Day of the Butterfly

Equipment all around and there, a big building with a many rooms in side. There was a room fill with posters, books and desks. It was the 6th grade hall, where a classroom was filled with students. A little girl is the outcast in her school and then suddenly has a friend. In the short story the “Day of the Butterfly” the story is reflecting upon the story Speak in many ways.

There are many stories that can relate to Day of the Butterfly but speak is truly the best to compare with. In the story “Day of the Butterfly” there is a young girl that is the outcast in the school and doesn’t fit in. For example “Then Myra had to come and ask the teacher “Please can I take my brother home, he has wet himself?” This is a great example in the story because it show that she spends most of her time taking care of her younger brother. Also this is a great example to relate to speak because in Speak the girl had no friends and had to do all of their work. Also in “Day of the Butterfly” in lunch they have were boys all sit together and all girls do. The difference from that to speak is that in the story it was that each clique had their own table to sit at.

But another connection between them is there modes. In the stories they both have tragedy as the mode. Like in all tragedy stories they all start out a world conflict, and in “Day of the Butterfly” Myra’s conflict is that she is getting bullied and that she is trying to protect her little brother. For example “What do you wash your hair in, Myra!” “Oh she washes it in cod-liver oil, don’t you, Myra, she washes it in cod-liver oil, cant you smell it?” In “Speak” Melinda the main character is an outcast because of doing the right thing. Then comes the characters rise to power, For Myra it is that she becomes friends with Helen, which symbolizes that having a friend is bringing light into her life. Also For Melinda in Speak her rise to power is that she was finally able to tell what actually went on at the party. Her tragic down fall or flaw is that she is insecure and that she is shy. Also for Melinda in “Speak” her flaw is that she is also insecure. But then the day after she got a butterfly brooch from Myra, Helen starts to realize that Myra hasn’t been at school, then a girl named Gladys Healey tells everyone that Myra is sick and that she is in the hospital. Then everyone decided to send her a gift and to go see her. Once everyone left Helen stayed after to give her some of her early birthday gift, but then they heard a sound and as Helen look out the window and unexpectedly Myra dies. That very day to people lost a friend, but it is diffrent from "Speak" because instead of a friend gone she gains one.

So even though the two stories have much alike they are equally different in their own way. In both stories the characters learned that being an outcast can lead to good things.