Mirrors are a constant symbol in Speak. Melinda hates mirrors because they remind her of what she perceives to be her ugliness. She hates them so much that she actually covers them up. She literally cannot look herself in the eye. Mirrors reflect the way that the world sees Melissa, a highly negative image she increasingly internalizes.
Towards the end of the story, however, the mirror comes to take on a completely different significance....
Mirrors are a constant symbol in Speak. Melinda hates mirrors because they remind her of what she perceives to be her ugliness. She hates them so much that she actually covers them up. She literally cannot look herself in the eye. Mirrors reflect the way that the world sees Melissa, a highly negative image she increasingly internalizes.
Towards the end of the story, however, the mirror comes to take on a completely different significance. Andy tries once again to rape Melinda. It was his violation of her the previous summer that precipitated the immense psychological turmoil that she's been suffering ever since. But this time she resists. Melinda's always hated herself for what she perceives to have been her weakness in not preventing Andy from raping her. Now, however, she smashes her closet mirror and uses a shard of broken glass to threaten Andy.
This time, Andy backs off. For Melinda mirrors are no longer a symbol of poor body image and lack of self-esteem; they represent a sense of empowerment and control, a means of fighting back against a cruel world and establishing herself as someone to be valued and respected: someone that was there in the mirror all along.
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