Thirteen Reasons Why Essay
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Mr. Porter, she had already made her decision. Despite her saying that this was “One... last... try” (269) she had no intention of telling Mr. Porter her thoughts unless he had used the right phrasing. After all the questions he asked her, she still did not tell him very much and unless you listened to the tapes or read the rest of the book, you would not have been able to guess what she was actually going through. Before her suicide she thought, “I’ve made myself very clear; but no one’s stepping forward to stop me” (280). Just because she thought she was being clear, does not mean anyone else knew what she was going through. In Chapter 32 of Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr, Keenan realizes that his faery friend Niall is being possessed by his deceased friend Irial. “I was unable to speak to anyone to reveal my presence to the living until someone figured it out” (Marr, 248). Irial explains to Keenan why he could not tell anyone it was him possessing Niall’s body. “There are rules, kingling. I hinted as best I could” (248). Just like Hannah, Irial hinted and did everything he could to tell someone, except directly saying he was there. Or in Hannah’s case, saying her thoughts. This book just showcases perfectly that unless they are directly asked if they are thinking of suicide (or possessing their friend), that person physically cannot tell anyone. Jay Asher shows that someone who is given opportunity after opportunity to confide their feelings of suicide to anyone, will only do so if the person they want to tell asks them directly, beating around no bushes, straight to their face say, “have you been thinking about suicide?” Just like Hannah, who at multiple times had someone who was there and wanted to listen, but since they did not ask, she did not tell. Clay wanted to listen but was too scared to ask. “But I was scared. Once again, I let myself get scared” (Asher, 216) “I was there for you, Hannah. You could have reached out but you didn’t. You chose this. You had a choice and you pushed me away. I would have helped you. I wanted to help you” (217). Mr. Porter tried to get her to open up, but without mentioning suicide, he was rendered useless in saving her. Just like in Darkest Mercy, Hannah was physically unable to speak to Clay, Mr. Porter, and anyone else who was willing to listen. “Maybe I wanted someone to point a finger at me and say, “Hannah. Are you thinking about killing yourself? Please don’t do that, Hannah. Please?” " (173). She had already made up her mind by the time anyone noticed she needed help. Since she had made up her mind, the only way to have stopped her was to call her out on it, which no one did. |