Mental illness tears apart thousands of families every year. One very popular illness is depression, leading to suicide. So common it even appears in many fictitious pieces of literature dating back centuries ago. Hamlet in Shakespeare’s piece Hamlet, and Hannah Baker in the novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher both suffer from this well-known illness.
Death is a significant theme in Hamlet. At the beginning of the novel, Hamlet is enlightened of his father’s death, by his father’s ghost, “Take revenge for his horrible murder, that crime against nature... Murder’s always horrible, but this one was especially horrible, weird, and unnatural” (Shakespeare 63). The news hits him hard, taking his life downhill from then on. Hamlet begins suffering …show more content…
Hannah Baker has already committed suicide. She ended her life while still in high school after thirteen specific reasons led her to take such action as mentioned in an online article, “The risk for suicide frequently occurs in combination with external circumstances that seem to overwhelm at-risk teens who are unable to cope with the challenges of adolescence” (Gould 2). Recordings before her death explain the blame for her actions. It is clear she was going through adversity day after day, from others starting rumors about her sex life, to betrayal, as she stated, “Betrayal is one of the worst feelings”(Asher 21). With her severe depression, she didn’t even feel normal anymore, “I close my eyes and concentrate on bringing myself back to normal. But I haven’t felt normal in hours. Even the lids of my eyes feel warm like my whole body is fighting a sickness” (Asher 159). The depression begins to take overcome her, making the suicide become less of a distant thought and more of a reality. It is clear she is not alone, as suicide is the third leading cause of death amongst American adolescents. Hannah states many times throughout the novel that she does not feel normal; she feels something is wrong with her, “Right now I feel lost, I guess. Sort of empty. Just empty. Just nothing. I don’t care anymore” (Asher 271). After reading through the recordings it is clear could not overcome
Death is a significant theme in Hamlet. At the beginning of the novel, Hamlet is enlightened of his father’s death, by his father’s ghost, “Take revenge for his horrible murder, that crime against nature... Murder’s always horrible, but this one was especially horrible, weird, and unnatural” (Shakespeare 63). The news hits him hard, taking his life downhill from then on. Hamlet begins suffering …show more content…
Hannah Baker has already committed suicide. She ended her life while still in high school after thirteen specific reasons led her to take such action as mentioned in an online article, “The risk for suicide frequently occurs in combination with external circumstances that seem to overwhelm at-risk teens who are unable to cope with the challenges of adolescence” (Gould 2). Recordings before her death explain the blame for her actions. It is clear she was going through adversity day after day, from others starting rumors about her sex life, to betrayal, as she stated, “Betrayal is one of the worst feelings”(Asher 21). With her severe depression, she didn’t even feel normal anymore, “I close my eyes and concentrate on bringing myself back to normal. But I haven’t felt normal in hours. Even the lids of my eyes feel warm like my whole body is fighting a sickness” (Asher 159). The depression begins to take overcome her, making the suicide become less of a distant thought and more of a reality. It is clear she is not alone, as suicide is the third leading cause of death amongst American adolescents. Hannah states many times throughout the novel that she does not feel normal; she feels something is wrong with her, “Right now I feel lost, I guess. Sort of empty. Just empty. Just nothing. I don’t care anymore” (Asher 271). After reading through the recordings it is clear could not overcome