Looking For Alaska Struggles

The journey from child to adult can be hard and confusing. Young adults put a lot of effort into the way they look and behave in order to be well liked. The struggles of being a teen can also be filled with sadness and heartbreak. When faced with death, a teenager learns the fragility of life. This affects teens drastically. When dealing with loss, a teen changes and it forces them to grow up quickly. In John Green’s, Looking for Alaska, the author argues that the teen struggle is a necessary part of the coming-of-age process; he also exposes the particular struggle for those grieving the death of a teen.
The characters in the novel show the struggles that teens often face. Miles drinks and smokes throughout the novel to be accepted into his

He slowly figures out how to come to grips with her passing and he realizes he still cares about Alaska even though she’s gone. Miles begins to understand death and how to cope with losing someone so valuable to him, “But ultimately I do not believe that she was only matter. The rest of her must be recycled, too. I believe now that we are greater than the sum of our parts” (Green 220). After Alaska’s death Miles was very lost, but as time passes he learned how to cope with her her death and what it meant. Miles matures after facing the loss of Alaska. By coming to terms with her loss, Miles is able to find a purpose, “The answer that he finds is that his life can only have meaning through grace, the forgiveness of his shortcomings that are natural to human beings by a supernatural entity. In this way, he refashions his love for Alaska into a meaning for his life” (“Looking for Alaska” 144). He understands the purpose of life and what his purpose is. He refocuses his love for Alaska into his meaning of life. The characters in Green’s novel grow from teen to adult in just one school

Weschenfelder explains that in today's society after the loss of a loved one someone should mourn and then move on. This process is expected throughout society after a death of someone who was close. Many people take off time from work or from school to mourn and to get themselves back together after facing such a tough loss. In Looking for Alaska, after the car crash the students are given some time to understand and grieve for Alaska, but are expected to go back to school and resume their studies. Alaska’s death was announced at a school meeting and then classes were cancelled for eight days (Green 139,157). The students were given time to let the death of their peer sink in and it allowed them to come to grips with what happened to someone they care about. The classmates of Alaska dealt with her loss by honoring her with a prank (Green 199). The prank honors Alaska because it was something she would have wanted to do if she was still alive. The prank involved some reckless and risky behavior which is a common way that teens deal with grief, according to Stiefer (36). Miles and his friends continued to act out by participating in risky behavior to help in the grief process and to fully understand what happened to their friend. According to Hawkon, teens react differently, some may want to be alone while others may rely on each other for support (Farrington). By relying on other people or separating