Gone

Author's Note: This was written based off of a painting called "Le Blanc Seing" that Mrs. Reagles showed us one day. When I saw it thought of a lost, broken woman trying to find a way silence her thoughts and get over her loss.
I know he's not with us anymore...but I still feel him here. I felt his presence. I knew in my heart that he was among us. He would always come out here and ride to clear his head. I can see why now. It's beautiful with the light peeking through the trees, the branches swaying in the wind, the everlasting chirping of bird families. This forest is peaceful and serene. Optical illusions everywhere, keeping your mind on its feet. He loved it so much. It was his thinking place. It's just as he left it. I know someday a storm will come and wash away the memories from here, but right now he was all over. This is where he would forget everything. This is where he was happy. This is where he would be right now if he were still here. He gets all of those crazy thoughts here like moving to the city, becoming a lawyer.That's what  made me love him--his crazy thoughts and his free spirit. He always knew what to say, what to do, what to make of things. There's an emptiness that anly he could fill--and that's gone now. He's gone. 

Melinda's Future

If you look at a lot of people who have had bad childhoods, they grow up to be burnouts, outcasts, and low-lives. They usually steal and lie and cheat, then they blame it on a traumatizing event from their childhood. The character Melinda from the book Speak is better than that. Although Melinda has gone through a traumatic event, I believe that she will grow up to be a successful woman.

When Melinda dialed 9-1-1 she immediately brought her popularity level from an 8.5 to a -4. Nearly everyone at that party was having fun, and then she ended it, and got some kids in trouble. No one knew that she panicked and didn't know what was was going on. No one knew how she had been violated. No one knew that what had happened changed her life. Once everyone found out what happened people started to take pity on her. I think that when the book is over, Melinda will gain back even more friends than she had already started to.

I think now that Melinda has been through a traumatic and life changing incident her family will approach her more and talk about each others feelings in ways other than notes. She might begin some type of therapy, and her parents will be a little more conservative. Melinda will definetly get more attention, which I think was probably necessary even before the incident. This could either make or break her parents' relationship. I can see them fighting it out and deciding that they both know what's best for their daughter and getting a divorce. That would be yet another thing for Melinda to deal with, and it could affect the rest of her life with split holidays, trust issues, and maybe even pressure to choose sides. Looking at the big picture, this could cause some serious problems.

I think now that she doesn't have the stress from everyone hating her, and keeping a big secret, her grades will raise a lot. She might be known as the girl who got sexually abused all throughout high school, but that will probably leave her when she enters the real world. In a book called My Life in Pink and Green the main character Lucy's reputation gets saved by starting a beauty business in her family pharmacy. Maybe all Melinda needs is to forget this happened and focus on the future. She will never fully forget, but this would be a good start.

She might have bad flashbacks or other  in the future, but I think if she doesn't use the incident as an excuse to drink and do drugs and make bad choices she might have a normal life. Although this could cause some family issues, I truly believe that Melinda will turn out alright.

"I walk through the doors, and the stiff smell of old paper hits me like a brick wall. I'm the weird new kid again. I've recently decided that work is like high school. Maybe not my high school experience, but kind of like the stuff you see in the movies. The jocks are the guys that started the after work softball team and who are on the verge of being fired all the time. The cheerleaders are the catty girls that always sit together during their lunch breaks. The nerds are the kiss-ups that work overtime for free and still get no recognition. Then there are a couple of the plain-Janes, which is my niche. We keep within our group, and we're real with each other. We know the names of each others' kids and occasionally go out for drinks after work on Fridays. Even though working in a plain office building wasn't the dream, I'm still content with where I've ended up. I have a rhythm going. I get the kids ready for school, work, pick the kids up, and enjoy every precious second I have with them. I've found a great man who I'm eager to call my husband. Everything's just fine with me."

Independence Day

In most popular music these days there isn't much meaning in the lyrics, but I recently found an older song by Martina McBride called “Independence Day.” It has a great story line. It's about an abusive husband who beats on his wife and children. The wife then takes matters into her own hands and sends the kids to the fair on Independence Day. She then burns their house down with her, and her husband inside of it. As you can see, the story line is quite different from many others.

There is one main conflict throughout the whole song, and that is the abusive dad and how his actions affect his family.  It is an example of a person vs. person conflict. In the song Martina McBride sings, "She tried to pretend he wasn't drinkin' again, but daddy'd left the proof on her cheek," and this proves that the father was an alcoholic. This is probably leading up from depression, genetics, or a bad childhood. Because of one of these or any other number of reasons, he released his anger through hurting his family. Sadly, this is a problem everywhere. Many men and women are abusive to others. This song is just another common example when it comes to the conflict.

In the song “Independence Day”, there is a very clear resolution. In the song Martina sings, "Well, she lit up the sky that fourth of July, by the time that the firemen come, they just put out the flames, and took down some names, and send me to the county home". By that, she means that her mother burned down the house while the children were away. If you go deeper, you'll find out what was going through the mother's head. This crime was also technically suicidal. If her life was that bad that she would rather lose everything she has—including her life—instead of just going to the cops, the father must have been raging on her quite often. In the last part of the song it says, "Now I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong, but maybe it's the only way". By that, Martina is saying that the resolution for this isn't right because the mother killed her husband, but it isn't wrong either, because he abused her daily.

This story is like many others, except for the burning house part. There was a book released called "The Burning Bed" which was later made into a movie that is based off of the Burning Bed incident in Dansville, Michigan. It is the exact same story as the song. Many say that the song is based off of the Burning Bed incident. 

Even though lots of popular songs don't have meaning these days, this one does--especially when it comes to conflict and resolution. Maybe burning down the house wasn't the best idea, but when you're being physically abused, your options are limited.