She classes the best day of her life as the day that her mother accompanied her on a school trip to the zoo, while her worst day was the day after, when her mother died of an aneurysm. We learn some significant information during this section of the novel, but Alaska’s own response is the most illuminating.

The truth about Alaska emerges when she instigates a drinking game, which requires each participant to describe the best and worst days of their life.

When the students are asked to formulate an essay topic, Miles chooses to address the question, “What happens to people after they die?” He initially has only vague ideas, and he feels that people cling to the idea of an afterlife due to fear of the alternative. Hyde, who prompts him to take religion seriously for the first time, and he takes a particular interest in Buddhist concepts.

In her eyes, life is characterized by suffering.Īlaska is prone to thinking about existential issues, and attending a class titled World Religions encourages Miles to muse upon similar topics. This book concerns the final days of the military leader Simon Bolivar, whose last words are cited as “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!” Alaska initially wonders whether the labyrinth refers to life or death, but she finally decides that it refers to suffering. Her response is that he has fallen in love with an idealized image and that he only likes her fun, vivacious side.Īlaska is intrigued by the concept of “the labyrinth,” as featured in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s The General in His Labyrinth. Miles becomes annoyed and tells Alaska that he sometimes struggles to understand her. Most frustratingly, she refuses to explain the reason for these mood shifts, though she makes cryptic references to her ineptitude and claims that she has no home. However, while Lara is sweet, Miles is much more drawn to Alaska.Īs time passes, Alaska shows herself to be moody and emotionally volatile. While Alaska finds Miles “cute,” she already has a boyfriend and therefore takes it upon herself to set Miles up with a girl named Lara. Miles settles in quickly at Culver Creek and becomes good friends with his roommate, Chip, whose leadership and planning skills have earned him the nickname “the Colonel.” He also becomes infatuated with one of the Colonel’s close friends, Alaska, who is beautiful, flirtatious, and enigmatic.

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