Looking for Alaska

The novel looking for Alaska by John Green is a story about a group of teenagers living at a boarding school where they are considered the social outcasts by themselves and by the “weekday warriors” the wealthy student population. I admire the language style that was used in this text. It depicted exactly how I would imagine awkwardly smart and devious teenagers would speak. Making the first half of the book very enjoyable and humorous to read, even after the transition from the “before” section of the book to the “after” section (after the death of one of the main characters, Alaska) the language did change from awkwardly smart and humorous to awkwardly smart and dark. However I found it fitting because he still keeps within the dialogue style through-out the characters. Suffering from the pain of the loss of one of their dearest friends the humor from them was replaced with a deep dark depression. However I found it fitting because well for one they just lost their friend and two they are teenagers who are still trying to deal with their everyday emotions so dealing with a death I can assume would change their attitudes. I really enjoyed the fact that there was a whole section of the book dedicated to “before” the event. It really allowed the read to connect with the characters and learn who they were, so when reading the “after” I could understand why they were behaving in such a manner or they thought process. And it was a nice transition instead of just throwing it at the reader hey this girl is dead. By having the before and after you are prepared for a change. I also enjoyed the use of symbols that were presented through-out the novel. Although they were pretty mild once you figured out what they were and what they stood for it made a lot of sense. For example the use of the white flowers that were found with Alaska at the scene of the accident given to her by her boyfriend is a symbol for purity. Which is very ironic because nothing about Alaska screams pure or innocence but yet at the same time she still is. She had to endure something that most children never have to, witnessing your mother die in your own arms. Carrying around that guilt from her past makes her act out and rebel. So how is she innocent? Because she still cares. I am unsure of how this text is supposed to position adolescents but if I had to take a guess I would assume that it is meant to encourage young adults to live. To experience life and have fun, but at the same time be ready to suffer the consequences so make smart decisions. This text appeals to the young adult population because of its vulgarity and humorous dialogue. It tells the story of rebellion which is something all youth fantasize. My own personal grading of this text is an A. I thought it was very well written with a nice transition from making choices to suffering consequences.