(In conversation with Savannah’s blog post)
The female characters in Speak are all very limited in their choices. Mary, the female voice we hear the most, is forced into a marriage to appease her parents and to ensure that her family is protected. In her final chapter, she is offered the choice to leave her marriage or to stay with Whittier, who she is growing closer too; however, we do not know what she chooses, only that she was not buried next to Whittier when she died. Dolores receives no voice at all, and although Chinn says that his approach to her was different, his persistence and her circumstances, along with his refusal to share how they fell in love, leaves me wondering whether Dolores was also roped into a marriage she didn’t want. And though Ruth says in her letters that she wanted to marry Karl, he is unable to recall whether she ever loved him, and he continued to ask her out until she relented. None of the women are allowed to say “no.”
I find this interesting in conversation with the book’s discussion of souls and the value of a life. Mary and Whittier have several philosophical discussions about the soul and whether animals are lesser beasts; whether or not they have souls, Mary very clearly argues that their lives have value, and her love of Ralph is as strong as any relationship she has with humans. Chinn expresses his disgust with the sexualization of his bots, who cannot consent because they do not have true understanding but are still human enough that they deserve better. And finally, Ruth (I think) writes that she is unsure whether any living creature can be denied a soul, because, once we begin denying any lives their value, we open up the argument of whether certain groups of people must be treated as equals.
The book questions the nature of relationships, and which relationships have more value than others, or whether any relationship can be considered more valuable. Despite the medical issues, Gaby and the other children loved their bots whole-heartedly. Mary loves Ralph more than we see any other pair love each other. I find it interesting and strange that the most loving and chosen relationships are between women or girls and beings considered lesser, which do not force them to do anything but simply to love them.