i was raped, too sexually assaulted in seventh grade, tenth grade. the summer after graduation, at a party i was 16 i was 14 i was 5 and he did it for three years i loved him i didn't even know him he was my best friend's brother, my grandfather, father, mommy's boyfriend, my date, my cousin, my coach i met him for the first time that night and- 4 guys took turns, and- i'm a boy and this happened to me, and- ...i got pregnant i gave up my daughter for adoption... did it happen to you, too?
Interpretation
The quote highlights the courageous sharing of a deeply personal and traumatic experience of sexual assault and the struggle of coming to terms with it.
In this powerful quote, Laurie Halse Anderson unveils the brutal reality of sexual assault, specifically the experiences of a male victim who faced violations at a young age from a variety of perpetrators. The quote captures the complexity of trauma, not only in the context of the assault itself but also in the aftermath, where the victim grapples with feelings of confusion and loss, including giving up a child resulting from the assault. The rhetorical question at the end invites others to reflect on their experiences, fostering a sense of solidarity and understanding among survivors.
In practice
In a support group for survivors of sexual assault, this quote can bring comfort and validation to attendees.
Memory cuts both ways; it can either provide you with tremendous strength and a foundation to carry you through your life, or it can be a demon that just ruins your present and your future because you can’t let go of the past.
Here stands a girl clutching a knife. There is grease on the stove, blood in the air, and angry words piled in the corners. We are trained not to see it, not to see any of it. . . . Someone just ripped off my eyelids.
This girl shivers and crawls under the covers with all her clothes on and falls into an overdue library book, a faerie story with rats and marrow and burning curses. The sentences build a fence around her, a Times Roman 10-point barricade, to keep the thorny voices in her head from getting too close.
A breath of steam trickles out, filled with the sobs of a grown woman breaking into girl-sized pieces.
I open a paperclip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this. A whimper, a peep? I draw little window cracks of blood, etching line after line until it stops hurting.
If I can write a book that will help the world make a little more sense to a teen, then that's why I was put on the planet.
But the human body has an enormous capacity for adjusting to trying circumstances. I have found that one can bear the unbearable if one can keep one's spirits strong even when one's body is being tested. Strong convictions are the secret of surviving deprivation; your spirit can be full even when your stomach is empty.
The real test of nonviolence lies in its being brought in contact with those who have contempt for it.
The Dark Lord has Nine. But we have One, mightier than they: the White Rider. He has passed through the fire and the abyss, and they shall fear him. We will go where he leads.
Some day the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit!
You can kill a revolutionary but you can never kill the revolution.
One day I'm going to go up in a helicopter and it'll just blow up. MI5 will do away with me
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