Melinda Anderson Symbolism

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Before High school Melinda is assaulted and becomes depressed and a bit of recluse.When high school starts and she is in art class Melinda draws the subject of a tree which greatly symbolizes many things about Melinda through the school year. 'I've been painting watercolors of trees that have been hit by lighting. I try to paint them so they are nearly dead but not totally' ( Anderson 30,31) this says to me a multitude of ideas. One of those ideas is that Melinda is just simply putting up a facade of life when inside she is really just dead and gone. I also feel like Melinda wants to live a full life but is frightened. She is frightened because she doesn't know if anyone will believe her about being assaulted and wishes for an outlet. Also I think Melinda wished for someone to talk to during the beginning of the year because of her mood thoughts and actions. 'I can see it in my head: a strong old oak tree with a wide scarred trunk and thousands of leaves reaching to the sun' ( Anderson 78 ) what this symbolizes about Melinda to me is that she is like an old oak for many reasons. One reason is because an old oak has been scarred and hurt many times but still keeps reaching for the sky. Which is similar to how Melinda is because of how the assault hurt her but eventually she …show more content…

Here-try a tree' (Anderson 146) what this symbolizes to me about Melinda is that she wants to talk but doesn't know how. She doesn't know how to speak because she doesn't know if anyone will trust her and if they would just ridicule her instead of believing her. Also Melinda doesn't know how to get her feelings out because before trying to draw a tree she was trying to carve a linoleum block but kept messing it up. I also think it symbolizes how Melinda is slowly learning how to talk or let her feelings out. I think this quote symbolizes this by having Melinda draw with another person instead of just being

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