Clay Jensen:
Clay is main male character, our narrator and guide through the terrifying world of Hannah Baker's last hours. Much of the action in this story takes place in Clay's head, which means we have some pretty good insight into his character. Clay isn't the bad guy he was put on the tapes to show that he wasn't a reason why. But, now he holds what everyone else did on his shoulders because he didn't see all this happening to her and didn't stop it.
Clay also has a spotless reputation, which is what attracted Hannah. she liked that people didn't just say nice things about him but that he actually did good things.
Hannah Baker:
Hannah is a simple girl at heart. She likes candy, hot chocolate, blue nail polish, filling out surveys, and reading and writing poetry. Deeply romantic, she wants to find love, and is exploring relationships naturally, at her own pace. She's also smart, attractive, and friendly. So what went wrong?
That's what these tapes are all about. It's through her recordings, and how Clay Jensen reacts to them, that we get to know Hannah. We hear Hannah's description of her life at her most desperate and disturbed, which makes it easy to forget that she wasn't always this way.
By the end of the story, we can understand what happened to her, but we don't ever really know her – and that seems to be the feeling she got from everyone around her, too. We don't know what she was like before the thirteen experiences. And we certainly don't know how she might have felt about herself if she'd been able to get some help.
Justin Foley:
Justin is a year older than Hannah. He's her first real crush and her first kiss. He's also, at least as far as Hannah knows, the original source of the rumors that she's a "slut"
Alex Standall:
Alex is a new kid, just like Hannah. In fact, he's one of the first people in town that Hannah hangs out with. He's on her list because he put her on a list, as the "Best Ass in the Freshman Class" (4.8). This opens her up to physical violence, even more rumors, and some unwanted sexual advances.
Jessica Davis:
Jessica is new to town, but she's not your typical wallflower new kid. She's bolder and more aggressive than Hannah: "In a contest of who's-got-the-biggest-balls, all of you listeners should know Jessica wins" Unfortunately, Jessica is also pretty violent. This is where Hannah's story starts to get all tangled up, soap-opera style.
Tyler Down:
Peeping Tom? No, thank you. We don't even want to give this guy a chance. But Tyler, number four on Hannah's list, is one of the book's most problematic characters. Hannah accuses him of stalking her, spying on her, and taking pictures through her bedroom window. The problem is, Hannah doesn't have any real evidence that the person outside her window was Tyler. Even though Clay accepts her accusations as true, responsible readers cannot.
Courtney Crimson:
Who doesn't love Courtney? Well, Hannah, for one. Number five on Hannah's list, Courtney is the pretty, sweet girl at school. But Hannah thinks she's a phony: Courtney only pretends to like Hannah when she needs something, like a ride to a party or an adventurous night of let's-catch-the-Peeping-Tom.
Courtney betrays Hannah by inventing a story that Hannah keeps sex toys in her dresser. Courtney's betrayal contributes to Hannah's belief that nobody around her is even slightly trustworthy.
Marcus Cooley:
Marcus, number six on Hannah's list, is the only listed person that Clay meets while he's listening to the tapes. Before we even get to Marcus's tape, Clay finds him outside Tyler's window passing out rocks for people to throw. Marcus is eager to punish Tyler for peeping, but he brushes off Hannah's accusations about himself. He tells Clay, "It's ridiculous […]. I don't belong on those tapes. Hannah just wanted an excuse to kill herself"
Zach Dempsey:
Zach actually starts out as a sympathetic character, trying to comfort Hannah after the Marcus incident at Rosie's. But when Hannah rejects his kindness, Zach, number seven on Hannah's list, steals Hannah's notes of encouragement from her Peer Communications class. Seems like an innocent prank to us, but to Hannah, it's much, much more.
Jenny Kurtz:
This is a weird and confusing one. Cheerleader Jenny Kurtz is number ten on the list. After an awful night at the ill-fated party, Jenny appears to Hannah like an angel. Lulled by the comfort of Jenny's car and the rain on the windows, Hannah falls asleep. She's woken up by the sound of Jenny crashing into a stop sign.
Bryce Walker:
He's the eleventh person on Hannah's list, but he shows up a lot throughout the tapes (almost always being a bully – or worse – toward girls). In Bryce's tape, Hannah describes how she joined him in Courtney Crimson's hot tub after a party that Hannah didn't even go to. In the hot tub, Hannah allowed Bryce to have sex with her. This is a really confusing part of the story.
Mr. Porter:
Mr. Porter is the twelfth and final person on Hannah's list. His role in the story is simple: he fails to get help from a mental health professional or even to call Hannah's parents to alert them when she admits to him that she is suicidal. More than anybody else, Mr. Porter had the direct power to stop Hannah from killing herself. The big question is, why did he fail?
Tony:
Tony is a likeable guy, which is just one reason he isn't on Hannah's list. In fact, when she sends him a copy of the tapes, he immediately calls her parents to warn them. After Hannah has taken her own life, Tony spends his afterschool time following the twelve people on the list, making sure they carry out her wishes.
If you think about it, Tony is also playing an important role that Hannah – in her unstable and therefore selfish state – might not even have seen the need for. Tony is there for Clay throughout this process: he seems to be concerned for Clay and makes sure he is okay before he lets him out of the car. It's possible that Tony is our unsung hero. Maybe he's been there to help the people on the tapes get through it in a positive, productive way. Maybe he's made sure the tapes don't drive the other people on the list to follow in Hannah's footsteps
Clay is main male character, our narrator and guide through the terrifying world of Hannah Baker's last hours. Much of the action in this story takes place in Clay's head, which means we have some pretty good insight into his character. Clay isn't the bad guy he was put on the tapes to show that he wasn't a reason why. But, now he holds what everyone else did on his shoulders because he didn't see all this happening to her and didn't stop it.
Clay also has a spotless reputation, which is what attracted Hannah. she liked that people didn't just say nice things about him but that he actually did good things.
Hannah Baker:
Hannah is a simple girl at heart. She likes candy, hot chocolate, blue nail polish, filling out surveys, and reading and writing poetry. Deeply romantic, she wants to find love, and is exploring relationships naturally, at her own pace. She's also smart, attractive, and friendly. So what went wrong?
That's what these tapes are all about. It's through her recordings, and how Clay Jensen reacts to them, that we get to know Hannah. We hear Hannah's description of her life at her most desperate and disturbed, which makes it easy to forget that she wasn't always this way.
By the end of the story, we can understand what happened to her, but we don't ever really know her – and that seems to be the feeling she got from everyone around her, too. We don't know what she was like before the thirteen experiences. And we certainly don't know how she might have felt about herself if she'd been able to get some help.
Justin Foley:
Justin is a year older than Hannah. He's her first real crush and her first kiss. He's also, at least as far as Hannah knows, the original source of the rumors that she's a "slut"
Alex Standall:
Alex is a new kid, just like Hannah. In fact, he's one of the first people in town that Hannah hangs out with. He's on her list because he put her on a list, as the "Best Ass in the Freshman Class" (4.8). This opens her up to physical violence, even more rumors, and some unwanted sexual advances.
Jessica Davis:
Jessica is new to town, but she's not your typical wallflower new kid. She's bolder and more aggressive than Hannah: "In a contest of who's-got-the-biggest-balls, all of you listeners should know Jessica wins" Unfortunately, Jessica is also pretty violent. This is where Hannah's story starts to get all tangled up, soap-opera style.
Tyler Down:
Peeping Tom? No, thank you. We don't even want to give this guy a chance. But Tyler, number four on Hannah's list, is one of the book's most problematic characters. Hannah accuses him of stalking her, spying on her, and taking pictures through her bedroom window. The problem is, Hannah doesn't have any real evidence that the person outside her window was Tyler. Even though Clay accepts her accusations as true, responsible readers cannot.
Courtney Crimson:
Who doesn't love Courtney? Well, Hannah, for one. Number five on Hannah's list, Courtney is the pretty, sweet girl at school. But Hannah thinks she's a phony: Courtney only pretends to like Hannah when she needs something, like a ride to a party or an adventurous night of let's-catch-the-Peeping-Tom.
Courtney betrays Hannah by inventing a story that Hannah keeps sex toys in her dresser. Courtney's betrayal contributes to Hannah's belief that nobody around her is even slightly trustworthy.
Marcus Cooley:
Marcus, number six on Hannah's list, is the only listed person that Clay meets while he's listening to the tapes. Before we even get to Marcus's tape, Clay finds him outside Tyler's window passing out rocks for people to throw. Marcus is eager to punish Tyler for peeping, but he brushes off Hannah's accusations about himself. He tells Clay, "It's ridiculous […]. I don't belong on those tapes. Hannah just wanted an excuse to kill herself"
Zach Dempsey:
Zach actually starts out as a sympathetic character, trying to comfort Hannah after the Marcus incident at Rosie's. But when Hannah rejects his kindness, Zach, number seven on Hannah's list, steals Hannah's notes of encouragement from her Peer Communications class. Seems like an innocent prank to us, but to Hannah, it's much, much more.
Jenny Kurtz:
This is a weird and confusing one. Cheerleader Jenny Kurtz is number ten on the list. After an awful night at the ill-fated party, Jenny appears to Hannah like an angel. Lulled by the comfort of Jenny's car and the rain on the windows, Hannah falls asleep. She's woken up by the sound of Jenny crashing into a stop sign.
Bryce Walker:
He's the eleventh person on Hannah's list, but he shows up a lot throughout the tapes (almost always being a bully – or worse – toward girls). In Bryce's tape, Hannah describes how she joined him in Courtney Crimson's hot tub after a party that Hannah didn't even go to. In the hot tub, Hannah allowed Bryce to have sex with her. This is a really confusing part of the story.
Mr. Porter:
Mr. Porter is the twelfth and final person on Hannah's list. His role in the story is simple: he fails to get help from a mental health professional or even to call Hannah's parents to alert them when she admits to him that she is suicidal. More than anybody else, Mr. Porter had the direct power to stop Hannah from killing herself. The big question is, why did he fail?
Tony:
Tony is a likeable guy, which is just one reason he isn't on Hannah's list. In fact, when she sends him a copy of the tapes, he immediately calls her parents to warn them. After Hannah has taken her own life, Tony spends his afterschool time following the twelve people on the list, making sure they carry out her wishes.
If you think about it, Tony is also playing an important role that Hannah – in her unstable and therefore selfish state – might not even have seen the need for. Tony is there for Clay throughout this process: he seems to be concerned for Clay and makes sure he is okay before he lets him out of the car. It's possible that Tony is our unsung hero. Maybe he's been there to help the people on the tapes get through it in a positive, productive way. Maybe he's made sure the tapes don't drive the other people on the list to follow in Hannah's footsteps