Suicide In Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why

In Jay Asher’s Novel Thirteen Reasons Why (2007), the characters struggle through many different ideas as they cope with how they played a role in Hannah Baker’s decision to commit suicide. While the idea of being the reason someone chooses to take their own life is not an easy thought to wrap one’s head around, and a thought that no one would even like to consider is true, Asher takes on this idea and helps teenagers come to terms with suicide. Thirteen Reasons Why forces the reader to reflect on the idea that every choice that one makes has an impact on everyone and everything around them.

Immediately at the start of the novel Asher is asking the reader to come to terms with how the choices humans make, in a constantly connected society,

The tapes are the centerpiece of the story and the largest motif for showing the impact that people have on those around them— even if they do not realize it. While it would be easy to write a paper on every person on the tape and how they made an impression on Hannah’s life, the focus is on Alex and his story. Alex’s story affected many people – not just Hannah. Alex’s Best of Freshman Class and Worst of Freshman Class list affected everyone whose name made that list. Hannah is not afraid to call him out on that fact; "There are some sick and twisted people out there, Alex – and maybe I'm one of them— but the point is, when you hold people up for ridicule, you have to take responsibility when other people act on it" (53). Sure, the way this list objectified women let them be handled like they were toys for men, but it definitely hit every girl’s self-esteem. The perfect example of this is the fight that Hannah and Jessica have in the café. The whole fight started over their names being on that list. While Alex made the list as a fun joke, he unknowingly ruined a friendship; Isolating Hannah further. “It’s a punch in the stomach and a slap in the face. It's a knife in my back..."(68). Alex's quest for popularity in a new school left him unaware that the choice he was making to pass around a list, a list that idolized the way his

Yes, the whole point of the tapes was for Hannah's classmates to realize how they impacted other people, but Hannah also impacted people when she started to send the tapes around. Hannah exposed extremely personal secrets to multiple people without their knowledge. The people who did something to make it onto the tapes were probably already aware that they treated Hannah poorly in some way. They were already upset about Hannah and they were likely rethinking every action that they could have done to influence Hannah's decision. Now their interactions with Hannah were floating around for fourteen people to hear. Every time they heard the tapes and sent them onto the next person they were left emotionally and physically drained. "I've got to admit, it took me a few days to pull myself together. But when I returned, Justin Foley looked like hell. Then Alex. And I thought, okay, most of these people deserved it" (236). Tyler's tape is the perfect example of this. What Tyler put Hannah through was not just something petty or shameful, but it was also illegal. Tyler had to hear all about what he did in detail and send the tapes on for everyone else to hear. He then had to trust that out of fear the tapes would make it through the list – saving his story from being heard by everyone in school and in town. While the readers never hear