Speak 1
Angelou’s and Anderson’s novels have gained anoth
er similarity: both have been viewed as dangerous for young people. Another literary reference in Speak is to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, which Melinda and her fellow students have to analyse for English class (not to their delight). The Scarlet Letter has long been one of the ten mostassigned novels in American high schools, so many people in the US know the story. It too bears similarities to Melinda’s situation: a young woman is shunned by those around her because of ideas about shame. Anderson’s description of the English teacher and her insistent focus on symbolism in Hawthorne’s novel may be a wink to teachers and book groups: perhaps hunting for symbols is less important than talking about a book and the issues it raises. Anderson has described hearing from many readers who say Speak helped them come forward and speak out about their experiences of sexual assault, long before the #Metoo movement. Twenty years after the initial publication of Speak, Anderson also revealed that she herself was raped at age 13, and that the assault impacted her entire life. While the circumstances were different than for Melinda in Speak, the novel reflects Anderson’s experiences of pain, shame, and stigmatization. Speak was adapted for the screen in 2004 and as a graphic novel illustrated by Emily Carroll in 2018.
