Symbolysim

Page 102
"The bell rings. Hair woman blocks the door to give out our assignment. A five-hundred word essay on symbolism, how to find hidden meanings in Hawthorne. The whole class yells at Rachel/Rachelle in the hall. That's what you get for speaking up"
This is symbolism because Melinda is saying that Rachel and everyone else is getting hurt(having to write the essay) because she spoke up about something. This shows that if Melinda speaks up about what happened that night, will she get hurt, or will she be liked more now that people know the real reason she called the cops? This passage is very significant to the book because it takes a turn. Rachel is the popular one who is dating the most popular guy in school but who would have thought that she would be hated on because she spoke up, unlike Melinda. The authors purpose is to show that when someone speaks up about anything, there could be consequences if it is your opinion or if it just something that happened to you. This is the authors purpose because it is supposed to mean something in the book and it actually does. This has a great affect on the reader because it will show them that Rachel can be taken down.