Intimacy, sex, and love are complicated in Looking for Alaska. Miles both loves and lusts after Alaska, and we have a hard time figuring out, at least in the part of the story before she dies, which it is. And then there's Miles's relationship with Lara, which contrasts his last day with Alaska. After Alaska's death, Miles has to question everything he felt for Alaska and she felt for him—was it love? Was it only lust? Was the intimacy he desired one-sided? He has to come to terms with how mixed up his feelings about love and his sexuality are with Alaska and Lara. It's an unholy mess, but that's the point: it usually is.
Questions About Intimacy, Sex, and Love
- What's more meaningful to Miles in the story—physical intimacy or emotional intimacy? Why?
- What role do sex and sexual experiences play in the friends's lives? What does sex mean to Miles, the Colonel, and Alaska?
- How are sex, intimacy, and love tangled up in Miles's head? The Colonel's? Alaska's?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
If Alaska were alive, Miles would never be her boyfriend.
If Alaska were alive, she and Miles would be an item.