Blog #2

Toward the beginning of Looking For Alaska, Miles Halter is hoping to find his "Great Perhaps" while attending Culver Creek. A brand new year for Miles Halter at a new school is a new chance to experience what he did not before. A chance to fit in or be noticed, perhaps. John Green puts a common situation of "following the crowd to fit in", during the beginning of this book. In this scene, Miles Halter purchases cigarettes for his roommate, whom he hopes to be his lifeline into the social net. Also, Miles Halter smokes to try to fit in with his roommate, and try to impress Alaska, if she came along. I believe that this scene can connect to our society amongst teenagers because they want to fit in with the crowd. They are willing to do anything they are uncomfortable to avoid being "alone". People want to avoid feeling left out, so they do anything in their power to feel apart of something. John Green picked the most common "peer-pressure" our society deals with, which is drugs. Green chose this topic to connect with his fellow young adult audience because it is a common occurrence that most teenagers are familiar with. They have either experienced it themselves or seen someone go through that experience. John Green puts this common motif of peer pressure among adolescents, to establish a connection with his young audience.