Be Like Alaska Young

Alaska Young is a character in a 2005 novel by best-selling author John Green called Looking for Alaska. She has many alluring qualities. She’s complex, beautiful, and mysterious. She also has a self-destructive streak. In real life, you should embrace the positive qualities of Alaska, while finding healthier ways to cope with the grief than she did. She is ultimately a complicated character of suffering.

Steps

Acting like Alaska Young

  1. Be Be More Adventurous. Alaska Young is beautiful, and she is mysterious. She is a free-spirited person who is spontaneous. She is not a rigid personality, nor is she a conforming one.
    • You should be up for an adventure if you want to be like Alaska Young. Don’t be too into planning, don’t try to control everything, and generally be up for a fun time. Prank people in harmless ways. Alaska Young is known for her mischief.[1]
    • Alaska is described as impulsive. Sometimes this is a positive trait, leading to a sense of adventure, and sometimes this has reckless and negative consequences in her life. She doesn’t often think about the consequences before she acts. It can be important to do so.
  2. Be outgoing. Alaska is known for being outgoing and is always the first to come up with fun ideas. This could be smiling at new people, being inquisitive or being the leader of the conversation. Ensure that whatever you do is memorable.
    • Be creative. Pranks are a key part of the story, and Alaska is one of the main characters who comes up with the elaborate ideas for these.
    • If you're not sure whether pulling a prank is your idea of creativity then perhaps try to incorporate it into a different medium such as storytelling.
  3. Be a loyal friend. Alaska stands up for her friends. When a teacher starts lecturing Miles, Alaska stood up and stuck up for him.
    • Alaska was a great friend. While undeniably moody, she was not afraid to help out her friends and not abandon them when they got in trouble. She was also very honest with them, making sure they knew how she felt about certain things.
    • Alaska also stands up for her beliefs. Just because you're friendly and flirty doesn't mean people should be able to walk all over you. For example, Alaska feels strongly about female rights so if you feel strongly about something and someone offends you, fight for your beliefs and get them to understand why you feel this way.
  4. Stay mysterious. Don’t give too much away. Alaska is mysterious and a bit self-destructive. She is also a confidante to her friends though. She has a caring heart. It’s just that she’s suffering inside.
    • She is considered unpredictable and wild. She’s a bit messed up. Alaska is considered the most complex character in the book. Her life is tinged with tragedy. Her ending is also tragic.
    • In one passage in the book, she refers to a labyrinth. You might consider Alaska a labyrinth. Her personality is complicated. Her emotions are too.
  5. Break the rules. Know how to party. Alaska Young is a flirt. She’s sexy, and she likes to smoke and drink. She is funny and loving, but she has an edge to her. She has intimate partners.
    • Alaska is said to smell of a mixture of vanilla and cigarettes.[2] Alaska is the one who provides cigarettes and alcohol to her friends (be aware that in real life, this can come with risks. Follow the laws).
    • Although Alaska is known for smoking cigarettes, obviously you should be aware that doing so comes with health risks, such as lung cancer, and can also lead to premature aging.
    • Alaska is really using alcohol to drowned her suffering because of her mother’s death. She is full of guilt and blame, and she is an emotional person. In real life, you should find better ways to cope with suffering and pain than alcohol, which can lead to more problems. She loves drinking wine.

Having Alaska Young’s Personality

  1. Show intense emotions. Alaska is not a cold person. She has strong emotions, and they see saw back and forth. In one part of the book, she is described as a person who goes “from a hundred miles an hour to asleep in a nanosecond.”
    • Sometimes in the book, Alaska is funny and very bubbly. In the next moment, she might switch to being cold and condescending. Sometimes she breaks down into tears.
    • Overall, you could describe Alaska as moody and a person whose emotions are chaotic and often expressed. She is often very sad, as she is still trying to deal with her mother’s death.
  2. Talk about death. Alaska is fairly obsessed with death. Her mother died. She jokes about death, and says she smokes to die. She hints at death in the novel. Her name, Alaska, came from a Velvet Underground lyric that starts, “she’s not afraid to die.”[3]
    • She thinks she will die young. Her jokes are macabre and dark. She has a dark side to her personality. She reads deep messages into things other people think are just pranks. Alaska’s life ends tragically. If you have thoughts of self-harm, you should seek help from a trusted adult or a counselor. Being as sad as Alaska Young is really not something you should desire.
    • Alaska is self-destructive, whether it’s substance abuse or cheating on a boyfriend. These are ways that she numbs her pain. She carries a lot of suffering and pain inside. Her mother died of an aneurysm in front of her when she was a young child, and she didn’t call 911.
  3. Love to read. Alaska Young is a girl who loves books. Reading goes along with Alaska’s complexity. She’s smart, and she’s deep. She’s not a shallow person.
    • Alaska collects books from yard sales. If you’re not interested in books, you’re not going to quite capture her vibe.[4]
    • Reading adds layers of complexity to Alaska’s personality. She is interested in exploring other worlds and gets lost in other people’s lives because she rejects the concept of home for herself.

Looking like Alaska Young

  1. Dress down. You will often find Alaska Young in summer clothes. A typical Alaska Young outfit would be to wear basic flip-flops and jean shorts. She is considered a pixie dream girl.
    • Try cutoff jeans and a peach tank top. Alaska would also wear brown boots. Wear your clothes somewhat loose and natural. Alaska looks comfortable. She is sexy without trying too hard to be sexy.[5]
    • In addition, you could wear black leggings with the book and the tank top. Alaska would also wear Converse shoes, T-shirts, a Hoodie, a plaid button down shirt draped over a tank top. Her most common look? Tank tops.
  2. Have curves. Alaska is described as curvy with skinny thighs and a large chest.[6]
    • Elsewhere in the book, she is described as a “petite (but God, curvy) girl.” She is fit and not overweight but she is repeatedly described in the book as curvy.
    • To look like Alaska, you need to not be too high maintenance. She is beautiful without trying. She is fit and curvy, and not too thin.
  3. Wear your hair dark and long. Going along with her mysterious look, Alaska’s hair is dark and only a little wavy. Her hair is described as chestnut brown and her eyes green.[7]
    • Her hair is long enough to cascade past her shoulders. It’s not overly styled, matching her reputation as a free spirit. In one place in the book, her eyes are described as fierce emeralds.
    • Alaska’s hair is simple. You can wear your hair in a side part or with a middle part. That isn’t as important as making sure it’s long, flowing and dark. Alaska’s hair is not very curly.
  4. Stay natural. Alaska doesn’t wear much makeup. You could start with foundation. Put small amounts over your face and blend in with a makeup brush.[8]
    • Apply concealer and foundation. Alaska has a very pale complexion, so don’t tan if you want to look like her. In the book, Alaska’s cheeks are rosy, so brush pink/rose blusher on your cheeks.
    • Define your eyebrows with a dark brow pencil. Add dark brown or black eyeliner and smudge it a bit. Alaska is often crying, so her makeup doesn’t stay perfect very long.

Tips

  • Be proud and confident about who you are. You are not a character in a book.
  • Have confidence with what you're doing.
  • Don't mimic the self-destructive side of Alaska Young.

Warnings

  • Do not drink and drive.
  • Never cheat on anybody or pretend to like someone; this will only end up hurting the people around you.
  • Do not smoke. It is dangerous for your health.

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Sources and Citations

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