Summer Reading Post 1

The main characters in Looking for Alaska are Miles Halter who gets nicknamed “Pudge” by his friend, Chip, and Alaska. The setting during the entire novel shifts many times in very specific ways. The weather at the beginning of the novel is hot and humid, and the good weather creates an atmosphere of happiness, but only at the beginning. In chapter 15, a rain storm begins in Alabama and there is intense rain happening for about a week. During this time, Alaska becomes increasingly moody and Miles takes it personally. The conflict is Person vs. Self because Pudge is trying to discover himself. Pudge is who he became when he moved to Culver Creek, a fun loving, adventurous person, but Miles still resides within him, his unsocial personality. Throughout the story he’s searching for his true identity of who he really is. When I started the book I had predicted that Chip and Pudge were going to get in a fight at some point about Alaska because Chip has feelings for her. I also had questions pop through my head as I was reading this book, like what is the big story behind Alaska’s name, is there a specific reason why she was named that?