Nick Hornby created a novel, which can serve as a learning format as to why people try to kill themselves, not just regarding the state of their depression. Although it is often though that the Nick Hornby’s novel, A Long Way Down is about suicide itself, it is actually exploring the reasons behind why people contemplate suicide.
The novel begins to take place in London on New Years Eve, on the roof of the Topper’s House building. That is where four people with completely different personalities and lives collide. All four of the characters are introduced to the reader in the very beginning. It starts out with Martin Sharp, a famous television personality who is about to jump of the building, leaping to his death. He is then, interrupted by Maureen, a single mother who is about to do the same. The two are both interrupted by Jess, a teenage girl along with J.J, a failed musician. All four have completely different lives and reasons for wanting to jump, but they are all about to do the same. Each person’s plans for dying in solitude are interrupted by each other’s entrances and after telling each of their stories; all four of them make a pact. The pact entails that they all must wait ninety days before attempting to kill themselves again. After that time period, they will decide whether or not they will jump again.  This whole pact is out of protection for one another and it forms a bond between them. Throughout the novel, each chapter is told from the perspective and narrated by one of the four contemplating jumpers. Each chapter switches from one character to another and then repeats.
As mentioned in previous paragraphs, the character that was introduced first off was Martin Sharp, a television personality. Now, often times, being a television personality implies fame and fortune. It is only natural for any human being to wonder why someone with so much fame and fortune would contemplate suicide. So what was Hornby’s reasoning for creating the character, Martin Sharp and making him a famous television personality? Robert Kenny, a developmental psychologist and senior adviser at the Center for Wealth and Philanthropy prompted a survey and found that a large percentage of people who made an above average amount of money, were unhappy.  Throughout the novel, the character later explains his reasoning behind attempting to jump, which had to do with embarrassment and criticism within the public eye for mistakes that he had made in the past. Hornby explores Sharp’s embarrassment rather than his sadness and feeling of hopelessness. As an author, Hornby makes in clear that Sharp has the thoughts of a fairly grumpy and middle-aged man, but does not have the thoughts of an insanely unstable man. The dialogue that the author uses when Martin Sharp’s character is narrating is negative and grumpy, but not necessarily “crazy”.  In the very beginning of the novel, Sharp states that he has, “Pissed his life away.” The way the character carries his words in such a negative manner implies that Martin Sharp does in fact, look at the glass half empty rather than half full. Martin is the first character introduced and his reasoning for attempting suicide was so much public embarrassment to the point where he could not take the scrutiny.
Maureen is introduced as a fairly old woman with a grown-up son named Matty who is mentally handicapped; unable to speak or even move. While the character, Maureen is narrating her chapters; the reader makes it very clear that Maureen’s reasoning is selfishness. This is highly implied because Maureen’s monologues always include the fact that Matty needs her in his life as her handicapped son. Through Maureen, Hornby explores the selfish motives behind committing suicide. Author Dustin Rowes discusses the topic suicide in his article and says that in some cases, it is very selfish.  Maureen represents those who kill themselves despite their loved ones and also puts the idea in perspective that suicide, in some cases, can be very selfish.
The Character, Jess, highly relates to many young and hormonal teenage girls. In the novel, Jess wants to jump of the building on impulse after her boyfriend breaks her heart. In the novel, Jess discusses the present pain or her heartbreak. She refers to the reader and she says, “I can imagine that if your old and happy that you’ll smile to yourself when you hear me going, he broke my heart. You’ll remember someone who broke your heart and you’ll think to yourself, ‘Oh yes, I remember how that feels.’ But you can’t. Oh, you’ll remember listening to music and eating chocolates in your room, or walking along the embankment on your own, wrapped up in a winter coat feeling lonely and brave. But can you remember how with every mouthful of food, it felt like you were biting down into your own stomach? Can you remember dreaming every night that you were still together, so that every morning when you woke up, you had to go through it all over again?”  This quote represents Jess’s heartbreak, but in the beginning of the quote she talks about people who look back on heartbreak and young love. She is aware that she will get over her heartbreak, but wants a quick and easy way over it. Many young and impulsive girls have dealt with the same. So the character, Jess, represents the large number of young and impulsive teenage girls who have contemplated or attempted suicide.
Lastly, the character JJ represents the number of people who kill themselves even though there is nothing traumatic or awry about his life. He suffers from depression though, so his mind is not in a positive place. Throughout the novel, JJ tries to figure out why exactly he wants to jump. He discusses the fact that he is not exactly sure why his mind is in the place that it is at. Many people, like JJ, do are simply depressed with a mental illness just because the structure of the human brain. People with a diagnosed form of depression have different brain scans.
Throughout the novel, A Long Way Down, the character, JJ quotes, “When you’re sad; like really sad, you only want to be with other people who are sad.” This quote represents and explains the immediate closeness that bonds the four people together, as well as the pact that they make. It may have been true for the characters that since they were all so very unhappy, they did not want to surround themselves with happy people. Instead, it felt much better to surround themselves with people who were just as unhappy and possibly unhappier than they were. As unhealthy as this may seem, this fictional novel isn’t only about the bond that the four suicidal strangers connected with. It is also not loosely based on the idea of suicide, but rather the reasons behind it. Each character represents a person that the reader can latch on to. In other words, each character is so different from one another that the reader may easily find one out of the four to relate to. Some may relate to the character, Jess. Jess’s character represents the young and dramatic teenage girl who is heartbroken and impulsive. A majority of adolescent female readers can relate to her. JJ represents the mental illness aspect. For a reader who struggles from depression, but does not struggle with anything externally, JJ is somewhat of their spirit animal. Martin can speak for the middle-aged men who only see the negatives in everything and Maureen gives the reader a reason to keep on living. Maureen had a son that needed his mother. She represent the idea that those contemplating suicide need to look around at the people they love and ask themselves, “Who else, besides myself, would I be hurting?”  A Long Way Down has an immensely deep meaning.  Nick Hornby creates not one, but four characters that all have very different reasons for contemplating suicide. However, each one of them finds themselves on Topper’s House building, preparing to jump.