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The novel “Speak” shows the negative and positive sides of going through a trauma. Melinda, the main character of the novel is very self-conscious after getting raped at a party by an older boy at her school. “I am Outcast” (page 9) Melinda decides not speak to anyone about what happened at the party and the reasoning behind calling the police, which makes her not speak at all. “It is getting harder to talk. My throat is always sore, my lips raw”. But after seeing her ex-best friend, Rachel staying close with Any Evans, who raped her. Melinda decides to talk to Rachel and confess what happened at the party. At the end Andy Evans tries to rape Melinda again, but this time Melinda does not stay silent and confronts him and fights back. “There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding” (Page 128). Overall, if Melinda were to stay silent it would make it possible for her to run away from her trauma. But by speaking up, it allowed her to grow into a strong and more durable person.