Looking For Alaska Research Paper

John Green has been put on a pedestal in the literary world, after so much praise from critics for ‘The ‘fault in our stars’,so I felt compelled to delve into his debut novel, ‘Looking for Alaska’. Our high school years has to be the time were we all focus on our beliefs, self-image, and anything other that our grades. Green accurately captures the essence of high school. Through the perspective of the protagonist, Miles Halter, the audience is guided through his journey of self-discovery and self acceptance. Miles moves to Culver Creek boarding school in order to start this journey as he was extremely introverted and didn’t have any friends. Throughout his time at Culver Creek he crosses paths with Alaska Young - “Clever, funny, screwed-up, …show more content…
She constantly gets caught for smoking cigarettes on campus, drinking in the dorm rooms, sneaking out after curfew and pulling pranks on other students. Alaska may behave badly, but she is vividly real and beautifully drawn - and her story can help some of Green’s readers deal with big topics like self discovery and loss. The beauty of Green’s development of Alaska, is that he doesn’t hide or sugarcoat what she goes through. Readers my age, will be able to see the harsh reality of the coming to age journey and accept the fact it won’t come smoothly. Because, if you try and force yourself to be a “weekend warrior” or something your not, you are not going to end up happy. This idea is fundamental for the coming of age of Green’s teenage demographic. His fresh, unique spin on a teenagers life really made the book pop.

John Green is a marvelous writer who writes what teens want to read, and writes it well. His unique structure, and contemporary, realistic characters, ‘Looking for Alaska’, will have teenagers lining up for hours outside book stores. You may not weep buckets like you did in the ‘Fault in our stars’, but I guarantee you that you will never be so attached to other characters like you are with Miles and