One boy. Thirteen tapes.One suicide. A school full of rumors.
Hannah Baker could almost be seen as a real girl. A girl with emotions bubbling inside her and grief at the betrayal and heartbreak she endured at the hands of the students, peers, and friends around her. The novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher follows the main theme surrounding reputation and how rumors can affect people and their lives in ways much more larger than simply hurting the person. Hannah Baker suffered the change in how people saw her, how people treated her, and how she saw herself and acted.
Hannah Baker's life began falling apart with a single kiss. “A rumor based on a kiss ruined a memory that I hoped would be special. A rumor based on a kiss started …show more content…
Despite the rumors, she tried to open herself up, tried to get people to see past the rumors. “I wanted people to trust me, despite anything they'd heard. And more than that, I wanted them to know me. Not the stuff they thought they knew about me. No, the real me. I wanted them to get past the rumors. To see beyond the relationships I once had, or maybe still had but that they didn't agree with” (Page 135). So she tried to ignore the betrayals of the past, tried to try to get people to see past the rumors people had created for her. However, her efforts proved to be useless, courtesy of Marcus Cooley. She decided, after all of the betrayal, to try once more, only to have her reputation sneak in and attempt to throw it all away. Marcus asks Hannah on a date, jokingly, but she takes it seriously and decides to try it. Marcus tries to prove the rumors true, touching Hannah in a way she did not want to be touched and when she rejects him, he laughs her off, not quite believing that she doesn't want it. But she doesn't, and it just drags her down deeper. Marcus was, in Hannah's eyes, using her insecurity of the rumors to satisfy his own twisted curiosity, even referring to herself as, "Miss Reputation" what describing how Marcus must see her. It kept getting worse, Hannah kept getting worse. She needed hope, encouragement. Something to help her get through this, but it was ripped away from her by another person who looked at the rumors and her reputation …show more content…
She started to change how she saw herself and how she acted. These rumors affected her life, her world and how it spun. "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" (Page 156). Hannah clearly acknowledges the fact that people have much more affect on others than they realize, confirming the fact that they hurt her life as well as her feelings. They made it impossible for her to show who she really was to anyone, for fear that she would be hurt again. This was proven when she was with Clay Jensen at the party. He liked her, truly liked her, but she was still scared. Scared that she would be treated in the same way Justin treated her. Her pushing Clay away while they were kissing was because she didn't want to prove the rumors right, didn't want him to think that of her. She was also afraid that it would end up the same way as Justin's kiss. That it would be turned into a joke and contribute to the rumors. As much as she liked Clay, she didn't want the past to be repeated. "Clay, your reputation was deserved. But mine… mine was not. And there I was with you. Adding to my reputation" (Page 216). Hannah gave up then. Gave up trying to find happiness, love, acceptance. She pushed herself away from Clay, away from the purpose he could have given her. Her mind was made up
Hannah Baker could almost be seen as a real girl. A girl with emotions bubbling inside her and grief at the betrayal and heartbreak she endured at the hands of the students, peers, and friends around her. The novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher follows the main theme surrounding reputation and how rumors can affect people and their lives in ways much more larger than simply hurting the person. Hannah Baker suffered the change in how people saw her, how people treated her, and how she saw herself and acted.
Hannah Baker's life began falling apart with a single kiss. “A rumor based on a kiss ruined a memory that I hoped would be special. A rumor based on a kiss started …show more content…
Despite the rumors, she tried to open herself up, tried to get people to see past the rumors. “I wanted people to trust me, despite anything they'd heard. And more than that, I wanted them to know me. Not the stuff they thought they knew about me. No, the real me. I wanted them to get past the rumors. To see beyond the relationships I once had, or maybe still had but that they didn't agree with” (Page 135). So she tried to ignore the betrayals of the past, tried to try to get people to see past the rumors people had created for her. However, her efforts proved to be useless, courtesy of Marcus Cooley. She decided, after all of the betrayal, to try once more, only to have her reputation sneak in and attempt to throw it all away. Marcus asks Hannah on a date, jokingly, but she takes it seriously and decides to try it. Marcus tries to prove the rumors true, touching Hannah in a way she did not want to be touched and when she rejects him, he laughs her off, not quite believing that she doesn't want it. But she doesn't, and it just drags her down deeper. Marcus was, in Hannah's eyes, using her insecurity of the rumors to satisfy his own twisted curiosity, even referring to herself as, "Miss Reputation" what describing how Marcus must see her. It kept getting worse, Hannah kept getting worse. She needed hope, encouragement. Something to help her get through this, but it was ripped away from her by another person who looked at the rumors and her reputation …show more content…
She started to change how she saw herself and how she acted. These rumors affected her life, her world and how it spun. "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" (Page 156). Hannah clearly acknowledges the fact that people have much more affect on others than they realize, confirming the fact that they hurt her life as well as her feelings. They made it impossible for her to show who she really was to anyone, for fear that she would be hurt again. This was proven when she was with Clay Jensen at the party. He liked her, truly liked her, but she was still scared. Scared that she would be treated in the same way Justin treated her. Her pushing Clay away while they were kissing was because she didn't want to prove the rumors right, didn't want him to think that of her. She was also afraid that it would end up the same way as Justin's kiss. That it would be turned into a joke and contribute to the rumors. As much as she liked Clay, she didn't want the past to be repeated. "Clay, your reputation was deserved. But mine… mine was not. And there I was with you. Adding to my reputation" (Page 216). Hannah gave up then. Gave up trying to find happiness, love, acceptance. She pushed herself away from Clay, away from the purpose he could have given her. Her mind was made up