Looking for Alaska, includes the four main characters that I mentioned above: Colonel, Pudge, Takumi and Alaska. Colonel is a dynamic character. At the very beginning, he was happy, loving life, loving being with his friends and fairly close to his home. As the book goes on, he becomes angrier and more mischievous because the "Weekday Warriors" (the rich kids) started playing pranks on them. The Weekday Warriors were playing pranks on them because of the previous year. Someone (no one knew who at the time) ratted out Paul and Marya when they were being inappropriate towards each other and they were expelled from school. The Weekday Warriors always assumed that it was the Colonel and his friends but in truth, it wasn't. At the very end, Colonel and his friends go through the most traumatic thing anyone can go through which makes him become a very depressed and more quiet person. Alaska, one of his best friends dies. He started dropping his grades and not even attending all of his classes. As for Pudge, he is also a dynamic character. He started out as the shy nerd who turned into the outgoing nerd, with a little help from Colonel and Alaska. Pudge wasn't as into the pranking as Colonel because he had never done anything bad like that. He changed his mind fairly quickly after they nearly drowned him and flooded Alaska's room. Pudge became a stronger and more independent boy as the book moved along until Alaska died. When she died, Pudge shut down. He was in denial for the longest time. He thought that Alaska was pulling one of her pranks again but Eagle had to calm him down and explain to him that he saw her at the crime scene and that she had died instantly. He began to let go after a few months and got his grades back up and participated more in class. He still thought of Alaska but he knew she was in a better place.
Takumi was also a dynamic character. He was always involved in the pranks unlike Pudge. He thoroughly enjoyed his time with his friends and during school. He was always a happy guy with a little bit of revenge on his mind when it came to the Weekday Warriors because of the stunts they had pulled on his friends. The biggest change occurred when Alaska died. Like all of the other people that I have mentioned above, he too felt like a part of him was missing but he managed to get back on his feet and continue on with his life. Finally, Alaska, who is different from all the rest. She is a round character. She always always always had a conflict or her mood would change. She is such a complex character, you never know how she will feel next. Throughout the book, she had mood swings. They occurred almost everyday. It was crazy how quickly she could change from happy to upset and hysterical. Those exact moments are the ones that would eventually kill her. So far I have noticed a few themes such as: Love, Friendship and Betrayal. As for structure, my book is almost like a journal. It starts off as, "one hundred thirty-six days before" and it continues to go down until it reaches "one day before". The Before is referring to the death of Alaska. Once her death as occurred, it begins with, " the day after" and goes all the way to " one hundred thirty-six days after" just like the beginning of the book. It really wraps up the book nicely.
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