Looking for Alaska
Madison Barlage
In life we struggle with choice and are faced with some challenges. Maybe some of us are still trying to figure out who we are and what our purpose is in life. In Looking for Alaska a boy named Miles is going to attend a boarding school called Culver Creek. Miles is just your typical teenager who just wants to fit in and know his place in life. One great thing about Miles is that he has the ability to remember famous author’s last words in searching for the “Great Perhaps.”
While trying to discover his purpose he was taken back the beauty and the mysteriousness of Alaska. Falling in love is a huge part of being a teenager and it can be challenging. Everyone wants to be loved and feel loved back by someone else. Alaska smoke, drank, and she even pulled pranks, but Miles started falling in love with her. The issue that Miles had to face with falling in love was that he was starting to turn bad. Miles started smoking and drinking just to look cool for Alaska. I feel like a lot of teens are forced with peer pressure in life because everyone wants to fit in and belong somewhere. Peer pressure is huge because even if you don’t want to be popular deep inside you do and if that means making bad decisions people do that. As teens were all gullible and so unsure of whom we are and who we are meant to be that we would turn to bad things even though we shouldn’t. It’s part of life. When finding love you are able to truly be yourself because hopefully that person will love you for who you are so you shouldn’t have to hide.
Looking for Alaska is an amazing book that questions the meaning of life, and what happens to us after it. It follows three unique friends Alaska, Pudge, and Miles through a year at Culver Creek. The main theme or idea I gained from this book is that there is more to life than can be experienced through any one person or experience, and that we will never truly understand everything that happens to us or the ones we love.