Who Is The Protagonist In Thirteen Reasons Why

The novel Thirteen Reasons Why is written a little differently than most books. The point of view is first person, however the point of view is coming from two different people, Hannah and Clay. As you read the book, Hannah is explaining why she killed herself, and then Clay is reacting to Hannah’s story because he is listening to the tapes. In my opinion both Hannah and Clay are the protagonists. Hannah Baker is telling her story through tapes. She committed suicide and left behind seven tapes behind giving the “thirteen reasons why” she killed herself or more like the thirteen people that all did something to make her commit suicide. Throughout the tapes we learn more and more about Hannah and her life. For an example, where she had her
He is the living protagonist whereas Hannah is the dead protagonist. As Clay listens to these tapes he has no clue what he did to Hannah to make her put him on the tapes. We also learn a lot about Clay, his life, and his thought about the tapes as he listens. He also does not understand why he is so obsessed with these tapes. “Why do I feel so compelled to follow her map? I don’t need to. I’m listening to the tapes, every single one…that should be enough” (Asher p. 101). Why he has to listen to all thirteen of them so fast and why he feels the need to follow Hannah’s map. He also mentions, multiple times, that he had a big crush on Hannah and wonders if he told Hannah, then maybe she would have not committed suicide. . I do not know if it is possible for a character to be both the protagonist and the antagonist, but I think Hannah is also the antagonist. She is haunting these thirteen people from the grave. Clay Jensen had a crush on Hannah throughout high school and he is mourning her death then all of a sudden he receive tapes with her voice on it saying he is one of the reasons why she killed herself. “No, it can’t be. Hannah Baker killed herself….these tapes should not be here. Not with me. It has to be a mistake” (Asher