Thirteen Reasons Why
Sometimes you feel accused of something that you are positive you didn’t do. For Clay Jensen it was as serious as being blamed for someone’s suicide. That someone was Hannah Baker. In the novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Hannah Baker had committed suicide and before she died she recorded tapes with thirteen reasons why she committed suicide. She included each person and told them how they influenced her decision to commit suicide. Clay Jensen had no idea why he would have received the seven cassette tapes in the mail. He thought they had always been friendly to each other even though they did not know each other too well. Hannah said in the cassette tapes that if they were not passed along, then what is on the
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Throught the seven different tapes she tells each person the events and their actions that prompted her to kill herself. Clay Jensen had gotten the tapes in the mail and he did not understand why he had received them because he did not think he was influential in Hannah’s life. As Clay was waiting for his name to come up in the tapes he found out things about his classmates that he could not believe. One event was that a boy named Zach Dempsey was secretly stealing Hannah’s notes that classmates had wrote to her to make her feel good about herself. Another event was when Ryan Shaver took one of Hannah’s poems and put it in the newspaper as his own. Hannah did not feel safe anywhere after that. However she did feel safe when she was talking to Clay. When Clay’s name came up he was shocked to hear he did not do anything that was as terrible as the other people who were on the tapes. Sometimes people do not know how they influence people’s lives. Some people on the tapes did terrible things that made Hannah hate her life even more but in Clay’s case he made her feel better until he didn’t defend her when the rumors were going around about her. Clay did not feel that he was an influential person in Hannah’s life but as the tapes showed, he clearly was very important to
There are seven tapes and each side of the tape is for a specific person who had a role in helping Hannah commit suicide. The first tape is addressed to Justin Foley who was Hannah’s first kiss. They had a sweet, innocent kiss, however, Justin decided to spread a rumor that much more happened, which lead Hannah to be called a “slut” for the rest of high school year.
As he says, (pg 15/16), “I mean why put myself through this?Why not just pop the tape out of the stereo and throw the entire box of them in the trash?” In this moment, he has to decide, to go through tapes and deal with the sadness and anger, and know or not know and stay where he is. The Second major event is when Hannah catches Tyler spying on her. Although he didn't come back, she doesn't feel safe anymore.
Courtney Crimson, started rumors that Hannah had sex toys in her bedroom. 6. After getting matched up with Hannah through a Valentine's Day survey, Marcus tried to make a move on her in a booth at Rosie's Diner. So, she had to push him out of the booth and onto the floor to get him to stop. 7. Zach stole the notes of encouragement left for Hannah by classmates in one of her classes. 8. Ryan Shaver stealing a very personal poem of Hannah's and published it as his, (a person she trusted wholeheartedly). (9) The ninth tape involved Clay and assured him that he had nothing to do with Hannah's suicide. He was actually really good to Hannah; he even confessed his feelings to her and they kissed. 10. Justin Foley, who was featured on the first tape, allowed Bryce Walker to have sex with Jessica while she was unresponsive. 11. After a party, Jenny Kurtz offered Hannah a ride home, but knocked down a stop sign with her car. Jenny refused to report the incident to authorities, and shortly after, there was an accident at the stop
Hannah's tapes weren't only about people and the problems they have caused her; one of the tapes is about seeking help. She really needed someone to help her out with the burden she carries every day she needed someone to give a reason to live, she needed someone there for her. She needed a friend the type of friend that would listen and tried to understand what she's been going through. Like Hannah wants help she doesn't want to end it just there she wants a reason to live so in the book she says “ I’m giving life one more chance. And this time, I’m getting help. I’m asking for help because I cannot do this alone. I’ve tried that.”(Asher 269). Therefore, Hannah is asking for help even though Clay was there for her but she pushed him away
Hannah and Mitch are from two different cliques which causes a problem with their relationship. When Hannah and Mitch are together, their relationship is good and fun, but when they are around his friends, the popular crowd, it is awkward and he barely talks to her. Mitch ends up breaking up with Hannah over text message and crushed her yet again. She then is determined to get away from Warsaw. Going to California causes an argument with her parents; she wants to get away from Warsaw and claims it is bad for her. She also tells her parents she does not want to end up like them. After graduating, she does move to California to being her residency. Hannah stayed in California for eight months and realized she hated it. She then moved to New York where she began school and loved
Tyler was said to be a creep in Hannah’s tape, he exposed pictures of hannah. Clay confronts and blames multiple people as he goes through tape after tape, until he realizes that just about everyone is to blame for the death of Hannah Baker. He gives the tapes to the school counselor and Hannah’s parents so that everyone can now know the whole truth about why Hannah really killed
Asher based this entire novel on his life; How he was affected by bullying and how he viewed teenagers interacting with each other. Initially, Jay talks about how each character in the book is somewhat relatable to him as he was growing up, but he identified that he felt the most connected with the character Clay (Diaz). Jay describes Clay as “non-confrontational,” an attribute he himself displayed in high school, which he says “can be good, but can also be a weakness” (Diaz). Not only was Jay able to align himself with Clay, he also found that he could join with Hannah’s character traits as well. Jay describes Hannah as, “a romantic in how she sees the world, which makes it even more crushing when the world doesn’t unfold how you think it
Page after page, Thirteen Reasons Why captivated me throughout the entirety of the story and left me weeping over the pain that Clay and Hannah experienced. Clay Jensen, a hardworking, overachieving high school boy, received a box of tape recordings from a girl who he’d never thought he’d hear from again—because she was dead. She committed suicide a week before and Clay was still in shock; feelings to which I could relate. Clay scavenged around town for clues about her life as he listened to the deranged voice of the girl he liked, Hannah Baker. He then learned her “reasons” for ending her life: people and actions—like the sexual harassments that multiple boys put her through or a death she felt she could have prevented—that left her broken and isolated.
The things students had done and said to her had started the snowball effect. Her ball of problems was getting bigger and bigger as people carelessly did awful things to her. Clay noticed this throughout the story. Everything Hannah had a problem with when she was alive, had added to her pile of deep psychological trouble. Her problems that she had towards the end of her life were evident on the tapes. She started to think about suicide and what could happen if she decided to take that extreme. She even tried to seek help for one last grasp of hope from humanity, but it ultimately had just solidified her reason for why she should kill herself. The tapes ended with Hannah saying she is sorry and that even though some people cared, it was just not enough (Asher, p. 280). All this had impacted Clay in a way that made him learn from Hannah and help a girl who seems like she might be suffering like Hannah did. The story ends with Clay calling out her
Towards the end of the novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, Hannah experiences a horrifying incident. In the tape, she explains that she was hiding in the closet while a boy from her school, who Clay identifies as Bryce Walker, raped her former best friend, Jessica, who was drunk and passed out. I chose this event in the book because it made Hannah feel weak and helpless. In the recording, hannah constantly blames herself for not being able to help Jessica and the guilt she felt after that night. Hannah strongly believed that she could've stopped this incident from happening and this was exactly how Clay felt about Hannah's death as he was listening to the tapes. There were many times when I felt helpless and although I've never experienced
Clay Jensen, a junior receives a box in the mail containing seven double-sided cassette tapes used by Hannah Baker, a girl who recently committed suicide at their high school. Each of the tapes contains the thirteen reasons as to why she killed herself and the people who are responsible for those reasons along with it. The tapes she made are a scavenger hunt leading to places that are significant to her story and passed on from person to person. Clay, the narrator of the story follows the tapes to the significant places that coincided with her death and realizes how Hannah was trying to show the people on the tapes the impact they made on her life resulting in her death. As Clay reaches the end of the tapes, he experiences firsthand Hannah’s
Clay, the main character, receives this box of tapes and the reader hears the tapes from his point of view. He listens to the tapes with pain and anguish rushing through his veins. While listening to the tapes, Clay is disgusted with the world around him but also believes that Hannah “had a choice” to stay alive and get help “but pushed [everyone] away” (Asher 217). Hannah Baker moved to her new school when she was a freshman and was a very outgoing girl who had a crush on a sophomore boy. When she kissed him, that boy started “a rumor based on a kiss started a reputation that other people believed in and reacted to” (Asher 30).
For Thirteen Reasons Why, I am going to explain the literary terms. Thirteen Reason is about a girl named, Hannah Baker who killed herself. Before Hannah killed herself she made 13 videos of why this person made her make that decision.
Hannah is desperately giving people ‘signs’ that she is “breaking, slowly dying”. Clay noticed this and turns the other way, and giving up on any thought of communication between them at that moment. Ultimately, giving up on her as well unknowingly. This becomes clear when Clay thinks, “A flash. But she knew I was watching her. And even though no one else saw it, I turned away. She was on her own.” (Asher 192). Clay finally realized how he gave up on not only Hannah, but the communication between them. Clay chose silence rather than a decision that could’ve saved her life. This illustrates how Clay notices Hannah’s desperate pleas and signs to people of what she is going through, but Clay turns his back completely with his choice of silence. Consequently, his choice had resulted in Hannah choosing suicide because of how she truly felt alone. It also reveals that Hannah is left alone by the person who claimed to ‘like’ her. The words that have an impact are ‘I turned away. She was on her own’. The author used these words to show how Clay’s choice of silence left Hannah alone. Clay might've been able to save her if when he could be the one to save her all along if he had said what he truly felt. The author wanted to demonstrate how Clay’s decision not only made him turn away from Hannah truly isolating her from him which led to
Suicide is an obvious issue in the book, because it is what the book is based on. Hannah committed suicide because of the things she went through, and at the end of the book clay ends up recognizing signs thanks to Hannah’s tapes and helps his old from Skye who he sees as pushing away from others and becoming distant. In the book Hannah says. Hannah cautions those she has mentioned on the tapes to not underestimate the power and influence their words and actions may have on the lives of others. They may think their actions are secluded and not a big deal, but as Hannah reveals, everything is connected and carries power and in return can cause someone to hurt themselves or even cause them to take their own