Running head: Looking for Alaska 1
Looking for Alaska:
A Critical Analysis
Kathleen Curley
Penn State University
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Looking for Alaska 1 Looking for Alaska: A Critical Analysis ..., Lecture notes of Literature
Plot Summary. Looking for Alaska follows Miles “Pudge” Halter through a year at fictional Culver Creek. Boarding School in Alabama. Pudge makes real friends ...
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Running head: Looking for Alaska 1
Looking for Alaska: A Critical Analysis Kathleen Curley Penn State University
Background Information Looking for Alaska by John Green was published in 2005. It then went on to win the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, as well as several other literary awards. However, it was not without controversy. In March of 2012, the book was banned as being “pornographic” in Knox County, Tennessee. It has also been banned and raised as an issue in other places around the country. Parents held that the novel was against what they were trying to teach their children.
The novel is a work about love and navigating through loss as a teenager. One of the issues that parents raised when they were talking about the novel is that the characters, who are roughly the same age as Green’s intended audience, frequently smoke, drink, curse, and get into trouble at school. That, however, is not the reason that the novel ended up being banned in several parts of the country. The main character of the novel is involved in two “sex scenes” which were described as being explicit and pornographic.
Controversy
The first instance in which Looking for Alaska was raised as an issue was in 2008. 11th^ grade English teachers in Depew, New York wanted to tech the book to a class. Knowing that there were scenes in the book which could potentially be an issue for some students and parents, teachers and school administrators sent home a letter informing parents that their children would be reading the novel. It then gave parents the option to opt their children out of reading the novel to read another instead. Some of the other parents in the school district objected and argued that the novel would cause the students to have “immoral thoughts.”
Plot Summary Looking for Alaska follows Miles “Pudge” Halter through a year at fictional Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama. Pudge makes real friends for the first time in his life, most notably Alaska
are intelligent, funny, witty, entertaining, and relatable. It affects the audience, as they are able to see themselves as part of the story in a way that is different than many other novels in similar genres.
Even in a novel format, Green still uses emotion and empathy to connect the audience to the main characters as they navigate through the events surrounding Alaska’s death. In a fictional setting, it is easier for the writer to manipulate the characters to draw out emotions and empathy from the reader or media consumer, as the writer is not trying to necessarily inform or persuade the reader.
Message Construction
As a work of fictional literature, figurative images are used, and language plays a substantial role in the way that the message is presented. The use of relatable and realistic language is essential to the images that the author created
When it comes to the controversy that surrounds Looking for Alaska, the language and images that are used play a substantial role. Green said in response to the accusations about his work that he no way intended his work to be interpreted as “pornographic.” There are two mild sex scenes in close proximity in the novel. He said that they are in the story and even as descriptive as they are to create a visual contrast between the two situations. One of the scenes is descriptive of a very physically intimate situation, but completely lacking in emotional intimacy. The second scene is much less physical, but very emotionally intimate.
Message Form
The message is a personal narrative. It expresses the author’s personal opinions and ideas in a creative outlet that is meant to entertain the audience. It would make it very difficult for an author to write any sort of personal narrative if their ideals were vastly different than what they were writing. Additionally, Green has said in the past in his video blog that the setting of the story and some of the experiences that Pudge and his friends have are slightly autobiographical.
Analyze, Critique and Interpret
Life Experience
As previously stated, the majority of people who will be exposed to this message will be able to empathize with the characters. While not everyone will be able to relate to the physical setting of a boarding school, most people will be able to relate the narrative to their own high school experience, both inside the classroom and out. At some time or another, people will also experience the pain of loss that comes along with the death of a loved one. It may not parallel exactly, but it hurts to lose anyone, whether it is a first love, a peer, or a family member. This fact is what makes it possible for readers to understand and empathize with the characters and their lives.
Anyone who has experienced the death of someone in their lives has at some point feet some of the same things Pudge experienced following Alaska’s death. Another thing that makes this theme so widely relatable is that the characters all deal with Alaska’s death in different ways. Most of the group took her death very hard, as she was their friend. On the other hand, there was one character who embodied what a lot of other people experience in not wanting to deal with loss. He did not attend Alaska’s funeral. He may not have been in denial that she was dead, but he did not want to have to deal with it and the feelings that went alongside with her death.
Other Media Messages
This plot is somewhat reminiscent of some similar stories in popular media. It brings to mind A Separate Peace, which is another novel, also set in a boarding school, at the beginning of World War II. It follows a similar plotline, in that the story is set around a group of friends and discussed how the main character reacts when he is faced with the death of a peer and friend.
Similarly, the setting of Looking for Alaska is like the movie Dead Poets Society. It is set later
and subsequently become more emotionally invested into the events that take place. The clearest point that the author is making is about dealing with love and loss as a young adult.
In the structure of the novel, Green makes his point throughout. It follows Pudge in his journey to school and making real friends. Instead of being broken into chapters, the novel is just broken down as a countdown from the time that Pudge and Alaska meet until her death and then the elapsed time from her death. As Pudge’s story gets closer to Alaska’s death, it is easy to watch his love for Alaska grow. After the turning point, it is then about learning to deal with their loss.
Conclusion John Green’s Looking for Alaska is considered a controversial piece of media even in today’s society, saturated with violent and sexual images. Green uses language and images not unlike those used by teenagers, but has been banned in some areas because of parental objections. The messages and overall story arc are lost in the midst of the controversy.
Sources
Looking for Alaska. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://johngreenbooks.com/looking-for-alaska/
Vlogbrothers. (30 , January 2008). I am not a pornographer. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHMPtYvZ8tM
Wolf, R. (14, May 20 12). Looking for Alaska. Retrieved from http://bannedbooks.world.edu/2012/05/14/ banned-books-awareness-looking-for-alaska/