Quote 1
"But we will deal with those bastards, Pudge. I promise you. They will regret messing with one of my friends."
And if the Colonel thought that calling me his friend would make me stand by him, well, he was right. (127before.44-45)
Miles is thankful that the Colonel subscribes to the adage The enemy of my enemy is my friend. What does Miles's eagerness to have a friend tell us about his character?
Quote 2
I thought of Florida, of my "school friends," and realized for the first time how much I would miss the Creek if I ever had to leave it. I stared down at Takumi's twig sticking erect out of the mud and said, "I swear to God I won't rat." (67before.22)
After Miles finds out about Alaska ratting, he realizes that loyalty is one of the major components of friendship at the Creek. Think about how that loyalty is tested and whether or not it survives certain relationships.
Quote 3
I didn't know whether to trust Alaska, and I'd certainly had enough of her unpredictability—cold one day, sweet the next; irresistibly flirty one moment, resistibly obnoxious the next. I preferred the Colonel: At least when he was cranky, he had a reason. (58before.6)
Is Miles really friends with Alaska if he doesn't accept her as she is?
Quote 4
"Your rote memorization is, like, so impressive," I said.
"You guys are like an old married couple." Alaska smiled. "In a creepy way." (8before.10-11)
In what ways does dialogue reveal the friendship of Miles and the Colonel through the novel, even when they're taking digs at one another?
Quote 5
The five of us walking confidently in a row, I'd never felt cooler. The Great Perhaps was upon us, and we were invincible. The plan may have had faults, but we did not. (3before.27)
Miles thinks he's found his Great Perhaps in his friends and the shared experiences that involve fireworks, mischief, and mayhem. Is he right?
Quote 6
Her funeral Sunday. I wondered if the Colonel would get back by then, where he was. He had to come back for the funeral, because I could not go alone, and going with anyone other than the Colonel would amount to alone. (2after.53)
Even though he would be with the entire student body at Culver Creek, Miles thinks he would be "alone." What does this say about his friendships with Takumi and Lara?
Quote 7
But we knew what could be found out, and in finding it out, she had made us closer—the Colonel and Takumi and me, anyway. (118after.2)
There's something about the process of working through grief with friends that bonds them. Try to articulate how this works.
Quote 8
And then I screwed up and the Colonel screwed up and Takumi screwed up and she slipped through our fingers. And there's no sugarcoating it: She deserved better friends. (136after.12)
Miles is thinking about the responsibility that friends have toward one another, to care for one another despite tendencies towards self-destruction. We're left wondering if he'll remember this lesson forever or if he will forget it as he knows he will forget Alaska.
Quote 9
"How long have you been dating her?" I asked.
"Nine months. We never got along. I mean, I didn't even briefly like her…with Sara, there's never a honeymoon period. God, how could she think I was a rat? I know, I know: Why don't we break up? […] I guess I stay with her because she stays with me. And that's not an easy thing to do. I'm a bad boyfriend. She's a bad girlfriend. We deserve each other." (122before.35-36)
The Colonel on dating Sara, ladies and gents. How much of their relationship continuing happens just because they are used to each other? How does theirs differ from other relationships in the story? How much do you think the Colonel is influenced by his parents's relationship?
Quote 10
I opened my mouth again but this time not to speak, and she reached up and put a finger to my lips and said, "Shh. Shh. Don't ruin it." (52before.14)
Miles wants to say three little words to Alaska, but she shoves him away. "Don't ruin it." What is there to ruin? What would happen if Miles busted out the L word with her?
Quote 11
"All I remember is that she had a lot of sex."
"I know. She's my hero," Alaska said without a trace of irony. (49before.7-8)
The "she" here is Edna St. Vincent Millay, who did actually have a lot of sex. But she also wrote some pretty great poems and was an active feminist… sort of like Alaska. You may find it useful to read up on Millay if she's Alaska's hero.
Quote 12
I spent that afternoon with Lara. We were very cutesy, even though we didn't know the first thing about each other and barely talked. But we made out. She grabbed my butt at one point, and I sort of jumped. (thelastday.12)
Miles isn't very comfortable with Lara; he focuses on how they don't really talk, but she's really cute. Think back to Miles's thoughts when he and Lara made out in the barn—he thought he was the greatest kisser, but she thought he was slobbering on her nose. What does this say about people's perspectives of intimacy?
Quote 13
We were kissing. Zero layers between us. Our tongues dancing back and forth in each other's mouth until there was no her mouth and my mouth but only our mouths intertwined. (thelastday.72)
Check out the language here. "Dancing" and "intertwined" are much more poetic and passionate than the language Miles uses about Lara. And the writing is much more fluid and less choppy, too. Kissing is different with Alaska than with Lara. Why?
Quote 14
We didn't have sex. We never got naked. I never touched her bare breast, and her hands never got lower than my hips. It didn't matter. As she slept, I whispered, "I love you, Alaska Young." (thelastday.77)
Focus on the sentence, "It didn't matter." What didn't matter? Why is the sexual experience with Lara unfulfilling but simply kissing with Alaska is beyond Miles's wildest dreams? And what's the significance of him saying the three words he couldn't say before? And the fact that he doesn't say them when she's awake?
Quote 15
And I said, "Oh God, Alaska, I love you. I love you," and the Colonel whispered, "I'm so sorry, Pudge. I know you did," and I said, "No. Not past tense." She wasn't even a person anymore, just flesh rotting, but I loved her present tense. (6after.11)
Ah, yes—this is a good time to think about what love is to Miles. He says he loves Alaska, he pursues her throughout his time at the Creek, but the question arises: does he really love her, or does he love parts of her, or does he love an Alaska who doesn't exist?
Quote 16
I still did not know her as I wanted to, but I never could. She made it impossible for me. (118after.1)
Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Miles is starting to have some pretty important realizations about his relationship with Alaska, the intimacy he thought he had with her, and his acceptance of her death. As the Old Man said, 'Everything that comes together falls apart.' How does this relate to what Miles is thinking?
Quote 17
I would never know her well enough to know her thoughts in those last minutes, would never know if she left us on purpose. But the not-knowing would not keep me from caring, and I would always love Alaska Young, my crooked neighbor, with all my crooked heart. (136after.10)
And yet Miles finds the strength to realize that the mystery of Alaska and her death don't stop him from loving her. We have to think about how Miles's perception of love and his view of intimacy have changed throughout the novel.
Quote 18
"I just don't get why she'd be so afraid of getting expelled. I'd hate to get expelled, but you have to take your lumps. I don't get it."
"Well, she obviously doesn't like home."
"True. She only goes home over Christmas and the summer, when Jake is there. But whatever. I don't like home, either." (67before.19-21)
Miles learns that Takumi also doesn't really like home either, but the way Alaska fears and avoids home almost paralyzes her. We wonder what could be so bad about home that she avoids it so much, only going when she has a boyfriend there as a buffer.
Quote 19
How could I abandon my parents, who were nice enough to pay for my education at Culver Creek, my parents who had always loved me, just because I maybe liked some girl with a boyfriend? How could I leave them alone with a giant turkey and mounds of inedible cranberry sauce? So during third period, I called my mom at work. (58before.39)
Miles feels so guilty for so many things in this book, not the least of which is how he treats the people and the place that has been his home since he was born. So here's the struggle: does he have to pick one or the other? Florida or the Creek?
Quote 20
I thought of the one thing about home that I missed, my dad's study with its built-in, floor-to-ceiling shelves sagging with thick biographies, and the black leather chair that kept me just uncomfortable enough to keep from feeling sleepy as I read. It was stupid, to feel as upset as I did. I ditched them, but it felt the other way around. Still, I felt unmistakably homesick. (58before.41)
The funny thing about place is the memories and emotions that we associate with it. Miles is the one who chose to spend a traditionally home-centric holiday away from home, so why is it that he is the one who feels ditched?