Portrayal of Adolescence in 13 Reasons Why

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I think Asher was pretty accurate when it comes to his portrayal of adolescence. Rumors happen in every high school. In my experience, I can remember being part of the group that spread rumors but also on the end that rumors were made about. When you are young and naive, you don't realize the impact rumors can actually have on people's confidence and perception of themselves. I know for me personally, the rumor that was made about me made me angry and affected how I acted around certain people. Asher portrays the rumors as lighthearted, particularly with the list that Alex Standall made. This is how most of the gossip in high schools are in my opinion. People think they are just jokes and don't have much impact, but Asher shows just how impactful they can be.

The first rumor that Justin Foley helped spread changed the way people saw Hannah. Slut shaming is a problem because of the hypocrisy that it entails. The jocks applauded Justin for supposedly having sex with Hannah, but then most people looked down on Hannah for it. It gave her a reputation that she did not deserve, and it left a target on her back. Later in the book, Bryce saw Hannah as "easy" and had no respect for her as a person when he puts his hands all over her in the hot tub. Her reputation became so much of her reality that Hannah even started to believe it herself. On page 264, Hannah says "I knew exactly what I was doing.....Not once had I given in to the reputation you'd all set for me....I found myself attracted to someone who only wanted to get with me because of what they'd heard." She then says on the next page, "I let my reputation become me."

I think this is true of adolescence. Once someone gets a reputation in high school, it becomes hard to escape. Rumors formed Hannah's reputation and she was ready to give up because she felt she could not escape what was becoming her reality. The portrayal of Mr. Porter is also a fairly accurate representation of what guidance counselors have become today. He doesn't do much to help Hannah, urging her to simply "move on". There is a lot to take away from this novel. How rumors transform into perceptions is what stood out to me, but Asher also says a lot about noticing signs of suicide among teens. I think he wrote it as an awareness for people to reach out to those in need and also for those in need to ask for help. Hannah had a chance to reach out to Clay and Mr. Porter but she could not find the words to say. I think Asher uses Hannah to urge teens to talk about suicide and not try to deal with their problems internally.

I really enjoyed 13 Reasons Why. It was one of those books that is so interesting that it's hard to put down. I think it's a good book for adolescents to read because it brings awareness to suicide. It's puts rumors into perspective and how much damage they can actually do. This is a book that I would definitely be interested in teaching.

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