Labyrinth Of Suffering In Alaska Young

Death- the one thing in life that no one can avoid. One of the main characters, Alaska Young, learns this firsthand. Alaska is Miles’ love interest at Culver Creek Boarding School. She is smart and she loves quoting poetry, but she can also be moody and unpredictable. Alaska decides that the biggest question in life is how to “escape the labyrinth of suffering.” In actuality, Alaska hides her true inner conflict, the death of a loved one which fills her past. John Green exemplifies the theme of death through the characterization of Alaska Young. The background of Alaska young was taken over by the death of her beloved mother when she was just eight years old. John Green emphasizes the impact of Alaska’s mom’s death through a direct quote from Alaska. Alaska says, “So I just sat there on the floor with her until my dad got home an hour later, and he’s screaming

She says some enthralling things and has a spur of thoughts here and there that lead her to start asking questions about it. On page 44 Alaska says, “Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die.” Due to the guilt that consumes her from her mom’s death, Alaska participates in self-destructive activities like smoking. The substances provide her with an escape from her sadness. After reading a novel by Simon Bolivar, Alaska is fascinated with a specific question and she tells Miles that she wants to try and answer. Alaska says, “It’s not life or death, the labyrinth. Suffering. Doing wrong and having wrong things happen to you. That’s the problem. Bolivar was talking about the pain not about the living or dying. How do you get out of the labyrinth of suffering” (82)? This quote relates perfectly to Alaska because her pain is her mom’s death. She suffers every day of her life and she wants to end all that suffering but she doesn’t know how to yet. While her friends are trying to figure out how to live, she is figuring out how to escape from