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.
Miles arrives at Culver Creek and soon meets his new roommate, Chip Martin “the Colonel”, a short guy who has a hate for all the rich kids at the school and has a habit of memorizing countries. The Colonel ironically nicknames Miles “Pudge” because of how tall and skinny he is. That same day, the Colonel introduces Miles to a very attractive yet emotionally unstable girl down the hall: Alaska Young. Alaska is gorgeous, funny, smart, and incredibly destructive. Miles is fascinated with her the moment they meet. Miles is also introduced to Takumi, a thin Japanese guy who is just a little bit taller than the Colonel.
The Colonel doesn’t just introduce Miles to his friends, but also to cigarettes, alcohol, and pranks, something Miles had never been too familiar with. That first day at Culver Creek, Alaska tells Miles about the last words of Simon Bolivar, “Damn it. How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!” They both don’t know what exactly the labyrinth is and so they decide to make a deal: If Miles finds out what the labyrinth is then Alaska will get him laid.
That first night at the school, Miles is taken from his bed, duct-taped, and thrown in the lake near the school by a group of weekday warriors. Weekday warriors are what they all call the rich kids at Culver Creek. Miles gets out of the lake drenched and in just his box...
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... at the back of the book, under the line about getting out of the labyrinth. “Damn it. How do I get out of this labyrinth!” Straight & fast she wrote. That was the way out. Later they find out that Alaska’s death was one day after her mother’s, and then they think that that was really the only way out there was for Alaska: straight and fast right into the police car.
Throughout the book Miles’ character grows greatly. He starts out as a boring and friendless boy, but grows into someone who makes great friends and memories to cherish. Alaska’s death doesn’t make him believe any less in the Great Perhaps, because not believing would mean giving up, and he saw how that ended with Alaska. Miles realizes that their letting Alaska go doesn't matter as much anymore. He forgives her for leaving drunk that night just as he knows that she forgives him for letting her go.
... through her hug, squeezing the life out of him because of her own fears of the supposed ghosts. Miles response is so ambiguous it leaves the reader with only theories with no way of knowing for a fact what really happened.
As a way of celebrating Alaska's life, Miles and the Colonel, with Takumi and Lara, plan the most epic prank ever seen by Culver Creek Boarding School that involves a class speaker and at the same time a stripper, who happens to be Miles' father. Everyone finds it hilarious that Mr. Starnes even acknowledges how clever it was. Pudge finds Alaska's copy of ”The General in His Labyrinth” with the labyrinth quote underlined and notices the words "straight and fast" written in the margins. He then remembers Alaska died on the morning after her mother's death anniversary and thought that Alaska felt guilty for not visiting her mother's grave. In her hysteresis, she might have been trying to reach the cemetery or might have committed suicide out
Alaska’s death causes a main turning point in the book because she impacted so many people. She was the person who Pudge fell in love with, she was the Colonel and Takumi’s best friend, and the was the “cool girl” at Culver Creek. Some of the things Alaska said gave the friends a hint that she didn’t care to die. For example Alaska says this talking about why they smoke cigarettes, “Ya’ll smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die.” This showed that Alaska didn’t care if she died from smoking cigarettes. Everyone was wondering why she had said this but she blatantly told them she didn’t care if she
In John Green’s “ Looking for Alaska,” One of the students attend Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama, is Chip Martin or a.k.a The Colonel. Chip is a young adult who loves to break rules and do whatever it is that he wants to do with his life. But, he also is a compassionate person ,who takes others feeling and requests into consideration. Even though he left to have Thanksgiving with his mom, when Alaska and Miles are left by themselves at the Creek during the holiday, Chip comes back and is” instructed to invite you to Thanksgiving dinner at Chez Martin,” to Alaska and Miles. The reader can see that Chip is teenager who never leaves his friends hanging. He had come back to the Creek to enjoy Thanksgiving with his friends by inviting
Miles Halter demonstrates to the reader in the beginning of the novel his obliviousness and how he sees the world through the eyes of a child. As miles is attempting to develop his personality and also embarrasses himself and displays the meaning of being immature. Miles shows distinctive characteristics of immaturity, childishness, and doesn't really know how to proceed with himself. When Miles move to Culver creek the first thing on his mind was to impress or to show out, and also make a good first impression. As miles is trying to adjust to his new school. To follow his ‘great perhaps’. Pudge’s experience is very overwhelming and he is also very clumsy for example he walked out the shower naked when he first met his roommate. “Great.[...] I’m meeting my roommate naked” (Green 9). As shown, Pudge struggles to fit in and as demonstrated it shows his efforts to fit in. Not only does Pudge give off the wrong he impress it shows that ultimately maturity comes with embarrassing mistakes. Mile’s embarrassment overwhelms him and is the reason being why he tries hard to fit in and make choices that could subsequently be the reason why he smokes and
Some could say that Looking for Alaska is book that is hard to get into, but once the novel is started, it is hard to put down. The antics of Miles and his friends pranking people are amusing. Alaska was a fun creative character that was easy to fall in love with. The bonding after Alaska’s death between Chip and Miles is touching. This bonding leads to a friendship that will prove the test of time. John Green makes this novel
”(44) Alaska says to Miles and his new group of friends. Even though Alaska is very open with him and tells him most things about her, and her life that she thinks people need to know, she is always vague on every subject. Continuously throughout the book Alaska repeats, “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.
Imagine you are sitting at home. You just finished the fantastic, award winning novel, Looking For Alaska, and are dying to read another story written by John Green. You gaze upon Paper Towns, you read it, and feel like you just finished Looking a For Alaska again. Have you ever wanted to choose a book written by your favorite author, but find out it is the same plot and idea as a book you have already read! This is a problem that many readers find with authors. He isn't the only one, but he is very popular currently. This paper is not specifying that John Green is a bad author, but that two of his books are very similar. The book Paper Towns is a copy of the book Looking For Alaska.
In the book, “Looking for Alaska”, you are presented with one of the main characters in the first paragraph, Miles Halter. Miles is a not- so- popular kid from Florida, who has a strange obsession with knowing famous last words. His home life was lacking excitement, before moving to Florida, and he realizes that he craves the unknown. Miles was accepted into Culver Creek boarding school in Alabama, his parents insisted on throwing him a going away party with the friends he never had. After the final Friday came, packing was done, Miles, his mom and dad waited for the guests to arrive. Two people attend the party who were greatly insignificant in his life, and questioned why he was going to boarding school. His answer: Francois Rabelais. He
A few chapters later, the book consumes every spare minute of the readerof as the storyline gets better and better with each chapter. The childish antics of Miles and his friends are comical and entertaining. Alaska was an innovated and amusing character that was easy to fall in love with. The tender bonding between Chip and Miles, after Alaska's death is poignant and heartwarming. This tragedy leads two teens into a friendship that will prove the test of time. Each chapter in John Green's novel captures the excitement, happiness, affection, bonding, and even the sadness of the storyline and characters. The reader cannot help but fall in love with this
Alaska has many hidden secrets that have yet to be discovered. The unique state has a history that very few states can match. Many people risked their lives to set foot on the land in the past, where they thought they might find gold and live a life of prosperity. Today, people are still traveling there to see the wonders that Alaska holds. According to the three documents, the commonalities between the three research pieces is that the unique, treacherous state called Alaska was difficult to explore in the past, and still difficult to explore today.
How will Alaska Young escape her labyrinth? Looking for Alaska, by John Green, writes a young adult realistic fiction novel accompanied with romance, death, grief, and loss. Green encompasses different themes throughout the novel. The most important theme Green embodies in Looking for Alaska is death. Looking for Alaska takes place on campus at Culver Creek Preparatory High School located in Birmingham, Alabama. Miles “Pudge” Halter moves to Culver Creek Boarding School in hopes of finding the “Great Perhaps.” Pudge is pulled into Alaska Young’s world, she hurls him into the Great Perhaps, and makes him fall in love with her. This succeeding review of Looking for Alaska will incorporate an observation of one of the main characters Alaska Young and the following theme death.
Mile's affections grow for Alaska as the novel progresses, but unfortunately for him, she is dating a college student and he lacks the confidence to approach her with his affections. It does not take long for the trio to quickly become close friends, Chip and Alaska are the only real and adventureous friends Miles has ever had.
They were running out of times, the aliens seemed to have super speed and caught up to the team real fast. As soon as they knew it, they were surrounded by the aliens. They all sat there thinking what to do next, but for miles, he was thinking of something different. Miles started thinking back to his childhood because of what was going on in the moment. He remembered back to when his dad was still around and how much of a bad person he was. The fear that Miles was facing in that moment was the same fear he felt when he was younger. He hates when this stuff happens because it really messes with his head.
The main theme in the book is friendship, because Miles, Alaska, and Chip rely on each other constantly to be there. "But we will deal with those bastards, Pudge. I promise you. They will regret messing with one of my friends.” “And if the Colonel thought that calling me his friend would make me stand by him, well, he was right.” (Green 127) They all entered one another’s lives at the perfect time, they needed one another. Miles encountered many different situations throughout the book where he had to make decisions. Alaska and Miles chose to follow the Great Perhaps, and when reading the book you get to see where that leads them. The amount of love that John Green connected the characters together with is impeccable, it makes you want that kind of relationship within your friend group. Miles would do anything for Alaska, he craved her attention. The colonel and Miles created a brotherly bond, from the time they first met till now, where they couldn’t bare to live without each other. The book may end in a tragedy but the combinations of love, friendship, and selflessness will keep you from putting the book