Character Analysis

Looking for Alaska places an emphasis on complex characters, dialogue and relationships between characters. Two major characters, Pudge and Alaska, play important roles in the novel and will be further analyzed. 

Pudge:
Pudge can be described as an awkward person who lacks social skills, burying himself in his reading of biographies and memorizing last words in order to escape the fact that he really doesn't have any true friends. He feels that he does not belong, and after reading the last words of Francois Rabelais about seeking a "Great Perhaps", he sets off to seek it for himself. Pudge is optimistic and motivated to find a place of belonging and an improved life at his new school.

Pudge's character develops a great deal throughout the story. When he first arrives at Culver Creek, he is a passive character, simply following what others tell him and having low expectations for his life. As an awkward person who lacks social skills, he is keen to find a place where he feels he belongs. His passivity allows him to be influenced by his peers and he has a sense of innocence that the other characters do not. This is exemplified in the way he is introduced to smoking, drinking and pranks by his new friends, which are all activities he had never participated in before. Smoking in particular becomes a symbol of friendship as the group always go to the forest or smoking hole to smoke together and Pudge starts in the first place because he wants to fit in. Pudge acknowledges that he is cautious but wants this to change when he says "I hated being careful too- or wanted to, at least (11)."  

 Pudge also has a sense of innocence that his group of friends do not. Pudge cautiously states that his parents will kill him if he gets in trouble (11), that he had never gotten in trouble with a teacher before (40) and after Alaska mentions "booze and mischief (20)" he worries that he may have fallen in with what his mother considered the "wrong crowd" (20). The author also portrays Pudge's sense of innocence in his awkwardness around Lara, especially when kissing her for the first time. His lack of experience in romantic relationships or sexual encounters contrasts greatly from Alaska, Chip and Takumi's experiences. It can even be argued that at the beginning of the novel, Alaska is a foil for Pudge with her reckless and outgoing nature which emphasizes his innocence and caution. As someone who followed all the rules, never smoke, drank, watched explicit videos, played pranks etc. Pudge certainly loses his innocence by the end of the novel by participating in all of these activities.  

As time goes on, Pudge overcomes his shy, passive personality and creates a stronger identity for himself. He no longer buries himself in his biographies, takes more risks, becomes more assertive and tries new things. His friends help him to live a more exciting life and he learns what true friendship is. This proves to be fulfilling for him as he states that the day of the Barn Night prank was the best day of his life (115). Pudge's transition does not happen overnight, and while still awkward and innocent in some respects, he slowly becomes more confident. His new found assertiveness shows through when he stands up for himself and talks back to Chip after getting into an argument with him (171), something he wouldn't have done when he was shy and passive.

Pudge also becomes more independent at Culver Creek. He no longer relies on his parents as he once did and is distanced from them both physically and mentally. He takes his first step in this direction when he decides to stay on campus with Alaska for Thanksgiving instead of coming home. He does, however, feel a bit guilty and homesick. At the end of the novel, Pudge's transition toward his friends and away from his parents is shown when he calls his parents to tell them about Alaska's death.  They can't comfort him as much as his friends can and he wants to remain at school. Pudge has found a new home for himself at Culver Creek with his true friends.

Overall, Pudge can be seen as the most calm, quiet and cautious person in his group of friends, however, he developed significantly throughout the novel and breaks out of his shy and passive shell. He become less awkward, more confident, develops his social skills and takes risks in order to escape his personal labyrinth and find happiness. 


Alaska:

Alaska can be described as impulsive, self-destructive, mysterious, bubbly, moody, rebellious, reckless and deeply conflicted. Her guilt for not taking action and calling 911 as a child when her mother was dying affect her greatly and significantly contribute to her personality traits. Alaska's fear of delaying action again cause her to be impulsive. Pudge reflects on this after he learns about Alaska's mother; "So she became impulsive, scared by her inaction into perpetual action (120)." She often does not think about the consequences of her actions to the point where she is reckless. An example of this is when she does not follow the Colonel's plan for the Barn Night prank (109). She makes a decision in the moment and sends out more progress reports than she is supposed to, without foreseeing the increased risk of getting caught. In addition, Alaska rebels against rules and pushes the envelope by smoking where she isn't supposed to and playing elaborate pranks, both of which risk getting into trouble. 

Also due to the overwhelming guilt that consumes her, she participates in self-destructive activities such as excessive smoking and drinking. These activities serve as a temporary coping mechanism and distraction from her internal struggles, although I also believe that Alaska didn't care for her life and she hoped these substances would lead to an earlier death. I believe that her self-destructive behaviour is directly correlated to her unhappiness based on these statements: "'Y'all smoke to enjoy it, I smoke to die (44).'" and "'Maybe you shouldn't drink so much,' I suggested...She shook her head and sipped the cold coffee and wine. 
'Pudge, what you must understand about me is that I am a deeply unhappy person. (125)'" These substances provide her with an escape from her sadness and as result she doesn't truly face her metaphorical labyrinth to overcome her struggles for good.  

Throughout the novel, Alaska is fairly moody. She often transitions from being humorous and bubbly to cold and condescending. There are also times when she frantically breaks down and cries (95). This moodiness again stems from her internal conflict. The reader and the characters do not know what Alaska is referring to in her bouts of helplessness and self-hatred until after finding out about her mother's death. In hindsight, when Alaska says things such as "'I try not to be scared, you know. But I still ruin everything (96).'" it is obvious that she has not come to terms with her guilt. Alaska becomes good at hiding her conflict, not even telling her friends about her mother until much later. After spending the day with Pudge, she tells him "'You love the girl who makes you laugh...You don't love the crazy, sullen b**** (96).'" I believe that her happy, bubbly personality is sometimes a superficial facade and she is not truly as happy as she appears. She tries instead to be likable and suppresses her sadness around her friends and Jake, knowing that nobody wants to be around someone who is constantly overcome with misery. Alaska creates a second persona/ alter ego for herself in order to help her mask her pain. Alaska hints at this when spending the Thanksgiving holiday with Pudge: "'Sometimes I don't get you,' I said... she just smiled and said, 'You never get me. That's the whole point. (54).'" Alaska leaves many mysteries to be solved after her death and the reason why Pudge feels as though he didn't truly know her is because she never truly reveals the inner workings of her mind to anyone. 

Some of these personality traits prove to be tragic flaws as Alaska's impulsive and reckless actions cause her to drive drunk and in a frantic state of mind, resulting in the car crash. I personally believe that her death was not an accident and that she impulsively decided to commit suicide when she saw the police car in front of her. That being said, even if one believes that it was an accident, her reckless decision to drive in her drunken state is still the cause of the tragic consequences. Overall, Alaska is a character who on the surface appears to be a happy, crazy, bubbly girl but in actuality hides her true inner conflict. She hints at death several times throughout the novel but her true intentions are left a mystery to everyone, just as she was mysterious while alive.

Quote Analysis

“Before I got here, I thought for a long time that the way out of the labyrinth was to pretend that it did not exist, to build a small, self-sufficient world in the back corner of the endless maze and to pretend that I was not lost, but home.” 

A portrait of Simon Bolivar

In "Looking for Alaska", there is some speculation as to what the labyrinth truly symbolizes (escape from life or near-death) based upon the book "The General in His Labyrinth" in which the last words of Simon Bolivar are "How will I ever get out of this labyrinth (Green, 19)!" It is eventually agreed upon that the labyrinth represents suffering and the struggles in life. Everyone experiences hardships and confusion in life and one can feel as though they are trapped in a labyrinth. It is up to the individual to find their way out of their obstacles in order to deal with their problems and find happiness. How one finds their way out of the symbolic "labyrinth" is what changes his or her perspective on life. 

This quote comes from Miles' (Pudge) essay for his religion exam in which he must answer the question "How will you-you personally-ever get out of the labyrinth of suffering? (Green, 215)". Pudge must ask himself what his "cause for hope" (216) is and reflect on his personal means of navigating his way through life. The quote reflects upon Pudge early on in the novel in which his personal struggle (labyrinth) was being lonely and not having any true friends due to his lack of social skills. Instead of trying to improve his life and face his obstacles, Miles decides to push them aside and not be honest with himself. He pretends that he is satisfied with his life and has low expectations. For example, when only 2 particularly uninteresting classmates show up to Miles' going away party, and his parents sit with him not knowing that he didn't have any true friends, Miles states: "I could feel them looking at me, waiting for me to burst into tears or something, as if I hadn't known all along that it would go precisely like this. But I had known... I wasn't disappointed. My expectations had been met. (4)" Instead of facing the "labyrinth" and realizing that he is unhappy, he merely accepts his stagnation in the "back corner" without trying to face his loneliness. He finds refuge in reading biographies and learning last words, convincing himself that he is perfectly happy and at "home", while in reality his hobby simply serves as a distraction from facing his "labyrinth" and an excuse not to socialize. Miles' first step into navigating his labyrinth is when he moves to Culver Creek to seek his Great Perhaps, "real friends and a more-than-minor life (219)". At Culver Creek, he becomes more confident, less awkward, takes more risks and develops better social skills as he becomes closer to his group of friends. 

I believe that the notion of a "Great Perhaps" can be symbolized as the end of the labyrinth. Once one navigates through their personal struggles and finds happiness, a desire or a better life in general, they have found their Great Perhaps for that aspect of their life. In life, however, there are always multiple labyrinths and one must continue to persevere in order to continue to get what they want. Pudge exemplifies this as he obtains his first Great Perhaps by finding true friends and is then faced with a new maze that is Alaska's death. He is able to navigate through his labyrinth again to find a new Great Perhaps, which is enlightenment and closure to Alaska's death through forgiveness ("...sat down at the computer, and I wrote my way out of the labyrinth (219).")  

Although this quote was written by Pudge, it applies very closely to Alaska as well. As stated before, everyone has their own personal struggles, each different in their own way. Alaska's symbolic labyrinth is overcoming her overwhelming guilt for her mother's death. Alaska never forgives herself for not calling the ambulance when her mother was having an aneurysm and the guilt haunts her even 8 years later. This guilt is applicable to the quote because Alaska does not see a way out of her personal labyrinth. Instead of working toward overcoming her guilt, she pretends it does not exist. She instead buries herself in the symbolic back corner of the maze and engages in risky, rebellious and self-destructive behaviour such as excessive consumption of alcohol, having sex often, smoking cigarettes on a regular basis and planning elaborate pranks. All of these activities distract her from her personal struggles, convince her that she is not lost and make her feel "at home". One example of this is when Pudge questions why Alaska drinks so much. "'Maybe you shouldn't drink so much,' I suggested...She shook her head and sipped the cold coffee and wine. 

'Pudge, what you must understand about me is that I am a deeply unhappy person.' (125)" These activities, however, are temporary solutions to the much larger problems in front of her. Throughout the novel, Alaska has bouts of moodiness in which she shuts everyone out, showing that her attempts to lie to herself and bury her guilt are not successful. Alaska's way of coping with her guilt can also be applied to the description of the "self-sufficient world" in the quote because she keeps everything to herself and never tells any of her friends about what had happened until it comes up in a game. 

While the analyzed quote can apply to both Pudge and Alaska at first, their approaches to acknowledging and overcoming their personal struggles contrast considerably. Pudge is able to escape from his "back corner of the endless maze" and be true to himself as he seeks his Great Perhaps (or as I like to see it, end of the labyrinth) by making friends at Culver Creek. In contrast, Alaska buries her struggles deeper away and pretends that she is "not lost" by engaging in her self-destructive behaviours. In the end, this strategy proves to be detrimental as she realizes she forgot the anniversary of her mother's death. Alaska panics due to the resurfacing guilt that she had previously tried to push away and this ultimately leads to her death. Pudge feels guilty for Alaska's death but is able to move on, knowing that Alaska forgives him, which was something that Alaska could not do with her own dead mother. Pudge is able to acknowledge his guilt and come to terms with it, which leaves him happier (at the end of the labyrinth) as opposed to Alaska who doesn't face her guilt is still stuck in the back corner of the maze. A quote that displays the contrast in approaches by the two characters is written later on in Pudge's essay. "... just a little girl terrified into paralysis, she collapsed into the enigma of herself. And I could have done that, but I saw where it led her. So I still believe in the Great Perhaps, and I can believe in it in spite of having lost her (219)." 

Take a look at this article about an upcoming "Looking for Alaska" movie:
http://time.com/2926985/john-green-looking-for-alaska-sarah-polley/

Three Questions

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you enjoyed "Looking for Alaska" and I can't wait to hear your perspectives on it as the author certainly left several events to be interpreted by the individual reader. Here are three questions to make you think about the book a bit more.



1) In "Looking for Alaska", the central characters smoke cigarettes on a regular basis throughout the entire novel. Why do you believe the author made smoking such a prevalent activity and what does it reveal about character and/or theme?

2) After Alaska believes her inaction is responsible for her mother's death, she becomes reckless, spontaneous and impulsive. She often acts before thinking of the consequences and this becomes her "tragic flaw". At the end of the novel, the reader is left with questions regarding whether Alaska's death is suicide or an accident, however her tragic flaw can be applicable to both theories. Do you believe Alaska's death was an accident or suicide, and how did her tragic flaw ultimately cause her death?

3) Despite the lack of closure for Pudge after Alaska's death, Pudge is able to create closure for himself and finds comfort in the concept of forgiveness and one's energy/spirit living on after death. Do you personally think that these are valid theories? Why was this closure important and is it necessary in order to move on from struggles in life (the labyrinth)? Compare Pudge and Alaska's coping mechanisms in your answer.