Thirteen Reasons Why

Asher introduces dual first-person narrators Hannah Baker and Clay Jensen, setting up a unique narrative structure that alternates between the voice of Hannah in the past and Clay’s reactionary present voice. The novel gets off to a suspenseful start as Asher uses Clay as a proxy for the reader who must read (or listen) on to learn all the reasons Hannah died by suicide. Asher establishes overarching themes of the repercussions of one’s actions, the negative effects of rumors on one’s reputation, and the harm caused by the sexual objectification of women. Motifs of stealing, guilt, and hindsight, and symbols of the rocket ship and color blue work to inform these themes.

By strategically placing Hannah’s narrative on cassette tapes, Asher allows Clay to pause or stop Hannah’s story and add his own responses and thoughts, giving readers a secondary perspective of Hannah’s experiences and additional insight into other characters. Hearing Hannah speak temporarily, if eerily, brings her back to life for Clay. He is also terrified to know how he possibly features as one of the reasons that Hannah ended her life. This element adds suspense for readers, as Clay anxiously anticipates hearing his name on the tapes.

Hannah’s narration is falsely breezy and marked by “gallows humor” and sarcasm as she jokes about coming to her listeners “live and in stereo” (6), and mockingly refers to their “beloved city,” in which she clearly felt unloved. Hannah expresses bitterness at how her peers treated her: She blames her listeners for her death and asserts that each is “one of the reasons why” she died by suicide (7). Hannah’s voice hence strikes an ominous tone as she foreshadows gripping revelations about her peers.

The fact that Hannah makes such an elaborate suicide note in recording the tapes, arranging for them to be mailed and backed up, and creating and sending maps to each listener, shows that Hannah is serious about ending her life. However, at the beginning of the novel, her references to her death are oblique. She does not mention the word suicide but talks instead about “why [her] life ended,” suggesting that, at the start of her story, she is not fully comfortable with thinking of herself as dead or dying. As the tapes progress, Hannah grows emotionally “unstable,” and more determined to die by suicide: signs of underlying mental illness.

Asher prompts readers to question the reliability of both of the first-person narratives. The reader, along with Clay, listens to Hannah’s personal version of events. Because of his emotional pain and his feelings for Hannah, Clay believes Hannah implicitly, and hence his responses to her story are also filtered through a highly subjective lens. None of the other people included on the tapes, except, briefly, Marcus, can share their side of the story.

Hannah and Clay’s narrative voices are tonally juxtaposed. While Hannah is cynical, Clay is emotionally reactive. He struggles with understanding Hannah’s motivation. He wonders whether her tapes are a “twisted suicide note” or a means of revenge (8). Clay feels guilty for being included on the tapes and does not understand how he hurt Hannah. Asher uses Clay’s reflective interludes, such as his protest that “I did nothing wrong!” (41), to center his perspective in the exercise of listening and establish the novel’s emphasis on the power of reputation versus one’s impression of oneself. This section also foreshadows how inaction and not taking responsibility also affect people’s lives. Clay already demonstrates that he is guilty of inaction. Knowing that Bryce is aggressive and predatory with girls, and witnessing Bryce grabbing girls’ arms, Clay pretends not to notice, thinking, “[w]hat could I do, anyway?” (50). His inaction ironizes his claim that he “did nothing” to Hannah.

The rules and threats that Hannah lays out for her listeners show Hannah’s need to posthumously control the narrative of her life story; something she did not, or could not, do while alive. Hannah implies that she had a negative reputation in her old town before moving to Crestmont, saying: “New town. New school. And this time, I was going to be in control of how people saw me. After all, how often do we get a second chance?” (19). Hannah does not want to be defined by others through false rumors or expectations. Her hopes for a fresh start are represented by Asher’s use of the color blue: Hannah’s nail polish is blue, her bike is blue, and the liquor store is called the “Blue Spot.” Blue traditionally symbolizes freedom and trust, two things that are gradually stolen from Hannah.

The innocence of Justin and Hannah’s kiss is symbolized for Hannah by the rocket slide that she loved as a child. However, Justin’s lie causes a metaphorical “snowball effect” (30). This image similarly takes an object associated with the games and play of childhood and removes its innocence by transposing it into a young adult context. Alex’s subsequent “Who’s Hot / Who’s Not” list sexually objectifies Hannah—and all the other girls Alex lists—and reduces them to body parts such as “ass” and “lips.” Clay learns that what boys—including himself—may think is an innocent joke can have a destructive effect on a girl’s character and self-esteem. Until he hears Hannah’s side of the story, he believes the sexual rumors about her which “overshadowed everything else [he] knew about her” (30). This opinion echoes the fragmentary effect of the list: Clay, too, reduces Hannah to one aspect of her multifaceted life with “everything else” in it.

The “snowball” image represents the fact that Justin’s rumor leads to larger consequences. It illustrates the themes that small actions have an impact on the lives of others, and the damaging effects of sexual objectification. Justin, Alex, and Bryce steal Hannah’s fresh start and her good reputation. Stealing is a motif that continues throughout the novel.