2cnd Half of Finding Alaska

The second half of Finding Alaska is much more serious and depressing then the first. In the first there were pranks and love and Miles’ quest to seek his Great Perhaps. In the second there is searching, depression, heartbreak, and breaking of friendships. In the first half I felt like something was going to happen as I mentioned in my last blog. Something did. Alaska Young died in a car crash. Miles and the colonel can barely understand what happened and decide to find out what happened to her. They were with her on the night she died and helped her to get off campus where she ran into a cop car full speed so not only were they extremely sad that their friend was gone but they were wracked with guilt. In their search to find out what happened to Alaska (this search is the reason the book is called Looking for Alaska and is not about some 1800’s expedition to Alaska the state) Miles and the colonel almost lose all their friends as well as themselves. In the end they come to terms with themselves despite not finding out exactly what had happened to her. They realize that some mysteries can’t be solved and manage to forgive themselves for what they did. Overall Finding Alaska is a great book that I think most people should read.

1st half of Finding Alaska

In my outside reading book, Finding Alaska, the main character is a boy looking for a Great Perhaps. Miles Halter, nicknamed Pudge despite being tall and skinny, arrives in an Alabama boarding school called Culver Creek. His life up to that arrival had been normal and boring. In Culver Creek Miles finds existence, meaning to life, and at least part of his “Great Perhaps.” He finds this with the help of some new people he meets at Culver Creek. There’s the Colonel (his roommate), Takumi, Lara, and larger than life Alaska. I just recently finished the first part of the story. This part is all about how Miles finds existence. While at Culver Creek he lives life to the fullest, while doing a copious amount of homework of course. He and his new found friends pull pranks, get thrown out of basketball games, go on three and a half dates, and find love. I really like the story so far, although not exactly a page turner I still want to keep reading. I want to find out what happens but I don’t have to like in a mystery novel. So far in the book I like the author’s style. As the first section is titled before and the second after I’m guessing something big is about to happen in the story. I can’t wait to read it.

Glimmering Hope

What would it be like to be on the road, hopeless, enraging… I would like to think that maybe just maybe on the road there is always a glimmer of hope, way off in the distance but still there. Why do the man and the boy keep going, keep walking? There has to be something driving them to continue despite no salvation in site. Maybe just maybe they think there is still a chance, something the man’s wife could not see, that glimmer of hope. I wish that at the end of the book the man could have seen his son saved before he died, then he would have been able to die peacefully knowing that what he had worked so hard to do had finally happened. It’s hard to think what I would be like on the road. Would I be able to see that hope or would I just give up? I wouldn’t know until I was on it. Maybe when at times nearly all their hope was lost they used each other to help keep on going, maybe a companion is what is needed to keep striving toward an uncertain goal. Whatever the reason is I liked the Road because the man and the boy never give up, they keep going with no foreseeable end in sight.

If people knew the story of their life how many would elect to live them?

I think that many would not and many would it all depends on that persons story and what that person is like. A courageous person with a horrible story might still decide to live and experience it while a person faint of heart might choose not to. If the life looks good many people will decide to live it out. One example of a life that a person would choose not to live is in the book when the man and the boy find the charred newborn on a stake over a fire. It’s only a guess but I don’t think I would have ever wanted to live if I were that newborn. Most lives today are lives worth living. In fact when you think about it most lives are worth living. It’s your one shot, no one knows what happens after death many people believe certain things but no one has ever come back from the dead to tell us what actually happens. Life might be your only chance to think, dance, play, smile, or well, live. The boy and the man in the book understand this somewhat and strive to survive when they could just as easily give up and die. They are a prime desire of humanity’s desire to live. I think that many people would choose to live, I would.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

If I were the last person on earth I believe I could go about surviving for some time at least as long as the world wasn’t completely destroyed and barren. I have a game plan. I would start by scavenging in old restaurants, buildings, and stores. As long as I found food and water in one of these places I would be able to survive for a little while. Another thing that would postpone judgment day is shelter. Although I would need to keep moving because of supplies some kind of shelter would keep me alive. After solving all of my basic needs (food, shelter) I think that the biggest problem would be loneliness. Loneliness would be a big problem because I believe with no one to convey my feelings to I would over time go crazy. To solve this conundrum I would look for other survivors as well as look for an animal of some sort to be my companion. One movie that inspired me greatly on what to do if I was the last person to my knowledge on earth is "I Am Legend". It is a story of a man in an after epidemic hit New York trying to make a vaccine for the disease. He solves the problem of loneliness by befriending a dog. These reasons are why I think that my game plan would allow me to survive after doomsday.

The Odyssey teaches us many life lessons.

The Odyssey is a book chalk full of important life lessons. These life lessons can be used in many instances throughout your life. One such life lesson is that if you work really hard in the end you will succeed. This lesson is shown in the Odyssey in many ways. One way this lesson is shown in the Odyssey is that Odysseus tries for many years to attain Ithaca. He goes through many tests and trials such as Scylla, the cattle of the sun god, Troy, Circe’s island and many others. He even has to go through much when he does attain Ithaca. He has to battle the suitors to earn his rightful position as king. Another example is the story of Odysseus’s dog and how it waits for him for 20 long years. After waiting this long period to see his master he finally achieves his goal. These examples show why this lesson of striving hard and in the end you will attain what you were striving for can be applied in many different areas. This lesson can be applied in school activities for grades, in sports to achieve your goals, even in a relationship to get it to a spot that you want it at.

Odysseus and the decisions that he has to make and why he is a good decision maker and why I think they are the right decision.

I personally believe that Odysseus is a very adept decision maker in all things that have to do with decisions. One decision that Odysseus has to make is when they are passing the island of the sirens he has to decide what to do. He, upon Circe’s council, decided to stop all of his shipmate’s ears with wax so they would not be able to hear the sirens enticing song. He himself decides to listen to the song. He orders his men to tie him as tight as they can around the main mast so that even if he hears he cannot leave and try to go to their island. Another important decision that Odysseus needs to make is which monster to face, Scylla or Charybdis, when he is passing through a straight. He decides upon Scylla and not to tell his shipmates because if he does he feels each crewmember will try to save himself and hide. He goes past Scylla and sure enough she eats 6 men. After I read this I felt that he had made a good decision because if had gone on Charybdis’ side they would have all died and if he had told his men they would have hid. These are 2 examples of why I think Odysseus is a great decision maker and a steadfast leader.