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'Thirteen Reasons Why'

How well do you know the story?

By Emily BurkardPublished 5 years ago 4 min read
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“No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same. But you can't get away from yourself. You can't decide not to see yourself anymore. You can't decide to turn off the noise in your head, You can't go back to how things were. How you thought they were. All you really have is... now” - Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why.

Thus the author Jay Asher writes his best selling mystery novel as he gives everyone a rude awakening on bullying and the true in-depth feelings of someone who struggles with clinical depression. In the show and book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, he tells a story about a girl named Hannah Baker, who had suffered from clinical depression until she takes her own life. After her death she goes into reasons, thirteen to be exact, of why she ended her own life. The main character in this story that tries to figure out why he got a tape and was named a reason on why she ended her life is a guy named Clay Jensen. Hannah goes on and explains in the tape.

“No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people.” - Hannah Baker

Which is very true. These people had no idea just how badly they affected her until receiving these tapes. They got so nervous that other people would hear the truth of the wrong they did to Hannah so they started claiming she was lying but like she said in her tapes, “Why would a dead girl lie?” So after hearing Hannah say these words, Clay tries to hear her out, which he struggles with, facing Hannah's cruel reality. He has to endure what she says about every person and the events that happened with each one of them.

Clinical Depression is the most severe form of depression—a constant feeling of sadness, having a lack of joy that you used to have. The signs of clinical depression are headaches, back problems, suicidal thoughts, trouble remembering things, slower body movement, constantly being tired, anxiety, sudden weight gain or weight loss, higher irritability, and many more. According to the Mental Health of America, 7.4 percent of youth suffer from clinical depression in the United States alone. That number comes out to 1.8 million children in the United States. The top three reasons that cause this are: Number one, school; number two, home; and finally number three, relationships with friends, other adults, and significant others. Six out of ten kids that are not receiving medical help are at risk for suicidal thoughts, according to the American Foundation on suicide prevention. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States each year. Each year 44,965 Americans commit suicide each year. Thus every year the rate of people that are ending their lives is increasing, not decreasing.

The main characters of the show are Clay Jensen and Hannah Baker. The two main characters share working at the same workplace, which is the movie theater. They also share going to the same high school. They also share romantic feelings towards each other and mutual friends. Clay's best friend and the person Hannah does trust to carry out her wishes after death is Tony. He pushes Clay to hear the tapes all the way through to the end. Tony plays a huge part in the story's development and the feelings both main characters have. Tony is someone Hannah trusted and is emotional support for Clay. Tony’s actions are memorable as he gives Clay the guidance he needs for this story to unravel. Tony also at the end of the show gives Hannah’s parents a copy of her 13 reasons, onto a flash drive he made himself so they understand what happened to their daughter.

Hannah's depression helps open our eyes to how much words can truly hurt and the actions that come along with it. Hannah's actions make Clay realize what he should have done differently to be there for Hannah. These actions make Clay develop extreme doubt and a form of his own depression when realizing he could have stopped this and saved Hannah from herself and others. As we learn about the other characters through the tapes, it fills Clay with anger as he tries to come to terms to what they all did to Hannah. He then has to come to come to terms with his grieving that he loved her and she will never come back. He has to live with the life choice that he had her, but chose to walk out of her life that night. That is an action that is brought back up over and over during the story. When she saw him walk away, she saw her last light of happiness walk out the door. She couldn’t see a way out anymore. All she needed was the love he gave so she could have found the strength to keep going. He chose, though, to not see it and push her away due to the rumors the bullies were spreading about her in school. His fault was not being there for the girl he loved.

In conclusion in this story, you truly learn the many heartfelt emotions all these characters felt as you watch the show. It brings a whole new life to bullying and preventing suicide. You are able to see the characters go through their character development as they grow with each episode. This show's analysis has not only shown how well of a story this author wrote but also the class concepts we learned and the truly saddening numbers of how many teens suffer from clinical depression within our own state. It truly is a show like no other that has woken up many people in this world to how much words can hurt.

“You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything... affects everything.” ― Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why
“You can't stopthe futureYou can't rewind the pastThe only way to learn the secret... is to press play.”- Thirteen Reasons Why
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About the Creator

Emily Burkard

I've been in love with writing stories since I've been five years old. It's just something I have always enjoyed doing.

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