Quote 1
"Don't you know who you love, Pudge? You love the girl who makes you laugh and shows you porn and drinks wine with you. You don't love the crazy, sullen b****."
And there was something to that, truth be told. (44before.28-29)
Maybe this is what the Colonel means when he tells Miles that Miles loves the image of Alaska he created, and not her whole self. Alaska realizes this about herself, which makes us wonder how much of the mysterious persona she creates is true and how much is contrived.
Quote 2
"You don't even care about her!" he shouted. "All that matters is you and your precious f***ing fantasy that you and Alaska had this goddamned secret love affair and she was going to leave Jake for you and you'd live happily ever after. But she kissed a lot of guys, Pudge. And if she were here, we both know that she would still be Jake's girlfriend and that there'd be nothing but drama between the two of you—not love, not sex, just you pining after her and her like, 'You're cute, Pudge, but I love Jake.' "(20after.15)
(Reminder: Pudge equals Miles.) These harsh truths are from the mouth of the Colonel, of course. Maybe Miles needs other people to tell him truths he could never admit to himself. And we have to say, we're inclined to trust the Colonel's analysis here… How about you?
Quote 3
As we walked toward the gym parking lot, the Colonel said, "I called her yesterday and asked her to cover for me, and she didn't even ask why. She just said, 'I sure trust you, son,' and hot damn she does." (3before.9)
The Colonel's mom (knowingly? unknowingly?) aides in the fake progress reports scheme. Miles's parents generally trust him. Are the parents in the novel naïve, or do they know that their kids are up to mischief? And if they know their kids are up to mischief, why do they permit it? That is, what role does lying play in developing trust among characters in the novel?
Quote 4
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" the Colonel asked, his voice soft.
"It never came up." And then we stopped asking questions. (2before.74-75)
And here it is, Alaska's huge deception: for years she's kept her mother's death from her friends. The question is, what does it say about her ability to trust and her relationships with her friends?
Quote 5
"Do you even remember the person she actually was? Do you remember how she could be a selfish b****? That was part of her, and you used to know it. It's like now you only care about the Alaska you made up." (13after.35)
The Colonel never minces words. He makes Miles (and us as readers) question whether or not Miles has been lying about who Alaska really is to himself and to readers. And we have to think about why Miles only remembers the good stuff about Alaska after her death and forgets her unpredictability and impulsiveness.
Quote 6
The Colonel was screaming. He would inhale, and then scream. Inhale. Scream. Inhale. Scream.
I thought, at first, that it was only yelling. But after a few breaths, I noticed a rhythm. And after a few more, I realized that the Colonel was saying words. He was screaming, "I'm so sorry."
(thedayafter.33-34)
When the news of Alaska's death is announced to the school, both Miles and the Colonel try to expel suffering in different ways. Neither helps. And who, or what, is the Colonel apologizing to or for? There are a ton of interpretations to explore here.
Quote 7
"Forty-two," he corrected me. "Well. Forty-two there. Forty-two back. Eighty-two miles. No. Eighty-four. Yes. Eighty-four miles in forty-five hours." (4after.11)
Miles suffers alone and with his thoughts; the Colonel decides to walk for hours. How does each way of responding to suffering align with their personalities?
Quote 8
The final exam: What is the most important question human beings must answer? Choose your question wisely, and then examine how Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity attempt to answer it.
"I hope that poor bastard lives the rest of the school year," the Colonel said as we jogged home through the rain, "because I'm sure starting to enjoy that class. What's your most important question?"
After thirty seconds of running, I was already winded. "What happens... to us... when we die?" (76before.11-13)
Miles is obsessed with last words of famous people, and he also is kind of obsessed with what happens after death. He answers the question by saying that people believe in an afterlife because they can't not believe in one. This gives us a hint about how Miles will cope with the responsibility of Alaska's death and the fact that she is dead.
Quote 9
"After all this time, it still seems to me like straight and fast is the only way out—but I choose the labyrinth. The labyrinth blows, but I choose it." (122after.12)
The Colonel thinks of the labyrinth differently than Miles. Instead of trying to figure out a way out of it, the Colonel chooses suffering—he thinks there's some value in suffering. Knowing what you know about the Colonel, why would he choose this way of living, and how could suffering and pain be productive?
Quote 10
"If she loved you so much, why did she leave you that night? And if you loved her so much, why'd you help her go? I was drunk. What's your excuse?" (20after.15)
The Colonel calls Miles out on his passivity. Why didn't he assert himself like he did when he was making out with her earlier? How do Miles's emotions get entangled in the choices he makes? Think about his nature and Alaska's nature.
Quote 11
"This isn't milk. It's five parts milk and one part vodka. I call it ambrosia. Drink of the gods. You can barely smell the vodka in the milk, so the Eagle can't catch me unless he actually takes a sip. The downside is that it tastes like sour milk and rubbing alcohol." (122before.25)
The Colonel's take on alcohol has to do with celebration and breaking the rules. He, like other students, seeks new ways to subvert the rules and order at the Creek.
Quote 12
"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.
Quote 13
"This is awful. This is not fun drunk."
I got up and cleared the coffee table out of the way so the Colonel could walk the length of the room without hitting any obstacles, and said, "Okay, can you stand?"
The Colonel pushed his arms into the foam of the couch and began to rise, but then fell backward onto the couch, lying on his back. "Spinning room," he observed. "Gonna puke." (27after.70-72)
The Colonel is as drunk as Alaska was the night of her death, but he reacts totally differently: he doesn't seek the inebriation, he doesn't enjoy it, and he's lost control of himself. What does this reveal about his character? About Alaska's character? How does alcohol highlight or hide certain character traits?
Quote 14
The Colonel gave an obligatory laugh, then asked, "Want a smoke?" I had never smoked a cigarette, but when in Rome…
"Is it safe here?"
"Not really," he said, then lit a cigarette and handed it to me. (128before.90-92)
The phrase "When in Rome" is the short version of When in Rome, do as the Romans do. It means that it's to a person's advantage to adopt and mimic the customs of a society, especially when the person is unaware of many customs. (Side note: think about what the dialogue reveals about both the Colonel's and Miles's concerns for the rules.)
Quote 15
"Anyway, when you get in trouble, just don't tell on anyone. I mean, I hate the rich snots here with a fervent passion I usually reserve for only dental work and my father. But that doesn't mean I would rat them out. Pretty much the only important thing is never never never never rat."
"Okay, I said, although I wondered: If someone punches me in the face, I'm supposed to insist that I ran into a door? It seemed a little stupid. How do you deal with bullies and assholes if you can't get them in trouble? (128before.105-106)
Miles, as a new arrival at the Creek, has to learn not just the written rules of the school but also the unwritten rules of the social order. And sometimes (actually, quite often) unwritten rules are more important than written rules. The thought Miles has here is that of an outsider; his view on rules and order change as he becomes an insider.