Looking for Alaska

John Green

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2005

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-25

Chapters 26-30

Chapters 31-35

Chapters 36-40

Chapters 41-45

Chapters 46-50

Chapters 51-55

Chapters 56-58

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Guilt and Forgiveness

After puzzling over Alaska’s behavior for the earlier part of the novel, Miles and his friends learn that her moodiness and emotional outbursts stem from guilt. This is revealed during the best day/worst day game, when Alaska refers to the worst day of her life as the day that her mother died of an aneurysm. Alaska was eight years old at the time and was paralyzed with fear upon witnessing her mother’s collapse, which was why she did not call 911. Instead, she sat next to her mother’s body until her father arrived home and made a futile attempt at resuscitation.

Not only was this a tragic loss, Alaska feels guilty for not calling for an ambulance, and she suspects that her father blamed her to some extent, at least initially. Her friends try to comfort her but there is little that they can say, and Alaska regards her guilt as a heavy load that she has to carry for the rest of her life. As Miles reflects, this new information also frames some of her previous comments in a new light. For instance, when Alaska said that her mother no longer smokes, Miles thought little of this remark but now realizes that it carries a weightier, morbid significance. Likewise, Alaska’s aversion to going home and her cryptic remarks about family, become more understandable following her revelation.

Alaska’s guilt is compounded when she realizes that she has forgotten the anniversary of her mother’s death. This prompts her hysterical insistence that she needs to leave, with Miles and the Colonel ultimately agreeing to distract the Eagle so that she can drive away. This proves to be a bad decision, as Alaska dies in a car crash on the way to her destination. Miles and his friends fail to learn for certain whether her death was accidental or whether she had committed suicide, but they deduce that her plan had been to put flowers on her mother’s grave.

Letting Alaska drive away while drunk and hysterical leaves Miles and the Colonel with their own burden of guilt. In addition, Takumi feels guilty for having failed to help Alaska when she reached out to him on the night of her death. Ultimately, however, Miles embraces forgiveness, having concluded that this is the key to escaping the labyrinth. Where actions cannot be undone, the only options are to forgive or to endure a life of suffering, guilt, and blame. Miles knows that he and his friends will have to live with their actions but he does not want to go down the same route as Alaska, who let guilt destroy her. He subsequently concludes that forgiving both oneself and others is essential if one is to move on from tragedy.

Friendship and Loyalty

Miles has few friends before moving to Culver Creek, and his going away party is a washout. This is disappointing to his mother, but Miles himself did not expect it to be otherwise. He has no illusions about his life or his popularity, and, as he later reveals in the best/worst day game, he stopped caring about such matters in the 7th grade after another student urinated over his gym clothes and he struggled in vain to explain to the teacher what had happened. Due to a combination of embarrassment and inarticulacy, Miles could not express himself, while the teacher merely yelled at him to put on his kit or fail the class. He was therefore forced to wear the soiled garments, and he remembers this as the day when he stopped caring about not having friends and being perceived as a loser.

As a result, Miles is not upset or surprised about his lackluster going away party. However, this apathetic outlook only applies to his life in Florida: his whole reason for moving to Culver Creek is the hope that things will be different. He longs to have friends and take part in adventures, and he looks to this new life as one of potential, or, as he puts it, the “Great Perhaps.”

Miles is lucky in that, after arriving at Culver Creek, he hits it off with his roommate. The Colonel not only acts as a helpful guide but helps Miles establish himself as part of a close-knit friendship group. The Colonel initially laughs about the initiation prank that the Weekday Warriors play on Miles, but he becomes fiercely loyal and set on revenge when he learns that this prank put Miles in genuine danger. As we see throughout the novel, loyalty is something that the Colonel regards as paramount, and friends do not rat one another out at Culver Creek, which is why Alaska’s disloyalty towards Marya goes unseen by everyone other than Takumi.

As he settles in at school, Miles lives out his dream of taking part in pranks and adventures, and he often joins his friends at the Smoking Hole where they drink, smoke, and talk. The game of best day/worst day initiated by Alaska proves to be a particularly significant experience, as this does not merely entail idle chitchat or lighthearted matters: Miles and his friends discuss some of the most pivotal, emotional moments in their lives, and we thus perceive the closeness and trust between them.

The friendship group becomes fragmented in the wake of Alaska’s death, with Miles and the Colonel avoiding Takumi and Lara. On the one hand, Miles and the Colonel are united by their shared guilt. Having to lie to the other students is a strain, and they can only speak truthfully with each other. However, their grief, guilt, and different attitudes towards the investigation cause antagonism and friction. Meanwhile, Takumi and Lara feel neglected. When Takumi broaches this topic, Miles realizes that he and the Colonel were not the only ones who cared about Alaska. Speaking with Lara likewise makes him aware that she has lost a friend and that his aloofness has compounded her grief.

Miles and his friends consequently reestablish their bond, which is strengthened by their shared loss and affection for Alaska. The connection between Miles and the Colonel is also emphasized when they travel to the site where Alaska died. Not only does Miles find that they have experienced the same “strange” (213) feelings regarding Alaska’s death, they both feel highly emotional after having passed by the crash site. Their tearful embrace constitutes an outpouring of both grief and gratitude to be alive. Whether or not they appear silly to onlookers is irrelevant as they share this experience.

Religion and Philosophy

After arriving at Culver Creek, Miles takes a particular interest in the World Religions class. He had no prior interest in this topic, but he thinks the teacher, Dr. Hyde, is a genius and credits him for its newfound appeal.

This class prompts both Miles and the other students to engage with the big questions concerning existence, and Miles selects one such question as his exam topic; namely, what happens after we die. Miles initially struggles to answer this question, turning to vague responses such as “something. Maybe” (78), and he goes on to conclude that belief in the afterlife is driven by fear. After Alaska’s death, for instance, he imagines her as nothing but a corpse and struggles to believe that she still exists. However, while he experiences moments of doubt, he arrives at a different outlook by the novel’s end. Taking a cue from Buddhism, he comes to believe that energy can never be destroyed. Its outer forms may change and decay, but energy always lives on. People often rebuke teenagers for thinking that they are invincible, but Miles believes that, in this sense, we are all invincible.

Miles had previously taken an interest in Buddhism during class, as evidenced when he found himself musing on the concept of interconnectedness as it relates to the natural landscape. While these musings were related to the topic under discussion, Dr. Hyde censured him for his lapse in concentration and emphasized another key Buddhist concept: the need to be fully present in every moment of one’s life. This is something that Miles is made acutely conscious of when he and the Colonel drive past the site of Alaska’s death, subsequently hugging each other and sobbing. At that moment, they both feel an overwhelming sense of being alive and present.

When the investigation into Alaska’s death stalls the Colonel is inclined to give up, whereas Miles continues to hope for a moment of enlightenment. By the novel’s conclusion, he too has accepted that they will never know whether Alaska’s death was accidental or not, but he has found a sense of inner peace and has arrived at an answer to both his own essay question and Alaska’s.

Having wrestled with the topic of the labyrinth earlier in the novel, Alaska had concluded that the labyrinth is suffering; hence her question, “How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?” (158). She is correct in remarking that suffering is universal, with her own life being blighted by her feelings of guilt. The Colonel likewise associates life with suffering, but, unlike Alaska, he refrains from taking the “straight & fast” way out. Miles, however, further demonstrates his changed perspective by regarding forgiveness as the only means of escape.

Ultimately, each individual has their own response to Alaska’s question, which is why Dr. Hyde leaves it written on the blackboard for the rest of the semester. Dr. Hyde also observes that the question seems more directly relevant to the students after Alaska’s death. Some of the topics discussed in class may have seemed abstract to them prior to this point, but, having lost a friend and classmate, questions regarding life, death, and suffering are now at the forefront of their minds. The enduring presence of Alaska’s question therefore provides food for thought—not only for the characters but for readers, too.