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Do you think that Melinda's way of reacting at school in the beginning of the story is understandable?
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Qiqi
(last edited Feb 20, 2012 06:18PM)
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Feb 20, 2012 05:45PM
I think so because who wouldn't be scared and depressed after what had happened?
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I think it was best for her at that moment. She internalized everything, but came to her own at the end.
True. I couldn't think about what would happen if she never told anyone about that night.
I think she would have been fine after leaving school and home. I think that what made her shut down wasn't the actually rape but rather how people acted to her calling the cops at the party. No one asked her why, they just saw her as party pooper
Yeah... I wish sometimes that people would just give those people they don't think fit in a break. It can really damage a person's future.
I needed a break growing up and they gave me none. Lol
I think it could happen. I've never been in her situation, but I spent middle school feeling like everyone single person was talking about me behind my back (in same cases it was... and I could hear them). Teenagers, and girls, can be so awful, that I don't blame her for cutting ties with people. Though it's a sad way for a girl to live.
I agree. I think that Melinda couldn't find a way to express herself, and she feels as if she deserves to be shunned by others.
i thought the book was very disturbing. well written.but disturbing.
For you Natalie. You are the innocent one!! :)
I think that all of Melinda's reactions were believable.
when you about in society, how women who are raped are accused of asking for it, bring it on themselves by dressing a certain way, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that Miranda wouldn't talk to anyone about it.
I think it is possible at the time Melinda was dealing with a lot: first she was raped and then everyone at school hated her for calling the cops. She felt as though she had no one to talk to so she shut down.
Her reaction in the beginning of the story is very understandable after being subjected to such violent and degrading actions and losing the friends she trusted behind it all. With loving but seemingly preoccupied and distant parents, she seem to feel alone in the world. I loved this book, read it more than once and had my daughter to read it too.
Yes. How could you possibly act different after all Melinda had been through? And then to have to go through all that and have NO friends understand why she had done what she did. That's hard
Dee wrote: "when you about in society, how women who are raped are accused of asking for it, bring it on themselves by dressing a certain way, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that Miranda wouldn't talk..."I agree. A lot of blame is placed on the woman, and it makes them fear admitting to the rape because of that.
It was like she got blamed for the rape without people blaming her for the actual rape. They just ragged on her for calling the cops, not knowing what had actually happened. So she started thinking she'd deserved it. Also she had been drinking, so there was guilt from that. And then, the one time she did try to open up to her former best friend, the girl slapped her when she accused her boyfriend of being the rapist. I mean, it was basically Melinda vs. the most popular kids in school, all her friends, AND the guy, who was all "you know you liked it" and creepy afterwards. :P Imagine the level of disillusionment she suffered. 14 years old and your handsome dream boy rapes you.
I think it is understandable because no one knew she got raped or why she called the cops. Someone should have asked her. I know that if I was at the party and saw that she called the cops I would be curious of why she did it. It wasn't her fault that she was raped. If she came out in the open and said he raped her no one would probably have believed her. They probably would have thought she was lying and wanted friends.
For sure. I would react the same way.
I think that it is perfectly understandable... If you had no one to trust because all of your friends or blaming you not even knowing what happened. If you had to face the world and you were already broken, and the only people in that world wanted to break you even more... you need some sort of way to protect yourself.Hers was to internalize herself. Also, none care about her... they never listened to her to begin with she probably thought it was useless to tell anyone what happened to her because no one would care or no one would believe her...
It is understandable for her to have shyed away from people after she got raped at that party. When someone goes through a trauma that big, especially a girl, its hard for that person to come out in the open and tell people what has been done to them. She probably felt like people would judge her for what that guy did to her, find her guilty instead of the guy. Most people would say that it was the girls fault for being such a flirt or some people would say that it happens. I don't understand why people think that for a girl to be raped is something not to take notice of. They shrug it of as if it weren't such a huge deal. It is a huge deal. The hurt that it brings, not just physically but mentally as well. The feeling of being dirty and never being a able to trust the opposite sex again. I understand this pain, not because I've experience something like this before, but because as a girl, I know the humiliation it wouuld bring me if I ever had to go through something like the girl in the book had to go through. So I think its understandable, especially when you can't even rely on your own parents.
Yes, I have had many incidents of "shutting down" per say, but nothing like rape. If I were in her situation, like everybody hating her for calling the cops, etc, I would react the exact same way, possibly worse with the repression of such a dark secret.
While I was reading this book, I felt as if someone had written it by writing down exactly what was going on in my life! Nothing as serious as rape, but serious enough to make my life harder then it needed to be. I was being tripped down the staircases at school almost everyday, and I did exactly the same things Melinda did. I kept quiet, and I hid. Aftr reading this I learned that silence can, quite literally, scream at the people around you. I'm definitely going to read this again.
The way I saw it was that she was very strong throughout the whole book. For what she went through it has to take a lot to show up to a school which the students have her name on their lips when she walks by. Noone truly wanted to know what it was that happened to her to make her change the way she did after she called the police that night. Throughout the book of course she does change slowly but who can blame her. I believe she was stronger than people give her credit for.
I for sure think that the way she was reacting at the beginning made sense. She was vulnerable and startled from a recent event that was very life changing at such a young age. Although, I think that she was so caught up in keeping the secret, that by the end of the book, EVERYONE knew. I mean, she definitely should tell her parents and the school/authorities and even very close friends; but her whole character grew so much, so fast and so differently by the end of the book than at the beginning that it was a bit overwhelming. I mean, one second she wont talk about it to anyone, the next, strangers know about what had happened. Regardless, I absolutly loved this book and it was so well written. Everything flowed so nicely and I think that this is one of the most purposeful book I have ever read. Thank god for this book.
I don't think it was necessarily reasonable, but definitely understandable. Victims of rape often feel responsible for the incident; also Melinda had to go through it all alone.
I think that the way she reacted is totally reasonable and understandable. Things like that can be very traumatic, especially with the topic we are dealing with.
I loved this book. I read it my 8th grade year for a project, and didn't expect it to help me with my life. It's one of my favorite's and I honestly want to reread it. But I can't find it any where.
