Tolog Review: Looking for Alaska

Looking for Alaska
by John Green 
reviewed by Katherine Lund

High school is not only a place where people develop lasting relationships and are given countless hours work but a place where young adults learn to discover who they are within their own unique abilities. It is here where students develop a self-image based on faith, morals, friends and lifestyle. In the novel, Looking for Alaska by John Green, this feeling is perfectly seized through a young junior named Miles Halter. Starting his junior year, Miles decides to move away from family to go to a small boarding school called Culver Creek Preparatory School. The new environment helps Miles learn that developing a self-image can easily affect the lives of those around him through mistakes, friendships, and losses.

Upon arriving to Culver Creek Miles was told by his father, “No drugs. No drinking. No cigarettes,” as any father would tell their son who is about to leave the house. Soon after Miles arrived, Chip Marten, Miles’ roommate, shows up with cigarettes and a milk and vodka concoction he calls ambrosia. But most importantly Chip provides a lasting friendship. Chip introduces Miles to his friends Alaska Young and Takumi. This small group of friends is a basis for Miles to start discovering himself but also comes with tough consequences and heartbreak.

Miles knows that Alaska has a boyfriend but it doesn’t keep him from loving her any less. As he gets closer with Alaska, Miles realizes that she was a quirky, defiant, let-loose kind of girl with a daunting past that seems to get the best of her. Alaska always talks of a labyrinth but never provides a true description of what she means. She tells Miles, “You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth thinking you’ll escape it one day.” No one truly knows what Alaska meant by this other than the most literal meaning of how she feels trapped in her own crazy life. Alaska had completed her last incredible prank, when tragically and suddenly, she was gone. Killed in a car accident while drunk. Whether it was suicide or a simple accident, no one knows, but Alaska’s friends learned something about themselves that night. Miles, Chip, and Takumi learn that life is short. It is important to live life to the fullest and understand that bad things will happen. They learn it is important to turn the focus towards coming out as a better person than before. Forgiveness is the main point of moving on from mistakes. Forgiveness of oneself or forgiveness of those who inflict the pain is key to healing.

This novel truly reflects how high school has a major toll on an individual’s life. It captivates its readers and supplies an interesting view point on life through that of a labyrinth. No one knows when they will die or what the future holds but through this novel we see an illustration of how people can get through life even if it means dealing with a little bit of adversity along the way.