One person who is taking on all the blame for Hannah’s suicide — or, at least, a large portion of the blame, since he declares that everyone on the tapes is also guilty — is Alex. It all comes back to that list, he says, but Clay can’t understand why Hannah would be so devastated by Alex’s “compliment.” It clearly took some time, but Alex has already listened to the tapes: he knows he messed up, and badly. As Hannah explains, if you don’t get it, you don’t understand what it’s like to be a girl: to have your body sexualised without your consent, to have to deal with the whispers in the hall. Not only did Alex placing Hannah on the list — which he admits he did out of spite because Jessica wouldn’t have sex with him — ruin Hannah and Jessica’s friendship, it also “declared open season” on Hannah’s body. The rumours are bad enough, but it’s more than that. Guys start grabbing her in the hallway, making comments, taking photos — a “joke” to them, but a total violation to Hannah.