Looking for Alaska- Summer Assignment Post 1

     It's not hard to tell that one of the main characters in Looking for Alaska by John Green is Alaska, hence the title of the book.  But who are the other characters?  The story is told in the point of view of Miles "Pudge" Halter, the new kid at Culver Creek High School in Alabama.  During his first day arriving at his new school as a junior, he befriends his roommate, Chip Martin, aka "The Colonel".  Not long after meeting The Colonel, he is introduced to Alaska Young, the breathtaking and rebellious girl on campus.  Pudge has feelings for her almost instantaneously.

     In order to smoke cigarettes without getting caught by The Eagle (the code name for the school's principal), the friends go off to the "Smoking Hole" by the river, where they believe The Eagle can't smell their smoke.  During this time, Alaska says, "'Y'all smoke to enjoy it.  I smoke to die'" (Green 44).  After reading these words, I just knew that something was going to happen to Alaska.  And I was right.

     Alaska dies in a car crash about halfway through the book.  Everyone is devastated.  Everyone thinks it was an accident...except Pudge and The Colonel.  They were the only two with Alaska that night.  And they're not convinced that it was an accident.  Maybe it was a suicide?  Maybe it really was an accident and they're just over thinking things?  To find out the answer, the two set off gathering anything and everything they can that relates to her death.

     Were they responsible for her death since they let her out driving, even though she was drunk and upset?  Or are they just putting too much on themselves while trying to cope with their best friend's death?  I think the answer to these questions is yes.  Yes, they shouldn't have let Alaska go out in the middle of the night while intoxicated and emotionally upset.  But, yes, they are putting too much on themselves.  If it really was a suicide, then there was nothing they could've done to save her.


    In a way, this book reminds me of the book, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.  Sure, in Jay Asher's book you know it's a suicide and in John Green's you're trying to figure out if it is or not, but they're both trying to figure out why the character died.