Looking for Alaska by John Green essay

 SPOILER ALERT! DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ LOOKING FOR ALASKA OR IF YOU PLAN ON READING IT!    

Imagine losing someone you really cared about. Painful right? “Looking for Alaska” by John Green follows a teenage boy, Miles, as he goes through an emotional roller coaster before and after his dear friend, and true love, Alaska dies. Many emotions in this book are ones teenagers often connect to, learn from, and are interested by.

Excitement is one emotion that falls into those categories. The first time Miles hangs out with Alaska he is overwhelmed with excitement. Before he went to Culver Creek (the boarding school where he meets Alaska and became good friends with his roommate - the Colonel) Miles never really had friends, and this new experience was exciting for him. This is a moment where many teenagers can connect to Miles as they may have also had trouble making friends. In addition, another moment of his excitement ties in with the emotion of nervousness. At Culver Creek, each grade pulls a prank. This year Miles, Alaska, the Colonel, the Colonels friend Takumi, and Miles's future one-day girlfriend Lara are pulling a prank to send home progress reports to people who almost killed Miles after duct taping him and throwing him in a lake. Miles and Takumi’s job was to distract the Eagle (the principal) while the Colonel and Alaska send home the progress reports. They distract the Eagle by setting off fireworks in the woods. While doing this, Miles is extremely excited, yet extremely nervous that they were going to get caught. This is a moment where teenagers are interested. Fireworks, pranks, who wouldn’t be? A final example of a moment in time where Miles is nervous is when he gets caught smoking with Alaska, the Colonel, and Takumi. He is extremely agitated and is worried about what is going to happen to him as he is underage therefore it is illegal for him to smoke. This is a moment where teenagers can learn. It shows how these risky things like smoking aren’t worth the consequences.

Love is a third emotion that teenagers connect to, learn from and are interested by. For example, the Colonel’s mother is very poor, lives in a small trailer, and works at the waffle house for a living on minimum wage, but he doesn’t care because he can look past that and love her for who she is. Teenagers can connect to that. Many teenagers are quite poor, but many people can look past that and love them for who they are, not how much money they have. A Final example of this emotion is Miles’ love for Alaska. He loves her so much he is too scared to admit it, until she after she was dead. His love for her had him trapped in his own little vortex until she was dead, and that really messed with his heart. This is a moment teenagers would find interesting and can learn from. They would find the intensity of these emotions interesting, and they can learn from it as they may have someone they love, and this experience can teach them to take risks for the girl/guy they love or they will regret it.

A final emotion that teenagers can connect, learn and relate to is sadness. An example of this in the book is how Alaska had to live with the grief and sadness of being right next to her mother when she died, and what makes it worse is that she could have saved her mother, but she didn’t think to. A final example of this emotion, no matter how predictable and obvious it may be, is the grief and sadness Miles and Colonel suffered through when Alaska died. They both loved and cared for Alaska, and didn’t deserve to have her taken from their lives. Both of these examples of sadness are about death. This is something, however sad it may be, that many teenagers can relate to. In fact, most people in the world have experienced this and can relate to it. The feeling of losing someone you care about, and just having an empty pit in your heart. It’s something nobody deserves to go through, but with the help of family and friends, anyone can get through it.

In conclusion, in the book, “Looking for Alaska” by John Green, there are many emotions that teenagers can learn from, relate to, and be interested by. John Green wrote this book not only to tell a meaningful story, but also to really connect with the reader in the most powerful way he could, through your emotions.