Looking For Alaska, by John Green

Is a novel about a kid who is looking for a greater perhaps. Miles was tired of his life at normal high school, so he decides he wants to attend Culver Creek, a boarding school his father went to. He decides this is the best option in order to find his greater perhaps. After persuading his parents this is the best choice for him, he heads to boarding school where his search for a more exciting life begins. When he arrives at Culver Creek, he meets his roommate the Colonel who later introduces him to Alaska and Takumi, and he earns the nickname Pudge.

These friends then begin showing him the ways of the school and in doing so, they change his old boring life into one with excitement and mischief. Pudge is first fully introduced to the mischief that is happening around the school when he was captured, taped, and thrown in the water by the weekday warriors. All his friends eventually promised to get the weekday warriors back after realizing how far they took it, almost killing Pudge.

Throughout all the craziness of school, Miles begins falling in love with his friend Alaska. His obsession for Alaska continues to grow leading him to decide to stay at school during Thanksgiving break. He falls further in love with Alaska, but Alaska maintains her obsession with her boyfriend Jake. After Thanksgiving break, the shenanigans continue. Pudge, the Colonel, Alaska, Lara, and Takumi begin planning their big prank. Their prank involves getting the Weekday warriors back for what they did to Miles and for flooding Alaska’s room.

Get quality help now

Marrie pro writer

Verified

Proficient in: Novels

5 (204)

“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

The prank includes setting off firecrackers, putting blue hair dye in weekday warriors gel, and sending fake progress reports to the weekday warriors’ parents. During the night this all takes place, after the prank is completed the group of friends sleep in a barn hiding out and playing games revealing stuff about one another.

Alaska then reveals how she watched her mother die, revealing a lot about the dark side of Alaska. A few days later, the Colonel, Pudge, and Alaska are all hanging out. The Colonel and Alaska were drinking but Pudge was not. Pudge’s dream comes true when he and Alaska make out, but then Alaska gets a call. This is where the climax takes place. She comes back crying and freaking out saying she messed up again. That’s when the Colonel and Pudge agreed to help her leave by car, despite her being drunk, by setting fireworks. The next day all students are called to the gym. Pudge starts freaking out that Alaska isn’t back and he demands they don’t start the assembly until she gets back, trying to convince himself that Alaska is not what this assembly is about. But then the eagle announces that Alaska has died in a car accident. Pudge and the Colonel immediately begin feeling guilt for letting her leave, for letting her leave in horrible condition. The Colonel wants to know how she died, and he convinces Pudge that they can find clues to figure it out. They want to know if she died by suicide or if it was really an accident. They begin searching for clues to figure out why she needed to leave.

They begin trying to figure out the mystery. They talk to the police who Alaska hit, they figure how drunk she was that night, they search her room, and they talk to Jake her ex-boyfriend. After searching for what really happened the Colonel and Pudge find themselves defeated. In honor of Alaska they decide to plan the most epic prank ever seen by Culver Creek that Alaska thought out before dying. The prank goes off perfectly and even the Eagle can’t help but crack a smile at how much the prank represented Alaska. Eventually, Pudge and the Colonel come to terms with Alaska being gone and not knowing what really happened that night.

Eventually, they begin to wonder whether Alaska’s death was a suicide. One day, the Eagle asks them to go through Alaska’s room to clean out any contraband that her father would rather not see. When they go to her dorm room, they come across a note in The General in His Labyrinth. Next to “how will I ever get out of this labyrinth!” she has written “Straight & Fast.” Pudge and the Colonel begin to investigate Alaska’s death. Pudge and the Colonel learn that this was the anniversary of her mother’s death and that she forgot to put flowers on her mother’s grave that day. They wonder, did she crash into the police car in her rush to reach the graveyard or did she realize that she had failed again or if she

Setting

The book starts off in Florida, where Miles goes to school, but it quickly transfers over to the boarding school Miles chooses to attend, the same boarding school his father went to. The boarding school is placated about 15 miles south of Birmingham, Alabama at Culver Creek Preparatory school. The events of the book take place in the 21st century. This is revealed in how the student’s actions and the things they have. The students use a pay phone, and they use a phone number book to find a stripper’s phone number, so this shows that the book is taking place around 2000-2012. They are also very used to technology, which is shown through Alaska’s ability to hack the school’s computer to send out fake progress reports.

The students are also found playing video games and using. However, the main piece of the setting and what is taking place in the book revolves around the weather. The weather shifts with the mood of the book. When it is bright and sunny the mood is happy and easy-going: Miles has first arrived and is excited in exploring his new school. When it changes to dark the mood becomes darker, more revealing, and builds the tension. This is shown through the night in the barn where they play a game about the worst and best days of their life. This tension and darkness is also shown when the car crash takes place at night. The rainy settings reveal gloom that surrounds the students.

Point of View and Voice

Looking for Alaska is told from the first-person point of view. The character is told through Miles. Throughout the entire book, you are able to hear all of his thoughts and emotions about every topic and what he is thinking. The story is told through Miles’s voice is so interesting because it helps the book build by beginning with the kid who was an outsider to ending the book Miles as a whole new person with new life experiences and perspective on life. His growth is shown in his final essay for his religion class. “Before I got here, I thought for a long time that the way out of the labyrinth was to pretend that it did not exist, to build a small, self-sufficient world in a back corner of, the endless maze and to pretend that I was not lost, but home. But that only led to a lonely life accompanied only by the last words of the looking for a Great Perhaps, real friends, and a more-than minor life”. This perspective also makes the book interesting because we can only see through Miles’s perspective, and it makes you want to find out what is happening with the other characters and what they are thinking, but you only get to find out when Miles talks to them.

Characterization Through Diction

All the characters use very clear language. They are all very intelligent and well-spoken, which is explained by them having to get into the boarding school. However, although they use very clear language the key characters all have something that sets them apart in their language. Miles is extremely thoughtful in his language and thinks about the deeper meaning and what the words mean. This is shown through his love of remembering people’s last words and analyzing them. His thoughts and words are also extremely thoughtful. The author incorporates metaphors in his speech to show his thoughtfulness. “If people were rain, I was drizzle, and she was a hurricane”. The metaphor enhances how we are able to picture what Miles is trying to say and is extremely effective in creating a deeper understanding. This quote shows her thoughtful language. Alaska’s use of diction is thoughtful, mysterious, and extremely intriguing. “You just use the future to escape the present”.

She is constantly thinking big, huge, deep thoughts. A word she is constantly using is a labyrinth. “You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth”. Her use of the word suits her perfectly because she is always trying to figure something out and the word sums her up. She is extremely complicated and has so many sides of her that it is impossible for the characters to completely know who she is. The Colonel is an extremely driven kid who shows great loyalty and justness. He has fueled my mystery and is not one to give up without giving his all first. The use of diction throughout the novel is extremely effective in setting the tone of the book. It helps shift the reader through the book and set the tone for each event taking place in the book. During the climax of the book, he builds a fearful tone of voice using words that think of gloom and death. During the end, he shifts to more of a relaxed tone of voice that seems at peace finally that shows the characters have accepted what happened to Alaska and are finally able to live peacefully.

Works Cited

1. Green, John. Looking for Alaska. New York: Penguin Books, 2014.