Imagine receiving a dusty old shoebox full of cassettes on your doorstep one morning, finding a recording with a dead girl’s voice on them and then realizing you’re one of the 13 reasons why she committed suicide.
As improbable as it sounds, this is the story of Hannah Baker’s progression toward taking her own life in Jay Asher’s 288 page fictional novel, published in 2007: “Thirteen Reasons Why.”
A Netflix series based on this best-selling novel will be released on March 31 with executive producers Selena Gomez and Brian Yorkey.
In the novel, the narrator, Clay Jensen, receives seven tapes of a “baker’s dozen” — a joke our protagonist doesn’t find so funny — that hold stories, and as he listens, Clay discovers that each side of one of the seven cassettes tells of someone in Hannah’s life that ultimately leads to her decision to commit suicide.
As Clay listens to her sarcastic, yet self-deprecating tapes, he follows her in reality, going to places marked on a map that Hannah left behind.
“Thirteen Reasons Why” showcases Clay’s journey through Hannah’s stories as he blames himself not noticing the warning signs in Hannah and not reaching out sooner. Had he done so, Clay believed that Hannah might not have isolated herself from the rest of the world.
But the world doesn’t just stop with Hannah, Asher reminds us, as he concludes the novel with the image of Clay calling out to a girl named Skye, walking down the same stretch of hallway Hannah Baker once walked down, her footsteps growing weaker and weaker, echoing those of Hannah.
Ultimately, Asher’s message is to pay attention to the people around us, give them friends and hope, and ultimately a reason to live. Everyday interactions that don’t translate into a grade on a college transcript are much more important than face value.
Although the world in this novel seems very distant from ours today, its “foreign” concepts are inevitably intertwined with the lives of our high school population, as the themes it embodies are similar to those of our recent Speak Up For Change week: recognizing and embracing differences. And while Asher’s novel is fiction, it sets a standard as to how 13 lives changed forever.
While “Thirteen Reasons Why” isn’t the most light-hearted book, I’d definitely recommend it for the lessons Asher conveys.
No, I won’t spoil why Clay was included in the cassettes, but if you ever have time, dive into the novel or watch the story come alive on screen later this month! You won’t be disappointed.
