Looking for Alaska

Miles and Lara continue to pursue their relationship in a clumsy manner; most obviously, when Lara suddenly offers Miles oral sex and they find themselves at a loss about what to do. As Alaska is much more experienced and open about her sexual escapades, they rightly surmise that she will be able to clue them in. Still, while her advice proves invaluable, they are both embarrassed, and the scene as a whole is depicted in a frank, unflinching manner that emphasizes the awkwardness and self-consciousness of these adolescent fumblings. As with its treatment of smoking and alcohol consumption, the novel does not shy away from realism in its portrayal of such scenarios.

Turning their attention to other matters, Lara raises a pertinent question when she asks why Miles is so interested in last words. It may seem like a quirky hobby and, in some cases, last words can be ironic or amusing. However, last words can sum up not only someone’s death but also their life. Miles is more interested in biographies than literature, as he finds the facts of a person’s life more compelling than fictional stories or poetry. Last words can therefore provide a fitting coda to an individual’s life and offer significant insight within the space of a few words.

Despite trying to articulate himself, Miles struggles to communicate with Lara and spends the rest of the day with Alaska and the Colonel. This culminates in a game of truth or dare, in which Alaska and Miles finally kiss. Despite Miles’s attraction to Alaska, thoughts of Lara and Jake make him hesitant; however, Alaska is much more confident and takes the lead. This episode culminates in Alaska saying “To be continued?”—a comment that will later haunt Miles—before falling asleep. Miles’s romantic feelings for Alaska have been reignited, but, as we will soon see, the Colonel’s remark that this is going to end badly proves well-founded.

The tranquility of the scene is interrupted when Alaska takes a telephone call and becomes hysterical for reasons that she will not explain. Echoing her earlier comments, she berates herself for ruining everything and insists that she needs to leave. Miles and the Colonel know that they should not let her leave in her present state but she is adamant and her distress is palpable. They therefore put common sense to one side and allow her to drive away. They have no idea of the dire consequences that will result from this decision until it is too late.

Up to this point, the novel has been divided into segments that begin “one hundred thirty-six days before” (Chapter 1) and end with “the last day” (Chapter 31). Here, however, it moves into the past tense, with Chapter 32 being titled “after” and occurring the day after Alaska’s departure. This structure is not explained within the novel, but we now realize that the previous chapters were leading up to a pivotal, life-changing event. Chapter 32 reveals what this event is, while subsequent chapters follow the characters in the days, weeks, and months that follow. It is also important to remember that Miles is acting as narrator, as the structure of the story indicates that he views his life at Culver Creek in terms of “before” and “after”; again, signaling an event that has had considerable, lasting impact.

The mood is somber as the students are summoned to the gym, which prompts Miles and the Colonel to wonder if Dr. Hyde has passed away. This would not be surprising, given his advanced age and ailing health, but when he enters the gym—and Alaska remains noticeably absent—the Eagle imparts the tragic news of that Alaska has died. It is notable that even the Eagle is visibly upset, revealing a human side beneath his usually stern exterior. As one would expect, Miles and the Colonel are shell-shocked and quickly start turning over the events of the previous night and blaming themselves.

Miles often finds himself dwelling on Alaska’s comment, “To be continued?”, during the period following her death. The sense of possibility her question evoked is contrasted with the finality of her death and the question of whether their relationship would have continued. He likes to imagine that this would have been the case, but he can only speculate. He will never know for sure, nor will he know Alaska’s last words. He has read the words of countless figures who he has never met, yet, in the case of the girl he kissed the previous night he is left with nothing but his own memories. If there were doubts as to how well he really knew Alaska, then this blank space serves as a grim but fitting summation of the cipher-like role that she occupied in his life.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Colonel voices his frustration in having had to watch over Alaska all the time. Ironically, though, he was not annoyed with her on the night of her death and had let her go simply because she asked him to. On the one hand, he resents having been put in a position of responsibility, as though his relationship with Alaska was akin to that of a parent to a child. Really, though, both he and Miles are plagued with guilt at having let her go that night, as they know that it was negligent. Likewise, having to lie to the other students makes this burden even harder to bear.

In this section, therefore, we get a strong sense of the anguish and frustration that Miles and the Colonel feel in the days after Alaska’s death. Hearing that her death was instantaneous provides no solace to Miles, as he reflects that nothing is truly instant. He thinks about the pain that she must have experienced, even if it was only momentary, and both he and the Colonel suffer from vivid nightmares.

As befitting her caring nature, Lara tells Miles that her door is always opens should he need some company, but he avoids her; partly because of their ongoing struggle to communicate but also because it makes him conscious of the loves triangle in which (unbeknownst to Lara) he had become entwined. He does not perceive this entanglement in the past tense, either, as he still feels that he is in love with Alaska; despite recognizing that she is no longer a person. He is thus caught up in a futile scenario, clinging on to a ghost.

When he and the other students attend the funeral, Miles learns that after viewing her mother’s body, Alaska decided she wanted a closed casket at her own funeral. This wish underscores the horror that Alaska felt in the wake of her mother’s death, which was compounded by her sense of guilt. Now, it is Miles and the Colonel who feel guilty: in the same way that Alaska blamed herself for her mother’s death, Miles and the Colonel blame themselves for what has happened to Alaska.

This section, and subsequent chapters, also highlights the trauma experienced by those who are left behind following bereavement. Whatever the specifics were of Alaska’s death, Miles and the Colonel have to live with the consequences. This prompts Miles to think about the labyrinth again: Alaska had said that the labyrinth was not simply life or death but rather suffering, and suffering is precisely what Miles is experiencing at this moment.