Thursday, May 16, 2013

Looking for Alaska


            I just started “Looking for Alaska” by John Green. The book is about a boy named Miles aka Pudge that goes to boarding school at Culver Creek and meets a girl named Alaska.
            In the book Miles has this obsession with last words. He memorizes the last words of famous people and can recite them on command. I wonder if this obsession is an obsession with dead or just want people think before they die. I don’t think Miles is a dark person but I wonder what drives him to memorize the last words of people. Maybe he likes them because some of them are funny. But really I think its because people can reveal themselves when they’re dying. Someone’s last words, funny or not, can help you understand the person even if you never knew them. Its interesting to think of the things people want to be their last thought they put out into they world. Maybe they don’t know that they’re about to die and it inadvertently becomes their last words, which is also interesting to think about, you can’t control your death so you can’t control your last words.

            Another thing I thought about when I was reading the book is why did Miles go to boarding school? When his parents were saying goodbye to him at his dorm he wanted them to leave at quickly as possible. I think he wanted to get out of his house and that’s why he moved from Florida to Alabama. But why? Did he have a bad relationship with his parents or did he just not fit in at home? I don’t know what would drive a kid to want to leave everything behind and I don’t know what would drive a parent to make their child move so far away from home. I don’t think he was abused he calls his parents all the time. He says he left home to pursue his education but I think it was more then that.
            I just started “Looking for Alaska” by John Green. I haven’t read a lot of the book yet and that is why I asked a lot of questions in this blog post. I hope that as I continue reading I can answer them and learn more about Miles. 

1 comment:

  1. Dearest Rosie,
    Thou hast written a magnificent post. I find your first paragraph very interesting. Do you think about last words at all? I know that when I say goodbye to someone I don't see often, I try to think of last words that are memorable rather than just "tootaloo!" I also think that it was really interesting how you said that people cannot control their death and therefore they cannot control their last words. How do you think, then, that many people have interesting or powerful last words? Is there a trend with the causes of death and the last words people say? And also, this does not relate to your post at all, but does Alaska's name have any connection at all to the setting? Well, tootaloo!
    Tiv

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