"The Great Perhaps"

Pudge wanted to leave Florida to find “The Great Perhaps”. I think that most of the story was about finding what really “The Great Perhaps” is. I also believe that it is the most relatable to. In our own way we are all kind of in search for our own “Great Perhaps” and some of us might be closer to knowing what it is than we think.

Looking for Alaska is written with an unusual but cool structure. In Before, the individual passages act as a countdown, starting 136 days before, to a very important event. After the event, the book counts up to the end of the story. The countdown/up gives the book a powerful suspense.

Looking for Alaska: Characters, Setting, and Conflict

For my summer reading book I chose Looking for Alaska by John Green. Miles, also known as Pudge is one of the main characters, he is described as tall and skinny and is the protagonist of the book. Alaska Young is the girl that Miles is in love with, and another main character is Chip who is Pudge’s roommate. The setting of the book starts off at Pudge’s house for his going away party. Pudge is leaving for boarding school at Culver Creek in Alabama.

One of the big conflicts in Looking for Alaska was Pudge vs. Miles (person vs. self). Throughout the book Pudge/Miles is trying to find himself and who he really is, looking for “The Great Perhaps”. In the BEFORE section of the book, he is Miles. He is friendless and unhappy until Culver Creek where he gets the nickname Pudge from Chip. Then he works harder and harder to discover who this newfound Pudge is. During the AFTER section when Alaska dies, he realizes who and what Pudge is. He finds “The Great Perhaps” and moves forward into his new life. He gave into peer pressure, and pulled pranks, did drugs, and everything, just to find out who he really is.