I just finished Looking For Alaska for the second time. I read in less than 24 hours, and when I wasn’t reading I was thinking. This book has basically consumed my thoughts for the past day. There are many great quotes and symbolism that I didn’t notice the first time. One of the most notable was “How do you get out of the labyrinth of suffering?” (John Green). This question consumed Alaska and is a reoccurring theme in the story.
The first time I read Looking For Alaska, my focus was not on the symbolism and the questions that were raised while reading, instead it was focused the smoking and the drinking. However, while there is still a lot of smoking and drinking, it done symbolically and has a deeper meaning. Well it has a deeper meaning for Alaska….
“Y’all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die.”
As you can probably tell Alaska is one of those characters that is as deep and mysterious as the ocean. She is impulsive, random, and spontaneous. She has a “Life Library” of all the books she wants to read, and can quote authors and poets without hesitation. She is one of those characters that makes you wish you were fictional just so you can know her and be like her. But she was broken, hurting, and full of guilt. (SPOILER) And like most characters like her, she meant an unfortunate ending, because the way I see it people that amazing, that unique are too good for this world. As Pudge said…
“If people were rain,
I was drizzle
and she was a hurricane.”
In My Library 