Takumi's worst day was when he was going to see his grandmother in Japan, but she unexpectedly died in a car accident, so instead of seeing her for vacation, he went to her funeral. He spends most of the two weeks studying for exams coming up, but he also realizes how much he missed his parents and how much they truly care about him. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Chip also identifies the people Miles should consider his enemies, like the Weekday Warriors and the Eagle, creating an us-versus-them social dynamic. They light up fireworks in the forest to distract the Eagle from hearing Alaska drive away, and Alaska drives away, drunk and crying. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! More books than SparkNotes. Miles tells Takumi how she kissed him that night, and he is surprised. The book begins with Miles Halter leaving his home in Florida to attend the Culver Creek boarding school in Birmingham, AL. Chip makes Miles understand that his nickname is the Colonel and should therefor call him that from now on, and the Colonel gives the nickname Pudge to Miles. Later that night, the Eagle stops by Chip and Miless dorm to warn them never to pull a stunt like that again, as well as to acknowledge his amusement since the prank was clearly Alaskas idea. creating and saving your own notes as you read. Dont have an account? This reminds him of Alaska. Chip and Miles decide they should do a prank in honor of Alaska. But that wouldnt be fair to Alaska (the character or the book). The person who wins doesnt have to drink. Chip Martin SparkNotes PLUS The question to answer for this paper is in response to Alaskas paper from the first semester. The Colonel comes back to Culver Creek to bring Alaska and Miles back home with him for Thanksgiving. Chip returns from spring break with detailed plans for executing the Subverting the Patriarchal Paradigm prank. He says his mother could not bear the thought of having two of the Colonels close friends staying behind for Thanksgiving. The Eagle calls him, and everything goes as planned. We did not say: Dont drive. LitCharts Teacher Editions. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Miles and the Colonel discuss how hard it was to read Alaskas thoughts and feelings, and that its going to be impossible to try and understand what happened in her head that night. Contact us Sometimes it can end up there. Chip and Miles decide that what they need for closure is to drive through the accident site like Alaska would have. But at the time, I just saw Alaska up there. They talk about two people who were expelled the previous yearMarya and Paulbecause someone ratted on them. The Eagle introduces the performer to the student body and he begins to deliver the speech Chip and Miles prepared for him. They realize that Alaskas mother passed away on January 9th, and Alaska died on the 10th. Chip invites Miles to come with him to his friend Alaskas dorm to buy cigarettes from her. Miles Halter, a high school student, plans to attend a boarding school, Culver Creek, for his junior year, and his parents throw him a going away party before he leaves. Finally, after all this time, Takumi, Miles and the Colonel find a theory that makes sense to them all. During spring time, Culver Creek took a Friday afternoon off to let two important people, like politicians or small-time celebrities, do speeches in front of the school. The note is from Takumi and indicates a lot of important information for Miles. Alaska dares Miles to make out with her. Pudge and the While everybody has gone home for Thanksgiving, Alaska and Miles spend time alone, and the first night they read and drink together under the stars. Miles and Alaska spend the next day of their vacation raiding other students dorm rooms and finding their secret stashes of alcohol, cigarettes and other things. | It suggests that to define belonging as belonging to this very specific group is small-minded and petty. Miles especially enjoys his world religions class because of the teacher, Dr. Hyde, who seems very intriguing to him. Those are the questions I think Miles is confronting at the end, and I wanted to argue that through forgiveness, it is possible to live a full and hopeful lifeeven if our world is saturated with injustice and loss. They dont conclude to anything, they simply spin around in circles and are getting tired of it. After the friends leave, Miless mother expresses concern that he wants to go to boarding school because he has no friends. Franois Rabelais. That night, Alaska comes to Miles and the Colonels room, to have drinks in order to celebrate the success of their pre-prank. Refine any search. There's the beautiful and suffering Alaska Young (Kristine Froseth) and her friends Miles "Pudge" Halter (Charlie Plummer), Chip, aka the Colonel (Denny Love), and Maxx does a speech in front of the school about adolescent sexuality. Miles goes with Alaska, in her car, with a few other people to McDonalds in order to study for their upcoming precalc test. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. (I am reminded of the Onion headline: Despite Efforts, World Death Rate Remains Steady at 100%.) Miless written response to Dr. Hydes final religion paper question shows that Miles has grown and matured considerably since the beginning of the year. The Colonel mixes vodka with his milk to ensure the Eagle can never find it. Miles and the Colonel spend much of the rest of the year trying to deal with their grief, hoping to figure out why Alaska left and whether she intended to kill herself or not. On the first day of the new semester, Dr. Hyde tells the class that their essay question for this semester will be the question that Alaska had written about in her final exam for the previous semester : How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Miles goes to see the Eagle to talk to him about how the Colonel is doing bad in latin because of how hard Alaskas death has been on him, while the Colonel steals the breathalyzer. Instant PDF downloads. You just use the future to escape the past., Sometimes you lose a battle. Takumi convinces Miles to go apologize to Lara, because Takumi knows Alaska wouldnt be pleased to know how Miles was acting towards her if she was still here. WebFind the quotes you need in John Green's Looking for Alaska, sortable by theme, character, or chapter. Alaska and the Colonel end up getting 10 hours of community work. But the not-knowing would not keep me from caring, and I would always love Alaska Young, my crooked neighbor, with all my crooked heart., Forgetting her mother, failing her mother and her friends and herselfthose are awful things, but she did not need to fold into herself and self-destruct. Miles, Alaska, the Colonel and Dolores share Thanksgiving dinner together. Chapter 57 -One hundred nineteen days after. He added that the ultimate purpose of the book was to create uncertainty around that tragedy, and force the characters to confront the fact that some things in life are simply unknowable. Alaska had done something that could have sent her home, but the Eagle asks her for any information she had in order to stay at the boarding school, so she ratted them out. Miles goes back home for Christmas and spends quality time with his parents. Sometimes, there are questions that NEED answeringdid my friend kill herself or was it an accident, for instancebut that never get answered.I wrote the book because I wanted to explore whether it is possible to reconcile yourself to that ambiguity, to live with it and not let your anger and sadness over the lack of resolution take over your life. How could she be so stupid! I cant believe she was so stupid!, So we gave up. She later explains that she loves the meaning of the word Alaska which means that which the sea breaks against. WebMiles now knows that the death of Alaska's mom "was the central moment of Alaska's life" (2before.77). Even though Alaska was intoxicated during the makeout session she had with Miles, she remembers that she had to go bring flowers on her mother's grave, causing her to panic and then ultimately die. She buys three cartons of cigarettes, five bottles of wine and a fifth of vodka for the Colonel. | Looking for Alaska Questions | Q & A | GradeSaver Looking for Alaska How does Alaska die? Purchasing Contact us He meets his new roommate, who introduces himself as Chip Martin. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. Alaska gets kicked out also for pointing out how ridiculous the reasoning was. Takumi finishes his exams early and leaves school without personally saying goodbye. Mrs. Young Alaska s mother, who died of an aneurysm in front of Alaska when she was young. Miles explains what exactly the jury is. How does Alaska die? on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% for a customized plan. Miles tells Chip that, similar to how Chip learns geography, he memorizes peoples final words. Chip describes two distinct groups within the social structure of Culver Creek to Miles: regular boarders such as himself, and those he calls Weekday Warriors because they are rich kids that go home to their parents mansions every weekend. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. Even before the series premiered, showrunner Josh Schwartz told the Television Critics Association that, "We will never know what happened that night," per The Wrap. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. Miles ends up deciding that he doesnt care whether or not Alaska committed suicide in the end, because he loves her no matter what. Alaska has a fake ID, which helps her get Strawberry Hill wine and cigarettes from the Coosa Liquor store in town. The Colonel comes back from spring break with a notebook full of sketches and plans for the upcoming prank on behalf of Alaska. Alaska also tells Miles that she somehow manages to screw everything up, but Miles cant figure out exactly what she is referring to. They decide to drive through the same exact place Alaska drove through, at the same speed. He leaves Chip and Miles a letter, explaining that he saw Alaska the night that she died. and theme. Alaska has never told anyone at Culver Creek that her mother is dead, and for the first time, Miles can understand why Alaska is so moody and impulsive. When they get back, Alaska, Miles, Takumi, the Colonel and Lara, whom Alaska thinks Miles should date, execute a prank on the Weekday Warriors. If Pudge and the Colonel and Alaska had gone on having a rip-roaring time,then the book wouldve been aboutwhat? Youve successfully purchased a group discount. Shes not thinking straight because shes angry and drunk, and thinks she can drive past the cop car, but drives right into in.