“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.”
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| A portrait of Simon Bolivar |
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/
I agree with the points you have mentioned regarding Miles and Alaska's own labyrinths. That being said, I don't believe that Miles was truly able to find his way out of the labyrinth of suffering. When he decided to move to Culver Creek, he sought out the Great Perhaps; excitement, fulfilment, and new beginnings. He also sought to escape his labyrinth of suffering by becoming more social. He was temporarily successful in escaping his suffering up until Alaska's death. Miles had taken two steps forward only to end up taking a step back as a result of her mysterious death. It was clear that he retreated back into his shell and had limited interactions with those around his, even the Colonel. He retreated back into his labyrinth because he did not know how to cope with his disappointment and the mere shock of the situation. As time passed and they began to unravel the truth behind Alaska's death, bit by bit, Pudge opened up his life to those around his again, but was never truly happy. Though he does say that he forgives Alaska, I don't believe that he is truly freed from the sadness that came from her death. That sadness alone is enough to send him back into the treacherous maze that is sorrow and misery.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, it is mentioned that the only way out of the labyrinth is straight and fast. Now, that is very ironic and can be closely linked to Alaska’s death. In my opinion, Alaska was the only one that was truly able to escape her labyrinth of guilt (of her mother’s death). She escaped it straight and fast, but was it accidental or a mere coincidence? I believe that after realizing that she had forgotten the anniversary of her mother’s death, she took it upon herself to end her misery once and for all. She escaped her labyrinth of suffering but forced her loved ones to retreat back into their own.
In my opinion, you have posed some great arguments Juliana! I agree with you that it is up to an individual him/herself to find a way out of the labyrinth because in the end, the labyrinth consists of the inner struggles he/she must overcome to truly see better days. It is without a doubt as you have brought up, that part of Miles’ inner struggles revolved around the absence of his social skills, resulting in his lack of friends. In contrast, I wouldn’t say that Miles pretended that he was satisfied with his life. Miles had low expectations of the people around him, and as a result of that, I would argue that he was neither happy nor unhappy with his life, but neutral. On the other hand, he does indeed indulge himself in the dying declarations of famous individuals to bypass the obstacles posed by his labyrinth, allowing him to think that he has escaped the labyrinth for a short period of time. At the same time, it is also because of his newly found hobby that he was able to discover Francois Rabelais’ last words and made the decision to venture into the labyrinth in hopes of finding his own Great Perhaps.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Miles never intended to fully resolve his inner struggles by solely developing friendships with Alaska, the Colonel, and Takumi and finding his “home” to be at Culver Creek. In my opinion, Miles’ greatest ambition was to achieve a happy and fulfilling life which would contrast his previous life in Florida. Therefore, I would disagree with your argument that Miles went through a series of labyrinths and escaped his first labyrinth with the discovery of true friends. In my opinion, that moment in his life was initially assumed to be the answer to his struggles, but in actuality, turned out to be a dead end. I would argue that there is only one labyrinth and within that labyrinth is a series of dead-ends, in which individuals don’t realize are dead ends until they walk to the end of the paths.
Miles was fooled into believing that he had achieved a happy life, until the death of Alaska occurred. It wasn’t until then that he realized that there was more to finding friends and a home to be able to obtain and live a happy life. Reflecting upon the course of Alaska’s life allowed Miles to finally discover the true meaning of being able to escape from a labyrinth, inner struggles, and living a satisfying life. Alaska lived her life from the moment of her mother’s death to the moment up until her death, as a very unhappy person. Although Alaska had both a home at Culver Creek, and friends that truly cared for her, she was unable to escape from her labyrinth. The feeling of guilt continually built up inside of Alaska, destroying her from inside out. The remedy that she lacked in order to truly escape her labyrinth was forgiveness, not only from her mother but from herself as well. Looking upon the way Alaska’s life played out, Miles came to the realization that forgiveness is the universal solution to a satisfying life. It is only at the end of the novel that Miles is able to forgive both Alaska and himself as well, allowing him to truly escape from his labyrinth.