Looking For Alaska redo: summer reading choice book essay

Looking For Alaska redo

For my choice book, I read Looking For Alaska. Throughout the book, Miles (the main character aka Pudge) develops a strong relationship with Alaska, The colonel, and Takumi which ends up to be his closest friends at Culiver Creek. The theme of this book represents love and hate, more so you should appreciate something before it’s gone. The first detail that explains the theme is when Miles tries to find individuality at Culiver Creek and so he manages to start over. When Pudge decides to go to boarding school (high school), he searches for “The Great perhaps” and to “escape the Labrynth”. This means Pudge is confused with his life and he doesn’t know where to go. Pudge doesn’t fit in, so he tries his  best to fit in with the other people at his school and truly find himself. This is significant to the story because it shows Miles personality and where he is in the beginning of the book. When Miles gets to Culiver Creek, he meets his roommate, Chip, but Chip prefers to be called the Colonel. Then Miles meets “the hottest girl in all of human history”(Green 14) which is Alaska. Lastly, he meets Takumi, a Japanese friend of The Colonel and Alaska and their friendship starts there. When Pudge says he meets the hottest girl, Alaska, it is important to the story because it shows he likes her and his opinion on her before they become close friends. Miles tries to find individuality, so he hangs out with them to see if he can find himself or who he really is. Mainly though, he tries to meet new people and fit in, so this is another reason he hangs out with them. This ties in with the second detail which is building a bond and pressure from society. Miles starts smoking and drinking because his friends (the Colonel, Alaska and Takumi) do it. He’s being pressured into doing things he wouldn’t consider doing and he feels the need to do what they’re doing because he wants to fit in. Alaska states that the Colonel, Miles and Takumi smoke to enjoy it, but she “smokes to die”. This quote is important because this shows that Alaska is a deeply unhappy person and maybe inside she feels suicidal everyday but acts fine on the outside. She’s unhappy because of her moms death and regret is building up inside of her. This also portrays that Alaska has the courage to tell her friends she’s a deeply unhappy person because she trusts them and this shows how close they are. This is also when truths, secrets and the past starts to come out slowly. The third detail that explains the theme is how lives affect you and guilt/depression. Alaska’s mom passed away from a seizure when Alaska was little. They were at home and her mom passed out on the floor. Alaska didn’t do anything about it until her dad came home and her mom was already dead. Alaska feels a lot of guilt and bashes on herself because she thinks it was her fault that her mom didn’t survive and she would still be living today if Alaska saved her. In another sense, Alaska starts to impact on Miles life and changes who he is, his life and his way of thinking. Alaska said she regretted not appreciating her existence until she died. The last detail is when it all ties in together and it is heartbreak and love. During Miles time at Culiver Creek, Alaska bursts at 2 in the morning, crying, she drives off while Miles makes sure she doesn’t get caught and she gets in a car accident, and dies. She was also awfully drunk but Pudge, The Colonel and Takumi felt there was a stronger reason than just being drunk to die so easily. At the end of the book, they find out Alaska forgot about her moms death date, passes it and gets incredibly upset and drives off trying to go to her grave while her friends distract the Eagle (principle). Miles feels it was his fault she died and he let her go even though she was drunk and out of her mind. He feels guilt and heartbreak because he loved her so much. There was a quote at the end of the book by Thomas Edison that Pudge said and it was, “ It’s very beautiful over there. I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful.” Thomas Edison’s quote was significant at the ending because it ties everything in the book and shows that even if Alaska is dead, Pudge will still pull through and everything's a new beginning everyday. When Pudge says “there” as in “I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope its beautiful.” Maybe he was talking about heaven and how Alaska went “there” after her death and he hopes it’s beautiful because he loved her so dearly. All of these details summarize the main theme which is to appreciate something before it’s gone. Pudge had a talent, knowing people’s last words before they died but he’s sad and regretful that he will “never know Alaskas”. This quote was important because Pudge knew every last words of a lot of people and yet he will never know Alaska’s which says he’s regretful and sorry that he let her down and couldn’t save her nor be there when she got in the accident to know her last words. This is because he loved her and wanted to cherish every moment left with her.