Introduction
Every single human being would agree that we each carry our own burden. Personal struggles define us because they influence how we act, make decisions, and plans all towards the goal of unburdening ourselves. One of philosophical questions raised in author John Green is looking for Alaska involve the labyrinth as a metaphor for human beings’ personal struggles. As an individual, one would navigate or travel through the tangled path such as the labyrinth and dealing with our personal struggles is similar to the feeling of being trapped in a maze, and attempting and hoping that one would be able to escape and find the labyrinth’s exit.
Adolescent loss, grief, and acceptance
In the novel, adolescent loss has been brought out when the teenager character loss persons they hold dear. Miles suffers adolescent loss when he losses Alaska, they had memorable time together, and he was not sure even if she loved him yet after her death, he never knew the answer. The theme of adolescent loss in this novel comes out since the death claims the life of people the teenager characters hold dear. In real life when a person loses someone dear to him he or she suffers a significant loss since no any other person can fill the gap. Deaths in the novel illustrate this theme of adolescent loss. Grief is a kind of the multifaceted response when one lose someone who is close, and affection has been developed friendship. In the novel after death claims persons close to the teenagers they at first find it difficult to accept. They are tormented by the memories of the deceased. They are in grief since there are questions they will never get answers. The dead are the only individual who can give the perfect answers, but they have to learn to live without them. Acceptance is a process in which an individual learn to live without the departed. After loss, a person gets into grief but later on learnt to accept the loss as it has already occurred. In the novel after a loss, individual gets into grief but after sometimes they move on, and life has to continue. In the book, some characters take long before accepting the loss they eventually do and learn to live without the departed. It’s clear that after loss, grief follows and finally after healing one learns to accept.
In the novel, every character has their own story as well as personal struggles and issues – their very own labyrinth – they must learn to overcome. The characters’ story shows how each of them were able to do so. To narrow down the scope of the discussion, it would focus on three themes – loss, grief, and acceptance. Since we are exploring loss, grief, and acceptance as the main themes of Looking for Alaska, the following discussion would focus on three different characters – Miles, Alaska, and the Colonel – particularlyhow they each dealt with loss and grief, as well as how they accepted their difficult circumstances. Miles, Alaska, and the Colonel’s labyrinth or struggles involved loss and grief. Each one of them, however, sought to accept loss and deal with grief in different ways. The succeeding discussion explores these differences.
Miles’ Conflicted Feelings about Alaska’s Death and their Relationship
Miles regarded Alaska’s death as the loss of someone he loved hence his grief was emotionally-driven in that he was initially concerned about what Alaska’s death meant in terms of his relationship with her. Prior to his acceptance of what happened to Alaska, Miles was consumed by unresolved issues between him and Alaska, particularly the question of whether she loved her, which will never be answered. Towards the end of the novel, Miles learns that Alaska died in a car crash. At first, Miles finds it difficult to deal with his grief because the circumstances surrounding Alaska’s death seemed improbable to him. Miles’ feeling for Alaska was also one of the reasons why he found it difficult to deal with grief. Throughout the story, Miles gradually fell in love with Alaska as they both spent time together as friends. Alaska somewhat knew about Miles’ feelings for her. When Alaska died, the question was whether she died in an accident or she committed suicide by speeding and crashing her car to a tree. One of their mutual friends, the Colonel, wanted to know so he suggested that they talk to Alaska’s boyfriend. Nonetheless, Miles refused because he was afraid he might discover that Alaska did not love him back. Miles and the Colonel argue and during this time, his friend made him realize that he was selfish to only think of himself at a time when they should be thinking about Alaska and the implications of what she did. Miles eventually realized that he was indeed selfish. Moreover, the Colonel made Miles realize that he only loved the idealized version of Alaska, not including the other side of her that was sad and fragmented.
Miles was able to accept Alaska’s death when he not only let go of his guilt but also accepted that his primary concerns were less important than what happened to her. The Colonel made Miles realize that he did not truly love Alaska because he never knew her well and thus, never understood Alaska’s internal struggles. At this point, Miles let go of the uncertainties in his mind and accepted that it was no longer important if Alaska loved him back or not. Towards the end of the novel, Miles expressed gratitude for the time he spent with Alaska and the things that he learned from her. Miles was also able to accept Alaska’s death because he similarly accepted what happened. Alaska may have died in an accident or killed himself but what mattered to Miles was that he understood Alaska’s level of guilt and grief, which led her to leave that night. Alaska left because she forgot about her mother’s death anniversary on that day.
Alaska’s Guilt
Alaska’s “labyrinth” or personal struggle involved her guilt over her mother’s death, which prolonged feelings of loss and grief in her. Alaska witnessed her mother’s death when she was a child and although she was young then, she believed she could have saved her had she called 911. Guilt has significantly affected Alaska in that she was never able to get over the loss of his mother and deal with her grief. As a result, Alaska behaved differently than the others. In the novel, she was wildly unpredictable. Alaska’s enigmatic character was one of the reasons why Miles fell in love with her. Alaska’s situation illustrates the struggle involving human beings who are unable to deal with guilt. Alaska never had the support system and help she needed. Alaska needed someone to tell her and reassure her that her mother’s death was not her fault and that she should not feel guilty about it. She never overcame this guilt, which is why she became a wayward adolescent as a means to cope. Alaska drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, and engaged in promiscuous activities with her boyfriend. Guilt prevented Alaska from dealing with loss and grief.
Alaska may have accepted her mother’s death in the end depending on one’s interpretation of her passing. If we are to believe that Alaska committed suicide, then we may surmise that it may have been her way, albeit mistaken, to accept what happened in the past. Alaska may have resigned herself to the idea that it was her fault and because of the guilt feelings she felt that night about forgetting her mother’s death anniversary, she killed herself as a means to show acceptance that she will never overcome this guilt. The note that Miles saw on Alaska’s copy of the The General in His Labyrinth supports this claim. Miles saw Alaska’s handwriting that read “straight and fast”, which may indicate that she planned to commit suicide. Alaska may have been desperate as she was unable to deal with her guilt. She accepted that she would never be able to forgive herself, which is why she decided to commit suicide. On the other hand, if Alaska had an accident, then we may conclude that she was never able to deal with loss and grief, and accept what happened to her mother. From Alaska’s story and journey in the novel, we may learn that guilt would prevent us from dealing with loss and grief, and moving on towards acceptance.
The Colonel’s Guilt
The Colonel was more aggressive in the way that he dealt with loss and grief. On the day of the death anniversary of Alaska’s mother, Alaska and Miles spent time together. At one point, when Alaska realized that it was her mother’s death anniversary, she asked help from Miles and the Colonel to escape so perhaps she could visit her mother’s grave. She was drunk then, which is why it was difficult for Miles and the Colonel to ascertain whether Alaska was in an accident or had killed herself. While Miles wondered about his unresolved issues with Alaska about their relationship, the Colonel was more concerned about knowing the truth. Hence, he suggested that they talk to Alaska’s boyfriend to know more about her state of mind during that time and whether she intended to commit suicide. The Colonel then wanted to deal with loss and grief by trying to understand what led Alaska to leave that night and whether she intended to commit suicide or if she met an accident. Therefore, for the Colonel, dealing with loss and grief meant uncovering the truth and understanding what happened, as well as understanding Alaska’s motives.
The Colonel also felt guilty for helping Alaska leave that night but he was able to accept her death by remembering how she touched their lives as friends and talking about her with other people such as Miles who knew her well. Moreover, the Colonel was able to accept Alaska’s passing by remembering her as she was when she was alive. Unlike Miles, the Colonel did not dwell on the mysterious circumstances surrounding Alaska’s death but on their friendship and cherished times together. The Colonel and Miles also helped stage an event on Culver’s Speaker Day by hiring a male stripper, something that they both believe Alaska would have loved to see.
Conclusion
Miles, Alaska, and the Colonel dealt with loss, grief, and acceptance in different ways. Nonetheless, these were parts of their “labyrinth” or personal struggles, more so with Alaska. The three of them sought to escape their labyrinths in a different way, particularly when it related to loss, grief, and acceptance. Miles dealt with loss and grief, for instance, by thinking about unresolved issues between him and Alaska. It was only when Miles realized his selfishness and understand Alaska’s problem and state of mind that night that he was able to accept what happened to her. The Colonel, on the other hand, dealt with loss and grief by seeking the truth. The circumstances surrounding Alaska’s death were unclear but he accepted what happened and chose to remember his friendship and memories with Alaska. Alaska’s situation, however, is the most difficult. Guilt held her back from dealing with loss, grief, and accepting not only her mother’s death but also the idea that it was not her fault. We may then surmise that guilt is one of the factors that could prevent individuals from dealing with loss and grief, and accepting their circumstances. Grief trapped Alaska in her labyrinth of struggles. She tried to deal and cope by smoking, drinking, and engaging in promiscuous activity. Towards the end, she decided that escaping the labyrinth would require her to do something “straight and fast”, which coincidentally was what happened when her car crashed into a tree and killed her instantly. Alaska’s story in the novel shows the heavy impact of guilt and how it debilitates people into coming on their own. Moreover, Alaska’s story shows that many people need help and support because without them, they could lose their faith and hope in life.
Works Cited
Buffaloe, Crystal Leigh. 2008. Examining the taboo in young adult literature: Teens and teachers look at the 2000 – 2007 Printz Awards. ProQuest.
Fletcher-Spear, Kristin & Tyler, Kelly. 2014. Intellectual freedom for teens: A practical guide for young adult & school librarians. American Library Association.
Garcia, Antero. 2013. Critical foundations in young adult literature: Challenging genres. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.
Green, John. 2006. Looking for Alaska. Dutton Juvenile.
