Decisions In Thirteen Reasons Why, And Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

Life is filled with decisions. Minor decisions about small every day choices like deciding to buy a coffee or to go to the mall. These are all choices that will not have a crucial effect on someone’s life. Major decisions like selecting a college or choosing to move on after a traumatizing experience are not favored by many, but must be made in order to Come of Age. In the classic novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the realistic fiction book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, and the young adult piece Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson the authors introduce hardships to the characters that require them to make crucial decisions and Come of Age.

To begin, in The Outsiders, the Greasers, Johnny and Ponyboy, overcome obstacles through decision making

The Socs were in Greaser territory. Bob and his friends were trying to drown Ponyboy, while some were about to beat up Johnny. The only way Johnny could stop them was to kill Bob, so Johnny stabbed him. Ponyboy asked, “‘You really killed him, huh, Johnny?’ ‘Yeah.’ His voice quavered slightly. ‘I had to. They were drowning you, Pony. 'They [The Socs] might have killed you. And they had a blade… they were gonna beat me up…’” (Hinton 57). Johnny had to make the decision to murder the Soc for the sake of protecting Ponyboy’s life. If he was not able to make this decision, he could have ended up dead. He needed to make a decision that would change his life forever. As the story continues, Johnny and Ponyboy together are able to Come of Age through deciding to conduct themselves properly in different situations. Johnny and Ponyboy were staying in a church, and one of their cigarettes caused a fire. They decided to run into the abandoned church that was on fire in order to save kids’ lives. Ponyboy said, “‘I’ll get them don’t worry!’ I started at a dead run for the church and the man caught my arm. ‘I’ll get them. You kids stay out.’ I jerked loose and ran on” (Hinton 91). Johnny and Ponyboy had to make a

Clay received a package of the tapes Hannah sent out, describing the reasons why she killed herself. Clay was terrified after he heard the beginning of the first one: “Hitting play that first time was easy. A piece of cake. I had no idea what I was about to hear. But this time, it was one of the most frightening things I have ever done. I turn the volume down and press play” (Asher 9). Clay was frightened by the perception Hannah had of him. By making the decision to listen to the tapes, he was able to realize that everything he does and does not do for people can have serious consequences. This helped him mature. At a similar moment, Clay had to make decisions revolving around Hannah’s tapes. In order to understand Hannah’s tapes, the listener was supposed to go to the locations marked on the map included with the tapes as they listen to them. When Clay got to Tyler’s house, a location that was on the map, he saw Marcus. Marcus and other people on the tapes had been throwing rocks at Tyler’s window. Marcus handed Clay a stone and Clay decided not to throw it because he and Tyler both contributed to Hannah's death: “I try to picture anyone other than Marcus, someone else on the list, throwing a rock at Tyler’s window. But I can’t. It doesn’t make sense, We’re all on the list. All of us. We’re all guilty of something. Why is