Melinda wears turtle necks, which is complete symbolism for Melinda being like a turtle and hiding inside of a shell. The shell is her skin. Melinda is hiding inside of her own body, but it is like she can't break out of her shell. She is stuck inside of her own body. This is why I believe the theme of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is being trapped.
On page 95, it says "I'm allergic to hornets. One sting and my skin bubbles with hives and my throat closes up." I believe that Melinda isn't really allergic to hornets, she is just trying to say that when she is talking to someone and they say something she is reminded of something that bothers her, she shuts down. Like turtles, when they get scared, they go back in their shells. It's like she is getting pulled back into her body prison as soon as she pokes her head out of her shell.
On page 47, it says "Now, when I really want to leave, no one will give me a ride." Here Melinda is looking for someone to break her shell from the outside since her trying from the inside didn't work. Yet there is no one to help Melinda, or more correctly, there is no one that wants to help Melinda.
No one understood Melinda, but did anyone even try? Melinda needed help to break out and be freed from the prison inside herself. The thing that finally released her was the bathroom stall filled with comments that encouraged her that she wasn't alone against Andy Evans. Melinda no longer needs her shell. It is simply a discarded memory.
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