Looking for Alaska is a young adult book written by, John Green. Looking for Alaska tells a story about a boy named “Miles” who also goes by the name of “Pudge.” Where he navigates through complex life situations of love, friendship, and death. The story takes place at a boarding school in Alabama, called “Culver Creek Preparatory High School.” The controversy in this book is whether Alaska killed herself or was her death an accident. Alaska’s death was a suicide because she was upset about her mother’s death, blamed herself for a death which left her miserable for years, and had been showing suicidal signs. There are a lot of exchanged views on Alaska’s death. However, considering the events in the book, it’s clear that Alaska’s death was a suicide. For example, before Alaska died, she was upset about her mother’s death. She was also under the influence of alcohol, which can make you go through a variety of emotions when you’re grieving. Making you feel waves of sadness enough to want to kill yourself. “She comes back into her room and starts …show more content…
Putting blame on yourself doesn’t feel good, it can make you feel miserable. Like Alaska, she blames herself for a death, which led her to become miserable. Miserable enough to be suicidal. Not only did Alaska become miserable, she missed a tradition involving her mother’s death, which she feels like she owes it to her mother. On top of that, making her feel worse about herself. In Lookin for Alaska, it states, “I tried to talk to her, but she was in a hurry. She told me that her mother was dead eight years that day, and that she always put flowers on her mother’s grave on her anniversary, but she forgot that year.” This quote shows that missing an important date can be very emotional. Especially when it’s a tradition for you, you grow an attachment. Alaska feels heartbroken by this, especially when she feels like her mother’s death is upon
Let’s answer this question point blank: No, Chris McCandless, the ‘adventurer extraordinaire’, was not a suicidal human being. Was that too blunt? Got high off of it? Need explanation? Ok, well here are the reasons why; he knew the risks of taking the perilous journey to go “Into the Wild”, if he wanted to die, he would’ve done it sooner and the friendships that he made with people and his notebook (journal?) were far too strong. Those three reasons are why I think he didn’t end his life.
The whole time he was gone, his family never stopped looking for him and even spent thousands of dollars on a private investigator. McCandless’s mother, Billie McCandless, recalled that “‘Whenever we were out driving and saw a hitchhiker...if he looked anything like Chris, we’d turn around and circle back. It was a terrible time. Night was the worst, especially when it was cold and stormy. You’d wonder, ‘Where is he? Is he warm? Is he hurt? Is he lonely? Is he OK?’”(125) Despite being a bright man, McCandless was lost in a world of his own. He was able to interact with others and sometimes appreciate company, but was so consumed by his search for himself and the “real world” in Alaska that it prevented him from understanding the effect his actions held on
John Green is the author of Looking for Alaska and several other award winning books. He is the number one New York Times bestselling author and specializes in writing for young adult fiction. He wrote similar books to Looking for Alaska such as The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns. In Looking for Alaska I found that the book had a great use of foreshadowing, tone, but I didn’t really like ending of the book. Miles Halter is a new student at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama.
A young man, in his twenties, sets off into the wild completely disregarding his family and his past life and takes on a whole new personality. This perfectly explains Chris McCandless and the journey he initially set out on. He was a young man seeking self-acceptance and peace, and he looked for it in all of the different places that he visited. Visiting these places made Chris more and more hungry for a challenge. He planned on leaving the comfort of a home and setting out into the Alaskan wilderness, where he would eventually die.
-What I learned from Looking for Alaska is that you must move on. Yes, bad things do happen, not everything is rainbow and sunshine. But, you must keep going forward. Don’t ever stop or look back. There are beautiful things ahead of you that are out of sight for now but will be face-to-face one day.
Looking for Alaska starts off with Miles Halter leaving his home town in Florida in search for the Great Perhaps (the last words of Francois Rabelais) at Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama; the same boarding school his father had attended when he was younger. At the beginning of the book Miles is seen as a bit of an outcast with little friends and a weird habit of memorizing people’s last words.
“Alaska was the cure to the disease of my despair.” -Summer Lane. Chris Mcandless, a hiker, knew what he wanted to do with his life. He was living in nature alone away from his family and loved ones.
“You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day..”
Neil Armstrong once said, “Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” John Green’s “Looking For Alaska” follows a teen named Miles who experiences changes in his life since coming to a boarding school. At first, Miles does not know anyone there, but he meets new friends and comes across many changes that finally understand who he is. “Looking For Alaska” consists of a big mystery which will bring Miles closer to finally finding out what his “Great Perhaps” is. Green’s “Looking For Alaska” reveals that we accept what the answer is in the end when we wonder about something but cannot figure it out. John Green implements mystery in many ways, especially in the three main characters: Alaska, Pudge, and the
Reading journal Looking for Alaska John Green Published in 2005 268 pages Chapter one In this chapter John Green introduces the main character, Miles cavalry. Miles lives in Florida and is leaving his school to attend Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama. When he is asked why he says, ‘To seek a greater perhaps’, the last words of the poet Francois Rabelais.
In John Green’s novel Looking for Alaska, Miles Halter is exhausted with his predictable and friendless life so he decides to attend a boarding school in Alabama for his junior year of high school; telling his parents that he is going to seek a Great Perhaps, that there is something more for him. The moment he realizes his place in this world is the most significant scene in the story. The moment Miles grasps the reason behind his friend Alaska’s death is when he perceives his Great Perhaps. Alaska, in an extremely distressed state, abandones her friends one night in a hurry and collides into a car while driving and dies. With so many unanswered questions surrounding her death, Miles begins an investigation to solve the mystery of his friend.
Looking for Alaska is a book ,written by John Green. The main theme of the book is “Looking for the Great Perhaps.” In the first three chapters of the book, the main characters, Miles “Pudge” Halter, Chip “Colonel” Martin, and Alaska Young are introduced. Looking for Alaska is a story about a guy named Miles Halter who recently switched to a boarding in school in Alabama in order to find out who he really is as a person. At the boarding school, Miles becomes very close friends with his roommate, The Colonel, and a girl named Alaska Young. The Colonel is a very confident guy who’s pretty poor in money, but he’s rich in love and appreciation for people. Alaska is a very beautiful, yet strange girl who is fascinated with death and isn't afraid
At this point in the novel, Chip and Pudge are sitting at the lake on the Culver Creek campus and Chip is smoking a cigarette from the pack that Pudge unwillingly bought from Alaska. Being at the beginning of the novel, we know little about the major characters and setting but this passage does a great job of introducing them. I chose this excerpt of Looking for Alaska because it does a great job of introducing the personalities and mindsets of the three major
Have you or do you know anyone who self harms? Or perhaps you knew somebody who committed suicide. Although it is a terrible thing to talk about, put yourself in that persons position. What drove that person to harm them self, or end their life? Suicide and self harm is more serious than any other addiction.
Many live due to the fear of death, many die due to the fear of living. Suicide is the act of ending one’s own life as a result of emotional and spiritual problems. Suicide, to some, is seen as a permanent escape. The Church itself argues against suicide. Life is borrowed and is not for one to just give away, God is the only one who can judge life. Suicide should not be committed because it infringes our relationship with others and ultimately God. Suicide is a selfish act all on its own.