The Importance Of Silence In Melinda

At this moment in the story, it is Christmas, and Melinda’s parents have noticed she draws and gifted her with a notepad and charcoal pencils. The fact that they had paid attention to her, even on the shallowest level, convinces Melinda that her parents would listen to what she had to say. She feels, at that moment, an urge to spill out her feelings to her parents and explain to them everything that happened at the party, from the rape to the phone call. However, her silence prevents her from talking to them, and they both leave the room before she can manage to get a word out.
This silent moment reveals to the reader the full extent of the effect the rape had on Melinda. While previously, the details were not elaborated on, this incident shows that even when she truly wants to …show more content…
First of all, this silence affects her parents. At the time of the scene, her parents payed little to no attention to her, except for when she got bad grades in school that pulled them into the problem, forcing them to become involved. According to Melinda, there was no love in her home anymore, most likely caused by the lack of communication or interaction in their household. Without Melinda reaching out to her parents, both continued on their own paths without fixing their broken home and trying to connect with each other again. This silence also affected Melinda. In her life, she has no security at all; she has no friends, essentially no family figures, and nothing to protect her or act as a companion. She feels alone in the world, which gives her no backbone and nowhere to turn to when she needs to tell someone. The lack of parental or family support led to this silence, and meant that Melinda could not tell her parents. She was not able to break the silence she had been trapped behind for so long, which prevented her from persevering past her trust

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