Student Question
In the book Speak, why does Melinda go to the back of the house at the party?
Quick answer:
Melinda goes to the back of the house at the party because Andy leads her outside, taking advantage of her intoxicated state and the overwhelming noise inside. She trusts Andy, believing his intentions are genuine. This setting, under a tree where no one was around, becomes significant as it is where the traumatic event occurs, which she later recalls while revisiting the location and confronting her memories.
IT does happen outside. The previous poster was correct in thinking so. If you look through the chapter when Melinda is finally facing what happened that night, when she rides her bike to the place the party took place, she speaks of the memories. Her mind works over the smells of damp dirt and the leaves in her hair, laying against the tree, of no one being outside to keep it from happening. A large reason she goes outside is that Andy leads her outside to get her out of the loudness. Remember: she had been drinking so the people and the noise was overwhelming to her, and Andy takes advantage of this. She follows Andy because she had come to trust him, had thought that his attentions were genuine and that he truly wanted to help her.
I don't have a copy in front of me, but I taught it at the end of this past school year. Go back and read the part where Melinda is sitting outside on the roof of her house, and she finally tells the whole story. I'll check this again, but doesn't she say she was dancing with Andy and they ended up away from everyone else--under the tree? Again, I'll check it, but I think he "danced" her away from the others. She was already drunk, and it wouldn't have been hard.
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