How we cite our quotes: (Daysbefore.Paragraph) and (daysafter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"How drunk was she?" I asked. "Like, did they test her?"
"Yeah. Her BAL was point twenty-four. That's drunk, certainly. That's a powerful drunk." (13after.20-21)
That is incredibly drunk. Alcohol impairs judgment, and Alaska feels so guilty about missing the anniversary of her mother's death, so we can't help but wonder how much of Alaska's death can be attributed to her drinking and how much can be attributed to guilt.
Quote #8
Alaska displayed two of those warning signs. She had lost, although not recently, her mother. And her drinking, always pretty steady, had definitely increased in the last month of her life. (14after.3)
This complicates matters a lot. Why did her drinking increase? That is, what about her life or thinking changed so that her behavior changed?
Quote #9
"You are a nerd, Pudge. But you're not gonna let a detail like that keep you from drinking." Actually, I hadn't drunk since that night, and didn't feel particularly inclined to ever take it up ever again. (27after.5)
Miles (Pudge) has some serious reservations about alcohol and drinking after Alaska's death, but the Colonel doesn't have the same reaction. It might behoove us to remember their backgrounds and think about the pain and suffering that each character experiences beyond Alaska's death. For Miles, quite frankly, it's not much. But for the Colonel, he's got his poverty and his dad's departure from his life, as well as his dad's drinking, to contend with.