Quote 1
"Is this why you want to leave, Miles?" Mom asked. I mulled it over for a while, careful not to look at her.
"Uh, no," I said.
"Well, why then?" she asked. This was not the first time she had posed the question. Mom was not particularly keen on letting me go to boarding school and had made no secret of it. (136before.13-15)
Not many parents would understand why Miles wants to leave home, but he has a pretty good explanation when he drags out Rabelais's quote about the Great Perhaps. He's looking for something more. And we have to ask if it's always necessary to leave home—a place of comfort and security for many people—to find it and to mature.
Quote 2
Hank hugged me and said, "At least it was instant. At least there wasn't any pain."
I knew he was only trying to help, but he didn't get it. There was pain. A dull endless pain in my gut that wouldn't go away even when I knelt on the stingingly frozen tile of the bathroom, dry-heaving. (2after.35-36)
Miles continues to try to rid himself of the pain, but he can't. We have to wonder what exactly is causing the pain: the death of Alaska, the sorrow of her death, the responsibility Miles feels about her death, or some strange combination of all three and more?
Quote 3
"This was Alaska's question."
With a sigh, he grabbed hold of his chair and lifted himself out of it, then wrote on the blackboard: How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering? (8after.8-9)
Alaska's pain and suffering throughout the novel is clear, and to exit her pain she writes in a book margin that she will get out "Straight & fast." What might she have written in her paper for the Old Man about pain and suffering, in a different context and for a different audience?
Quote 4
"I am interested in how you are able to fit the uncontestable fact of suffering into your understanding of the world, and how you hope to navigate through life in spite of it." (122after.3)
The Old Man is pretty smart, and this is a good essay for students to write as they struggle to come to terms with their classmate's death and their own suffering. It forces students to consider the idea (introduced by Alaska) that suffering is universal and inescapable, and focuses them on the challenge of how to live or move beyond it.
Quote 5
"I must talk, and you must listen, for we are engaged here in the most important pursuit in history: the search for meaning. What is the nature of being a person? What is the best way to go about being a person? How did we come to be, and what will become of us when we are no longer here?" (126before.17)
The Old Man serves as a starting point for many of the musings Miles has about life and consciousness. What makes him such an important figure in Miles's exploration of life and the meaning of existence?
Quote 6
"Everything that comes together falls apart," the Old Man said. (51after.2)
There are so many ways to interpret and think about this statement—including what Miles thinks of Alaska, the relationship that he and Alaska had, life in general, and the meaning of "apart." It's all fair game, and it's all really deep stuff.
Quote 7
"Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism each have founder figures—Muhammad, Jesus, and the Buddha, respectively. And in thinking about these founder figures, I believe we must finally conclude that each brought a message of radical hope. …And so that is the question I leave you with in this final: What is your cause for hope?" (122after.4)
The question the Old Man asks parallels the path Miles is taking in his grief, and this essay assignment allows Miles to recover some of that youthful optimism that he started the novel with. What are his causes for hope?
Quote 8
"I know it was y'all," said the Eagle.
We look at him silently. He often bluffed. Maybe he was bluffing.
"Don't ever do anything like that again," he said. "But, Lord, 'subverting the patriarchal paradigm'—it's like she wrote the speech." He smiled and closed the door. (102after.44-46)
The Eagle's no idiot; he knows exactly how the social order at the Creek functions. He's stepped back into his role as enforcer, but he also appreciates the tribute to Alaska. Is it likely that he will crack down on students because of his belief in what rules and order provide them, or will he allow students the same freedom as before?
Quote 9
When the firecrackers finished, I heard, "STOP OR I'LL CALL THE POLICE!" And though the voice was distant, I could feel his Look of Doom bearing down on me […]
The Colonel warned us about the police threat, told us not to worry. The Eagle didn't like to bring the police to campus. Bad publicity. (3before.61, 63)
We get a glimpse of how adults deal with the rules and order outside of campus. The Eagle preferring to police his campus without official police involvement? That sounds an awful lot like how the students police their own social realm through pranking without involving the Eagle. Even more dangerous for the Eagle is the empty threat he utters about the police—he's clearly threatened students with the police too often for them to believe his words, almost like the boy who cried wolf. Which makes us wonder how important rule enforcement really is to the Eagle.
Quote 10
"Front Three: The Progress Reports: We're going to hack into the faculty computer network and use their grading database to send out letters to Kevin et al.'s families saying that they are failing some of their classes."
"We are definitely going to get expelled," I said. (3before.22-23)
Miles chooses to go along with this prank, though he's worried about the consequences. Is he the voice of reason? And if he's so worried, why does he continue with the prank? What unwritten rules are influencing Miles at this point in the novel?