Guest post by Occam’s Chainsaw, INTJ

Looking For Alaska, John Green

Ne: Alaska was a girl who was restless when it came to trying out new things. She was in for the experience, and came up with several ideas that she wanted to do to make her presence in the academy memorable, to make sure everyone in the next generations will know that once a girl named Alaska studied there. Alaska was very unpredictable and wild, and an independent spirit who lived in the world of possibilities, which is also the reason why she and Miles developed such a strong connection with each other after clicking instantly; Miles caught up to all of her ideas, and talked to her about her idea of The Labyrinth of Misery, and how she wanted to find a solution to it. She enjoyed the thrills of everything that was forbidden and was a bit reckless at times.

Fi: Alaska lived life according to her own values and principles. She was very emotional, but didn’t express her feelings quite as much. The others were assured about her affection toward them by her including them in her ideas, her playing along with them, adventuring with them, doing pranks with them, etc. She helped her friends when they were in need of a helping hand, and she was also the one to provide them with alcohol. Alaska expressed her emotions through her Extraverted Intuition, which showed through the entire book.

Te: Alaska was the one to organise everything, although she wasn’t the only one to come up with plans on implementing her ideas. She had always been a little bossy with the boys, but they never minded that, just accepted her the way she was. She was kind of the centre of their circle, some kind of a leader despite they had the ‘Colonel’ with them, too. Alaska was reliable in every aspect that was meaningful to her, she was goal-oriented and focused when it came to realising whatever idea she came up with. She was a creative problem solver, and enjoyed logical analysis of her literary riddles (e.g. The Labyrinth of Misery). She encouraged Miles not to give up on finding his own answers in life.

Si: Alaska was never really able to let go of her past—because of FiSi, she blamed herself for being so stupid not to dial 911 when her mother was dying right next to her. She had always been angry with herself for being such an ignorant little brat, and no one could make her think otherwise. John Green didn’t give us a full explanation of the circumstances of her death, so it is open to discussion whether she committed a suicide or not; the readers are free to judge as they see fit. Because of the inferiority of Si, she lost all her faith in the future when she fell into the grip of her lower functions, and couldn’t picture herself in the future. She isolated herself due to feeling of vulnerability and she was convinced that no one can understand her. She compulsively analysed that moment in the past when she let her mother die, which clouded her mind and wouldn’t let her rest, inevitably resulting in her death. (Especially because her guilt was multiplied because she almost forgot about the anniversary of her mother’s death, making her feel like more of a monster.)