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Mortality In Looking For Alaska

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One thing that Pablo Picasso’s famous self-portraits and John Green’s Looking for Alaska have in common, is their ability to express the theme of mental mortality. Mortality is most commonly associated with the complete death of someone mentally, emotionally, and physically; however, both Green and Picasso attack the idea of mental mortality on it own through their work. In John Green’s Looking for Alaska, the main character Alaska Young takes us through the journey of her mental deterioration in the first part of the novel. Alaska constantly is smoking and drinking, not for fun, but because she prefers being lost in the bliss of intoxication rather than facing her own suffering. One staple of Alaska’s personality is her extensive collection

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