Individual Text Feature: Looking for Alaska

Michelle Milvain

The novel Looking for Alaska by John Green centers on Miles, a teen that is going off to boarding school at the opening of the first chapter. The novel is divided into a “before” section and an “after” section. These sections are eventually revealed to be about Alaska’s death, which is the event that the sections are framing. Miles is a junior in high school, and therefore is assumed to be right around the age of sixteen. His “fun fact” that he would share about himself is that he memorizes people’s last words that they utter before dying. Upon moving into his room at Culver Creek boarding school, Miles quickly meets the people that will become his friend group for the remainder of the school year. His roommate is Chip, although we quickly find out that his nickname is “the Colonel.” The Colonel introduces Miles to Takumi and Alaska, giving Miles the nickname “Pudge” in the process. Miles is immediately entranced by Alaska and her reckless, carefree personality.

Miles, Alaska, and their crew are constantly thinking about “pranks” that they can pull on their classmates and teachers without getting caught, and therefore expelled. They find small ways to break the rules of the school in any way they can, like smoking out by the lake. Miles continues to fall for Alaska, but the feelings are not fully reciprocated as she has a boyfriend who is in college. Alaska sends Miles some mixed signals, however, by kissing him one night after everyone else has gone to bed. Miles falls for her even more when he finds out that Alaska’s mother passed away in front of her when she was eight, due to an aneurysm, which explains a lot of Alaska’s rebellious behavior. The end of the “before” section is marked when Miles and his crew are hanging out and drinking, when Alaska’s boyfriend calls to remind her that it is their anniversary. Alaska freaks out, and despite the fact that she has been drinking heavily, runs to her car to drive to see Jake. Miles and the rest of their friends actually assist Alaska in her escape by creating a diversion with fireworks. This is the night that Alaska wrecks her car and dies.

The “after” section is very much a commentary on the struggles adolescents face, which are compounded in the face of a tragedy such as this one. Miles grapples with loss, guilt, and confusion as he tries to figure out whether or not Alaska’s death was intentional, and whether he could have stopped her from getting in the car in the first place. Miles struggles to keep up with his schoolwork, stops caring about his friends (besides the Colonel) and the rules of the school, and spirals into sadness. He and the Colonel become obsessed with finding out more about Alaska’s death. They go to the scene of the accident, buy a breathalyzer to figure out just how drunk she was that night, and even speak to her boyfriend, Jake, to see if he can provide them with any more information.

When the boys realize they cannot bring Alaska back no matter how hard they search for answers, they decide instead to plan an epic prank in her honor. The prank is a complete success, and they feel as though they have honored Alaska’s memory. Miles finishes the school year, coming to terms with Alaska’s death while grappling with ideas of hope, loss, suffering, and forgiveness, and ultimately accepts that suffering is a part of life. One of the last lines of the book says, “We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken.” (Green, 220) I think this quote embodies the entire central idea of this book. Despite suffering and transitioning in our adolescent lives, we can get through it, because we continue to have hope.

While rereading this book, I found so many possible directions that I could take my essay in when writing on Looking for Alaska. My first thought was, of course, death in adolescent literature because it is such a central theme of the novel. This theme is common in John Green’s novels. Alaska is this idyllic figure that Miles is in awe of throughout the novel, even after her death. This opens up the question as to what her death symbolizes both within the novel itself and Miles’ life. While I most likely will not choose death as my central theme of my paper, I do think I will incorporate it in some way since it is the central event in the novel.

The next theme idea that I want to incorporate into my paper is the idea of the “rebel” in adolescent literature. The “rules” at Culver Creek Boarding School are very similar to those of the institutions that we discussed in class that can be found in so many adolescent literature novels, such as The Chocolate War. Alaska is the main “rebel” figure in this novel, thriving on breaking the rules of the institution. She convinces Miles to become a rebel alongside her, and this opens up a lot of opportunities for discussion. The idea of institutions against adolescents also ties into this idea of a “rebel” figure. Alaska even gets “punished” for her rebellion when she dies after drinking and sneaking off campus to drive to see her boyfriend. However, rather than giving up their “rebellious antics,” the boys Alaska eaves behind are even more motivated in wanting to pull a massive prank in her honor. This rebellious act engages the whole school and honors the memory of the rebel. Is this a positive message for the rebel adolescents, then? I would be interested in exploring a little more into John Green’s reasoning behind this “death as punishment” idea because I do not believe that he is actually trying to scare adolescents into being “well-behaved,” since his books highlight and do not diminish the complex feelings that adolescents experience.

Perhaps John Green’s novel is meant to point a finger at those trying to shame teens and belittle their struggles as they navigate their paths towards adulthood? I definitely plan on doing some more research into that subject. There is so much depth to this book, and I find something new every time I reread it. I look forward to diving even further into its themes and finding out even more about one of my favorite novels of all time.