Looking For Alaska Character Analysis

“Quitting alcohol is tough and rough but it is worth enough”- Aliyah Arsiton. In John Green’s, Looking for Alaska, Miles, a 16 year old boy, attends Culver Creek Boarding School in search of his Great Perhaps. Miles, along with his other friends the Colonel and Alaska, seeks new ways to subvert rules. The alcohol substances Miles uses affect him in many ways. Although, Miles drank to explore his Great Perhaps, it ultimately caused him a lot of grief.
Although, many readers may claim that Miles’s grieving did not lead him towards his Great Perhaps. Miles’s sudden addiction towards alcohol indeed helped him find his Great Perhaps. He didn't realize Alaska Young, an eccentric, risk taking and uninhibited girl embodied the Great Perhaps until he lost her. In Long Term Effects of Alcohol an addict writes her experience with alcohol and how it brought her a lot of grief. “My addiction built steadily and before I realized it, I had become a morning as well as a afternoon drinker.” This addict is explaining how she went from only drinking once in awhile, to drinking every morning and afternoon. Miles seems to be following the same pattern; “ Takumi tilted the bottle up and swallowed a few times, then handed it to me. I drink, and so did Lara, and then Alaska turned the bottle upside down, quickly drowning the last quarter of the …show more content…
Miles drinking did lead him to his Great Perhaps, but it was a struggle getting there. The main points of his grieving lead him into solving the puzzle to how to live with a labyrinth and how to get out of the labyrinth. Which he answered is to forgive. Although, Miles drank to explore his Great Perhaps, it ultimately caused him a lot of grieve. Grieving over Alaska made him realize that life is too short and there is more to live, than to be wasting time reminiscing the past. “Quitting alcohol is tough and rough but it is worth enough”. - Aliyah