens in the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. At the end of her eighth grade year, Melinda and her friends go to a high school party. Once there, Melinda gets drunk and is exploited by an older man, Andy Evans. The story focuses on Melinda's journey to healing and how she overcomes her fear of speaking. Over the course of the book, three things in Melinda's life put her on the road to recovery. One of those things is the art class and the teacher who is in charge of it. Another is Melinda's lab partner, David Petrakis. Finally, there is an abandoned janitor's closet that Melinda discovers and puts to good use. All of these things are of paramount importance to Melinda as she struggles to get through her freshman year. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay On the first day of school, Melinda walks into her art class where she is greeted by the art teacher, Mr. Freeman. Mr. Freeman soon establishes himself as the only adult Melinda trusts: he teaches Melinda how to speak through art, how to express herself in a way that makes Melinda feel safe. Although Melinda speaks very little over the course of the book, she couldn't have said more. This growth is highlighted by Melinda's year-long art project to paint a tree. Melinda's trees represent whatever phase of healing (or deterioration) she is going through. "I've painted watercolors of trees that have been struck by lightning. I try to paint them so that they're almost dead, but not quite." (Anderson 30-31) Melinda represents how she feels damaged and broken and “almost dead.” These trees represent how Melinda thinks about herself and what happened: she may not realize it, but by painting these trees she is able to let the world know about her repressed feelings. However, Melinda isn't the only one who tries to communicate through silence. Melinda's lab partner, David Petrakis, simply got up and left when a cruel teacher gave a lecture. “He says a million things without saying a word. I make a note to study David Petrakis. I have never heard a more eloquent silence." (57) The only difference is that David is not silent to hide his thoughts. He is the opposite: he defends himself and makes his opinions known. He helps Melinda give a presentation about the suffragettes without an introduction, but then tells her, “But you got it wrong. The suffragettes spoke out, shouted for their rights. You cannot speak because of your right to remain silent. This means letting the bad guys win. If the suffragettes did that, women still wouldn't be able to vote." David convinced Melinda to try to really speak up and make a difference in the world around her instead of living so passively. But this kind of massive change doesn't happen overnight. It needs to be nourished so that it can grow. One day, while running away from Mr. Neck, Melinda comes across an old abandoned janitor's closet. He quickly claims the space as his own and uses it as a refuge or hideout whenever things get tough. She decorates the room with things that have meaning to her and feels safe thinking about what happened to her here. This wardrobe protects Melinda throughout the story until she is fully healed and ready to live again. It also fits one of the motifs in the story: seeds. Melinda often talks about the seeds in the book, the process they go through.