Communication

Thoughts fill my head but when I try to speak, nothing seems to come out. Sickening silence burns through my eyes, so used to the silence from friend and foe alike. No reason to break this quiet haven, for no people around to trust in. I block myself from the world around me, too afraid to speak out. This is Melinda, who is isolated from the world around her. Speaking, writing, and artwork are the three significant ways Melinda communicates in the book "Speak."

One form of communication is art. Communicating through art was the only way Melinda could say how she was feeling. On the first day of art class, she was given the only project for the entire year and what she drew from a globe depended on what she would draw all year. When she picked out a piece of paper that said “tree;” she thought it was too easy. For this was now her destiny in art. Melinda has trouble finding a way to draw her trees, but when she does, they are sad and show how she feels. On page 78 in the second paragraph, was where you find out how her trees expressed how she feels. “There’s a tree in the front of my house just like it. I can feel the wind blow and hear the mockingbird whistle on the way back to her nest. But when I try to carve it, it looks like a dead tree, toothpicks, a child’s drawing.” She seems to be lifeless, just like her trees. “I want to make a memorial for our turkey. Never has a bird been so tortured to provide such lousy dinner. I dig the bones out of the trash and bring them to art class. Mr. Freeman is thrilled.” This passage from the book “Speak”, represents Melinda’s first idea in art, although it doesn’t deal with trees, she has begun to express herself, it was on page 61 in the section “Wishbone.” To show this she made a memorial for the Thanksgiving turkey that was ruined, which shows what dreadful holiday she had with her family.

Although art is a very important way for Melinda to communicate, speaking is even more significant to her. Since she is a girl who never speaks and is afraid to talk about what happened one summer night at a party. Even though she doesn’t talk at school you would think that her parents should know what has happened to her. I believe that she is afraid to speak out for herself and since she doesn’t have a true friend there is nobody for her to rely on. On page 165 there is a section called “Real Spring.” While reading this section you will see how she doesn’t really respond to what her father says to her. For example her dad said, “That’s a lot work.” Then Melinda doesn’t respond and her dad says, “I’ll get some leaf bags at the store.” Again there is no response from Melinda. This conversation goes on without her talking and it seems her dad is speaking to nobody. There was one time that occurred where words truly hurt Melinda, when Heather didn't want to be her friend anymore, which was on page 104 in the section “Lunch Doom.” “This is really awkward. I mean how do you say something like this? I mean, we kind of paired up at the beginning of the year when I was new and didn’t know anyone and that was really, really sweet of you, but I think it’s time for us both to admit that we just are very different,” says Heather. Then Melinda said “you mean we’re not friends anymore?” This was a conversation of a lost friendship, a person not supportive of another that is having a hard time. No wonder Melinda hated talking, if she lost the only partial friend she had in a conversation that she actually responded in.

Even though speaking represents the book and Melinda, writing is how her family communicates by leaving notes that say what was for supper or what was going on that night. It truly seems they avoided each other and that was how they could avoid the problems they were all going through having, especially her parents always arguing. When notes are written they can be very powerful since Melinda was left a note on her locker from Heather, her former friend. It said “thanks for understanding. You're the sweetest!" Concealed inside this note was their friendship necklace, the loss of her only friend. Since Rachel/Rachelle and Melinda weren’t very good friends, it was hard for her to get Rachel/Rachelle to talk. Once she finally got a conversation going they were yelled at for talking, which they ended up writing back and forth on a piece of paper. They talked about what happened during the party that was in the summer. This ended up changing everything, which made writing have such an important role in her freedom and Rachel/Rachelle’s safety.

In the book "Speak", communicating through talking, composing, and artwork are very evident. Thoughts fill Melinda’s head, but when she attempts to speak nothing seems to want to come out. All the silence fills her head leaving a burning sensation. It was all too much to handle. Never keep bullying, harassing, or any other type of rude behavior hidden up inside you. Always tell someone; otherwise you may become very distant.

Vel' d'hiv Roundup

Being put between a rock and a hard place, what is the right thing to do? Let another person discriminate against people that don't deserve these consequences put on them and just watching all the innocent people die of something they have almost no control of? There is also the choice of war, which brings death to more people; although it is widely spread out. How do you decide between letting people die for no reason or going to war and potentially destroying everyone else? Neither side can win, so what do you choose? Who is left to die and who gets to survive? Forcing people to make this decision is cruel, but going along with discrimination is inhumane.

The French were inhumane for just letting the Nazi's kill the Jewish families of France and, also of Germany, and many other surrounding countries. Before the Vel' d'hiv roundup began, the Jewish were forced to be outcasts and, to symbolize this, there was the Jewish star. "A Jew who appears in public is obliged to wear a Jewish star. For the implementation of this order a Jew is everyone who was defined as a Jew. Children under the age of six are not included in this order. The Jewish star is a star with six corners, painted in black on yellow cloth the size of the palm of the hand, inscribed with the word “Jew.” It has to be sewn firmly and visibly at the left side of the clothing at the height of the chest. It is prohibited for Jews to wear official decorations, honorary decoration or other kinds of decorations." All of the inhumanity behind this law is outrageous and gruesome. Hitler had no heart, without any sense of kindness or reasoning. The only thing he wanted was to be in control and do things his way. The French had two very difficult choices: let the Nazi’s kill the Jewish families in France or say no and go to war.

In the book Sarah's Key, the main character Sarah, and her family were living a free life. Sarah and her brother had numerous friends and used to go outside and play, but one day a law came out. It required Sarah and her family to wear the Jewish star. They were then the outcasts in France; but they weren't alone, 13,152 people were in the exact situation as them. At Sarah's school, there were two groups now, and they were separated by their religion. There were certain places they couldn’t go any more and they weren’t allowed to play outside anymore. Just like the segregation in the United States prior to the sixties, when black people were not allowed to use the same facilities as the whites. Their friends became enemies, which made Sarah dislike her religion and wish she were different. In Sarah’s lifetime why did religion cause her to be discriminated against and why was, and still is, the color of people’s skin a cause for discrimination in the United States? Neither of these events was right for anyone to do.

The Vel’ d’hiv roundup went from July 16th through July 17th, 1942. On these days, the French Police went by all the Jewish households, knocked on their doors, and forced the families to leave quickly and quietly. The Jewish people were only allowed to have one blanket, one sweater, a pair of shoes, and two t-shirts with them. In the book Sarah’s Key, when the police came, she had no idea what was going on. Once she found out that she had to leave her house, Sarah believed that she would be back very soon, so she locked her brother inside a secret cupboard. This was in order to protect him from the terrible things going on. All he had was a flashlight and some water. What Sarah didn’t know, was that she would be taken to the Véledrome d’hiver for many days. It was a surprise to everyone, that the Germans had the French police gather all of the Jewish families currently living in France.

During the Vel' d'hiv roundup, the inhumanity continued with the Jewish being forced to leave their homes and go to the Véledrome d' hiver, where the French police guarded the exits. They were packed into the Véledrome tightly and the stench from all the bodies grew and grew, everyday it grew and spread further. Everyone was starving and going crazy. People began to die and the bodies were stacked into corners. In the book Sarah's Key, there was a mother and her small child that jumped from a section in the Véledrome. This ended up killing her and her son, in a relief from the dreadfulness that had come upon her life. It is not right that people have to relieve themselves from such stress and revulsion by committing suicide. Also, Sarah's mother became unable to care for her and was barely responsive about anything. She lost sight of herself, since her son was locked away and she felt there was not much left to live for. No person is expected to withstand such horrifying events that happened, but you would think they’d try to be stronger for their family.

Having to make such difficult choices is hard and, following along with the unfair treatment, is merciless. When put in this position, always think about what is in the best interest for all and don’t let one person make the choice for you. There might not always be an easy solution.

Weather

Where is the sun, so bright and warm. No where to be found. It's missing under the fast moving clouds; covering the sky. They are white and gray. If only the sun could shine, but through those thinning clouds, the sun begins to shine. I see it reflecting off the cars in the parking lot. Oh mighty sun where have you been, with all that warmth and hope. The sky is showing in little spots between the clouds. The geese fly quickly, trying to get to their new destination. Now the sky has grown darker and the sun has drifted away again. This makes my hope and warmth begin to drift away. I get a deep feeling inside me that it is going to rain once more. Who knew the weather could change so quickly?