LOOKING FOR ALASKA

The Colonel is a very blunt and straight forward character. He is important to the story because he provides stability for Miles, and is always around to help and come up with ideas. The Colonel is a short, muscular guy with brown hair. He’s five feet tall, but still incredibly muscular. He has a deep voice, and he talks a lot. He got his nickname, the Colonel, because he is the mastermind behind all of Alaska’s prank plans. He is a genius, and he skipped a few grades. He takes advanced classes and excels at almost every subject. The Colonel comes from a poor background, and is at Culver Creek on a scholarship. His mom lives in a trailer park. His dad left when he was younger, and used to cheat and beat his mom. The Colonel is very protective of his mother and he states that the best day of his life would be the day he can offer a house to his mom and get her out of the poor neighborhood. The Colonel has an incredible memory, and when he first meets Miles, he shows off his talent. The Colonel knows every country by heart, and can name all of them. The Colonel is viewed as a leader by his friends, Alaska, Miles and Takumi. They listen to him as if he has some sort of authority figure. When a plank is being organized, the Colonel is the one who is giving out orders and who makes sure everything goes as planned. He is a very sarcastic and humorous person, who is always trying to make sense out of every situations presented to him. The Colonel is a regular smoker, and he definitely drinks too much. He resorts to drinking when he encounters a problem, which can eventually cause problems in his life because he shouldn’t use drinking as an escaping method. The Colonel is an intensely loyal person who does not believe in snitching or ratting anybody out, under any condition. He strongly believes taking care of things himself. The Colonel became best friends with Alaska when they met at Culver Creek in freshmen year. They became such good friends quickly, because they both shared an interest in booze and mischief. The Colonel is important to the story because he adds an element of mystery, because it is very hard to know exactly what he is thinking or feeling throughout the entire story. He’s a confusing individual, which is especially shown when him and his girlfriend, whom he actually hated, break up and he is very sad about it because he explains to Miles it was nice to have somebody to fight with. 

Alaska Young

Alaska Young is clearly one of the most important characters in the entire book. Alaska is a gorgeous, clever, funny, self-destructive and fascinating character. The whole story revolves mostly around her and her mystery. Alaska is teenage girl. She is petite, yet she still has curves. Although she is petite, she has a very loud voice. She’s extremely beautiful. She always smells like sunshine, vanilla and cigarettes. Her eyes are comparable to fierce emeralds. She’s a very flirtatious person, and she’s constantly flirting with Miles, even though she has a boyfriend. She’s always teasing him and letting him know how adorable he is. She’s an extremely spontaneous, impulsive and fun person. When she is in a good mood, she loves to make people smile and laugh. However, Alaska is rarely in the same mood for an entire day. She is excessively moody, and it extremely hard for anyone to figure out what she’s feeling and what is wrong when she’s in a bad mood. The Colonel and her have been very close for a long time, but he still doesn’t know how to tell what’s bothering her. When she is in a bad mood, she shuts everybody out and becomes condescending, cold and even rude towards her closest friends. Takumi and the Colonel are used to this, however, Miles is not, and he takes this quite personally at first. Alaska does not feel sympathy towards anybody because she has been through a lot of things in her life. In chapter 29, Alaska tells Miles, Lara, Takumi and the Colonel about how her mother passed away when she was younger, and it was her fault because she had not been able to call 911. She was in shock and she didn’t know what to do. Alaska blames herself for this and lives with a huge amount of regret and guilt. This has a great influence on who she is, and this could be the main source of her moodiness. Alaska is psychologically strong, and she does not let  much bother her. She is an independent person. She came to Culver Creek to get away from home, because she claims home is full of ghosts. She does not like to be reminded of her mother and the guilt attached to it. She doesn’t return home for the holidays, which explains why Miles stays back at Culver Creek during Thanksgiving with her. Alaska is a very mysterious character and the whole book is dedicating to finding out her mystery after a specific event occurs at Culver Creek. 

SECONDARY CHARACTERS

Takumi Hikohito

Takumi is a shy individual who is part of the Colonel’s group of friends. Takumi is very close with the Colonel and Alaska. He’s a thin japanese guy who is a few inches taller than the Colonel, who is five feet tall. He helps Miles understand how moody Alaska can get, and to not take it personally. Takumi understands Alaska very well, and it is made obvious throughout the book that Takumi has feelings towards Alaska but is aware that he cannot have her. Takumi is important to the story because he helps the Colonel and Alaska with their pranks, because he is very fast and agile. It is easy for him to complete the barn prank with ease in chapter 28. Takumi is a very mysterious character, and it is also hard to understand how he feels. 

The Eagle – Mr. Starnes

The Eagle is the dean of students at Culver Creek. He is the person who enforces the discipline upon the students, and many of the students dislike him. However, Alaska and the Colonel have a good relationship with the Eagle. He is an old man who lives right across Culver Creek in a average size house. He is a very protective person, and simply does not want to let any harm happen. He is also very strict with certain rules at Culver Creek, like drinking. He does have a soft spot, because he understands when Miles and the Colonel pull certain pranks. He does not always punish everyone because he is an understanding person. The Eagle also serves as the judge in the jury, which is where the non-expellable offenses are dealt with. 

Dr. Hyde 

Dr. Hyde is a world religions teacher at Culver Creek. He is extremely old and has a cane. He is Miles’ favorite teacher, and Miles enjoys his class more than any other because of Dr. Hyde’s attitude. Dr. Hyde uses a teaching method with many metaphors and life experiences. This makes his teaching much more enjoyable and relatable. However, he is very strict with the students and does not tolerate a student who is distracted. This is why in chapter 6, Miles gets kicked out of class for staring outside instead of listening. He is an extremely intriguing man with many life experiences.        

Mary and Will 

Mary and Will are secondary characters that appear in the beginning of the book. They are the only two people who show up to Miles’ going away party, and they are both considered as being losers at school. They play a role in order to make it obvious that Miles had not been social whatsoever at school.

Dolores

Dolores is the Colonel’s mother. She is very poor and works at a waffle house. She lives in a trailer home. She is an amazing cook, and invites Alaska and Miles over for Thanksgiving when she hears from her son that they will be spending Thanksgiving on campus without a family. That event goes to show how she is a very caring person and loves her son more than anything. The Colonel is her source of motivation and she is extremely proud of him because he got into Culver Creek on a full paid scholarship. 

Lara Buterskaya

Lara is russian exchange student who has recently come to Culver Creek. She has a heavy russian accent. She has lazy brown curls. She is friends with Alaska, and Alaska tries to set her and Miles up many times. Eventually, her and Miles start dating but it does not last long because of the event. She is important to the story because she is part of the group. She takes part on the barn prank with Miles, Takumi, the Colonel and Alaska. She is important to the story because she plays a big role in Miles’ life, because she is the first girl he kisses and dates. She makes Miles discover many things about himself. 

Sara

Sara plays the Colonel’s girlfriend for the first few chapters until they break up after a useless argument. She has long, pale blond hair, and resembles a movie star. She is very mean, and her and the Colonel constantly fight instead of getting along. 

Jake

Jake is Alaska’s boyfriend. He lives in another town, and comes to visit Alaska every once in a while. Jake has blond hair down to his shoulders. He has dark stubble on his cheeks. According to Miles, he looks like a catalog model. He has a southern accent. Alaska claims to love him deeply, but is always flirting with other guys and she cheats on him with Miles at the end of chapter 31. 

Kevin 

Kevin is a weekend warrior. He is from a wealthy family. He dresses preppy. His hair is short and blond, spiky with enough gel to make it look permanently wet. He pulls the initiating prank on Miles when he arrives to Culver Creek. 

Maxx

Maxx is the character that partakes in the last prank of the school year. He is a male stripper who pretends to be Dr. William Morse, a professor who studies adult sexuality, in order to do pull this prank that Alaska organized. 

Miles’ mom and dad 

Mile’s mother and father are very caring people who love Miles very much. They call him every sunday, and they tell him how much they miss him and how empty it is at home without him. Miles’ father went to Culver Creek when he was that age, and that is why he encourages Miles being there. Miles’ dad also helps Miles accomplish one of the pranks because he understood what it was like to been a teenager at Culver Creek, and how important the pranks had been. 

Marya and Paul 

Marya and Paul are two students who are not included in the story, but have a big role to play in the storyline. They had both been kicked out the semester before Miles came to Culver Creek. They had been kicked out because they had been caught in bed together, drinking and smoking. This is a triple offense so they got expelled. This story haunts many people at Culver Creek because the weekend warriors are always trying to find out who snitched them out.