13 Reasons Why; Most memorable moment

13 Reasons Why; Most memorable moment

Image source; ABCnews, Friday June 12, 2009.

      

In my opinion, the most memorable moment in the book, “ 13 reasons why” was when Clay discovered the hidden connection between an accident/death he witnessed and Hannah Baker, the girl with whom Clay was in love with.

 

      In the book, the tenth person on Hannah’s tapes of 13 Reasons,( Clay was #9) was a school friend of hers, Jenny Kurtz. The night of the party, Clay was leaving, he walked home and as he was crossing the apparently deserted street, two vehicles suddenly collided. Clay, acting on instinct, ran toward one of the cars which stank of burning metal and car exhaust fumes. There in the car wreckage he found a shaken, but otherwise uninjured, elderly man. The man was shouting for a phone because he was talking to his wife, moments before the collision, on his cell phone, which disappeared during the crash. He was distraught over his wife, who had a bad heart and will be worrying about him. He wanted to let her know he was okay. The man was hysterical crying, “I need to call her! I need to call my wife!”. A crowd soon gathered around the other vehicle wreckage, all Clay knew was that it had been a senior from his school, and was apparently in a worse shape than the elderly man. Although this, Clay continued to stay with the man because he wanted to make sure he was okay. Soon, the boy in the other car died. The elderly man had to live his life in grief and despair, seeing himself at fault for the death of an innocent person.

     What made this a memorable moment was the connection between this tragic event and Hannah Baker. That night, Hannah left the party a little later than Clay. She was offered a ride by a friend, Jenny Kurtz, who helped a slightly drunk Hannah into her Jeep. As they were driving, Jenny drove over the curb and had knocked over a Stop sign post. Hannah just realized how intoxicated Jenny was, and how having her drive around during the dark of night was clearly dangerous. She told Jenny to hand over her keys, and call the police to report the fallen sign-post. But rather than being smart, Jenny kicked Hannah out of the jeep and sped off, leaving Hannah to wander around lost looking for a pay phone. Later that night, an elderly man was driving out of town, speaking on the phone with his wife. At the same time, someone was trying to deliver his pizzas on time, and the elderly man turning collided with him. There was not a Stop sign on that corner that night. That night, one of the drivers died. By the time Hannah arrived at a gas station and made the call, it was too late, an accident happened. But Jenny Kurtz lived her life on without realizing that her foolish recklessness caused the death of an innocent school boy and the guilt Hannah and the elderly man had to live with for the rest of their lives.

Clay finally gained a understanding bond between Hannah when he heard the remorse and guilt in Hannah’s voice as she described how she felt when she realized she could have prevented the death of a person.  Clay felt for the elderly man and had a moment with Hannah after realizing that they were both hurting over the same incident, and this information helped Clay move on. I don’t think Hannah deserves to feel guilty for the death of the boy because she still did try to prevent Jenny from driving that night. She asked for Jenny’s cell phone hoping she could call and report the fallen sign post. But Jenny laughed at the idea and refused in fear of the call being traced. She told Jenny to hand over the keys, but she just kicked her out. I feel connected to this particular event in the book because there were hundreds of times when I felt I could have done more to prevent what happened in the future. I was able to relate to Hannah when she described how it would have been if she was able to take away Jenny’s keys, or steal her phone. Like her, I have asked myself similar questions. The fact that she attempted and at least tried to do something was wise. She grieved like it was all her fault. But it was not, it was the fault of Jenny Kurtz who still did not take responsibility for her actions. She even spent the whole night wandering until she found a pay phone.

    In conclusion, the most memorable moment in the book, “13 Reasons Why”, was when Clay finally understood Hannah and developed a deep bond with her that helped him move on from the connections they had in the death of an innocent person.