Thirteen Reasons Why
Connecting modern literature to Greek myths
What is Thirteen Reasons Why about?
Thirteen Reasons Why is about a teenage girl named Hannah Baker who has thirteen reasons why she wants to kill herself. Hannah makes a tape for each reason explaining who affected her and what they did. Before Hannah took her life, she met this boy named Clay who was in love with her. Clay realizes he in on the tapes but can't think of what he did to affect Hannah's death.
Connection between Hannah and Perseus
In Thirteen Reasons Why, Hannah is trying to fit in and be accepted for who she is. Hannah wants to be liked by others in her school but it's not working so well. In the myth Perseus, Perseus wants to be accepted by his soon to be father in law. He also wants to be liked and be the best he can be.
Connection between Justin Foley and Hades
Justin Foley is a boy that Hannah liked. Justin brought Hannah to the park a few days after she moved to her new town. Justin started a mean rumor about Hannah that wasn't true. After that night, Hannah got a new reputation as someone no one wanted to be around. Justin was the first reason why Hannah killed herself.
Connection between Mr. Porter and Apollo
Mr. Porter is one of Hannah's teachers. He was always there to talk to and wanted to help. As soon as Hannah told Mr. Porter she wanted to kill herself he acted like she never told him. He didn't chase after her or try to stop her. Similar to Mr. Porter is Apollo because they were both nice and willing to help until they had moments of cruelty where they could have helped if they tried.
Connection between Jessica Davis and Hera
Jessica Davis was Hannah's friend. Jessica started hearing rumors about Hannah and her ex boyfriend being together that yet again were not true. Jessica saw Hannah in a coffee shop a few days after hearing the rumors and slapped her. Hera and Jessica can connect because they're both very jealous. Hera was extremely jealous of Zeus just as Jessica was of Alex and Hannah.
Critique of Thirteen Reasons Why
Thirteen Reasons Why is a great novel. I really enjoyed reading it because throughout the entire book I could picture everything happening. I would definitely read it again. By doing this project I realized how similar Greek myths and fiction novels are. The gods and characters in the myths/books all have relatively similar personalities. I recommend this book to teenage girls.