The Escape

12.

4 per 100,000 population was the 2010 suicide rate in America. Death is all around us, the fact of the matter is, it’s sad. Suicide is even more arduous. Just imagining someone feeling so hurt, lost, or scared that they decided today was they day their life would come to an end is just bone chilling. It is one of those topics no one really likes talking about, so its pushed under the rug and people are uninformed and unaware to the point they become oblivious. Oblivious to the obvious signs of it potentially occurring.

Teen suicide is on the rise, our modern literature and media manifest that fact. Its my escape they said. Escape from what? Teens who attempt suicide may be trying to escape pain, sadness, and depression. Maybe rejection, loneliness, guilt, or stress. Or trying to escape a situation that seems impossible to break free from.

The list goes on and on. Teens that have been interviewed after attempting suicide almost always say they never really wanted to die. They just wanted to escape. We all face these day to day problems, so what is it that drives us to think we have to commit suicide when someone else with the same problems can push through it? It all boils down to depression and how much of it we can tolerate. “I hope you’re ready, because I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended.

And if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons.”(Asher, 2007) The book 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is an example of teen suicides influence in literature. Hanna, a teenage girl, commited suicide. She felt she was wronged, she was hurt, and she wanted an escape. She made these cassette tapes, and there is a total of 13 reasons why she really decided to make an escape. She goes with the blame and guilt solution when shes gone.

Each reason is because of a certain person, and ultimately there is 13 people who receive the tapes, having to hear every reason. A majority of her reasons was because she was being used, bullied, mistreated and she felt alone through all of it. She found an escape because her tolerance ran out. Have you ever noticed how foreign films seem to make more sense? That is because you tend to pay more attention because your having to read their lines. Suicide Room (2011) is about a french boy named Dominik who has homosexual tendencies.

It becomes public information when he gets drunk and kisses a schoolmate of the same gender. Dominik starts getting teased at school, guys beat him up, hes called hateful names, and this all hurts him. He starts skipping school, and locking himself in his room. He finds this chat site called @SuicideRoom. This room was a virtual chat room where teens who were thinking about committing suicide would go and sort of flock together. Usually they would be there for a few days then never come back.

In the end of the movie, Dominik ends up taking too many of his anti-depressants all at once causing an overdose. Most heartbreaking thing about this is he was in a public restroom, and he was freaking out and crying trying to force his self to puke the pills back up. A few people stood there, videotaping and laughing just simply oblivious to the fact he was about to die. Death in general is sad, and suicide, in my opinion, is most melancholy. 12.4 per 100,000 populations was the 2010 suicide rate in America alone.

The statistic rate surprises any average reader because we try to hide the truth about suicide. The next time you see someone poking fun at another person in an impudent way, take a stand. Teen suicide is around us and has influenced modern media and literature due to the fact it is a topic we really can’t avoid. Don’t live your life to match a statistic, and don’t let others fall into that statistic either.