Looking For Alaska Analysis

Sixteen year old Miles’ twin passions are reading biographies and collecting the last words of the famous. Deciding to search for, in the last words of the great Francois Rabelais, the ‘great perhaps’, Miles leaves his family in Florida and moves to Alabama to complete his final two years of school at Culver Creek Preparatory School. Miles is befriended by his gifted roommate, Chip, who prefers the name “The Colonel”, and included in the Colonel’s group of friends, among them Alaska, vibrant, charismatic and dynamic, but also deeply depressed.

Alaska is not only brilliant at devising pranks, but drinks and has sexual intercourse. When Miles falls for (and lusts after) Alaska, she becomes critical to his story. Slowly the reader builds a picture of the main characters as each reveals their story. When Alaska dies in a car crash, her favorite last line from Simon Bolivar, “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth? ” takes on a poignant meaning.

The story changes as Miles and the Colonel come to terms with the loss of a friend who was central to their lives.

Only by discovering the real ause of Alaska’s death can they overcome their guilt at surviving her. John Green’s masterpiece revolves around a night that plays a central role and an important part in this whole young adult fiction. This can be seen as the book starts at 136 days before a particular moment in the book, and as the countdown goes on, building up the suspense throughout till the last page of the book.

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The whole plot of the book can be divided into the following categories as it takes its turns and twists.

Exposition The novel begins introducing Miles Halter as an introverted kid who is beginning his irst year at Culver Creek High School as a Junior. His roommate, Chip “The Colonel” gives Miles the nickname of “Pudge” & introduces him to the school. The Colonel takes Pudge to meet his longtime friend, Alaska, whom Pudge develops feelings for. Rising Action Alaska sets up a pre-prank on the Weekday Warriors; they hacked a computer and sent progress reports home to Weekday Warriors’ parents, telling them they were failing.

That night, Alaska shares with her friends that she watched her mother die when she was a child because she was too afraid to do anything. Pudge and Alaska ake out, even though she has a boyfriend, and later states that she’s too tired and ends it for the moment saying ” To be continued? ‘ Alaska then starts crying, and says that she has to leave, but Pudge and the colonel are too confused and drunk to function sanely, and hence cause a distraction so Alaska could sneak out of the campus grounds. Climax Alaska’s death was the climax of the story. The boys were taken in shock because neither of them was expecting it.

Alaska seemed fine the last time they saw her, so they were completely in awe at the news they received. Things weren’t the same without Alaska; there was a soft feeling of depression and loss that blanketed the entire school. Pudge and The Colonel started questioning everyone around them, while trying to get to the bottom of the situation, decode her death and find who was her death because both of them were hurt and wounded, clueless of what to do to solve the situation. Falling Action Pudge and the Colonel go through depression; they feel guilty for Alaska’s death, for letting her go.

They devote their time trying to decipher Alaska’s impetus to kill erself, then they find out that the day before that night was the day Alaska’s mom had died, and she’d forgotten, she’d been going to put flowers on her mother’s grave. Resolution Pudge and the Colonel decide to pull one last prank worthy of Alaska. On Speaker Day, a day when the class gets to pick a speaker for the whole school to listen to, they hire a male stripper who strips in front of the school. Throughout the story, there were two quotes that has been the central theme. “l go to seek a Great Perhaps.

Last words of Francois Rabelais and “How will I ever get out of his labyrinth? “, Last words of Simon Bolivar. The possibility of finding the great perhaps was the reason Pudge moved from his home in Florida to Alabama where through his adventurous Journey he came across his next mystery through Alaska, the words of Simon Bolivar, The Labyrinth of life. Simon Bolivar’s last words played an important role till the end of the story where finally Pudge finds the light in the darkness; the moment of enlightment that he was seeking all along! In the end, Pudge finds the meaning of the Great Perhaps. The labyrinth of life has no end.