“I go to seek a Great Perhaps,”- François Rabelais. And then he died.
Last words are one of the many symbols that John Green uses to represent the experiences of Miles “Pudge” Halter in Looking for Alaska. Looking for Alaska is a coming of age novel about how the boring and meaningless life of Pudge Halter is transformed when he goes away to boarding school. He meets exciting and fast-paced friends, Alaska and the Colonel, and with them has his first experiences with love, friendship, and even death. Pudge learns about how his happy-go-lucky friends have troubles of them own, and when Alaska dies in a car accident, he is forced to learn about death, and even while losing a friend, begins to find himself. While reading about symbols such as death and alcohol can be troubling to a reader, Looking for Alaska explores the thoughts and questions we all have about death, life, and meaning.
Early in the story, cigarettes are introduced as a symbol for Pudge’s new friendships and new, risky experiences. He first meets Alaska when the Colonel visits her to buy cigarettes. Smoking out in the woods is where Pudge first gets in trouble and learns that his friends will stick with him through thick and thin. It is also where he learns about his friends as people and gets a sense of who they really are. Dually, cigarettes represent Alaska’s dance with danger. “ ‘Why do you [Alaska] smoke so damn fast?’ I [Pudge] asked… She [Alaska] smiled with the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said ‘Y’all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die.’ ” This is Pudge’s first glimpse of Alaska’s darker, more self-destructive nature and the risks she is willing to take.
Another symbol of Pudge’s growing friendships is alcohol. Friendships are a big theme in Looking for Alaska, as meeting new people and forming relationships is central to a teen’s identity. Alcohol is used to represent their closeness and their trust. For example, the first time Pudge and Alaska hang out alone together they read Kurt Vonnegut books by moonlight and get drunk on Alaska’s secret stash of strawberry wine. The meaningful experience is accompanied by the strong image of drunkenness, which can be difficult to read about. Alcohol is romanticized and almost endorsed. Playing a drinking game with his friends is how Pudge learns about many of the traumas and hardships that his friends were trying to escape using wine, or cigarettes, or books. He learns that Alaska watched her mother die of an aneurysm and was blamed by her father, causing her to feel guilty ad responsible for years. The Colonel had an abusive father and an unsteady childhood. This is where the symbol of alcohol begins to show a darker side. Alaska is driving drunk, and is tragically killed in what could have been an accident or a suicide. Alcohol is no longer romanticized, but is shown to have clear, harsh consequences. While alcohol may be troubling to read about, in Looking for Alaska the topic is handled in a way perfect for teen audiences. The consequences are shown to be real and heartbreaking, without the use of scare tactics to try to “scare the audience straight.”
A final symbol in Looking for Alaska was last words. Pudge always had a fascination with them, and shared the morbid quotes with his friends at every opportunity. Pudge’s grim fascination with the words of the ting represents the eerie fascination that all people have with death. Whether you believe that death brings happiness, torment, or nothing, it still remains a mystery that will never be solved. Everyone thinks about death, maybe even wishing for it, and each person must find their own way to deal with these strange and troubling thoughts. While death can be a heavy topic to read about, Looking for Alaska shows us that no matter what tragedies befall us, we can choose how we deal with our thoughts and feelings of grief. When Pudge water to go to boarding school, he quotes Francois Rabelais as his reason: “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” Pudge’s way of thinking of death as a mystery rather than an end is what enables him to feel hope for Alaska instead of just mourning. Pudge got through his grief by thinking of life as a journey and death a discovery, versus Alaska, who often thought of life as a “labyrinth of suffering” that death was an escape from. Alaska’s thoughts of life as hell and death as an escape were dangerous as well as glorified death. They put her at a risk of hurting herself. People’s attitude towards death greatly changes the way that it effects them, and everyone must choose for themselves how to address and take on one of life’s greatest mysteries. Pudge’s optimistic way of thinking of death as the “Great Perhaps” helped him deal with the loss of a friend in a contemplative and meaningful way. Though Looking for Alaska is filled with dark topics, the book is mostly a guide for teens struggling with the content, and is an excellent way to get messages about grief and dealing with loss across.
In conclusion, John Green skillfully uses symbolism to add depth and meaning to Pudge’s experiences. Be it love, death, wine or cigarettes many objects and shared experiences shaped Pudge’s friendships, helped him deal with death, and taught him about life. The symbolism of alcohol abuse is also shown to represent the danger in a life like Alaska’s. While dealing with a lot of heavy material that may be considered inappropriate for teens, Looking for Alaska teaches many meaningful lessons rather than using smoking and death to lure in more readers. Alaska’s death is a harsh but effective way to hit home the dangers of drinking underage and driving drunk. Dealing with loss is an uncommon theme in YA literature that can really help people struggling in similar situations cope. In the end, the dark symbolism in Looking for Alaska is used to guide YA readers and give them a realistic, relatable teacher.
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