In the book, Looking for Alaska, written by John Green, the labyrinth is a topic debated over and interpreted in different ways based on each character the reader learns about. Alaska Young initially raised the question, but then it was left to be interpreted by the Colonel and Miles. The labyrinth itself is something anyone could portray, but Alaska had laid out the basis of it by calling it, “the labyrinth of suffering’(Green 82)”. In this essay I intend to discuss the variety of interpretations given to the readers by the characters in this book along with how these characters have found a way to escape or cope with the labyrinth. .
To start one needs to define what a labyrinth is and where it had originated from inside the book, Looking …show more content…
To which Alaska replies with, “That’s the mystery isn't it? Is the labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape the world or the end of it?’ (Green 19)”. Then onwards the reader begins to learn about Alaska’s interpretation of the labyrinth. The first interpretation Alaska has for the labyrinth of suffering is that it's a negative mindset that she is not capable of escaping. It is a place where there's only despair for her because, as the reader finds out later in the book, she believes it is her fault that her mother had died, “She was lying on the floor, holding her head and jerking. And I freaked out. I should have called 911…’(Green 119)”. Then towards the middle of the book the reader finds out that Alaska has died and that Mile and the Colonel were left without an answer about how one can escape the labyrinth and whether or not Alaska’s death was her way of escaping. After looking into Alaska’s death, the reader is given interpretation by Miles and the Colonel as to if Alaska was able to escape her labyrinth. Just before Alaska’s death, she, according to Mile and the Colonel, was able to find a way of escaping, “Straight & Fast”, she wrote in her copy of The General and His Labyrinth (Green 155). Which had made sense to Miles and the Colonel, since Alaska had always made comments about death, “Ya’ll smoke to enjoy it, I smoke to die’ (Green 44)” …show more content…
The Colonel’s own labyrinth and how to escape it, which closely resembles Alaska’s, was given to the reader, one hundred and twenty-two days after Alaska's death, when Professor Hyde gives out an exam where he uses Alaska's famous quote for the main topic (Green 215). To which the Colonel and Miles go back to their dorm and after having discussed the labyrinth for a minute, the Colonel tells Miles that he had concluded that, as he says “After all this time, it still seems to me like Straight and Fast is the only way out-but I choose the labyrinth. The labyrinth blows, but I choose it’ (Green 216)”. The Colonel understands Alaska’s escape, but he won't leave the labyrinth the way she did, which was dying young and in a way that appears as a suicide. He believes that he belongs there, that he will never escape it; but not because he can't, but because he wants to stay their and never forget his labyrinth. The Colonel understands and has come to terms with his labyrinth of suffering, because it is what has shaped him into the person he is
To start one needs to define what a labyrinth is and where it had originated from inside the book, Looking …show more content…
To which Alaska replies with, “That’s the mystery isn't it? Is the labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape the world or the end of it?’ (Green 19)”. Then onwards the reader begins to learn about Alaska’s interpretation of the labyrinth. The first interpretation Alaska has for the labyrinth of suffering is that it's a negative mindset that she is not capable of escaping. It is a place where there's only despair for her because, as the reader finds out later in the book, she believes it is her fault that her mother had died, “She was lying on the floor, holding her head and jerking. And I freaked out. I should have called 911…’(Green 119)”. Then towards the middle of the book the reader finds out that Alaska has died and that Mile and the Colonel were left without an answer about how one can escape the labyrinth and whether or not Alaska’s death was her way of escaping. After looking into Alaska’s death, the reader is given interpretation by Miles and the Colonel as to if Alaska was able to escape her labyrinth. Just before Alaska’s death, she, according to Mile and the Colonel, was able to find a way of escaping, “Straight & Fast”, she wrote in her copy of The General and His Labyrinth (Green 155). Which had made sense to Miles and the Colonel, since Alaska had always made comments about death, “Ya’ll smoke to enjoy it, I smoke to die’ (Green 44)” …show more content…
The Colonel’s own labyrinth and how to escape it, which closely resembles Alaska’s, was given to the reader, one hundred and twenty-two days after Alaska's death, when Professor Hyde gives out an exam where he uses Alaska's famous quote for the main topic (Green 215). To which the Colonel and Miles go back to their dorm and after having discussed the labyrinth for a minute, the Colonel tells Miles that he had concluded that, as he says “After all this time, it still seems to me like Straight and Fast is the only way out-but I choose the labyrinth. The labyrinth blows, but I choose it’ (Green 216)”. The Colonel understands Alaska’s escape, but he won't leave the labyrinth the way she did, which was dying young and in a way that appears as a suicide. He believes that he belongs there, that he will never escape it; but not because he can't, but because he wants to stay their and never forget his labyrinth. The Colonel understands and has come to terms with his labyrinth of suffering, because it is what has shaped him into the person he is