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Thirteen Reasons Why

Decent Essays

For every person, there is something some other individual could say or do that can completely ruin their day. Whether this thing is something that is worth getting upset over or it is something that is a bit more meaningless to others, it can impact that person in a way that someone may or may not expect. That is, being sensitive with the things that can be said or done, can help a person in the long run. In Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher shows teens how the impact of their words and actions on others can have unpredictable results. The story begins with Clay Jensen sending the box of cassette tapes to the next person who had a hand in the death of Hannah Baker. The day before, Clay was surprised to receive a package after school. He found that the package contained seven tapes, and put in the first tape, not knowing what to expect. He was horrified to hear the voice of the girl who killed herself earlier in the year, Hannah Baker. She said that whoever was …show more content…

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

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