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.
I have decided to do my response on the second question. I strongly believe that the death of Alaska Young was a result of an accident, and not a suicide. Though my strong opinion was not fully developed until the end of the novel, when we had truly learned of Alaska's reason why she frantically drove off. After the death of her mother, Alaska had always felt accountable, mostly because of her father's harsh words. He pointed the finger at Alaska, and from that moment on she resented herself for "letting" her mother die.
ReplyDeleteHer mentality was shifted instantly, her now becoming a woman of action rather than inaction. Like you have mentioned previously, she was much more rebellious and did not think of the consequences before acting. This is the fundamental reason why she got in the car in the first place. She had a mission to deliver the flowers to her mother's grave, and did not think twice about her state. It did not matter that she was drunk, or that it was late at night. All that mattered was achieving her task.
We soon learn that the consequences were far too much in comparison to the mission. Alaska lost her life because of her spontaneous and reckless actions. If she had taken the time to sober up, or explained the situation to someone else, chances are the night wouldn't have ended fatally. Alaska had a bright mind with an even brighter future, but because of her reckless tragic flaw, it caused the spark in her to quickly fade out.
To answer to question number 3, I think that the way Pudge acted to create closure for himself after Alaska’s death through the concepts of forgiveness and energy/spirit living on after death are valid theories. I agree to how Pudge thinks because there is no other way of creating closure for yourself because that person is no longer living. There is nothing that they can say or do to help you let go of them. The only way to let go of a person is to create closure for yourself in your own way and just keep them in the back of your head rather than drowning in the thoughts of regretting your past or incomplete closure with them. Pudge thinks like me, we both need to create closure for ourselves to feel satisfied again. For instance, what Pudge did was he tried everything he could to solve the mysterious death of Alaska. At first he couldn’t forgive himself because he thought it was his entire fault for helping her leave that night. But even until the end of the book he couldn’t figure out how Alaska died. So to cope with her death, and to commemorate her, Pudge and his group of friends decided to execute a prank for Alaska. This prank allowed him to finally feel like he did something for Alaska and in a way he can still feel her presence as she was the person who lead him into planning and executing pranks. After the prank he finally forgave himself. This allowed him to let go of his regret towards Alaska and now, he can move on from that particular bump in his life and continue his journey in his labyrinth.
ReplyDeletePudge aside, Alaska also tries to create closure in her own way. Alaska smokes to get away from the sin she had committed due to her mother’s death. By smoking, it allows her to calm down which is how she copes with the death of her mother, it takes her away temporarily so she could let go of the pressure that’s always been put on her. This is also a way to remember her mother because she always use to smoke, so in a way Alaska smoking is the same as her mother being there by her side again. Another thing she starts to do was pranking. She would prank adults, teenagers, and etc. Pranking was her new thing. Why would she do that though? She did it because of her mother. When her mother was in pain living the last seconds of her life on their kitchen floor, Alaska had hoped that it was all a joke and she would wake up. This thought is now important towards how Alaska lives during the remaining years of her life. A prank, in a way is hope for Alaska that her mother will one day return. It’s as if she never left and she was just joking. This helps her relieve her regretful times and still feels her mother’s presence through each practical joke. This was important for Alaska to move on with her life because instead of dwelling on the situation for years, she found a way to move past it by coping with it in different ways so she wouldn’t be depressed about the situation. In the same situation as Pudge, her coping mechanism was necessary to help her move on from this one regretful past event in her.
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