The entire novel is set around the death of Alaska Young. Part one of the book is called "before", as in before the death of Alaska, and part two is called "after", as in after the death of Alaska. The entries are not marked by dates, but in the number of days in relation to Alaska's death. For example, when Miles describes smoking his first cigarette, that was "one hundred and twenty-eight days before" the death of Alaska, not a month, day, and year.
There were several accounts of foreshadowing her death, most of them being remarks by Alaska herself:
One theory to Alaska's death is that it was actually an accident. Because she was drunk, it is very possible that when she saw the police cruiser and the truck she believed that she would be able to make it through the two vehicles.
Pudge argues that Alaska would not have killed herself because she had told them that their kissing session was "to be continued," but the Colonel said she could have changed her mind from the time between the phone call and the time she crashed. When the Colonel and Pudge look up suicide symptoms on the web, they realize that Alaska only fit two of the thirteen symptoms. The Colonel also says that she was joking when she made comments about her death.
However, there are many arguments that back up the possibility that Alaska committed suicide. She said that she already felt guilty about not calling 911 when her mother was suffering from an aneurysm and died at home. It was clear that Alaska was also not emotionally stable, and even more so considering the fact that she was drunk at the time of her death. She said to Pudge, "Pudge, what you must understand is that I am a deeply unhappy person." (124). She is caught up in her labyrinth of suffering. The Colonel also argues that the police car she crashed into had its lights on, and she was sober enough to see them and swerved, considering she was sober enough to make out with Pudge. However, she never hit the brakes. The two decide to perform a test: the Colonel will raise his BAC to .24, which was around the blood alcohol level Alaska had when she died, and see how functional he was. He could clearly see, but said he was very sleepy. They at first thought that she could have fallen asleep while driving and crashed, but they realized that it is nearly impossible to drive straight while asleep. It is revealed that the night of her death was also the night of the anniversary of her mother's death. It is possible that the call reminded her of the anniversary, and because it was past midnight and she had missed it. It was likely that she was so angry with herself because she messed up again with her mom- she didn't call 911 when she was eight and now she missed the anniversary- that she decided to end her life, taking the "straight and fast" way out of the labyrinth.
“She didn't leave me enough to discover her, but she left me enough to
rediscover the Great Perhaps."
― John Green, Looking for Alaska
There were several accounts of foreshadowing her death, most of them being remarks by Alaska herself:
- She smiled with all the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said, "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." (44).
- "I may die young," she said. "But at least I'll die smart." (52).
One theory to Alaska's death is that it was actually an accident. Because she was drunk, it is very possible that when she saw the police cruiser and the truck she believed that she would be able to make it through the two vehicles.
Pudge argues that Alaska would not have killed herself because she had told them that their kissing session was "to be continued," but the Colonel said she could have changed her mind from the time between the phone call and the time she crashed. When the Colonel and Pudge look up suicide symptoms on the web, they realize that Alaska only fit two of the thirteen symptoms. The Colonel also says that she was joking when she made comments about her death.
However, there are many arguments that back up the possibility that Alaska committed suicide. She said that she already felt guilty about not calling 911 when her mother was suffering from an aneurysm and died at home. It was clear that Alaska was also not emotionally stable, and even more so considering the fact that she was drunk at the time of her death. She said to Pudge, "Pudge, what you must understand is that I am a deeply unhappy person." (124). She is caught up in her labyrinth of suffering. The Colonel also argues that the police car she crashed into had its lights on, and she was sober enough to see them and swerved, considering she was sober enough to make out with Pudge. However, she never hit the brakes. The two decide to perform a test: the Colonel will raise his BAC to .24, which was around the blood alcohol level Alaska had when she died, and see how functional he was. He could clearly see, but said he was very sleepy. They at first thought that she could have fallen asleep while driving and crashed, but they realized that it is nearly impossible to drive straight while asleep. It is revealed that the night of her death was also the night of the anniversary of her mother's death. It is possible that the call reminded her of the anniversary, and because it was past midnight and she had missed it. It was likely that she was so angry with herself because she messed up again with her mom- she didn't call 911 when she was eight and now she missed the anniversary- that she decided to end her life, taking the "straight and fast" way out of the labyrinth.
“She didn't leave me enough to discover her, but she left me enough to
rediscover the Great Perhaps."
― John Green, Looking for Alaska
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