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| Asher talking about writing, bully, and suicide (http://yourhub.denverpost.com/blog/2014/12/author-jay-asher-brings-anti-bullying-message-to-cherry-c) |
In 2012, 13 Reasons Why, written by Jay Asher, was the third most banned book in the world; yet he received countless positive feedback that the book changed people's lives and perspective of life ("Jay Asher Authors"). In the novel, a junior named Hannah committed suicide and left a cassette tapes explaining 13 reasons why she killed herself. The tapes are passed through a group of people that were at least one of the reasons why and kept quiet about it, afraid of consequences they might face if the truth came out on why she committed suicide. Until, Clay Jensen, a friend of Hannah's, was given the tapes and decides to listen the recordings to figure out if and how he made the list. Leading to unraveling of the heart-wrenching tale that is told through Clay and Hannah's dual narratives. The controversy behind the book was because of the sensitive topics discussed in the book, such as suicide, bullying, and sexual assault. Asher developed his inspiration for anti-suicide activism by the impact of close relative who attempted suicide, had on him. The relative was a junior in high school at the time, which influenced Hannah's character. He then went on to a world tour in 2012, called "The 50 states against bullying Campaign," to help promote the book, but most importantly motivate and inspire others to understand why these crucial issues needs to be talked about openly ("Jay Asher Authors"). Before writing this book, he was originally going to give up his career as an author, go back to his job as a librarian, and finish his education on elementary school teaching. However, with the amazing amount of support his wife by encouraging him to not give up on what makes him happy and have a purpose, he was able to find his motivation for writing again. The book was later published his book in 2007 and became a New York Times best seller in 2011 ("Jay Asher Newsmakers"). Setting an example to people that you can only achieve your dreams by believing in yourself and working up towards your passion and happiness. Living by that motto gave Asher the bravery to face the criticism he knew he was going to receive, but if it meant that he would be following his passion for spreading awareness for teen suicide and being an author, it would all be worth it. Through these heroic criterias, Asher is able to demonstrate what it means to be hero, to be able to find that bravery to write about a book with many confrontational matters without having the storyline sugar coated in hopes of fitting society standards of what is appropriate enough for discussing these matters and just follow his passion to bring to truth and awareness to suicide even if it means giving the cold-hard ugly truth.
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| After the assembly he signed books for student. (https://westromiglibrary.org/jay-ashers-visit/) |
Knowing the level of importance the topic discussed in the book, Asher spent 3 years writing the book trying to make the book the most accurate representation of teen suicide and what kind of events lead up to that decision. Even after his work has been rejected 12 times, he doesn't give up on trying to get his voice noticed, showing just how passionate he was about the book. Not only did he get it published, but it became a New York's best seller ("Jay Asher Authors"). Knowing that this book might be questionable he took the time to book to fully embodied of the truth behind teen suicide in his book, especially since he was doing it from a female's point of view."'I was so tense writing the book that sometimes I couldn't even work on it,' he told Susie Wilde in AudioFile Magazine. ("Jay Asher Authors"). Not only was he tense from having all the pressure of not trying to fail his female readers on explaining and understanding what it is like to be a girl and the type of bullying that they face. Such as catcalling or sexual harassment, where some people may not feel that it isn't a big deal because it happens all the time and that whoever believes that is a reason to kill themselves they are over dramatic, but just because something happens all the time doesn't make it right. Following another message in the book, that everybody deals with things differently and we don't know what's happening in other people's lives, so if you see actions like these that may seem harmless know they can seriously affect someone. Since this book was inspired by a close relative he was able to talk to her, and discuss what drove her to think that suicide was the answer and why she didn't reach out. And with some added research on teen suicides he was able to incorporate a message in the book that everybody should always keep in mind."Everybody have different thresholds of what they can handle. but other people handle less than that and that's okay, it's not to be looked down upon, but be aware of how we treat people and that everybody responds to things differently"("Interview with Jay Asher"). Which is the reason why people who identified with and understood the book's messages that they started having a new way of thinking and respect for people. Now knowing that everybody is fighting a battle we don't know about, so you should always be kind, knowing that your actions do matter. And for the people who felt that they had no one to talk too, now know that somebody will able to help and understand the seriousness of what is being said. However, if people are too scared or uncomfortable to talk about these vital issues, the people who are dealing with them now not only have all their personal issues building up on each other, but now they don't have nobody to talk to about it, and have their emotions bottled leaving them suffocated. Hence, why the readers are saying that this book saved their lives, because since people who deal with issues like Hannah have no one to talk to they at least have a book to relate to and see what happens in Hannah's life and after. Jay Asher's passion for spreading awareness about suicide and treating people with respect, has helped many teens look at the way they treat people, open up their eyes, and stand up to the small things that isn't right.
Asher's bravery to be so honest about all the issues behind a real life teenager and all their problems, that could be deemed to inappropriate to be on the self of a school library. So when he heard his book was being banned or ignored in schools and argued that it would give the students the message that they aren't comfortable talking about these serious matters and it won't be handled rightfully;displays the amount of bravery he has to stand up for what he believes is right, despite knowing some content in the book wouldn't be appropriate for some teens, but all those events are important to fit the story-line. This in turn, leaves us with a scary thought: If they know the school isn't open to discussing these serious problems and if they don't reach out to their parents, who is there for them to reach out to? That is why Asher finds it crucial to visit schools to get these types of messages across, to make sure they are getting the right messages and break the barriers of having suicide as a taboo subject. The other aspect that his relative shared with him, is that they felt that people wouldn't be comfortable talking about the things they are going through or thinking about, because nobody was talking about it and how to handle these types of situations. Taking this issue at hand, Asher made sure that got the message that, "If we know it's happening and we're not having the discussion, we're contributing to the problem of making it seem like people can't open up,' Asher said" ("Festus High"). Many people aren't brave enough to admit that they do know that suicidal thoughts and bullying is important to talk about, but they get uncomfortable, because they don't know how to handle the issue effectively, or they don't want to deal with an over dramatic drama queen. So, when you read the book and could have seen that if somebody just stuck up for Hannah or a friend that she could talk to about her problems to at least feel understood, she could have still been alive. Giving the message that if people were more respectful and were brave enough to break the barriers of uncomfortableness and talk to Hannah on how to deal with these suicidal thoughts and how to cope, she could have still been alive. Even though Asher loved going on tour for his book, he still had to do the most terrifying thing he's ever done, which was to drop everything to follow his dreams not knowing if things will turn out okay or end up terribly. He knew he had to make this decision when he started , "getting asked more to speak then he had vacation hours for... and it was very scary for him to leave his full time job that is secure and deciding to give up on everything and focus more on his artistic side" ("Interview with Jay asher"). Leaving a stable job that would give him a reliable source of income for following his passion to help promote and do anti suicide talks, just shows how brave and how much he cares about these issues, and that they shouldn't be ignored. Asher is a hero in my book (pun intended), he took risks on what he believes in, which is helping prevent these tragic problems go undetected and not misunderstood or handled properly when opened up about. He left his job to pursue his passion, which a lot of people don't have the courage to do.
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| Asher on the set of 13 Reasons Why ( (https://www.google.com/search?q=Jay+asher+buzzfeed&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahU)) |
Even though, 13 Reasons Why, has been challenged by many schools and library on the sensitive topics talked about in the book and how it could be more harmful than helpful, however this is often overcome by the amount of people who shared their experiences and how the book helped them cope with feeling misunderstood and helped people to take the meaning respect and kindness to a new level. If this author hadn't been brave or passionate enough about the importance of what this book brings, the book wouldn't have gotten the amount of advertising and popularity, because you need to have the courage to promote a book that talks about these serious sensitive issues that come with suicide and be able to change people's mindset of teen suicide, sexual assault, and bullying. Asher posses the intelligence and insightful on helping people understand the intentions of the book. Also, knowing that the book is helping people and that people do understand the meaning of the book, for if it wasn't, he wouldn't be promoting a book that is triggering and only sending negativity. That's where he gets the bravery to overlook the removal of the book on shelves, knowing that people have the reassurance they aren't the only one who felt that way when they read his book. This was shown when, "Thousands of readers sent him letters about their experiences with suicide and would travel miles to see him in bookstores. Asher told Jill Radsken of the Boston Herald, 'For some reason, they think, 'Jay gets me.' They tell me such personal stories. Kids cry. I've cried when they tell me things. It can be heartbreaking, but it's such an honor that they do feel open.'"(Jay Asher Newsmakers). Asher's book's ability to connect with readers who are going through similar experiences as Hannah and get frustrated with her for not reaching out to get help, makes them realize that it's up to them to get help, motivating and inspiring them to find someone they trust for help. His book doesn't only connect with people like Hannah, but also people like Clay who now understand the importance of being kind to people, knowing that everyone is fighting a battle we don't know about just like everybody else. Inspiring them to be their best selves and look at things being said and done in a different light. From someone who has read the book, I do see why the book could be questioned or triggering to some people for those that aren't understanding the purpose of why the book was written the way it was. However, once you do understand why Asher did what he did, it makes sense. Like the butterfly effect that was discussed in the book, when Clay goes through the reasons why she killed herself, he sees how every action that people made in Hannah's life affected her in some way positively or negatively, even though they didn't think twice about it. In turn, it opens your eyes and makes you think about every action you take seeing if it would affect anyone negatively. This book is heartbreaking, hurtful but unfortunately, it is the ugly truth. Everything about the book has a deeper meaning and it changes your perspective on how you interact with others and how other people treat other people. So, yes the book that was the 3rd most banned book in 2012, for the concern of it harming people, saved and changed many lives for the better. Works Consulted "Festus High" doesn't shy away from controversial book. St. Louis Post-Dispatch [St. Louis, MO], 11 Oct. 2014. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A385625364/SUIC?u=powa9245&xid=67380426. Accessed 2 May 2017. "Interview with Jay Asher, NY Times Best Selling Author." YouTube, YouTube, 24 Sept. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v. Accessed 1 May 2017. Parenthetical Documentation: ("Interview with Jay asher, NY Times Best Selling Author") "Jay Asher Authors" and Artists for Young Adults, vol. 88, Gale, 2012. Biography in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1603001989/BIC1?u=powa9245&xid=4f0d3fd3. Accessed 1 May 2017. "Jay Asher Newsmakers", vol. 1, Gale, 2012. Biography in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1618005603/BIC1?u=powa9245&xid=ae385549. Accessed 1 May 2017.
Page created on 5/24/2017 12:00:00 AM
Last edited 5/24/2017 12:00:00 AM
