Student Question
How does Melinda in Speak compare herself to Alice in Wonderland?
Quick answer:
Melinda in "Speak" compares herself to Alice in Wonderland, feeling like Alice when her house seems to shrink around her. She imagines that if "Alice in Wonderland" were written today, Alice might eat a supersized order of fries instead of a cake to change size. This allusion highlights Melinda's struggle to express herself, paralleling Alice's difficulty in communicating her identity to the caterpillar, reflecting Melinda's own challenges throughout the novel.
There is a definite allusion (direct or indirect reference to another piece of literature) to Alice in Wonderland at the very beginning of "Fourth Marking Period" in Speak. Melinda feels pushed out of her "shrinking" house, . . . I'm sure she's feeling the need to speak to Rachel about the evils of Andy. Melinda puts it this way:
My house is shrinking, and I feel like Alice in Wonderland. Afraid my head might burst through the roof, I head to the mall. (144)
Melinda eventually enters the food court and muses upon the author's choice of the small "cake" used to make Alice grow larger and smaller, . . . Melinda would have much preferred a large order of fries.
If Alice in Wonderland were written today, I bet she'd have a supersized order of fries that said "Eat me," instead of a small cake. On the other hand,...
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we're rushing toward summer, which means shorts and T-shirts and maybe even a bathing suit now and then. I walk past the deep-fat fryers. (144)
After fully examining this allusion, the reader's imagination begins to run wild, . . . making the numerous comparisons of Melinda to Alice. In my opinion, this allusion is included precicely because of Alice's inability to "speak" clearly to the obnoxious caterpillar. Alice greatly desires to indicate exactly who she is, but is unable to do so. This echoes Melinda's predicament exactly throughout the entire novel.