“Looking for Alaska” by John Green and Valerie in “Hate List” by Jennifer Brown
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Unreliability of the characters Miles in “Looking for Alaska” by John Green and Valerie in “Hate List” by Jennifer Brown Research Question: How have the authors, Jennifer Brown and John Green, created biased and unreliable protagonists in their novels “Looking for Alaska” and “Hate List”? ! ! ! Abstract!–! ! This!essay!analyses!the!hints!left!by!John!Green!in!Looking'for'Alaska!and!Jennifer! Brown!in!Hate'List!that!their!protagonists,!Miles!and!Valerie,!are!biased!and! unreliable!narrators.!It!examines!the!way!the!authors!create!relatable!characters! to!conceal!the!bias!of!the!narrations.!Both!protagonists!have!lost!a!close!person! through!suicide.!Both!protagonists!are!emotionally!connected!to!the!deceased! character.! ! One!of!the!most!obvious!ways!in!which!the!bias!and!the!unreliability!of!the! protagonists!are!hinted!at!is!through!the!splitting!of!the!novels!through!parts.! From!one!part!to!another,!the!change!of!perception!of!the!protagonists!towards! the!deceased!characters!becomes!apparent.!! ! Both!protagonists!want!to!keep!their!deceased!character!to!themselves!and! therefore!mould!their!memories!to!fit!their!wants.!Both!authors!leave!hints!in! their!novels,!however!through!creating!a!relatable!protagonists!these!hints!are! not!as!apparent!as!they!could!have!been.! ! All!theses!factors!bring!forth!the!following!research!question:!How!have!the! authors,!Jennifer!Brown!and!John!Green,!created!biased!and!unreliable! protagonists!in!their!novels!Looking'for'Alaska!and!Hate'List?!This!is!the!question! that!is!being!answered!with!this!essay.! ! ! ! Words:!205! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 2! Table of Contents: ! ! ! ! I.! Title!Page! 1! ! ! ! II.! Abstract! 2! ! ! ! III.!Table!of!Contents! 3! ! ! ! IV.!Introduction! 4! ! ! ! V.! Summary!of!Plot! 5! ! ! ! VI.!Illusions!! 7! ! ! ! ! VII.!Before!Death! 9! ! ! ! VIII.!!After!Death! 11! ! ! ! IX.! !Unreliability!and!Bias! 13! ! ! ! X.! Closure! 15! ! ! ! XI.!Conclusion! 16! ! ! ! XII.!!Acknowledgements! 18! ! ! ! XIII.!!Bibliography!&!Works!Consulted! 19! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 3! Introduction!–! The!research!question,!the!basis!of!this!Extended!Essay,!is!“How!have!the! authors,!Jennifer!Brown!and!John!Green,!created!biased!and!unreliable! protagonists!in!their!novels!“Looking!for!Alaska”!and!“Hate!List”?”!This!question! will!be!analysed!in!thorough!detail!during!the!Extended!Essay.! One!character!dealing!with!the!death!of!a!character!that!they!were!close! to!is!a!storyline!many!novelists!pursue.!John!Green’s!Looking'for'Alaska'and! Jennifer!Brown’s!Hate'List!are!classified!as!young!adult!novels!that!both!follow! this!popular!storyline!as!well.!The!protagonists,!John!Green’s!Miles!and!Jennifer! Brown’s!Valerie,!are!distanced!from!society!and!suffer!tragic!throwbacks!in!their! lives!due!to!the!loss!of!their!dear!friends.!Miles!loses!his!friend,!a!young!girl! named!Alaska,!who!he!is!madly!in!love!with,!and!Valerie!loses!her!boyfriend.! Both!characters!die!through!suicide.!The!leftover!protagonists!have!to!deal!with! memories,!which!shape!their!new!lives!without!their!friends.!However,!they! shape!these!memories!so!that!they!suit!their!image!of!the!deceased!character.! The!affection!they!have!towards!the!deceased!character!makes!then!unreliable! narrators.!! Both!novels!handle!the!issue!of!suicide.!The!concern!of!suicide!is!often! considered!a!taboo.!It!is!an!emotional!subject,!and!it!is!often,!unfortunately,! tossed!aside!as!a!topic!with!little!importance.!Suicide,!discussed!too!little!in! school!and!other!learning!facilities,!is!what!drew!me!to!these!novels.!How!open! the!characters!handle!this!issue,!and!how!in!public!it!has!to!be!masked.!The!use! of!teenaged!main!characters!makes!it!easy!to!relate!to!the!protagonists,!though! the!circumstances!may!be!very!foreign.!This!is!why!I!have!decided!to!use!these! two!novels!as!the!basis!of!my!Extended!Essay.!! ! 4! Although!the!storyline!of!leftover!characters!has!been!transformed!into!a! novel!many!times,!these!two!authors!play!with!the!reader’s!perception!of!their! characters.!Only!after!numerous!readings!is!it!clear!how!flawed!and!biased!these! characters!are!as!narrators.!Therefore,!this!Extended!Essay!will!analyse!the!main! characters!of!the!novels,!Miles!and!Valerie!in!Looking'for'Alaska!and!Hate'List,! respectively.!The!authors!have!created!characters!who!are!unreliable!and!biased! because!their!perception!is!coloured!by!the!proximity!of!the!event!and!by!their! relationship!towards!the!dead!character.!It!will!be!demonstrated!that!both!John! Green!and!Jennifer!Brown!leave!many!hints!for!the!reader!throughout!their! novels.!Examples!would!be!how!Miles!changes!Alaska!from!an!annoying! emotional!wreck!into!an!idol!and!how!Valerie!holds!onto!her!memory!of!her! boyfriend!rather!than!accepting!that!he!was!a!murderer.! ! Summary!of!Plots!–! ! Looking'For'Alaska' Miles!Halter,!a!sixteenbyearbold!boy!from!Florida,!goes!to!boarding!school! at!“Culver!Creek!Preparatory!School”!1!in!Alabama.!He!is!a!new!student,!and!it!is! his!first!semester!abroad!from!home,!in!search!for!the!Great!Perhaps2.!His!love! for!famous!people’s!last!words!has!always!made!him!an!outcast.!This!changes! when!he!meets!Alaska!Young!and!her!friends.!She!sucks!him!into!her!world!of! pranks,!secrets!and!selfbdestruction.!At!first,!Miles!is!attracted!to!Alaska’s!body.! However,!after!her!suicide!one!late!night,!she!becomes!something!beyond!death.! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1!Page!6,!Looking'For'Alaska.!Green,!John.!Penguin!Group.!Print! 2!François!Rabelais’!last!words! ! 5! He!idolises!her.!He!spends!the!rest!of!the!year!trying!to!deny!her!death,!wanting! to!have!her!for!himself.!Miles!reconstructs!the!story!from!a!future!point!in!time;! many!of!his!memories!have!been!tweaked!to!fit!his!renewed!idolised!image!of! Alaska.!The!story!is!told!in!past!tense,!showing!that!a!distance!has!been!created! between!the!date!of!telling!this!story!and!the!date!the!story!actually!occurred.!! ! Hate'List' Valerie!Leftman!has!always!lived!as!a!recluse.!Her!clothes!aren’t!what!her! classmates!accept,!she!listens!to!strange!music,!and!she!loves!the!colour!black3.! Her!only!friends!are!outcasts!as!well.!Her!life!is!uneventful,!until!she!meets!Nick! Levil,!a!boy!with!the!same!interests!as!her.!She!falls!in!love!with!him,!and!soon! after!they’re!in!a!relationship.!Valerie!and!Nick!start!a!list!of!all!the!people!that! torment!them;!all!the!people!that!make!their!life!hell,!all!the!people!they!hate.! One!of!these!people!is!Christy!Bruter,!a!girl!that!Valerie!knew!since!Kindergarten! “After!all!these!years!she!still!hadn’t!tired!of!the!same!old!stupid!jokes.!Still! hadn’t!grown!out!of!them.”4!All!the!“bullying,!the!teasing!the!namebcalling…”5! hurt!them.!They!call!this!the!Hate!List.!This!is!the!list!Nick!uses!to!choose!his! targets!during!the!school!shooting!he!initiates!five!months!before!the!story! begins.!Valerie!throws!herself!in!front!of!a!target,!taking!a!shot!in!the!leg.!She! awakes!days!later!in!the!hospital,!unable!to!remember!anything.!She!is! investigated!as!a!suspect!but!also!a!witness.!Worse!for!her!is!however,!that!Nick! has!killed!himself.!She!is!left(man)!to!face!a!hard!semester!of!inquiries,! psychologists!and!doubtful!looks!alone.!The!narration!is!not!done!in! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3!Page!31!Hate'List.!Brown,!Jennifer.!Little,!Brown.!Print! 4!Page!59!Hate'List.!Brown,!Jennifer.!Little,!Brown.!Print! 5!Page!388!Hate'List.!Brown,!Jennifer.!Little,!Brown.!Print! ! 6! chronological!order.!The!reader!is!constantly!unsure!of!the!time!frame.!There!are! snippets!of!newspapers!to!show!how!the!public!learned!about!what!happened!at! the!shooting,!showing!another!point!of!view!of!the!story.!! ! Illusions!–! In!both!novels!the!protagonists,!John!Green’s!Miles!and!Jennifer!Brown’s! Valerie,!create!false!illusions!of!their!deceased!friend!in!order!to!make!their! deaths!more!bearable!and!explainable.!In!Hate'List,!Valerie!refuses!to!picture!her! boyfriend!as!a!murderer:!“(…)!I!looked!in!Nick’s!eyes!…!I!knew!what!I!saw!and!it! was!good!(…)!So!sometimes!it!makes!sense!to!me!that!maybe!it!was!Jeremy6!who! put!those!ideas!about!shooting!up!the!school!in!Nick’s!head.!Not!me.!Jeremy.!He’s! the!bad!guy.”7!Because!both!deaths!are!suicides,!the!social!pressure!is!enormous,! because!they!are!left!to!explain.!They!are!left!to!explain!the!why!and!how!the! suicide!occurred!but!also!the!how!and!why!of!their!relationship!towards!the! dead!person.!They!must!live!with!being!blamed!and!blaming!themselves.!They! clamber!onto!this!truth!for!as!long!as!possible,!almost!stubbornly!blocking!out! anyone!else’s!attempts!to!say!differently.! ! Miles,!also!referred!to!as!Pudge,!is!retelling!the!story!from!a!future!point! in!time.!He!splits!his!retellings!into!two!sections:!‘Before!Alaska’s!Death’8,!and! ‘After!Alaska’s!Death’9.!Separating!the!novel!into!two!parts!is!a!hint!to!the!reader! that!for!Miles,!time!has!stopped!when!Alaska!died.!He!splits!happenings!into! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6!Nick’s!mysterious!friend!! 7!Page!27!Hate'List.!Brown,!Jennifer.!Little,!Brown.!Print! 8!Page!1,!Looking'For'Alaska.!Green,!John.!Penguin!Group.!Print.! 9!Page!135,!Looking'For'Alaska.!Green,!John.!Penguin!Group.!Print.! ! 7! before!Alaska’s!death!and!after!Alaska’s!death.!For!him,!there!are!only!these!two! time!intervals.!Miles!obsessive!love!towards!Alaska,!a!girl!he!could!never!be!with,! becomes!most!apparent!after!her!death.!However,!her!other!friends!are!telling! him!what!kind!of!person!Alaska!really!was:!about!her!alcohol!abuse,!“The!way!