Thirteen Reasons Why: Theme and Real Life Issues Reflected in the Text

As I mentioned in my previous post, the book I am currently reading is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. The entirety of the novel is spent with a girl who is explaining the causes of her suicide with 13 tapes. As I'm working through the book, I am noticing a variety of different themes. One of the most prevalent, though, is that small actions can lead to large, unexpected consequences.

At the beginning of the novel, when Hannah began explaining how the first few people in her tapes contributed to her suicide, as a reader, I began to feel that the reasons she had weren't so terrible that they would make her commit suicide. But as I got deeper into the book, I slowly started to realize that there is a 'snowball effect' going on with her story. The actions of the people keep building upon one another, and the 'snowball' begins to get more and more preponderant. That was when, as a reader, I began to realize that Hannah really was bullied, used, and ridiculed by others. The reasons may seem small, but the overall cause of her suicide has many contributing factors that all help build up one destructive, fatal cause.

A real life issue reflected in the text is bullying. Hannah Baker was bullied and tricked by others and that was what dramatically decreased her self-confidence, ultimately resulting in suicide. Bullying is very much a current issue today, and this book helps one understand that bullying can lead to unimaginable consequences. Even seemingly small actions can bring someone down, so one has to be aware of how he or she may be treating others.

Thirteen Reasons Why

The book that I am currently reading is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I just started reading this book today. It is realistic fiction and it is an extremely interesting novel so far. I'm only 50 pages in, but I can already tell that this is going to be one of my favorite books. The mysterious nature of the book is what grabbed me into it.

The book is about the suicide of a teenager named Hannah Baker, who died not too long ago in the book. One day, the main character, Clay Jensen receives a mysterious set of 13 tapes in the mail without a return address. Clay wonders what the tapes are and begins listening to them. He soon realizes that it is Hannah's voice in the tapes, and that the 13 tapes are for the 13 people who she believed contributed to her suicide. He is initially spooked by the tapes mainly because Hannah is dead. In the tapes, Hannah explains that the tapes should go in order from person to person in the order that they are mentioned in the 13 tapes and threatens that anyone who throws the tapes away or doesn't listen to them will face the consequence of doing so, which is that a second set of tapes will be released to everybody, embarrassing the 13 people in the tapes. Clay has absolutely no idea why he has received them, because he has no memory of doing anything harmful to Hannah. As he starts listening to the tapes, though, he begins to realize that small actions could have a big impact on others.

Why has Clay received the tapes? Why exactly did Hannah commit suicide? Is Clay the 13th person in the tapes? Will Clay uncover a dark secret about Hannah's suicide? I hope all of these questions are answered as I progress through the book, because I can't wait to find out!