Speak - Outcast Essay

Outcast

Definition of outcast: a person who is excluded from a social group; anything thrown out or rejected.

As we grow older the fear of not being accepted begins to overwhelm and swallow our pride and dignity. As much as we try to convince ourselves that the words we say are harmless, we know better. We make them feel the way they feel to mask our own insecurities. Forcing someone to feel like a complete outcast to instill just enough confidence within ourselves to cover up the guilt. Is it worth it? Going to parties at the expense of others, living in an everlasting nightmare knowing that with one wrong step all your friends will all turn on you? Then what will be left? Nothing but lies and hate you left the rest of the world with. This is why we are the way we are, to be the accepted, not the accepting. It is sick. As we read "Speak" I begin to realize the trials others may be facing. No one knows or cares what she is going through. No one wants to get close to her in fear that they will become her. No one is willing to take her place, yet they are the ones who put her there. A reject among old friends, enemies, and complete strangers. She is the plague. As we get farther into the book I begin to understand why she hated her life, why she wouldn't mind if it ended prematurely. This book may be fiction but her story is very real. Hundreds if not thousands of teenagers know what it's like to feel so alone, like there is no one and nothing to keep you from just disappearing forever. We are all outcasts for some reason, in some way. No one deserves better treatment then another. How would you like to have the blood of another's staining your hands forever. Leaving you with a burden no man, woman, or child should carry. We are all made the same, it is the way we carry out our lives that sets us apart, the choices we make that will determine the future. What will you chose; to be the accepted, or to be the accepting. No one should feel like they aren't important, an outcast.

Definition of outcast: a person who is excluded from a social group; anything thrown out or rejected.

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