This ain't no innocent Toy Story friendship between Buzz and Woody, but the characters definitely value friendship equally as much in Looking for Alaska. Miles wants to leave Florida to seek his Great Perhaps and find friends… and he does. Even though his friends introduce him to booze and mischief, they also accept him for who he is. But the novel also highlights how messy friendship can be—friends don't always like each other, friends tell each other hard truths, and friends get into fights. When Alaska dies though, the bonds that have been created with and around her help her grieving friends come to terms with her death and their role in it.
Questions About Friendship
- How does the friendship between Miles and the Colonel develop into a bond that withstands some serious damage?
- How do loyalty and disloyalty play out in the friendships in the novel?
- When Alaska dies, why does Miles ignore his other friends?
Chew on This
Miles never becomes friends with the real Alaska; he becomes friends with the person he wants her to be.
If Miles and the Colonel had really been friends with Alaska, they never would have allowed her to leave the night of her death.