looking for alaska essay

John Green’s Looking for Alaska Critical Analysis Report (Assessment)

Characterization: the explanation of the four traits, a visual connection, passage finder, making connections, presentation, works cited.

John Green’s book Looking for Alaska is an interesting piece of literature which contains the life of a group of youngsters in an Alabama boarding school. The book illuminates the difficulties encountered by the protagonist (Alaska) and outcomes inflicted by them. Analyzing the major character, Alaska, in this story one can see that the main construct of the story is to go deep down into the innermost problems that teenagers might experience in life.

The four specific characteristic traits found in the story are as follows:

Alaska is somewhat mysterious in her attitudes toward people and life. It means that she never reveals her real nature in front of others. Analyzing her nature Halter feels confusion and anxiety. She never gives convincing answers to the questions asked by Lara and Bonnie Kunzel (Green 67). Her mind is full of ostensive blames on love and death in terms of communicating with friends. Her destructive nature forces a reader to think about her mysterious nature. Lara often feels difficulty to understand her friend’s nature and Alaska’s silliness and braveness when she faces death creates fear to Lara’s mind (Green 73). She seems very happy in front of her friends. She appears very romantic when she reached her lover, and she also becomes very serious in front of others.

Alaska is happy when one sees in her character a tendency to receive friendship. She enjoys her life as a romantic story. She always receives her fellow beings full of joy and satisfaction. Alaska never reveals her inner conflicts to others and she is highly conscious about other people’s happiness when they are talking with her. She makes different attempts to find out happiness outside friendship, but fails to reach out such state of mind.

Being determined, Alaska gets another set of character traits described in the book. Throughout the story the author shows his readiness to explore the concepts of peer pressure, sexual experience, grief, and death. Her being determined made Alaska strong in attitudes with people she adored a bit condescending.

Her last words explore her braveness and determination to follow her life philosophy. She cries: “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!” (Green 156) Her tragedy including the death of her mother changed her mind and she acquired more braveness and determination. To be precise, the problem of Alaska is particularly in her reliability and open-mindedness. She encountered pros and cons of life earlier than it could happen to an ordinary man. Thus, Alaska is more encouraged to state her reflection on life as long as she has got the idea of being brave to survive. Nevertheless, it was left in the domain of theory for Alaska. Due to the “labyrinths” surrounding her life here and there, she got confused about the way to choose. In this respect she chose labyrinth going into decline. Nonetheless, a reader should work out the main ideas on why this brave girl took her life once having appeared at a dead-end of her soul perspectives.

The pictures selected above reflect characteristic features of the book in terms of the main characters. In this respect the main idea goes around the main events that happened in life of Alaska. Such a splendid collage incorporates the episodes from the book that evaluate the significance of life, friendship, love, first experience, “great perhaps” and death (Green 6). Based on the visualization of the main feelings experienced throughout the story, the pictures are well-crafted to explain the gist of the book.

The first picture is, perhaps, the representation of the general attempts of teenagers toward self-esteem in life. It is patterned with a gesture of the main character, Alaska, who can blame everything around her for that complicated nature of it. The picture shows teen pranking and inclination to try everything forbidden. Based on the example of main traits of character supposed with Alaska, the picture gives grounds to state her mischievous attitude to life. She shows in gesture her indifference toward what is right or wrong at large. She copes with her inner inflictions. The latter are consider loneliness, friendship, and love she had with Miles.

The second picture is a visual aid to imagine the friendship that came out to be between Alaska, Pudge, and the Colonel. One can see and check it in the book that Alaska adored such a great friendship. She could never leave her relationships with Pudge and the Colonel off. Her happiness was based on it. One also might notice that Alaska is with a cigarette in her hand demonstrating, therefore, her as a kind of “bad girl.” Devastating is the fact that the Colonel and Miles sit closer to her with an inclination to put up with her mischievous temper.

The third one is the illustration of Alaska’s tragedy. When the candle is out it means that light has disappeared respectively. The light is a characterization of Alaska’s life. Her death caused the smoke instead of the continuing candle fire. Alaska’s energy and ability to go things round (candle fire) seems to have disappeared at once. It is described on the dark backdrop. With her being gone, Miles and the Colonel still keep everything she said or done in mind.

The fourth is a kind of commemoration on Pudge’s mind. Alaska died, but she stayed alive in hearts of those who loved her. A kiss is a symbol of kind-heartedness in feelings. It is also a trace of sincerity or purity of heart intentions. In the second part of the book Miles admits the perfect time with Alaska as something distant at the time: “And in the almostness of the moment, I cared at least enough” (Green 73).

The fifth picture is a kind of speculation over the way to get out from the “labyrinth of suffering” (Green 156). Alaska found it in physical suicide. However, she could try it by forgiving and longing for love (James 4). That was a challenge for her and a reminder for readers on the whole. It might be noted that she is described inside the building as long as she was obliged to share thoughts of different writers and Vonnegut, in particular. It is also three moments which describe Alaska as a thinking person at her early ages.

At the beginning, she doubts a bit about the way things are correlated, and the way a man should provide his “positive behavior” in terms of good traits of character. She admits once: “Jesus, I’m not going to be one of those people who sits around talking about what they’re gonna do. I’m just going to do it. Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia” (Green 47). This passage shows the way Alaska starts perceiving the century-long question about the sense in life and its gist for a man. Alaska is brave in her steps forward. This is the feature of her character that is illuminated for several times in the book. First, there are episodes in which Alaska shows her brevity which can be treated explicitly. It corresponds to her aptness, so to speak, in smoking, drinking, and having sex. This evaluates her as an easy-to-do girl who disrespects public opinion and the outer pressure on the whole. Her energy and capability of analyzing different events in her early life gave her brevity to be who she was exactly. This trend of her character is described in a passage when she tells guys about the death of her mother. This trouble in life made Alaska more firm and predictable. Since that time hardships start. That moment Alaska first thought of playing against the rules life draws up to people.

The first reason to state that she is brave is that her mischievous character provides Alaska with what is needed exactly to be courageous in life. With these ideas in mind, Alaska never gives up before the difficulties which are more of moral or “inner” coloring. However, they are adjusted to her each time she talks to Miles. The protagonist knows that she would never thought of suicide, but, unfortunately, it is also the feature of how Alaska treats brevity of her character. She could not stop the flow of fatal events in her life. She felt bans from the outside.

The second reason is that public opinion and restraints that touched upon her only annoyed her. Thus, she shows brevity. She lost her temper when she describes her feelings to Miles: “It’s the eternal struggle, Pudge. The good versus the naughty…. Sometimes you lose a battle. But mischief always wins the war” (Green 54). This scene breaks down any objection to Alaska. She knows the way things are arranged. Moreover, she knew it more from books than from personal experience. That is the point. She accommodated the reality of the humanity previously described by what she saw in her life. Teen suggestions and assumptions which covered the essence of Alaska’s mind drove her to render null all optimistic ramifications in life of a human being. It is of the similar kind when she persuades her friends in the darkness of what is concerned with life. Alaska is, of course, brave as long as she is quite straightforward in telling people what she thinks is right and in doing what she feels likely to be done. Nonetheless, she is helpless to adjust the situation. Either are Miles, Chip, and Takumi. Thus, her brevity is a kind of her counter attack on the hardships of life. Her intentions are ultimately weighed, and her actions correspond to her decision making.

The scene when Miles dragged out Alaska of the hay early in the morning characterizes her as determined and of no loyalty to nobody but herself. It is seen when she sticks to the point: “Pudge”, she said, faux-condescending, “The sound is an integral part of the artistic experience of this video game. Muting Decapitation would be like reading only every other word of Jane Eyre…” (Green 48). This episode delineates the features of self-esteem and brilliance of her mind.

Albert Camus would say that Alaska in her early ages managed to run into the absurdity of life. She got bewildered once, and she could not find the way out. Her physical suicide is the demonstration of how teenagers need more self-expression and truth of life to be disclosed to them. The example of Alaska is nameworthy. To go further, it is quite applicable to state that Alaska is determined in her mind and her actions. The concept of the book that is divided into two parts – “days before” and “days after” – correlates the episodes before the main ominous event comes out to be. It is the time when Alaska determines the pathway for her to get through.

The first reason is that Alaska has a manner to talk with people as if she is a bit higher over them in everything. Her knowledge and affection by books gave her such a right to talk with peers. Moreover, she usually thinks that condescending attitudes are normal on the part of hers. In this respect she is also determined in showing her disgust or anxiety about something people do extrinsically. This peculiar feature made Alaska different. Her surroundings, Miles, the Colonel, Takumi, were obliged to praise Alaska for her brilliance and open-mindedness in everything concerning human theme. Thus, she performed her sense of personal determined character by faux-condescending claims and statements which usually end by an outstanding remark. That is the point at which Alaska began thinking of everything and her life, in particular, in a bit awkward way.

Staying usually in, Miles could recognize the type of Alaska’s character. The above listed passage identifies that Alaska would never mind one’s inaccuracy unless it disturbs her. The second reason for her determined trait of character is that this quality of hers stops her each time she seeks justice as of herself. To convey it, it is no wonder that energetic and frisky evaluation of Alaska was enough to make boys around her take her jinks for granted. She was furious as well as stable in her intentions to perceive the world. It seems that Miles could only serve as an assistant to Alaska’s dreams and their materialization. Her most favorite book The General in his labyrinth serves for her as a peculiar demonstration of her hardships. These are mainly concerned with her inability to find out what she has been longing for since having come to the Culver Creek boarding school. She got lost in the labyrinth of her life. However, she never neglected the essence of her friendship even though patterned with loneliness.

Thus, one of the main traits of Alaska’s character – being determined – plays a great role in surveying how she treats her friends. On the other hand, the protagonist clearly understands owing to her shelves of books that this trait is the paramount when talking about tolerance and indulgence to people. It is reputable for her that she never blames her friends and people around. Instead, she uses the charms of language and literary thought. Hence, her determined estimation of life in its span goes with her witty claims and her inner trouble which should have been “deciphered” by her friends and Miles, particularly.

Alaska’s mysterious character is patterned with numerous ruminations about the sense of life that seems to have been lost already. Her mystery was disclosed by Miles and the Colonel after Alaska was dead in the car crash. The words by Simon Bolivar were incorporated in Alaska’s personal opinion on that: “You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it” (Green 52). This scene illuminates when the protagonist was highly motivated to get the gist of what she and her friends were doing at the time.

To say more, when Miles and Alaska are reading Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, they both understand that there is no way out from the bookwormish nature of Alaska and the naïve attitudes of Miles. Each moment they spent together is fixed in Miles’s fragile soul. “As promised in the list, she bought a Kurt Vonnegut book, Cat’s Cradle, and she read aloud to me, her soft voice mingling with the frog’s croaking” (Green 79)… This passage bilaterally outlines happiness and mysterious feature of Alaska’s inner world. Moreover, she preoccupies a reader with her savvy remarks on what is going on wrongly with her. As was aforementioned, she is at a dead-end. Her loneliness is likely to be higher than her friendship with Miles and the Colonel. In this respect she favors both to spend their teen years together. This mystery fits into Alaska’s traits of character. Life, its peculiarities, death, and sexuality are perplexed into a vortex of personal discoveries in each among the main characters. It is a driving power of the story at large. They are in search for their unique ‘place under the sun.’

Alaska is happy to be free in doing and compassing what she wants in life. No one can stop her. Thus, Alaska is a happy character in the story, but one should understand it in one’s way. The question is that she is full of sorrow inside, but when with friends, she can simply release her joy and high spirits. She dreams of acquiring the same glory as her favorite characters from the books had. She needs more fantastic adventures in life. However, her self-criticism gets her stuck around the negative influences. She becomes depressed when she realizes the sincerity of intentions on the part of Miles. She understands that he has a thing with her.

What is more, Alaska is happy to realize that she is not alone, for Miles and the Colonel are around. It is described when they once walked down the street talking on Miles’s hobby of gathering statements of the most eminent authors. The ‘great perhaps’ of Miles is in part reflects ‘labyrinths’ of Alaska. She seems to find no answer through the communication. She represents the best philosophy, i.e. “ask for more.” However, it results in darkness of her whole life. Perhaps, Miles and the Colonel could help her in such a mysterious way of life. They could have opened her eyes on the positive coloring of life. Alas, she showed perseverance in everything related to the so-called sense of living. Alaska seems as a typical trouble-maker. When she smokes, drinks, and has sex, she hereby wants to get happiness in it. Her desire to “paint” her surroundings in bright colors is entire, but it ends up when she deepens in the inner conflicts of herself. So, happiness and sorrow are on the same edge for Alaska. This is the mystery of hers.

All in all, the idea of the book Looking for Alaska by John Green is in the versatility of century-long postulates for making life picaresque. The question is that friendship, loneliness, personal inability to struggle against the hardships of the world around – these topics are implemented in the book. Their significance is equivocal a bit. However, when reading the book and reflecting every word, every idea highlighted by the main characters in the book, everything becomes clear.

Four traits of Alaska’s character that have been listed above provide an explicit picture of who Alaska is. This girl is similar to those people who are struggling, for they know secrets of living a bit. She cannot fail to last her life. It was her destiny that she imposed the truth of teen living as it is. Alaska is described in harmony with what classics and just outstanding people said about the gist of life. She incorporated this skill in her ordinary talking with friends. She is not stupid but a convinced searcher for the main ideals in life. She is savvy in inferring about something in the world around. Thus, she noticed the mechanisms which drive the living at large. It is especially vital to admit that Alaska behaved as a dreamer. Moreover, she talked largely, as a philosopher. Her philosophy is in the fact that no one lives senseless life even if it is absurd enough. To continue, she puts her ideas in the following statement: “I couldn’t see the trees for the forest – everything so intricately woven together that it made no sense to think of one tree as independent from that hill” (Green 37). In this Alaska is considered to be reasonable in her reasoning about life.

The example of Alaska is apparent for those teens who are suffering from getting the slightest idea about the value of friendship, loneliness, religion, death and dying young, sense of life, and others. It is applicable to suggest that John Green is capable of discussing suchlike themes in a varied manner. Every word he inserted in the text of the book signals about some features in describing main characters’ traits. Further still, Alaska and everything that was going on in the book is described through the vision of Miles. Thus, the prescriptions which are outlined on the title page of the book under the title itself follow first friend, first girl, last words (Green 1). In turn these words highlight Miles’s first experience in friendship, love, and sorrow. It is appropriate to mention that each of the passages described above implicate the main themes primordially outlined by the author.

John Green managed to touch on each reader’s soul by the way teenagesr get the idea of the surrounding world. The book serves as an additional insruction on how teens communicate and seek their truth to be glorified within “public fallacies.” The story of Miles, as the main hero of the book, is also touching for the use of different epithets to describe the love they had with Alaska and the friendship that entirely fixed on Miles’s mind. The episode which describes it is full of sorrow and recollection:

Her underwear, her jeans, the comforter, my corduroys and my boxers between us, I thought. Five layers, and yet I felt it, the nervous warmth of touching – a pale reflection of the fireworks of one mouth on another, but a reflection nonetheless (Green 73).

The whole concept of the book might be represented through the vision of Miles. It is better for a person performing the representation to become as one with the main character. It is predominant that a speaker feels the same feelings which fulfill Miles in the book. Such preparatory measures are extra significant to make the representation live. In this respect a speaker should bear the main themes of the book in mind. Such a strict requirement will reduce the extent of gags in the speech. Making conversation patterned expressly by what John Green wanted to state is the pivotal need to demonstrate appropriate level of recognition as of the book.

Thus, the first part of the presentation is to clearly outline the place of the book in the world literature. It is better to outline the significance of the book in the discourse of “generation gap.” Preliminary opening part is recommended to be full of general notions. It means that a speaker should provide brief information on the book, its author, destination of the main themes in educational curriculum, etc. Attracting the audience by means of correlative data in brief would complement speaker’s efforts in discussing the story by Green in detail.

Once the introduction is through, a speaker should follow the discussion by characterizing the style, structure, and setting maintained in the body of the book. It is necessary to showcase the peculiarity of books division into two main parts: 136 days before (wherein Before ) and countdown of days after (wherein After ) (Green 2). Thus, the culmination should be outlined in the middle of the book. In fact, a speaker should mention that the mainstream event is in the “heart” of the book. It is done by the author, perhaps, to demonstrate the nature of Miles’s intentions. On the other hand, it symbolizes that one should live for the day. Past and Future are nothing if the present is not adjusted correctly.

Later on, it is about time to point out the role of the main characters. Enumerating them briefly, one should provide some associations as for each. Thus, the a speaker starts with the figure of Miles, as a narrator, and goes on mentioning Alaska, Chip, Takumi, etc. The figure of Alaska should be outlined in its sexy and mischievous outlook spiced with her love for pranks and bad habits. Then, here comes the character of the Colonel and so on and so forth. One is necessarily to provide some connections between them, their preferences in life, their vision of life and people in it. Focusing on the reasons for the tragedy that happened to Alaska, a speaker outlines how author interprets such an outcome going in eternity.

Finally, it is the moment to state personal reflections on the book. It is up to be a constructive speech full of speaker’s rumination on how one should treat the actions and words by Alaska. On the other hand, a speaker should think of the main message incorporated by Green in the book as it reflects on speaker’s mind and soul. Here should one demonstrate the extent of getting the main idea of the book as concerned with the life of teenagers in the flow of ideas said to realize the meaning of life. Once again, the themes of friendship and love should apply to the way a person should understand the story by John Green.

Green, John. Looking for Alaska. New York, NY: Dutton Juvenile, 2005.

James, Kathryn. Death, Gender, and Sexuality in Adolescent Literature. London: Taylor & Francis, 2008.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, March 17). John Green’s Looking for Alaska Critical Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/john-greens-looking-for-alaska-critical-analysis/

"John Green’s Looking for Alaska Critical Analysis." IvyPanda , 17 Mar. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/john-greens-looking-for-alaska-critical-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'John Green’s Looking for Alaska Critical Analysis'. 17 March.

IvyPanda . 2024. "John Green’s Looking for Alaska Critical Analysis." March 17, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/john-greens-looking-for-alaska-critical-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . "John Green’s Looking for Alaska Critical Analysis." March 17, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/john-greens-looking-for-alaska-critical-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "John Green’s Looking for Alaska Critical Analysis." March 17, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/john-greens-looking-for-alaska-critical-analysis/.

• "Pans Labyrinth" by Guillermo del Toro
• Alaska Shoreline Erosion Impact
• Alaska Coffee Company Analysis
• Dystopias by Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Silverberg
• “The Agony and the Ecstasy” Novel by Irving Stone
• Narration and Symbolism in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat"
• L. M. Alcott Signature of Reform
• Edgar Allan Poe: Interpretation of "The Raven"

Looking for Alaska

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

How to Live and Die

While life and death are certainly important topics in Looking for Alaska , how to live and die are much bigger themes. Indeed, the novel is not titled Alaska , but rather Looking for Alaska —it’s the search that matters. Miles and Alaska are both naturally inclined toward looking for meaning. Miles memorizes last words because they help him understand how people lived, and Alaska reads and memorizes poetry from her Life’s Library, which helps…

Mystery and the Unknown

Mystery is at the heart of this novel—so much so that it is embedded in the structure of the book. Rather than separating the novel into chapters, Green sections his book into days, each of which is titled with a number of days and the word “before” or “after.” For example, the first section of the book is called “one-hundred thirty-six days before.” Before what , however, is not made clear to the reader until…

Loyalty and Forgiveness

Friendship, and particularly loyalty among friends, is extremely important at Culver Creek. The Colonel emphasizes to Miles that under no circumstances should he tell on a fellow student, and Alaska suffers emotionally for having done so to her roommate, Marya . This code of loyalty, while strict, encourages the students to forgive one another, or at least not to hold grudges. Friends are willing to take the fall for other friends if necessary, and when…

Memory and Memorial

In Looking for Alaska , characters are defined and even introduced to others by their ability to memorize things. The Colonel memorizes countries, Miles memorizes last words , and Alaska memorizes poetry. Despite the fact that these characters find solace in the words and numbers they memorize, they still struggle with their memories of other people and themselves. Indeed, while Alaska may be outwardly defined by her ability to quote poems about sadness and femininity…

Coming-of-age stories, known as bildungsroman, often begin with a young person looking for the answers to life’s questions, as Miles does in Looking for Alaska . In a traditional bildungsroman , loss or grief would motivate the main character to depart from home and go on a quest for knowledge, while in Looking for Alaska , a death interrupts the search on which Miles has already embarked. Like Looking for Alaska , however, a bildungsroman …

The more time Miles spends at Culver Creek, the more comfortable he becomes with mischief. At the beginning of the novel, he is extremely upset when Dr. Hyde kicks him out of class for looking out the window, but by the end, he is blatantly coordinating and participating in a prank against the school. At one point, Alaska tells him that mischief will always win out over good deeds, and Miles learns that misbehaving at…

Looking for Alaska

133 pages • 4 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-25

Chapters 26-30

Chapters 31-35

Chapters 36-40

Chapters 41-45

Chapters 46-50

Chapters 51-55

Chapters 56-58

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

What is the “great perhaps” that Miles his seeking? And does he find it over the course of the novel?

One of Alaska’s favorite books is The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the metaphor of the labyrinth is something to which Alaska and Miles devote considerable thought. How do they define this labyrinth throughout the novel? And is there a way out?

For their final World Religions exam, students are asked, “What is the most important question human beings must answer?” Imagine you are one of the students: What question would you select? And how would you explain your choice?

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Related Titles

By John Green

An Abundance of Katherines

Paper Towns

The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

The Fault in Our Stars

Turtles All the Way Down

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

David Levithan, John Green

Featured Collections

Audio Study Guides

View Collection

Banned Books Week

Coping with Death

Forgiveness

Loyalty & Betrayal

Mortality & Death

National Suicide Prevention Month

Realistic Fiction (High School)

TV Shows Based on Books

(92) 336 3216666

[email protected]

• Looking for Alaska

Read our complete notes on the novel “Looking for Alaska” by John Green. Our notes cover Looking for Alaska summary, themes, and critical analysis.

Introduction

Looking for Alaska is written by John Green. It is his first novel. It was published in March 2005. This novel is based on John Green’s time in Indian Spring School. This novel won the Michael L. Printz Award in 2006 from The American Library Association.

This novel is a journey in search of the last words of Francois Rabelais “Great Perhaps.” The protagonist of this novel, Miles, moves to his new school. He befriends Martin Chip, Takumi Hikohito and Alaska young. They come close to one another in the due course of time. They enjoy the time being together and all of them are with various dreams to pursue. They do a number of pranks and dare games. Ultimately, Alaska dies in a car accident. The school mourns her death and Miles becomes hysterical with her death. 

Afterwards, the boys arrange a party in the memory of Alaska. These boys do not accept the reason for the death of Alaska that is supposed to be a car accident. These boys start investigating the murder of Alaska. They go to the police station and other things are jotted down to know the reason for her death. Towards the end of the novel, they dig out the real cause of her death but in this journey Miles grasps the journey of Great Perhaps and the true meanings of life.

Background of the novel

This novel is based on the early life of John Green. Growing up, Green constantly cherished composition, yet when it came to his experience of middle school, he said that life remained bleak for him. As an understudy, Green portrays that he was horrendous to his parents and instructors as a student. He was a sort of guy who remained introverted and could not make friends. Green’s circumstance didn’t change after his change to secondary school, so he inquired his parents as to whether he could go to Indian Springs School in Alabama. 

His father concurred, and he moved to secondary school at Indian Springs School shaping important associations with instructors and friends. Green’s involvement with life experience roused him to compose Looking for Alaska. A large number of the characters and occasions that occur in the novel depend on what Green experienced at Indian Springs, remembering the death of a focal character for the novel.

During talk of the book at Rivermont Collegiate on October 19, 2006, Green shared that the possibility of Takumi’s “fox cap” in Looking for Alaska started from a Filipino companion. who wore a comparable cap while playing tricks during his school life. He noticed that his motivation for the swan in Culver Creek came from a swan he recalls at Indian Springs. 

The two tricks that happened in the book are like tricks that Green pulled at school, yet Green underlines that while the setting depends on his life, the novel is completely fictional. As a young boy, Green got in love with renowned final words, explicitly those of John Adams. His interest in final words leads him to search the final words of different celebrated persons. Green passes this affection for final words onto the fundamental character, Miles, and uses the final words of Bolivar to rouse a quest for significance even with catastrophe for the characters of his novel.

Looking for Alaska Summary

It is the end of the summer season. The parents of Miles Halter are arranging a going away party for him. His parents are very much aware of the social status of the family and expect that not many people would attend the party. The party is attended by only two people. Miles’ parents are very much concerned about the moving of Miles from Florida to Alabama. Miles is going from a public school to a private school. His parents think that lack of friends has forced Miles to leave the place and move away. Miles washes away the thoughts of his parents and tells them that he is going to a better school which his father attended as well. He quotes the words of Francois Rabelais as “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.”

The weather is very hot when he moves to Culver Creek. In his new residence, Miles meets his new roommate. The roommate has a hilarious expression of Miles when he meets Miles because Miles is half-naked and has just come out of the bathtub. The roommate introduces himself as Chip Martin, being a son of separated parents. He also tells Miles that he is on a scholarship. He also informs Miles that he has a talent for memorizing the names of the countries in alphabetical order.  Miles tells him that he has memorized the last names of the famous people in the world. Both of them start to decorate the room. Chip also tells Miles his nickname the Colonel and he gives Miles a nickname of Pudge.

Afterwards, Colonel makes him know things about Alaska. He also introduces Miles to the neighbors. In the neighborhood, there lives a girl Alaska and when Colonel introduces Pudge to the girl he is carried away by the beauty and the books of the girl.  Slowly and gradually, Pudge starts to move in his new friendship.  He also buys some cigarettes from Alaska for Colonel and then they walk towards the lake located on the campus.

While sitting on the lake, Miles gets to know that the dean of the students of the campus is Mr. Starnes and he is known as the Eagle. Miles or Pudge also gets to smoke his very first cigarette of life.  The Colonel tells him that there is a swan in the lake and the swan watches the property on the behalf of the dean.  Afterwards, they discuss the boyfriend of Alaska. The Colonel knows things about him. Pudge tells Colonel that he does not have a girlfriend and Colonel promises to find a girlfriend for Pudge.

The next day, Pudge meets the Eagle. Afterwards, he meets Takumi who is the close friend of Colonel. At lunch, all these boys engage in a conversation about the former roommate of Alaska. After this discussion, Pudge goes into his room and decides to sleep early so that he could get a good sleep. In the middle of the night, he is taken by some unknown boys and thrown into the campus lake. Pudge escapes his death by drowning in the water. He soothes himself and returns to his room.

The next day is his first day of school. Pudge has difficulty with the French language. He also meets Dr. Hyde who is supposed to teach him World Religions. Colonel also introduces Pudge to his girlfriend Sara.

In his first few days, Dr. Hyde asks Pudge to leave his class because he is daydreaming and not concentrating on studies. Alaska stands for Pudge and defends him but she, too, is asked to leave the class. This gives Pudge a new sort of excitement and he starts to spend more time with the Colonel,  Alaska and other friends on smoking spots.

The next day there is a basketball game at Culver Creek. Pudge goes with the Colonel to see the match. There they also meet a person who was there when Pudge was thrown into the lake. The person is Kevin Richman. Colonel challenges Kevin to name the president and Pudge gives a correct answer by stating the correct name. From the match, they can easily take it that Culver Creek is losing the game but Colonel is cheering the team up with his shouts and slogans. He starts insulting the players of the opponents’ team and for this, he is asked to leave the courtroom.

In the school, Pudge comes across Dr. Hyde and he reprimands Pudge for not taking interest in the studies. He also warns him to be mentally in present in the class. He asks him to avoid daydreaming. Alaska and Pudge come closer to each other because Alaska helps Pudge in his preparation for the Precalculus exam. The two spend a great deal of time together. He asks Alaska to explain her name.  She tells him that her parents let her choose the name and she chose the name because it means ‘which the seas break against.’

They get close to each other and are about to enter into an illicit moment but Alaska tells him that she is not the one who can live on the hopes of the present because she is more into the present. Pudge does not understand the concept.

After a few days, the group of Pudge is caught by the Eagle. They are caught right at the time when they all are smoking. Thus are directed to appear before the jury. The Jury is a bench of students who impose punishments on those who violate the rules of the school. Alaska tries to take the responsibility of the whole group and the Jury charges and punishes Alaska and Colonel in the end.

In the meanwhile, Alaska finds a girlfriend for Pudge. The girl is Lara Buterskaya. They then go on a date. The place selected for the date is the basketball court of Culver Creek basketball team. The date does not go according to the plan. Alaska does not allow Lara and Pudge to sit together. The game is continued and Colonel shouts at the player of the opponent team. He hits the ball and Pudge gets hurt with the ball.

The rest of Pudge’s day is spent at the hospital because he is diagnosed with a concussion. Colonel tries to distract the thoughts of Pudge and tells him that his girlfriend Sara has parted ways with Colonel. The Colonel shows that he is very sad about the break-up.

Afterwards, there is rainfall for almost 10 days. Pudges gets sustained for his concussion. These days, Pudge tries to avoid Lara and he is happy in the company of Alaska.

Dr. Hyde hands out the question for the final exam.

“What is the most important question human beings must answer?”

Colonel and Pudge rush to the room of Alaska for help but there are Weekday Warriors in her room.

After 10 days, the rain stops and Takumi and Pudge join the smoking spot.

Pudge meets Alaska and she tells Pudge that he must stay with her at the campus because others might go in the week of Thanksgiving. Pudge informs his parents that he is unable to visit them because he is trying to make some friends.

Colonel meets Pudge and tells him not to abandon his parents for making any sexual affair with Alaska. Pudge feels the idea and calls his parents again but they are fine with the wish of Pudge.

Pudge and Alaska spend their time reading and drinking. A day before the thanksgiving week, they add wax to the candle, and Colonel surprisingly comes to invite them to his house. They visit him and find that Colonel and his mother reside in a trailer and they do not have a house.

Colonel then drops both of them back at the school. After some time, Alaska comes to Pudge`s room and tells him that she has betrayed the trust of Colonel because she has confessed in front of him that she has ratted out Marya. Pudge tries to comfort her. The students return after a week. Pudge is happy that he has a family and can go anytime he wants to meet his family, unlike Alaska.

After Christmas, Alaska plans a prank for the juniors. The Colonel asks Pudge to wear a black dress but he does not share the details of the prank. The prank day arrives and Colonel asks Takumi and Pudge to visit his house at the weekend. Alaska tells them that she is going to pay a visit to Jake. Lara informs her that she is spending a weekend with her friend in Atlanta. When they meet again, they vow to remain faithful so that prank could be executed in a good way.

Takumi and Pudge are paired together. They are assigned the task to distract the Eagle with fireworks so that he goes out of the campus. This would give the other an opportunity to execute the plan. The plan is carefully made but the swan is bitten by a swan in the butt.

They all spend the night in the smoking spot in the woods. Afterwards, each of them shares their best and worst memories of life. Pudge shares that the day of the prank is the best ever day of his life. Alaska shares that the best day for her was when she visited the zoo in the company of her mother. The Colonel shares that his best day has not yet arrived. He thinks that the best day for him would be the day when he would be able to buy a fancy house for her mother.

The Colonel thinks that his worst day was the day when her father abandoned her mother. Pudge shares that the worst day was when he was forced to wear the gym clothes that embarrassed him. The day of the mother’s death was the worst day for Alaska. During the night, Pudge kisses Lara and requests her to be his girlfriend.

The following morning they wake up. They feel the hangover but they move towards the dormitories. The next semester starts. Pudge and Lara develop their relationship. Colonel and Pudge go to Alaska’s room and drink heavily. After drinking, they play games together. After the game, Pudge falls asleep next to Alaska. In the middle of the night, Alaska gets a phone call and she answers it but it makes her uncomfortable. She requests Colonel and Pudge to help her so that she could go out of the campus. They do not ask her any reason or explanation. They set the firework and distract the guards. In the meanwhile, Alaska drives out of the campus.

The next morning, Eagle asks Pudge and Colonel to go to the gym. In the gym, all the students are assembled. They get to know that they have been asked to come to the gym because Dr. Hydes has died. The Eagle starts talking about Dr. Hyde but Pudge shouts and interrupts him that they all must wait for Alaska because she is not present. The Eagle shockingly reveals that Alaska got killed in a car accident, the previous night.

This shocks Pudge. He vomits outside the gym and is helped by many students and teachers. Colonel helps Pudge to return to the room where they cry and try to console each other. Both of them deal with this shock very differently. Pudge tries to comfort himself by talking to his parents. Colonel returns to campus after two days and he walks for miles. The funeral of Alaska is held. The students come to Alaska`s room and clear her room. They all wonder about the death of Alaska whether she died in a car accident or she has committed suicide.

Both the boys are unable to understand the death of Alaska. They decide to investigate the reasons for Alaska`s unhappiness. They also think of the possible reasons for Alaska’s going in the night. Both of them go to the Police Department to take some information about the car accident. Colonel introduces himself as her brother. They get the information that on the night of the accident, the car of Alaska hit a truck. Her alcohol level was very high. They also get to know that the car had white tulip flowers as well at the time of the accident. Colonel thinks that it is something related to Jake but Pudge does not believe it.

The next day, there is a discussion about a sect of Islam that is Sufism.  Pudge thinks where Alaska would be as she is not physically present with them.

After a few days, Colonel tells Pudge that the only way to know about the mental state of Alaska is to experience the same state of being drunk. Colonel then drinks to the same level as Alaska drank on the night of her death. Colonel starts drinking vodka but the Eagle comes and asks Pudge not to smoke after the specific hours. Several hours after their drink they are unable to feel the situation of Alaska.

They do not get any success in their investigation so they include Takumi as well. Takumi is very upset when he gets to know that they did not include him in the investigation earlier.

Takumi also blames Pudge for being selfish. Colonel then tells them that Jake called Alaska in the middle of the night.

Forty-six days pass, Pudge meets Lara and tells her that he doesn’t love her, rather he loves Alaska. Lara tells him that she knew about it.

Pudge begins to be normal and he starts taking interest in the classes and studies. He calls his parents and talks to them which soothes him. He returns to his normal life but does not know the reason for the distress of Alaska.

After a few days, they arrange a hilarious prank in the memory of Alaska. They act as a male stripper as a dancer. The Eagle gets to know and he becomes angry but he forgives the boys because he believes that they did all this in the memory of Alaska.

A week later, Takumi again starts the investigation of Alaska`s death. He gets to know that the date of Alaska’s death is the same date at which her mother died. She got to know about the date and went to deliver flowers at the grave of her mother and got an accident in the way.

Themes in Looking for Alaska

Way of life and death.

Death and life are positively significant subjects in this novel, while how to spend life and how to die are greater topics of this novel. Undoubtedly, the novel isn’t titled Alaska, yet rather Looking for Alaska because the novel deals with a search. Miles and Alaska are both normally slanted toward searching for the importance and meaning of life. Miles remembers final words since they assist him with seeing how individuals live, and Alaska peruses and retains verses from her Life’s Library, which causes her to discover words for what she is feeling. 

The Old Man’s World Religions class at that point advances Miles’ comprehension of how to live beyond words and the way to die. The class opens him to how an assortment of societies and religions has addressed life’s greatest inquiries. Alaska’s answer to her pursuit is straight and quick because she needs to escape from her maze of torment as fast and effectively as could reasonably be expected.

When Alaska dies, Miles’ enthusiasm for how to live and how to die escalates on the grounds that it currently has a functional application. However, when Alaska escapes from the labyrinth, she makes another maze for Mile. He becomes mixed up in an example of sadness where he at the same time needs to discover answers and abstains from searching for them. In spite of his affection for Alaska, Miles, at last, understands that she surrendered, regardless of whether she ended it all. Defeated by blame, she concludes that her life must be a pitiful one. At the point when Miles picks forgiveness for himself, and for Alaska, he decides to prop up forward and look for his “Great Perhaps.” He gains from Alaska’s mistakes that it is the vulnerability of life that makes it worth living.

Stories about growing up, known as bildungsroman, frequently start with a youngster searching for the solutions to the inquiries of life, as Miles does in this novel. In a conventional bildungsroman, misfortune or sadness would persuade the primary character to withdraw from home and go on a journey for information, while in this novel death of Alaska intrudes on the inquiry on which Miles has just set out. Looking for Alaska, be that as it may, a coming-of-age novel closes with its fundamental character having picked up development and self-information. The character that grows up (Miles) has a more reasonable way to deal with life because of his encounters.

While all the novels of coming-of-age deal with the issue of identity, Looking for Alaska is especially worried about it. At the point when Miles initially shows up at Culver Creek, he feels that he is aware of himself. He is popular with educators, has no interest in games, and is flawlessly happy being separated from everyone else. His mission, at that point, is for experience as opposed to mindfulness. When Alaska dies, Miles directs his concentration toward attempting to make sense of who she truly was. 

While she remains alive, Miles could recognize Alaska as delightful and secretive and shrewd, yet she was mean and narrow-minded and unreasonable, and he battles to grapple with the numerous aspects of her character. At last, Miles understands that while the way toward “Looking for Alaska” never presented to him any genuine answers about Alaska, it helped him develop nearer to his companions and get familiar with himself. Miles develops into somebody who knows the worth of family and pardoning, and it is just once he understands that he thinks about these things that he really knows himself.

Desires versus Reality

As a new student Indian Spring School, Pudge has numerous assumptions regarding how his new life at the school will be and how extraordinary it will be from the existence he had at his old fashioned. He invokes situations in which he makes various companions, however, his desires are broken when the Colonel reports himself to be disliked and reluctant to assist Pudge with making companions. One of the most significant arrangements of desires that Pudge has is his relationship with Alaska. 

After her demise, he battles to comprehend her activities and to rethink his relationship with her. He loves her when she is alive however just comes to comprehend her multifaceted nature after she is no more.

Looking for Alaska starts with the party arranged for Miles to leave home in which only two friends come to attend the party. With no friends in school, Miles shifts to Culver Creek. From the outset, Miles is reluctant with his fellowships yet he gradually figures out how to act naturally around his new companions. We discover that Miles esteems his new fellowships by the way that he carefully sticks to the Colonel’s “no ratting” strategy and offers the two his time and cash so as to smoke and drink liquor, exercises in which he had not recently locked in. As the novel advances, Miles changes from a recluse to an average adolescent attempting to comprehend the complexities of entangled companionships, especially with Alaska.

Pursuit of the Great Perhaps

As he advances from his school to Culver Creek for his new life, Pudge goes looking for the Great Perhaps. Continually unsatisfied with his present, the quest for the Great Perhaps gives Pudge trust in a better and more energizing life. Nonetheless, the Great Perhaps is anything but a particular moment, yet rather the demonstration of valuing the moments that one has. It turns out to be progressively evident that the Great Perhaps is all around Pudge, however, he is just ready to see that when he lives at the time as he does during the infamous firecrackers trick on the Eagle. The quest for the Great Perhaps keeps Pudge from encountering the Great Perhaps as it occurs. Simply after the death of Alaska does Pudge understand that the Great Perhaps has consistently been there and will keep on being there in light of the fact that he is alive.

As a student, Pudge’s developmental connections with his companions are based upon trust. When executing tricks on the Weekday Warriors, the Colonel puts forth for Pudge the significance of not ratting each other out to the organization. Pudge comes to completely confide in the Colonel; however, he stays uncertain of Alaska regardless of his fascination with her. With regard to the fact that Alaska was a student who betrayed her flatmate the prior year Pudge joined the new school, the Colonel is profoundly hurt and befuddled. Since Pudge believes the Colonel he can frame a genuine companionship with him, however his hesitancy to believe Alaska constrains Pudge to make an envisioned, better form of his relationship with her.

The mystery is at the core of this novel and it is to such an extent that it is installed in the structure of the book. As opposed to isolating the novel into parts, Green divides this novel into days, every one of which is titled with various days. For instance, the main segment of the book is designated “one-hundred thirty-six days before.” Before what, notwithstanding, isn’t clarified to the reader until they read more than half of the book.

Similarly to the secretive structure of Looking for Alaska makes the novel interesting, mystery is a charming piece of Miles’ life. At the book’s start, Miles chooses to shift to Alabama to look for his “Great Perhaps.” He is amped up for the mystery that anticipates him, and he quickly gets fixated on getting Alaska, who herself is a mystery. In any case, while Alaska’s dynamic development of a baffling air makes her fascinating to other people, she suffers as a result of it. 

She isn’t happy to give others access and is apprehensive for others to see the unpleasant individual that she believes herself to be. Accordingly, Alaska keeps her companions from becoming acquainted with her just as they need to. For sure, Miles and the Colonel let her drive away the evening of her death since they don’t understand how sad she is, or that it is the commemoration of the death of her mother.

Miles tries to know the actual reason for Alaska’s death. He at last gets to know the reason of the death. Further, when he quits pursuing Alaska, he seeks his own Great Perhaps. Eventually, Miles approves of not knowing precisely what befell Alaska since it doesn’t make a difference in what occurred. The answers for mysteries aren’t constantly significant. Miles understands that whether she executed herself, he despite everything adores her and thinks about her and accepts that her soul lives on. For him, that is sufficient.

Looking for Alaska Characters Analysis

Miles halter.

Miles Halter known as Pudge is the narrator of this novel. He is the protagonist of this novel as well. He is an introverted boy who is unable to cope with friendship so he decides to move to a new school in Alabama. He is infatuated with the last words of famous people. He joins the new school and makes several friends in due course of time. He gets in love feelings with Alaska and when she dies, he takes a good deal of time to come out of the trans. Throughout the novel, Miles is in search of Great Perhaps.

Chip Martin

Chip Martin is known as the Colonel. He is the roommate of Miles at the new school. He becomes a confident and trustworthy friend of Miles. He takes interest in playing pranks with others. He belongs to a poor class family and lives in a trailer. He does not have a home and it is his biggest dream to have a home for his lonely mother as his father has abandoned his mother.

Alaska Young

She becomes a good friend of Miles in the new school. Miles takes romantic interest in her. She is a perplexed lady and is usually in despair. Collecting books is her hobby. She drinks excessively. She is moody and her mood can change anytime. She dies young while she is taking flowers to her mother’s grave.

Alaska is one of the principal characters of the story. Alaska has a bipolar sort of character. She is amusing, insane, and strange, and she can some of the time be impolite and mean yet above all she is extremely savvy. Alaska has been suffering since the death of her mother, in one way or another Alaska feels remorseful for the death of her mother. 

Despite the fact that Alaska has carried on an extreme past, she is still joyous and energetic; or perhaps that is exactly how she needs others to see her. Alaska is the sort of individual that can be having a great time one day and the following one is absolutely another individual by being mean and inconsiderate. Alaska is extremely lovely or perhaps is beautiful because Miles considers her beautiful. 

Throughout the story, Alaska`s character changes. She advances from being a sure and solid young lady to a befuddled and depressive character. In the wake of recalling what befell her mother, she can’t stand the blame she feels and she turns into a cold individual.  Alaska consistently considers life as a maze of misery and she needs to realize the way to exit from it. She finds that her solitary way out of the maze of enduring is to pardon. Alaska needs to pardon herself for what befell her mother and getting all the blame for something she has not done.

Takumi Hikohito

He is a very good friend of Miles in the Indian Spring School. He is a very talented rapper. He also takes interest in Pranks. Though he remains in good friendship with Miles and the Colonel yet they leave him outside while they start investigating the death of Alaska. But later on, it is Takumi who finds the real reason for her death.

Lara Buterskaya

She belongs to Romania. She is a friend of Alaska and Alaska makes her a girlfriend of Miles. Miles takes interest in her but he ultimately finds that he is more interested in Alaska.

Mr. Starness

He is the dean of students at Culver Creek. He is known as the Eagle among the students. He is a strict person and is usually targeted in various pranks. But he has a soft and mild heart towards the students.

He teaches World Religions. He takes keen interest in teaching and does not allow the students to miss his lectures.

Looking for Alaska Literary Analysis

The chapter titles.

This novel is narrated by Miles and it is written in two parts. Instead of the regular numerical framework, every section is meant through the number of days before the death of Alaska or the number of days after. The beginning of this structure comes about because of John Green’s impact of open responses to the occasions of September 11, 2001. In a meeting with Random House Publishing, Green reviews that anchorpersons express that individuals would now see the world through the perspective of either previously or after 9/11.

Green says in a similar meeting, he says that we look back to the most significant crossroads in our history, and that turns into the separating line between what we are and what we were. So he said that he needs to consider the manner in which we measure and consider time. For the characters in this novel, death of Alaska demonstrates a life changing second, and Green needs to mirror this significance by making the structure of the novel around the pivot of death of Alaska.

Alaska: A Victim of Depression

The death of Alaska is equivocal in its decision – neither Pudge nor the friends know whether her death was a mishap or suicide. From Alaska’s sporadic conduct and the investigation of Pudge and the Colonel, apparently Alaska was experiencing depression. In the United States, roughly 11% of individuals beneath the age of 18 suffer from depressive disorders. A significant number of those like Alaska go undiscovered in light of the fact that the examination into immature sorrow has just approached as of late.

One of the significant issues with the treatment of Depression in youngsters is that it regularly goes unnoticed.. Luckily, various investigations have been directed in the years since the publication of Looking for Alaska in 2005, and awareness has been raised encompassing teenager sorrow. An ongoing report finished by the National Institute of Mental Health reasoned that the best strategy for treating young people with depression is a blend of drug and psychotherapy.

Researchers are at present taking a shot at strategies to enhance the treatment and dealing of depression. Maybe one day the length of treatment will be abbreviated from weeks and years to hours in the expectation of forestalling further suicides. There is still a lot to be investigated; however understanding depression in youths stays one of science’s top needs.

Quest for meaning of life

After the death of Alaska, Pudge and Colonel explore the conditions encompassing the awful accident. While searching for answers, the young men are intuitively managing their misery and their fixation on discovering answers changes into a quest for meaning. Pudge and Colonel need to discover the responses to specific inquiries encompassing the death of Alaska, however, actually, they are bearing their own mazes of affliction, an ideal key to the novel. 

At the point when their philosophy instructor Mr. Hyde offers a conversation to his group about the significance of life, Pudge accepts this open door to expound on it as a maze of affliction. He acknowledges that it exists and concedes that despite the fact that the lamentable loss of Alaska made his own maze of affliction, he keeps on having confidence in the “Great Perhaps,'” implying that Pudge must scan for importance in his life through inescapable sorrow and languishing. 

A researcher from the University of Northern British Columbia Barb Dean dissects Pudge and the Colonel’s journey for answers as they adventure into finding further significance in life. Because this examination transforms into something that is utilized to manage the unforgiving truth of losing Alaska, it prompts Pudge to discover his way through his very own maze of torment and finding further importance to his life.

Death of Alaska

The whole novel is set around Alaska`s death. Section one of the novel is designated “before Alaska’s death, and section two is classified “after”, as in after the passing of Alaska. The passages are not set apart by dates, yet in the number of days comparable to the death of Alaska, for instance, when Miles depicts smoking his first cigarette that is “one hundred and twenty-eight days before” the demise of Alaska, not a month, day, and year.

There are a few records of anticipating the death of Alaska, a large portion of them are said by Alaska herself, for example, she says that she might die young.

The specific idea of Alaska`s death remains a secret: did Alaska murder herself? Or on the other hand, was it a mishap?

One hypothesis about the death of Alaska is that it was really a mishap. Since she was heavily drunk, it is truly conceivable that when she saw the police cruiser and the truck she accepted that she would have the option to move through the two cars.

Pudge contends that Alaska would not have killed herself because she says that she will resume the meeting with them. Colonel then tells them that she might have changed her perspective when she received the call. At the point when the Colonel and Pudge look into suicide indications on the web, they understand that Alaska just fits two of the thirteen side effects. The Colonel additionally says that she is kidding when she offers remarks about death.

In any case, there are numerous contentions that back up the likelihood that Alaska ended her life by suicide. She says that she previously felt regretful that she has not called 911 when her mother is experiencing an aneurysm and she dies at home. 

Obviously Alaska is likewise not sincerely steady, and considerably more so considering the way that she is drunk at the hour of death of her mother. She says to Pudge that he should comprehend that she is a profoundly troubled individual. She is entangled in her maze of anguish. The Colonel likewise contends that the car of police she collides with has its lights on, and she is calm enough to see them and swerved, considering she is calm enough to make out with Pudge. Nonetheless, she never hit the brakes. 

The two choose to play out a test: the Colonel will raise his BAC to .24 that is around the blood liquor level Alaska has when she dies and perceive how practical he is. He could obviously observe, however, he says he is tired. They from the start imagined that she could have nodded off while driving and slammed, however they understood that it is about difficult to drive straight while snoozing. It is uncovered that the evening of her death is the evening of the commemoration of the death of her mother. 

It is conceivable that the call helped her to remember the commemoration and in light of the fact that it is past 12 PM and she has missed it. All things considered, she is so furious with herself since she has messed again with her mother as she does not call 911 when she is eight and now she has missed the commemoration that she chose to take her life, taking the straight and quick way out of the maze.

The Labyrinth

Labyrinth is one of the clear images in this novel. Alaska adores the final expressions of Simón Bolívar: “Damn it, how will I ever get out of this labyrinth!” At the start of the book, Alaska isn’t sure if the labyrinth of Bolívar symbolizes death or life, however she in the end concludes that life’s most significant inquiry is that by what method will we get away from this labyrinth of anguish?” Labyrinths contrast from mazes in that mazes have just a single conceivable way, twisting however it may be, while labyrinths have a wide range of potential ways.

Regardless of whether Alaska proposes to die, she appears to be sure that her life, followed through labyrinth, will be a despondent one, and that the best way to endure will be straight and quick— either to experience it wildly or not experience it by any means. Miles has an increasingly Christian comprehension of the labyrinth, despite the fact that he isn’t especially religious. 

In Christianity, the understanding Green is well because he is a Christian, labyrinths symbolize an excursion towards salvation. It’s anything but a simple road, and it’s brimming with exciting bends in the road, yet in the event that one follows the way, one will show up at the doorstep of God. Since life isn’t a labyrinth, there are no impasses. Miles grasps the overly complex nature of life, and once he chooses to push ahead instead of thinking back, he is amped up for where his way may take him.

More From John Green

• Entertainment
• Environment
• Information Science and Technology
• Social Issues

Home Essay Samples Literature Looking For Alaska

Exploring the Human Experience in "Looking for Alaska"

*minimum deadline

Cite this Essay

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below

• Robinson Crusoe
• A Room of One's Own
• Vladimir Nabokov
• Crazy Rich Asians
• Thomas Hardy
• Silent Spring

Related Essays

Need writing help?

You can always rely on us no matter what type of paper you need

*No hidden charges

100% Unique Essays

Absolutely Confidential

Money Back Guarantee

By clicking “Send Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails

You can also get a UNIQUE essay on this or any other topic

Thank you! We’ll contact you as soon as possible.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Looking For Alaska — Analysis Of Miles’ Character In Looking For Alaska By John Green

Analysis of Miles’ Character in Looking for Alaska by John Green

• Categories: Character Literary Criticism Looking For Alaska

About this sample

Words: 832 |

Published: Aug 6, 2021

Words: 832 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Table of contents

The evolution of miles, the complex web of relationships, lessons learned on the journey.

• Green, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska. Dutton Juvenile.
• Brown, M. H. (2008). Letting Go of Expectations: John Green's Young Adult Fiction. The ALAN Review, 35(2), 21-27.
• Kwasny, M. (2011). Taking Teenagers Seriously: Adolescent Identity Formation in Young Adult Literature. Children's Literature in Education, 42(1), 38-48.
• McLaren, A. (2012). Death and Romance in "Looking for Alaska": Perspectives from Modern YA Literature. Papers: Explorations into Children's Literature, 22(2), 22-30.
• Teale, W. H. (2007). Why Are There So Many Great Books about Adolescents? The ALAN Review, 35(2), 7-13.
• Crisman, J. L. (2014). Teaching John Green's "Looking for Alaska" in an Era of Accountability. The ALAN Review, 41(2), 82-87.
• Smith, R. L. (2010). Innocence, Heteronormativity, and the Regulated Body: Learning to Look for Alaska. In Girlhood in America: An Encyclopedia (Vol. 1, pp. 429-434). ABC-CLIO.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof. Kifaru

Verified writer

• Expert in: Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

7 pages / 3092 words

6 pages / 2729 words

3 pages / 1393 words

5.5 pages / 2475 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Looking For Alaska

The title year of George Orwell's most famous novel is nineteen years past, but the dystopian vision it draws has retained its ability to grip readers with a haunting sense of foreboding about the future. At the heart of many of [...]

In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell uses several literary techniques to develop the theme that totalitarianism is destructive. He does so by using extensive imagery, focusing on the deterioration of the Victory Mansions, [...]

Offred and Winston, the main protagonists of the two strikingly similar dystopian fictions, The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984, have disparate fates in the endings of the novels. Julia’s fate, however, is undetermined, as (like the [...]

The fear of a dystopian future that is explored in both Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis and George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty Four is reflective of the values of the societies at the time and the context of the authors. As [...]

In order for one to exist in a totalitarian society whose government is successful in its control, one must deal on a day-to-day basis with strong persuasion and propaganda. These totalitarian societies have an iron grip on [...]

Romantic love and intimacy are common features in 1984 by George Orwell. The Party works to eradicate all physical sensations of love and depersonalise sex to the point where is it referred to as a 'duty to the party' for the [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Justice Dept. Says Boeing Violated 2021 Settlement Over Max Plane

The department said that the company had failed to design and enforce an ethics program to prevent violation of U.S. fraud laws.

By Benjamin Mullin

The Department of Justice said on Tuesday that Boeing was in violation of a 2021 settlement related to problems with the company’s 737 Max model that led to two deadly plane crashes in 2018 and 2019.

In a letter to a federal judge, the department said that Boeing had failed to “design, implement and enforce” an ethics program to prevent and detect violations of U.S. fraud laws in the company’s operations. Creating that program was a condition of Boeing’s settlement , which also carried a $2.5 billion penalty.

The determination by the Justice Department means that it can proceed with a 2021 criminal charge accusing Boeing of conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration, though Boeing can contest Tuesday’s decision.

In a statement, Boeing said that the company believed that it had honored the terms of the settlement, adding that it was looking forward to the opportunity to respond.

“As we do so, we will engage with the department with the utmost transparency, as we have throughout the entire term of the agreement,” Boeing said in its statement.

The Justice Department declined to comment. Paul G. Cassell, a lawyer representing families of victims of the fatal plane crashes, said that his clients were planning to meet with the government on May 31 to discuss next steps in the case.

When the government reached its settlement with Boeing in January 2021, many families of the crash victims said that the Trump administration had been too lenient on the aircraft manufacturer.

“This is a positive first step and, for the families, a long time coming,” Mr. Cassell said. “But we need to see further action from D.O.J. to hold Boeing accountable.”

The crashes of the 737 Max 8 planes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people, prompting the F.A.A. to ground the entire 737 Max fleet. An investigation found that both crashes involved mistaken triggering of a maneuvering system designed to help avert stalls in flight.

In another settlement, the Securities and Exchange Commission said that Boeing had offered misleading reassurances about the safety of the 737 Max in public statements after both crashes, despite knowing that the maneuvering system had posed a continuing safety issue.

The Justice Department’s reached its finding at a tumultuous time for Boeing. The company said in March that its chief executive, Dave Calhoun, would step down at the end of the year, along with Stan Deal, the head of the division that makes planes for airlines and other commercial customers.

Mr. Calhoun replaced Dennis A. Muilenburg, who led the company during the 2018 and 2019 crashes. Boeing fired Mr. Muilenburg , whose performance during the crisis angered lawmakers and alienated victims’ families.

Mark Walker contributed reporting.

Benjamin Mullin reports on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact Ben securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or email at [email protected] . More about Benjamin Mullin

Boeing: A Company in Turmoil

A New Investigation: The F.A.A. has opened an investigation  into Boeing after the plane maker told the regulator that it might have skipped required inspections involving the wings of some 787 Dreamliners.

A Huge Loss: Boeing reported a $355 million loss  for the first three months of the year, as it deals with a quality crisis stemming from a Jan. 5 flight during which a panel blew off one of its planes.

A CEO to Fix Boeing: The plane maker, which is searching for a new chief executive, is likely to consider a small number of people , including several former Boeing executives.

Mishandling Parts to Meet Deadlines: A former Boeing manager said workers at the company’s Everett factory felt such pressure to keep production  moving that they would find unauthorized ways to get the parts they needed.

Dish Soap to Help Build Planes?: An F.A.A. audit of the production of the 737 Max raised a peculiar question. Was it really appropriate for a major supplier  to be using Dawn dish soap and a hotel key card as part of its manufacturing process?

Memorial Day: Best and worst times for San Diegans to travel and other tips

For Southern California travelers, San Diego will be the second most popular destination, just behind Las Vegas, so expect plenty of crowds over the holiday weekend

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

Southern Californians’ love of travel will be in full force over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, with forecasts predicting a record-setting number of people getting away by plane, car, train and cruise ships.

The Auto Club of Southern California’s forecast, released Monday, expects 3.5 million people to travel over the holiday period, which translates to a 4.7 percent increase over 2023 and 150,000 more travelers compared to 2019, a year before the pandemic. It marks the second year in a row that the record has been broken for Memorial Day travel.

Even as experts are predicting a coming slowdown in the pace of travel overall, the Auto Club says it’s pleased to see continued enthusiasm for domestic getaways for the holiday weekend.

“It’s remarkable,” said spokesperson Marie Montgomery. “It kind of shows how people are really prioritizing spending more time with family and friends and travel is a great way to do that. There certainly are some more economic concerns in the mix so time will tell if this pans out. But given what our partner, S&P Global Market Intelligence, is projecting, they believe it’s another positive year for travel. They’re taking into account leading economic indicators such as employment, household net worth, stock prices, and the housing market.”

More people traveling by car than ever

The majority of people traveling between Thursday, May 23, and Monday, May 27, will do so by automobile despite still high gasoline prices. The Auto Club of Southern California predicts 2.9 million people will be driving to their destinations, while 371,000 will be flying, and the remainder — 237,000 — will be taking the train, bus or boarding a ship for a cruise.

Similarly, 38.4 million of the 43.8 million expected to travel nationally will be doing so by car, according to AAA’s forecast. Both in Southern California and nationally, that’s a new record, and represents about a 4 percent increase over the same period a year earlier.

While gasoline prices have been dipping slightly in recent weeks, they still are topping out at more than $5 a gallon and are well ahead of last year’s price of $4.83 a gallon. As of Monday, a gallon of regular gasoline averaged $5.27, about five cents less than a week earlier, according to the Auto Club.

For those driving to their holiday destinations, the Auto Club recommends that motorists inspect their vehicle tires, battery, and fluid levels. Also, pack food, water, a first-aid kit, and mobile phone charger in case your car breaks down. Nationwide, AAA expects to rescue more than 378,000 stranded drivers at the roadside, including more than 95,000 in California.

Best and worst times to drive

INRIX, a provider of transportation data and insights, has taken the guesswork out of how to time your travel. It’s advising that if possible, you should try to avoid the afternoons and evenings of Thursday, May 23, and Friday, May 24, when freeways will be most congested.

In Southern California, the busiest stretch of freeway is expected to be Interstate 5 North from Los Angeles to Bakersfield on the afternoon and evening of May 23, when the normal travel time of 90 minutes will surge by 84 percent to nearly three hours.

More optimal times to hit the highways, INRIX says, are before 11 a.m. or after 8 p.m on Thursday and Friday; before 1 p.m. on Sunday; and after 7 p.m. on Monday.

Most popular getaway destinations

San Diego, as it often is, will be the second most popular destination for Southern Californians getting away for the holiday weekend.

Las Vegas retains its position as No. 1 but in a change from last year, when Santa Barbara, Grand Canyon and Palm Springs filled out the top three remaining spots, this year, Grand Canyon remains in the top five but Hawaii and Seattle/Alaska cruises are identified as the fourth and fifth most popular destinations.

“We had the downturn in Hawaii travel after the fires and all of Hawaii was affected by that,” Montgomery said. “Now there seems to be some pent up demand for Hawaii now that it is all reopened, so that’s a popular destination. And cruises are doing very well but the vast majority of people will be driving, and in Southern California we’re fortunate to have so many great locations 50 miles or less to choose from.”

Tips if you’re headed to the beach

A big help transportation-wise for those wanting to hang out in Pacific Beach is an on-demand shuttle called the Beach Bug . While it debuted last year, this will be the first Memorial Day that it will be available. For most riders, it costs $2.50, which covers all-day access.

Operating hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. Like the popular FRED shuttle that has long operated downtown, the Beach Bug responds to requests made on a smartphone app called Ride Circuit.

Also be wary of a new regulation enacted this year that prohibits private companies from staging picnics , corporate events, large parties, bonfires or similar organized activities on any city beach.

While the city had weighed a formal permitting process, it ultimately opted for an outright ban. However, there are specific locations in the city where luxury-style picnics will be permitted — Fanuel Park, Sunset Point, Ventura Cove, Playa I and Vacation Isle West on Mission Bay, the Arbor and Botanical Lawn East and West in Balboa Park, and shoreline parks Ellen Browning South, Saratoga, South Palisades and Sunset Cliff-South Cuvier.

Get U-T Business in your inbox on Mondays

Get ready for your week with the week’s top business stories from San Diego and California, in your inbox Monday mornings.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Join Now to View Premium Content

GradeSaver provides access to 2360 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 11007 literature essays, 2767 sample college application essays, 926 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.

Looking for Alaska

Banned books’ explicit content and its impact on young adult readers: an examination of 'looking for alaska' m callaway college.

Banned and challenged books and their explicit content for adolescents have always been a controversial topic of debate among education and relating communities in which certain texts may be challenged or banned due to their content being “unsuitable” for a youth audience. Looking for Alaska (2005) by John Green describes the life of young adult, Miles Halter, who attends a boarding school where he goes to seek a “Great Perhaps.” Broken up into two sections, the Before section follows Miles and his friends Chip (“The Colonel”) Martin, Takumi Hikohito, and Alaska Young as they grow very close as the narrative leads to Alaska’s death at the end of this section. In the After section of Green’s novel, Miles and his friends investigate Alaska’s death while Miles ponders the meaning of his life. Green’s novel was the fourth-most banned book according to the American Library Association’s (AMA) Office for Intellectual Freedom between 2010 and 2019 for some reasons including offensive language, sexually explicit content, and inclusions of drugs, alcohol, and smoking. The young adult text, Looking for Alaska (2005), which has been challenged due to its “sexually explicit content,” subverts society’s traditional notion of adolescence...

GradeSaver provides access to 2313 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 10989 literature essays, 2751 sample college application essays, 911 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.

Already a member? Log in