Theme
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The Theme of Thirteen Reasons Why could go in many directions, but I feel the "moral" or lesson that this novel is trying to teach us is that even little things can make or break somebody. You are responsible for every action you make, no matter how small it is. In this book, Clay blames himself for Hannah's death, because he didn't take the one chance he had to save her life. Though Clay arguably did nothing to contribute to Hannah's demise, if he had taken the opportunity, he could have saved her. One of the minor characters, Tony, said, "We're all to blame. At least a little." (Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher pg 233) Every single person who interacted with Hannah in her low period is responsible for her death, one may say. This is a controversial question. If you had denied her wishes, could you have saved her? Is that your fault? No wonder Clay is in such a tangle of emotions. "The signs were all there, all over, for anyone willing to notice" (Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, pg 234.) Hannah was showing the signs of possible suicide, yet no one knew or cared. As Hannah said, "A lot of you cared, just not enough." Clay also notes that he felt like she should have told him her secrets earlier. Before the tapes.
A couple of the "Thirteen Reasons" were small rumors. But those rumors added together were enough to cause Hannah to take her own life. This message also reaches out to the real world: suicide is there, you just have to be willing to see it. Will you be willing to lend a hand, and try to save a life? In a song by the Fray, they sing, "I would have stayed up with you all night, if I'd known, how to save a life." They are trying to say that they would have been there for that someone if only they had known what was going on. Unfortunately, suicide is not something you would want to open up about. Hannah didn't. She left an anonymous note, and got lots of anger back. There is plenty of reasons to choose either side of the story, so why not just not blame anybody? Suicide is a personal choice; but you wouldn't just wake up and want to take such a valuable thing away from yourself. It's those Push factors, those unkind words and actions, that will cause it.
Suicide, in a nut-shell, is a Cause and Effect. All of those minor characters were the cause, but it was Hannah herself who chose the effect.
A couple of the "Thirteen Reasons" were small rumors. But those rumors added together were enough to cause Hannah to take her own life. This message also reaches out to the real world: suicide is there, you just have to be willing to see it. Will you be willing to lend a hand, and try to save a life? In a song by the Fray, they sing, "I would have stayed up with you all night, if I'd known, how to save a life." They are trying to say that they would have been there for that someone if only they had known what was going on. Unfortunately, suicide is not something you would want to open up about. Hannah didn't. She left an anonymous note, and got lots of anger back. There is plenty of reasons to choose either side of the story, so why not just not blame anybody? Suicide is a personal choice; but you wouldn't just wake up and want to take such a valuable thing away from yourself. It's those Push factors, those unkind words and actions, that will cause it.
Suicide, in a nut-shell, is a Cause and Effect. All of those minor characters were the cause, but it was Hannah herself who chose the effect.