This book is about Clay, a high school student, who receives
a package of audiotapes recorded by Hannah Baker, a fellow student who
committed suicide. The tapes contain
Hannah’s voice explaining the 13 reasons why she ended her own life. Each reason corresponds to one person and how his
or her actions toward her contributed to her suicide. All of the reasons are intertwined and even causally
connected to each other. The tapes
are also intended to be handed off to each person mentioned in the tapes
one-by-one until everyone involved hears how they contributed to Hannah’s final
decision. We are also told that if the
tapes are not handed off in this manner, then another set of the tapes will be
released to the public.
Clay anxiously listens to each tape, and Hannah’s voice is
always distinguished from the other elements of the story through italics. The first tape discusses how Justin, Hannah’s
first kiss, spreads rumors about how easy Hannah is. The second covers Alex who nominated Hannah
as “best ass” on a list passed around school, which led to Hannah being groped
by another student. Third, Tyler, a
peeping tom, takes comprising photos of Hannah.
The rest of the reasons include a variety of similar, but more intense,
occurrences that add up to Hannah’s depression.
The most striking occurrences include Hannah witnessing a rape and being
too afraid to intervene, feeling partly responsible for not preventing a fatal
car wreck, and visiting a guidance counselor who fails to give her any meaningful
support at all.
Clay finishes the tapes and feels terrible that he could
have done a number of things to help Hannah at different points in the complex
series of events but didn’t. But the
book ends on a light note, when Clay begins to notice another depressed girl
named Skye who begins to show some of the same symptoms and signs he ignored in
Hannah.
I would not have picked this book on my own, but I’m glad I
read it. It was recommended to me by
Breezy in class when she had it out one day.
In fact, she let me borrow her copy.
My initial assumption was that it was a book primarily targeted for
young teenage girls, but I’m not convinced it has to be. After all, the problem of suicide is
obviously prevalent in both genders. The
book forced me to think back in my time at school. There were at least two students who
committed suicide while I was in middle school and high school. I did not know them well, but I knew who they
were. It’s strange how depressed you can
feel even if you don’t know the person directly. Maybe it’s because it’s easy to imagine one
of your friends in that position.
I already knew from the beginning, of course, that Hannah
committed suicide, so I was interested to see the reasons she gave, and to decide
for myself whether they were good reasons (assuming there can be good reasons
for suicide). At first, I could easily
relate to the petty rumors and stupid notes and lists passed around in school –
even to some of the catty behavior the girls exhibited at the party. I saw these things firsthand in high
school. I’m embarrassed to say that I
questioned why and how these “little” things could lead to the drastic decision
of suicide. But taken together,
especially with some of the more tragic and violent things that added up in
Hannah’s life, it’s not difficult to see why she felt so hopeless. I still don’t think any of these things, even
together, warrant suicide, but then again I have a very particular
psychological set and a strong friend and family support structure at home.
An English teacher would be crazy not to consider teaching
this book. I think teenagers would
really get into it, relate to the events that take place, and desire to discuss
Hannah’s life and decision. Suicide is
such an important, albeit tough, topic for adolescents to discuss. We can’t ignore it, so we should approach it
in the best way that we can. In my
opinion, this book presents a great opportunity to raise awareness about teen
suicide and what we can and should do about it.
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