Unraveling the Splintered Self: A Study of Alaska Young in John Green’s Looking for Alaska

Abstract

In the contemporary times, the most common crisis that increasingly needs attention is splintering of self. This generally occurs among the young adult who faces problems and challenges, like broken relationships, mental health, family dynamics, social pressures and inner conflicts such as self-doubt, identity crises, alienation and emotional struggles. John Green, an eminent writer of the modern Young Adult Fiction delves deeper into the minds of these young adults and address their inner struggles by his exceptional writings. This paper aims to unravel the splintered self of the main character named Alaska Young in the Green’s novel Looking for Alaska. It intends to analyze the inner conflicts experienced by Alaska, examining her character traits. The novel showcases her dark past or improper childhood and portrays Alaska as an eccentric, quirky, fun- loving, risk-taking, imaginative, attractive and prankster young adult. Although she is portrayed as a strong and independent girl character, her splintered self remains concealed, without expressing her self-destructive or self-damaged traits. Eventually she faces death in order to escape her labyrinth of suffering. Thus, this paper critically explores the sufferings and problems of the young adult girl character named Alaska Young and attempt to give a deeper insight of her mind which leads to her splintered self. It also tries to highlight how her behavioral patterns reflect broader elements of dissociation, detachment and identity through psychoanalytical aspect of the character.