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2. One Hundred Twenty-Eight Days Before
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Looking for Alaska, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
How to Live and Die
Mystery and the Unknown
Loyalty and Forgiveness
Memory and Memorial
Identity
Mischief
Summary
Analysis
The next morning Miles asks the Colonel about Alaska’s boyfriend. The Colonel says that she must like him, because he’s the first boyfriend she hasn’t cheated on. He also tells Miles to stop thinking about Alaska and look for a girl who isn’t already taken. Then he takes Miles to the cafeteria where the chef, Maureen, is serving “bufriedos,” which are deep-fried bean burritos. Bufriedos are Maureen’s specialty and everyone at Culver Creek loves them. While he eats, Miles meets Takumi, a Japanese student who is close friends with the Colonel and Alaska.
Just as the meaning behind Alaska’s actions is often impenetrable, her behavior is often inconsistent. While Alaska has been kind to Miles thus far, the Colonel reveals that she always cheats on the boys with which she is involved. Miles does not pick up on it, but this is the first sign that Miles might need to question Alaska’s character.
Themes
At lunch the other students discuss Marya, Alaska’s former roommate, and her boyfriend Paul, both of whom were expelled for drinking, smoking marijuana, and having sex. The Colonel says that Paul deserved to be kicked out because he was a Weekday Warrior, and Takumi reminds the Colonel that his own girlfriend is a Weekday Warrior. Miles thinks it’s dumb to hate an entire group of people. There is much speculation among the others about who might have ratted Marya and Paul out to the Eagle.
The group spends an entire lunch period talking not about the fact that Paul and Marya were having sex, but rather about who might have gotten them in trouble. This testifies to the truth of the Colonel’s warning about not telling on other students.
Themes
That night, Miles decides to sleep in only his boxers because it is too hot to wear anything else. He wakes up to find two people pulling him out of his bed. The Colonel tells someone named Kevin to go easy on Miles. The two boys take him to the lake and duct tape his arms to his body, his legs together, and his mouth shut. Then they throw him in the lake. Before they throw Miles, they warn him not to hang out with the Colonel. Miles eventually wiggles back to shore and out of his duct tape. He goes to see Alaska, and she tells him that some people have more serious problems to worry about than being thrown in a lake.
Alaska’s uncaring response to the trauma Miles has just suffered is a clear indication that Alaska’s behavior is something of a mystery. She can be kind, but she can equally be cruel. In this, Alaska presents a contrast to the Colonel. While his hatred for the Weekday Warriors is unwavering, despite the fact that his girlfriend is one of them, Alaska has so few principles that she is not even consistently nice to her friends.
Themes
The Colonel is confused by why it took Miles so long to come home, and he is shocked to learn that Kevin and the other boy covered Miles in duct tape. It is a Culver Creek tradition to throw new students into the lake, but usually it’s easy for them to swim out of it. The Colonel declares war on Kevin and his friends. Miles goes to sleep, happy to have a friend of his own and excited about what might happen next.
While no one from Miles’ old school even bothered to say goodbye, his new friends are willing to seek revenge on his behalf after knowing him for only two days. The Colonel’s anger makes clear to Miles that the Colonel considers him a friend, and he looks forward to their mutual “Great Perhaps.”
Themes
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