A Critical Analysis for

“Looking for Alaska”

By John Green

As a Final Requirement for

EL 117: LITERARY CRITICISM

Submitted by: Trishea Amor D. Cabatuan

Submitted on: July 2, 2021

Submitted to: Ms. Grace E. Andoyo, LPT

 A. Authorship
I. Background of the Author

a. Personal Background

Green lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with his wife,

Sarah Urist Green, whom he married on May 21, 2006. She
worked as the Curator of Contemporary Art at Indianapolis
Museum of Art before leaving to start The Art Assignment,
a web series with PBS. In videos on the VlogBrothers
channel, Sarah Green is referred to as "the Yeti" due to her
not appearing visibly on camera. She made an appearance
on YouTube in a Google Hangout video chat with President
Obama, during which she and her husband asked the President whether they
should name their unborn daughter Eleanor or Alice. Green endorsed Joe
Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election and criticized Donald
Trump on his policies.

Green has stated that he is an Episcopalian Christian, but mentioned in the

tenth episode of his podcast, Dear Hank & John, that he was married in a
Catholic church. He has been an advocate for refugees, stating that "for those
of you who share my faith, Jesus is awfully unambiguous about the poor,
shelterless, and imprisoned". Green has obsessive-compulsive disorder and
has discussed his struggles with mental illness extensively on YouTube.

b. Education

John Michael Green was born on August 24, 1977, to Mike and Sydney
Green in Indianapolis. He received his early education from Lake Highland
Preparatory School and Indian Springs School. His experience of school was
similar to other social outcasts who get bullied by arrogant people. He earned
double graduation degrees in English and Religious Studies from Kenyon
College. He worked as a student chaplain after graduation in a children’s
hospital. His initial aim was to become an Episcopal priest. However, the time
he spent among children with terminal-illness stimulated him to become a writer.
Afterwards, he worked as a publishing assistant for Booklist, a book review
journal. Green wrote numerous reviews on literary fictions mostly concerning
conjoined twins or religion of Islam.
 c. Citations and Awards

In 2006, Green won his first Michael L. Printz Award for his book; Looking
for Alaska. In the following year-2007- he was also nominated for winning
another Michal L. Printz Award for his book, An Abundance Of Katherine’s.

In the years later, Green was ambushed with awards for his new released
novels. In 2009, he won an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Paper Towns, as it being
the best young adult novel. In 2010, he received a Corine Literature Prize for
Paper Towns, too.

Two years later in 2012, John attained the Indiana Authors Award, in the
category of 'National Author Award'! In 2013, he won two great awards, in the
Children's Choice Book Awards and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for his
best-selling book, The Fault In Our Stars. Finally, in 2014, he won a Visionary
Award in the MTVU Fandom Awards.

II. Works published

 The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
(2021)
 Turtles All the Way Down (2017)
 The Fault in Our Stars (2012)
 Will Grayson, Will Grayson – with David Levithan (2010)
 Paper Towns (2008)
 Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances – with Maureen Johnson and
Lauren Myracle (2008)
 An Abundance of Katherines (2006)
 Looking for Alaska (2005)

III. Background of the chosen piece for book review

Everybody has a talent. Miles Halter’s is knowing the last words of a lot of
different people—people like the author Rabelais, whose enigmatic last words
“I go to seek a Great Perhaps” inspire the sixteen- year-old to leave his family
home in Florida and enroll in Culver Creek, a co-ed boarding school in Alabama.

There he makes a new circle of friends: his roommate Chip, a scholarship

student whom everyone calls “The Colonel;” Takumi, a slyly funny Japanese-
American rap- per; and sweet-spirited, Romanian-born Lara, who has trouble
pronouncing the letter “i.” But most importantly he meets Alaska, a beautiful girl
who “had eyes that predisposed you to supporting her every endeavor.” Miles
quickly falls in love with this reckless, quirky, endlessly intriguing girl.

An omnivorous reader, Alaska introduces him to a new set of last words —

those of South American liberator Simón Bolivar — that pose an intriguing
question, “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?” It’s a question that takes on
a deeper, more poignant resonance when an unthinkable tragedy invites Miles
to examine the meanings of life . . . and death.

Reference:

https://www.famousauthors.org/john-green
 B. SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTERS

BEFORE
Chapter 1 - One hundred thirty-six days before

In the first chapter, Miles Halter is introduced as the main character. Miles
is leaving his home and his parents in Florida to attend a boarding school in
Alabama. His mother throws him a going away party. Miles does not expect
anybody to show up to this party. Two people from his school show up, Marie
and Will, but Miles does not feel in any way excited about this. It is revealed
that Miles does not excel at small talk or socializing with others. His father and
his uncles have attended Culver Creek, the boarding school he is going to
attend, so this is family related. Miles mentions François Rabelais, a poet,
whose last words were “I go to seek a Great Perhaps”. This affects Miles in a
way he cannot understand.

Chapter 2 - One hundred twenty-eight days before

Miles arrives at his destination at Culver Creek, where it is much hotter than
he anticipated and that he was used to back in Florida. He says goodbye to his
parents and gets settled into his new dorm room, room 43. Miles describes his
room, which contains no air conditioning and a very small shower. He meets
his new roommate, who introduces himself as Chip Martin. Chip makes Miles
understand that his nickname is the Colonel and should therefor call him that
from now on, and the Colonel gives the nickname “Pudge” to Miles. Chip
introduces Miles to Alaska Young, who lives in room 48, and who provides
cigarettes. Miles is immediately attracted to her. Miles tries his first cigarette
and hates it. The Colonel and Alaska inform Miles about the main rule at Culver
Creek: to not snitch. They also inform him about the Eagle, who is the dean of
students and disciplines the students.

Chapter 3 - One hundred twenty-seven days before

Miles becomes increasingly interested with Alaska and is constantly asking the
Colonel questions about her and her background. The Colonel introduces Miles
to his friend Takumi. In the middle of that night, Miles gets kidnapped by a group
that the Colonel refers to as the “weekend warriors”, because they are wealthy
kids who can afford to go home on the weekends. They take Miles and tie him
up, and they tell him they’re doing this because he hangs out with the Colonel,
and they dump him into the lake. Miles eventually gets out, and gets back to his
room. When Miles tells the Colonel what happened, the Colonel gets extremely
angry because this is usually what they do to newcomers, but they have never
tied them up. The Colonel is aware that Miles could have died and promises to
seek revenge upon them.

Chapter 4 - One hundred twenty-six days before

This chapter begins with the first day of classes at Culver Creek. Miles
attends his French class, his world religions class and his biology class. Miles
especially enjoys his world religions class because of the teacher, Dr. Hyde,
who seems very intriguing to him.

Chapter 5- One hundred twenty-two days before

The Colonel’s girlfriend, Sara, comes to the dorm room to pick up the
Colonel to go to the opera with her parents. Sara gets angry with the Colonel
because his shirt isn’t ironed and she ends up storming out and leaving the
Colonel behind. Sara calls the Colonel briefly after and tells him that the
weekend warriors believe he ratted out a couple, Paul and Marya, who got
kicked out last year for drinking and smoking. The Colonel gets angry because
he can’t believe Sara would believe that, but gets over the situation after a few
minutes and a few drinks. The Colonel mixes vodka with his milk to ensure the
Eagle can never find it.

Chapter 6 - One hundred ten days before

Miles gets distracted by looking outside the window in Dr. Hyde’s class, and
gets kicked out for not paying attention. Alaska gets kicked out also for pointing
out how ridiculous the reasoning was. Miles is very upset because he does not
want to make a bad impression upon Dr. Hyde. After this event, Miles, Takumi,
the Colonel and Alaska head down to the forest to smoke cigarettes.

Chapter 7 - One hundred nine days before

Miles and the Colonel attend the first basketball game of the season at
Culver Creek. Miles expresses about how deeply he hates everything about
sports. The weekend warriors try to make truce with Miles and the Colonel by
explaining they pulled the prank on Miles as revenge for the Colonel snitching.
Since the Colonel didn’t snitch, they decide to deny their truce. The Colonel still
wants revenge. The Colonel explains to Miles how he has managed to get
kicked out of every basketball game since he’s been at the school, because of
his behavior and attempts to distract the visitor team.
 Chapter 8 - One hundred eight days before

Dr. Hype approaches Miles to let him know that he needs to pay attention
to the class because he can tell that he enjoys the class, but has to stay
focused.

Chapter 9 - One hundred one days before

Miles goes with Alaska, in her car, with a few other people to McDonalds in
order to study for their upcoming precalc test. A sophomore, Lara, a girl from
Russia, ends up sitting on Miles’ lap. Miles is somewhat attracted to her. The
group spend the afternoon studying together.

Chapter 10 - One hundred days before

Miles spends some time alone with Alaska and decides to ask her about
her first name. Alaska explains that her parents could not agree on a name, so
they decided to let her choose her own name when she is old enough to do so.
She explained that she choose the name at the time because Alaska was a big
place, and it was far from Alabama, like she wanted to be. She later explains
that she loves the meaning of the word Alaska which means “that which the sea
breaks against”. Miles becomes increasingly fond of Alaska after spending time
alone with her.

Chapter 11- Nine-nine days before

Miles, Alaska, Takumi and the Colonel go out by the lake to smoke. After
hearing some noises in the bush, the Eagle comes out and catches them
smoking. At Culver Creek, this is an offense and the Eagle lets them know that
they need to show up at Jury tomorrow, where their punishment will be
decided.

Chapter 12 - Ninety-eight days before

Miles explains what exactly the jury is. The Jury is a group of 12 students
elected by the faculty who decide the consequences for non-expellable
offenses, like smoking. The Eagle serves as the judge and could overturn the
decisions made by the Jury. The Colonel, Alaska, Takumi and Miles show up
the Jury and Alaska and the Colonel end up taking the blame, and stating that
Miles and Takumi were only witnesses. Alaska and the Colonel end up getting
10 hours of community work.
 Chapter 13 - Eighty-nine days before

Alaska lets Miles know that she is going to try and set him up with Lara, the
Russian girl. Alaska tells Miles that they are going on a triple date on Friday:
him and Lara, Alaska and her boyfriend Jake, The Colonel and Sara, and
Takumi who will be tagging along.

Chapter 14 - Eighty-seven days before

During the triple date, with Takumi tagging along, the group go to the gym
to watch one of the basketball games. The date was going well until Miles get
hit in the face by the basketball and ends up with a concussion. Miles then
proceeded to sit back down beside Lara, and puke all over her lap. Miles is very
embarrassed about this, and returns to his dorm after going to see the nurse.
Miles gets some rest, and the Colonel tells him about how Sara dumped him.

Chapter 15 - Eighty-four days before

A rain storm starts and doesn’t stop for a few days. Miles decides it is best
to avoid Lara to save himself the embarrassment. Miles tries to speak to Alaska,
but she acts very cold and condescending towards him.

Chapter 16 - Seventy-six days before

Dr. Hyde gives the student their essay topic for their exam, which is “What
is the most important question human beings must answer? Choose your
question wisely, and then examine how Islam, Buddhism and Christianity
attempt to answer it.” Alaska informs Miles and the Colonel that the weekend
warriors have played a prank on her that ended up flooding her entire room and
ruining most of her stuff.

Chapter 17 - Sixty-seven days before

Miles spends some time with Takumi. Eventually, Takumi admits to Miles
that Alaska is the one who snitched on Paul and Marya. Alaska had done
something that could have sent her home, but the Eagle asks her for any
information she had in order to stay at the boarding school, so she ratted them
out. Miles definitely did not except Alaska to ever be a snitch, but understands
the situation.
 Chapter 18- Fifty-eight days before

Alaska tries to convince Miles to stay behind at Culver Creek during

Thanksgiving. Alaska is one of the only students who stays back during the
holidays because she does not want to go home. Miles doesn’t exactly
understand why, but he decides he wants to stay with her, even though he is
feeling a bit homesick.

Chapter 19 - Fifty-two days before

While everybody has gone home for Thanksgiving, Alaska and Miles spend
time alone, and the first night they read and drink together under the stars. Miles
feels tipsy for the first time in his life. He cannot stop thinking of how beautiful
Alaska is and how badly he wants her.

Chapter 20 - Fifty-one days before

Miles and Alaska spend the next day trying to find ways to prank the
weekend warriors while everyone is away. Alaska comes up with a plan to put
blue industrial strength hair dye in their hair products while they’re away.

Chapter 21 - Forty-nine days before

Miles and Alaska spend the next day of their vacation raiding other
students’ dorm rooms and finding their secret stashes of alcohol, cigarettes and
other things. Alaska speaks openly to Miles about how degrading porn is
towards women, making them seem like objects. Alaska then proceeds to lay
down across Miles, and this makes him fall even more for her.

Chapter 22 - Forty-seven days before

The Colonel comes back to Culver Creek to bring Alaska and Miles back home
with him for Thanksgiving. He says his mother could not bear the thought of
having two of the Colonel’s close friends staying behind for Thanksgiving. They
drive two hours together and eventually get his home, which is a trailer. The
Colonel and his mother, Dolores are very poor and it is evident to Miles because
of their lifestyle. Miles is overly happy because he gets to share a bed with
Alaska, although nothing happens between them.
 Chapter 23- Forty-six days before

Miles, Alaska, the Colonel and Dolores share Thanksgiving dinner together.
According to Miles, it is the best Thanksgiving food he has ever had. All four of
them mention what they are grateful for, and then the Colonel drives Alaska and
Miles back to Culver Creek.

Chapter 24- Forty-four days before

Alaska heads to a store, Coosa Liquors, where she flirts with the clerk and
he lets her buy alcohol and cigarettes. She buys three cartons of cigarettes, five
bottles of wine and a fifth of vodka for the Colonel. Later on in the day, Alaska
shows up to Miles’ dorm room, and she is a crying mess. Alaska explains to
Miles that she told the Colonel about snitching on Marya and Paul, and the
Colonel told her he couldn’t trust her on her own ever again. Alaska also tells
Miles that she somehow manages to screw everything up, but Miles can’t figure
out exactly what she is referring to.

Chapter 25 - Christmas

Miles goes back home for Christmas and spends quality time with his parents.
He spends most of the two weeks studying for exams coming up, but he also
realizes how much he missed his parents and how much they truly care about
him.

Chapter 26 - Eight days before

Everybody comes back to Culver Creek after Christmas break, and Alaska
tells Miles and the Colonel that she thinks it is necessary to have a pre-prank
on the weekend warriors. The pre-prank is designed to lull the administration
into a false sense of security. Alaska tell the Colonel that he will help her figure
a prank out, and Miles feels angry because he feels like he is being excluded.

Chapter 27 - Four days before

The Colonel and Alaska spend a lot of time preparing the pre-prank, and
excluding Miles. The only things Miles knew about the pre-prank is that it would
be called “The Barn”, and that when they are ready for it, he should pack for
two days. Miles spends the extra time he has working on his religion exam, and
trying to find out the answer for it.
 Chapter 28- Three days before

Miles, Takumi and the Colonel go see the Eagle in order to tell him they will
be at the Colonel’s trailer this weekend, so that they could execute the pre-
prank without the Eagle being able to accuse them. Alaska tells the Eagle she’s
going to see Jake, and Lara tells him she’s meeting with an old friend in Atlanta.
The pre-prank is to light fireworks so that the Eagle comes out to find out who
is doing it, and while this happens, the Colonel breaks into the faculty computer
network to send out letters to the weekend warrior’s families to tell them they’re
failing classes. The plan goes well, and the Eagle chases after Miles and
Takumi, but does not catch or see them. The Colonel sends out twenty letters
to the parents about the failing grades, and the group of them go back to the
barn, where they set up their sleeping bags, and drink wine.

Chapter 29 - Two days before

The next day, the Colonel, Takumi, Miles, Alaska and Lara spend their time
drinking and just talking. They end up playing a drinking game, where everyone
shares their best day ever, and their worse day ever. The person who wins
doesn’t have to drink. The Colonel wins the best day ever because he explains
how his best day will be when he buys his mother a house. However, for the
worst day ever, Alaska wins it because she finally explains how she found her
mother laying on the floor dying, and Alaska froze and sat beside her, thinking
her mother had only fallen asleep after she had stopped moving. When her
father came home, he got mad at her, because her mother was dead and she
was in shock, and hadn’t had called 911.

Chapter 30 - One day before

The five of them go back to Culver Creek, in separate groups, and the Eagle
doesn’t suspect a thing. Miles spends most of his day sleeping, because he is
hangover.

Chapter 31 - The last day

The next day was the beginning of the new semester. Miles and Lara spend
some time together and get to second base. That night, Alaska comes to Miles
and the Colonel’s room, to have drinks in order to celebrate the success of their
pre-prank. Alaska and the Colonel get very drunk, and they end up playing truth
or dare. Somehow, Alaska ends up making out with Miles. Alaska states that
she’s tired to Miles, and tells him that this will be continued later. She falls
asleep instantly, and Miles tells her he loves her. Alaska wakes up abruptly later
on, screaming, sobbing and crying, and tells Miles and the Colonel that she
forgot about something, and she tells them to get rid of the Eagle for her so she
can leave. They light up fireworks in the forest to distract the Eagle from hearing
Alaska drive away, and Alaska drives away, drunk and crying.

AFTER
Chapter 32- The day after

The next morning, everyone is called to the gym for an assembly. Miles tells
the Eagle to wait for Alaska to start, but the Eagle does not listen. Eventually,
the Eagle explains to everybody that Alaska has gotten into an accident last
night and has passed away. Miles runs out of the gym, and starts throwing up,
thinking it was completely his fault for letting her go the night before. He is in
denial about her death, and does not think it can be true. The Eagle explains to
Miles that the death was instant, that she hit a cruiser without even swerving,
she drove right into it. The Colonel and Miles hug and comfort each other, and
keep saying how sorry they are to one another.

Chapter 33- Two days after

Miles feels paralyzed and is unable to sleep after this. Miles and the Colonel
discuss their anger and how they feel as though they should have stopped her
from leaving that night. The funeral will be the next day, and Miles has a
nightmare about Alaska that night.

Chapter 34- Four days after

Miles and the Colonel discuss how hard it was to read Alaska’s thoughts
and feelings, and that it’s going to be impossible to try and understand what
happened in her head that night.

Chapter 35 - Six days after

Lara, the Colonel, Takumi and Miles head out to Alaska’s hometown, Vine
Station for the funeral. Miles has a breakdown and confesses to the Colonel
how much he loved Alaska. Miles meets Alaska’s father for the first time, and
he explains that she has a closed casket because at her mother’s funeral, it
was open casket and Alaska made her dad promise to never let her have an
open casket funeral.
 Chapter 36 - Seven days after
Miles is not able to do much after Alaska’s death. The Eagle lets the Colonel
know that Alaska’s aunt is coming by her dorm to pick her up her stuff, so Miles
and he should clean it out first if there are things she wouldn’t want her family
to find. Miles takes a book she had left in her room, named The General in His
Labyrinth. In this book, beside the quote “How will I ever get out of this
labyrinth!” Alaska wrote “straight and fast.” Miles and the Colonel try to dissect
this new information by applying it to Alaska driving straight and fast into the
cruiser that night.
Chapter 37 - Eight days after

On the first day of the new semester, Dr. Hyde tells the class that their essay
question for this semester will be the question that Alaska had written about in
her final exam for the previous semester: “How will we ever get out of this
labyrinth of suffering?”

Chapter 38 - Nine days after

The Colonel comes up with a new theory regarding Alaska’s death. He

explains to Miles that it was Jake that called her on the pay phone, they got in
a fight, and she drove off extremely angry. She then proceeds to kill herself by
going straight into the cruiser because she’s so upset. The Colonel proposes
that he should call Jake to find out if she had called him that night, but Miles
wants nothing to do with him.

Chapter 39 - Thirteen days after

Miles and the Colonel decide to walk to Pelham Police Department in

search for witnesses of that night. The officer who was a witness explains to
them that he got out of his cruiser once he saw the car coming straight ahead,
and he says he’s never seen anything like it, because she didn’t step on brake
or swerve. The officer also tells them there were white tulips at the back of her
car, and Miles and the Colonel know that those tulips were a gift from Jake.

Chapter 40 - Fourteen days after

Miles and the Colonel try to find signs in the past that Alaska could have
been suicidal. They don’t find anything, except that she had been drinking
excessively and that she had lost her mother. They try to find answers, but soon
give up, convincing themselves they will find the answers they need eventually.
They conclude that it was not a suicide. A weekend warrior, Holly Moser, who
was not friends with Alaska, tries to convince them both that Alaska tried to give
her a sign before she died, by flashing her car lights at her in the Waffle House.
Miles and the Colonel get very irritated by this, knowing that she is only saying
such things to get attention.

Chapter 41 - Twenty days after

The Colonel gets in a verbal fight with Miles because he is very upset that
Miles is refusing to communicate with Jake. The Colonel does not think that
Alaska would have left Jake for Miles, and he tells Miles to get that out of his
head. Miles gets angry, and walks away from the Colonel. Miles takes some
time apart to think about Alaska and his anger towards her for leaving him after
turning him into a different person. Miles gets back to the room, and makes up
with the Colonel. The Colonel tells Miles he has decided to wait to talk to Jake,
because he wants to investigate other theories first.

Chapter 42 - Twenty-one days after

Miles spends time with Takumi after class, and they go to McDonalds. It
feels empty without Alaska there, but Miles and Takumi get some time to
discuss things for the first time. Miles tells him he’s sorry, but he cannot get
himself to tell Takumi the whole story, about how he let her go that night. Takumi
lets Miles know that Lara was wondering if they were still dating, and Miles tells
him things are too complicated.

Chapter 43 - Twenty-seven days after

Miles and the Colonel come up with a plan to get booze and steal the
Eagle’s breathalyzer. They want to do this in order to drink as much as Alaska
did that night to see how drunk she really was. Miles goes to see the Eagle to
talk to him about how the Colonel is doing bad in latin because of how hard
Alaska’s death has been on him, while the Colonel steals the breathalyzer. The
Colonel tries to get to Alaska’s level of drunk that night, and the Eagle comes
by and catches them smoking, however he lets it go and leaves. They conclude
that Alaska couldn’t have been able to drive in that state, and could have fallen
asleep at the wheel.
 Chapter 44 - Twenty-eight days after

Takumi admits to Miles and the Colonel that he knows they set off the
fireworks that night, and he also says he let her go too. The Colonel reveals
that they have exhausted all other strategies and it is time for him to call Jake
and find out what he knows.

Chapter 45 - Twenty-nine days after

Takumi tells Miles he’s tired of him acting as if he was the only guy who
ever liked Alaska. Miles tells Takumi how she kissed him that night, and he is
surprised. The Colonel comes back after talking to Jake, and he tells them how
Jake said they didn’t fight about anything. They simply talked for five minutes,
and out of nowhere, Alaska freaked out and hung up. Jake had no idea where
she was headed when she drove off.

Chapter 46 - Thirty-seven days after

Miles bumps into Lara by accident, and apologizes to her. She does not
react to anything and walks away. Miles starts feelings bad but needs her to
understand the reason behind why he’s acting this way.

Chapter 47- Forty-five days after

Miles goes to Coosa Liquors, the store where Alaska would always go to
supply cigarettes and liquor. Miles goes inside and buys cigarettes. This
reminds him more and more of Alaska. Miles, the Colonel and Takumi take a
drive around town smoking cigarettes, without saying a word to each other.

Chapter 48 - Forty-six days after

Takumi convinces Miles to go apologize to Lara, because Takumi knows

Alaska wouldn’t be pleased to know how Miles was acting towards her if she
was still here. Miles apologizes to Lara and she accepts his apology. That night,
Miles, Takumi, Lara and the Colonel go to smoking hole to discuss the possible
theories about Alaska’s death. They don’t conclude to anything, they simply
spin around in circles and are getting tired of it.

Chapter 49 - Fifty-one days after

Dr. Hyde’s lesson that day makes Miles think intensely about Alaska and
how he cannot fathom the idea of her kissing him, and then going to call Jake
and talk to him the way she did. Miles still hopes to find an answer to the
mystery of her death, and won’t give up, even though the Colonel is out of
ideas.

Chapter 50 - Sixty-two days after

While Miles is talking to his mother on the pay phone near his dorm, he
notices that the doodles done by Alaska on the phone booth. When she was
talking to Jake, she had told him that she had been doodling while they were
on the phone. Miles sees that she drew a white daisy. Miles informs the Colonel
about this, and they realize that whatever she had forgotten that made her freak
out, the daisy had reminded her of this, and she went to grab the white tulips in
her room.

Chapter 51 - Sixty-nine days after

The Colonel tells Miles about a prank that Alaska had wanted to plan,
named “Subverting the Patriarchal Paradigm.” The Colonel explains that they
should do this prank in memory of her, and they should have one every year as
a memorial.

Chapter 52 - Eighty-three days after

The Colonel comes back from spring break with a notebook full of sketches
and plans for the upcoming prank on behalf of Alaska. The Colonel brings
together Miles, Takumi and Lara in order to explain to prank and explain how it
will be executed.

Chapter 53- Eight-four days after

During spring time, Culver Creek took a Friday afternoon off to let two
important people, like politicians or small-time celebrities, do speeches in front
of the school. The prank is to get the Eagle to agree to let Dr. William Morse
come as a speaker, who is a professor in adolescent sexuality. Miles calls his
dad, and asks him to pretend to be Dr. Morse to the Eagle, and his dad agrees,
since he was once a student who pulled pranks at Culver Creek. The Eagle
calls him, and everything goes as planned.

Chapter 54- One hundred two days after

The real person who was playing Dr. William Morse at Culver Creek that
day, was a man named Maxx. He was in fact a male stripper. Maxx does a
speech in front of the school about adolescent sexuality. In the middle of his
speech, Lara interrupts him to say: “You’re hot! Take off your clothes!” Maxx
starts stripping in front of the school, and shouts: “This one’s for Alaska Young.”
The Eagle gets the crowd to eventually calm down. Takumi, Miles and the
Colonel go back to their room, and the Eagle comes by and lets them know he
could tell right away Alaska planned that prank. He tells them not to do it again,
and that they will not get punished for it.

Chapter 55 - One hundred fourteen days after

Finally, after all this time, Takumi, Miles and the Colonel find a theory that
makes sense to them all. They realize that Alaska’s mother passed away on
January 9th, and Alaska died on the 10th. Alaska was doodling the flowers, and
realizes that she has forgotten her anniversary of her mother’s death, freaks
out and goes to drive to the graveyard. She’s not thinking straight because she’s
angry and drunk, and thinks she can drive past the cop car, but drives right into
in.

Chapter 56 - One hundred eighteen days after

After finding out the satisfying theory, Miles and the Colonel decide to try
one more thing. They decide to drive through the same exact place Alaska
drove through, at the same speed. This is exhilarating for both Miles and the
Colonel, and after they get through it alive, they hug and find a sort of inside
peace for the first time after her death.

Chapter 57 -One hundred nineteen days after

Lara, Miles, the Colonel and Takumi spend most their time studying together,
and not talking much. And they enjoy things being this way.

Chapter 58- One hundred twenty-two days after

Miles thinks about what he going to write his essay in religion class about,
regarding the labyrinth. This reminds him of Alaska.

Chapter 59 - One hundred thirty-six days after

With 24 hours left before handing in his religion essay, Miles has not started
yet. When Miles goes into his room, he sees a piece of lime green stationary
with a note written on it. The note is from Takumi and indicates a lot of important
information for Miles. Takumi writes about how he is not attending the
graduation and is leaving for Japan the next day, so he will not have time to tell
these things to Miles. He writes about how he saw Alaska that night too, at the
phone booth, and she was extremely sad. Alaska told Takumi that her mother
was dead eight years ago that day and every year she puts flowers on her
mother’s grave, and she had forgotten. Takumi didn’t stop her because he didn’t
think she was stupid enough to get into a car that drunk. This clears up a lot of
things for Miles. In the end, Miles forgives Alaska and hopes he will forever
remember her.
 C. Critical Analysis

I. Characterization

MAIN CHARACTERS

Miles “Pudge” Halter

Miles is a teenage boy who is the main character of this story. He decided
to go to a boarding school in Alabama: Culver Creek. Miles is the most
important character in terms of developing the story, since he is not only the
narrator, but the reader knows every single one of his thoughts and can
understand every single one of his motives, actions and words. Miles has a
fascination with last words. Miles explains his love for last words by saying “But
a lot of times, people die how they live. And so last words tell me a lot about
who people were, and why they became the sort of people biographies get
written about.” (Green 128).

Chip Martin : “The Colonel”

The Colonel is a very blunt and straight forward character. He is the first
one to talk to Miles earning him to be Mile’s first friend. He got his nickname,
the Colonel, because he is the mastermind behind all of Alaska’s prank plans.
He is a genius, and he skipped a few grades and he takes advanced classes
and excels at almost every subject. The Colonel is viewed as a leader by his
friends, Alaska, Miles and Takumi. They listen to him as if he has some sort of
authority figure. He is a very sarcastic and humorous person, who is always
trying to make sense out of every situations presented to him.

Alaska Young

Alaska is a gorgeous, clever, funny, self-destructive and fascinating

character. The whole story revolves mostly around her and her mystery. She’s
an extremely spontaneous, impulsive and fun person. She is an independent
person. She came to Culver Creek to get away from home, because she claims
home is full of ghosts. She does not like to be reminded of her mother and the
guilt attached to it. Alaska is a very mysterious character and the whole book is
dedicated in finding out her mystery after a specific event occurs at Culver
Creek.
SECONDARY CHARACTERS

Takumi Hikohito

Takumi is a shy individual who is part of the Colonel’s group of friends.

Takumi is very close with the Colonel and Alaska. He’s a thin Japanese guy
who is a few inches taller than the Colonel, who is five feet tall. He helps Miles
understand how moody Alaska can get, and to not take it personally. Takumi
helps the Colonel and Alaska with their pranks.

The Eagle - Mr. Starnes

The Eagle is the dean of students at Culver Creek. He is the person who
enforces the discipline upon the students, and many of the students dislike him.
However, Alaska and the Colonel have a good relationship with the Eagle. He
is an old man who lives right across Culver Creek in an average size house. He
is a very protective person, and simply does not want to let any harm happen.
He is also very strict with certain rules at Culver Creek, like drinking.

Dr. Hyde

Dr. Hyde is a world religions teacher at Culver Creek. He is extremely old

and has a cane. He is Miles’ favorite teacher, and Miles enjoys his class more
than any other because of Dr. Hyde’s attitude. Dr. Hyde uses a teaching method
with many metaphors and life experiences. This makes his teaching much more
enjoyable and relatable. However, he is very strict with the students and does
not tolerate a student who is distracted. He is an extremely intriguing man with
many life experiences.

Dolores

Dolores is the Colonel’s mother. She lives in a trailer home. She is an

amazing cook, and invites Alaska and Miles over for Thanksgiving when she
hears from her son that they will be spending Thanksgiving on campus without
a family. That event goes to show how she is a very caring person and loves
her son more than anything.
Lara Buterskaya

Lara is Russian exchange student who has recently come to Culver Creek.
She has a heavy Russian accent. She is friends with Alaska, and Alaska tries
to set her and Miles up many times. Eventually, she and Miles start dating but
it did not last long. She takes part on the barn prank with Miles, Takumi, the
Colonel and Alaska.

Jake

Jake is Alaska’s boyfriend. He lives in another town, and comes to visit

Alaska every once in a while. Jake has blond hair down to his shoulders. He
has dark stubble on his cheeks. According to Miles, he looks like a catalogue
model. He has a southern accent. Alaska claims to love him deeply, but is
always flirting with other guys and she cheats on him with Miles at the end of
chapter 31.

Kevin

Kevin is a weekend warrior. He is from a wealthy family. He dresses preppy.

His hair is short and blond, spiky with enough gel to make it look permanently
wet. He pulls the initiating prank on Miles when he arrives to Culver Creek.

Maxx

Maxx is the character that partakes in the last prank of the school year. He
is a male stripper who pretends to be Dr. William Morse, a professor who
studies adult sexuality, in order to pull the prank that Alaska planned to do
before things started to go south.

Miles’ mom and dad

Mile’s mother and father are very caring people who love Miles very much.
They call him every Sunday, and they tell him how much they miss him and how
empty it is at home without him. Miles’ father went to Culver Creek when he
was that age, and that is why he encourages Miles to go there too. Miles’ dad
also helps Miles accomplish one of the pranks because he understood what it
was like to been a teenager at Culver Creek, and how important the pranks had
been.
 II. Settings

Culver Creek Boarding School

Everything important in Looking for Alaska takes place on campus at the

Culver Creek boarding school in Alabama. At the events of the novel, the key
ones all take place at the Creek or with people from the Creek. Miles doesn't
really begin his Great Perhaps until he gets to campus and meets his roommate,
the Colonel. And where does Miles meet Alaska? On campus… where they
also spend Thanksgiving break together (though they do venture off campus to
spend the actual holiday with the Colonel and his mom.

Miles makes friends for the first time on campus, he gets sexy with a girl for
the first time on campus, and he says I love you for the first time on campus.
Even when Miles leaves campus to go to McDonald's or another place, the
people he interacts with are all from the Creek. Even though several key events
do occur away from Culver Creek, the majority of the transformative
experiences that Miles has are right there on school grounds.

The Dorm

The dorms at the Creek are places where adult and teenage worlds overlap,
so the shenanigans that take place there need to remain under the radar. The
Eagle may pop up at any moment, or parents may call on the pay phones at
the end of the halls, and people can visit one another's rooms with relative
impunity.

Much of Miles's and the Colonel's relationship develops in the dorms, over
video games and duels. Alaska, too, becomes integrated into Miles's dorm
experience, though over Thanksgiving she introduces him to the secrets and
mysteries dorm rooms have to offer.

The Smoking Hole and the Barn

For real mischief though, students travel even farther from the authoritarian
buildings of the dorms to places like the Smoking Hole or the barn. The night of
the great prank against the Weekday Warriors, the crew troops to the barn.
 III. Conflict

Person vs. Self

Through-out the book Pudge/Miles is trying to discover himself and who he

really is, looking for The Great Perhaps. In the BEFORE section of the book,
he is Miles. He is friendless and unhappy until Culver Creek where he becomes
Pudge. Then he works harder and harder to discover who this new found Pudge
is. During the AFTER section when Alaska dies, he realizes the “who” and “what”
Pudge is. He discovers the Great Perhaps and moves onward into his new life.
So through the whole book he isn't just looking for The Great Perhaps, he is
looking for his self-identity. And Alaska's death helps him to discover both of
those goals.

Person vs. Person:

In the AFTER part of the book Lara, Takumi, Pudge and the Colonel try to
figure out what happened to Alaska. They are determined to find out why and
how she died. It is a mystery that is really bothering them and they want
answers. I know she was in a car accident, but like them I want to know why! I
think it could have been suicide and she had planned to do it at the specific time
and place that she did. I think the “straight and fast” quote from the book that
she had highlighted had something to do with her decision. Also the question
that she wrote on her religion test gave clues to what she wanted to do. I think
she felt that she needed to solve the “labyrinth”.

IV. Point of View

Looking for Alaska is a novel that contains a first person narrative point of
view. The author chose this point of view because it is what suits the story the
best. The reader can get into Miles’ thoughts and emotions clearly and this is
important to understand the story. It is also important because the point of view
assures that the mood of the story is maintained because if the reader could
get into Alaska’s mind, the book would be ruined.

V. Symbolisms

The Labyrinth

One of the clearer symbols in Looking for Alaska is the labyrinth. Alaska
loves the last words of Simón Bolívar: “Damn it, how will I ever get out of this
labyrinth!” At the beginning of the book, Alaska isn’t sure if Bolívar’s labyrinth
symbolizes life or death, but she eventually decides that life’s most important
question is “How will we escape this labyrinth of suffering?” Labyrinths differ
from mazes in that labyrinths have only one possible path, winding though it
might be, while mazes have many different potential paths. Whether or not
Alaska intended to die, she seems certain that her life, tracked through the
labyrinth, will be an unhappy one, and that the only way to survive will be
“straight & fast”—either to go through it recklessly or not go through it at all.
Miles has a more Christian understanding of labyrinths, although he is not
particularly religious. In Christianity, with which Green is very familiar, labyrinths
symbolize a journey towards salvation. It is not an easy road, and it’s full of
twists and turns, but if one follows the path, one will arrive at God’s doorstep.
Because life is not a maze, there are no dead ends. Miles embraces the
labyrinthine nature of life, and once he decides to move forward rather than
look back, he is excited about where his path might take him.

Smoking

When Miles arrives at Culver Creek, one of the first things the Colonel and
Alaska convince him to do is to start smoking cigarettes. Miles says he doesn’t
really have a reason for smoking, but to him it just seems like the thing to do.
At the beginning of the novel at least, smoking represents fitting in for Miles.
For the Colonel and Alaska, smoking cigarettes is a way of defying authority—
something the Colonel makes very clear when he smokes in front of the Pelham
police officer. While the others seem to smoke as a way to pass time or keep
up appearances, Alaska invests in the fact that she is knowingly bringing about
her own slow demise through smoking. Miles, The Colonel, Takumi, and Lara
each throw a cigarette into the Smoking Hole in Alaska’s honor. Like a cigarette,
Alaska brought others great pleasure, but also a lot of pain. While the memory
of some of that pleasure and some of that pain lives on, Alaska will eventually
fade away like a cigarette’s smoke and dying embers.

Last Words

For much of Looking for Alaska, Miles thinks of last words as a way to
encapsulate the way a great person lived, and he memorizes many famous
people’s last words. Like the Buddhist koans, Miles learns about in his World
Religions class, these last words seem like guides on how to live life. Miles
maintains his love of last words after Alaska’s death, but he ultimately has to
accept that he will never know hers. What he has, instead, are Alaska’s lasting
words: “To be continued?” Miles points out the difficulty of preserving people’s
last words when their death does not seem imminent, and he realizes that last
words are not necessarily people’s most important words. By the end of the
book, last words come to symbolize the many different ways one could choose
to live, but they do not provide any definitive answers. By letting go of Alaska’s
last words, Miles learns to live with ambiguity and ultimately comes to enjoy the
fact that he does not know what’s coming in his own “Great Perhaps.”

VI. Style

Green wrote this book for teenagers. There's a lot of explicit language and
illicit references. John made sure that the readers will not be bogged down with
dialogue tags and made sure that it's fun to read. Because of the nature of Miles
as the first-person narrator, most of what we find out about characters is through
dialogue and actions, so it's important that Green is able to communicate traits,
personality quirks, important events, and emotions through conversation
without being too heavy-handed.

In the same way as tone, Green switches style depending on what he wants
his characters to communicate to his readers. The faster-paced descriptions
and dialogue speed up parts of the book and communicate action, while Miles's
contemplative musings, which are often much longer ramblings instead of
bursts of dialogue, slow parts the novel. This mellower pace gives us the time
we need this time to process Miles's thoughts, and also rejuvenates us for the
next fast-paced, dialogue-based exchange.

VII. Themes

Death and Life

While life and death are certainly important topics in Looking for Alaska,
how to live and die are much bigger themes. Indeed, the novel is not titled
Alaska, but rather Looking for Alaska—it’s the search that matters. Miles and
Alaska are both naturally inclined toward looking for meaning. Miles memorizes
last words because they help him understand how people lived, and Alaska
reads and memorizes poetry from her Life’s Library, which helps her find words
for what she is feeling. The Old Man’s World Religions class then furthers Miles’
understanding of how to live and die. The class exposes him to how a variety
of cultures and religions have answered life’s biggest questions. Alaska’s
answer to her search is “straight & fast”—she wants to escape from her
“labyrinth of suffering” as quickly and easily as possible.

Memory

In Looking for Alaska, characters are defined and even introduced to others
by their ability to memorize things. The Colonel memorizes countries, Miles
memorizes last words, and Alaska memorizes poetry. Despite the fact that
these characters find solace in the words and numbers they memorize, they
still struggle with their memories of other people and themselves. Indeed, while
Alaska may be outwardly defined by her ability to quote poems about sadness
and femininity, she defines herself by the memory of her mother’s death. She
is tormented by the fact that she was present for the death and yet did nothing
to stop it. The memory of this inaction drives Alaska to be a reckless person,
which in turn propels her toward her own death.
 VIII. Critical Analysis/Insight

Historical Criticism

Historical criticism is an approach that seeks greater understanding of the

text by analysing the historical and social contexts in which they developed.
This criticism of literature allows readers to gain a better understanding of a text
by becoming familiar with the time periods in which the piece takes place and
when it was written.

The novel is set in modern time therefore being the 21st century. The
importance of this story taking place during this time in history, is that the
generation and the youth of today go through a lot of hard situations and have
many ways to escape pain. It is easy for a teen to go out, abuse cigarettes and
alcohol to make themselves feel better. It is therefore very easy for a teen to
pick up this book, in this century, and think to themselves that they can relate
perfectly to some of the characters in the story. This makes the book a lot more
enjoyable and fun to read.

Green assured that the teenagers can understand what Miles goes through,
and how he deals with it, and also with all the other characters. The author went
to a boarding school in Alabama as well, and has actually integrated certain
events that has happened during his time at that school in this book.