How we cite our quotes: (Daysbefore.Paragraph) and (daysafter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Two nights in a row is maybe pushing our luck," Takumi said as Alaska opened the wine.
"Luck is for suckers." She smiled and put the bottle to her lips. (2before.20-21)
Alaska is the instigator of many of the encounters with alcohol in the book. It seems like she rejects a fatalistic and optimistic view of the world that luck implies, and alcohol only serves to bring out her deep pain and pessimism about life. At other points in the novel, she reveals much more optimism… while sober.
Quote #5
"Yeah. I was a little kid. Little kids can dial 911. They do it all the time. Give me the wine," she said, deadpan and emotionless. She drank without lifting her head from the hay. (2before.72)
Upon closer look, Alaska is wrapped within her guilt and suffering, not "emotionless" as she's trying to appear and be. The wine is meant to deaden her pain. Poor Alaska.
Quote #6
She and the Colonel had been celebrating a lot the past couple days, and I didn't feel up to climbing Strawberry Hill, so I sat and munched on pretzels while Alaska and the Colonel drank wine from paper cups with flowers on them. (thelastday.58)
Do you think that the Colonel and Alaska are drinking for the same reasons? Does Alaska even know why she drinks? And notice that when it comes to alcohol, Miles has a bit more spine that he does about anything else ever—if he doesn't want to drink, he doesn't.