4 Audience Resonation: A Northern Light and Looking for Alaska – Mya Hosbrook

Audience Resonation: A Northern Light and Looking for Alaska

A Northern Light (2003) by Jennifer Donnelly and Looking for Alaska (2005) by John Green are both renowned pieces of young adult literature. This can be shown by the multiple awards that both novels have received and, in Looking for Alaska’s case, the film adaptation. Although the characters, setting, and time periods are drastically different, there is a similarity in that the protagonists are both searching for themselves. A Northern Light follows Mattie Gokey as she tries to get away from her caretaker life and go to college in New York despite what her father and friends want for her. Looking for Alaska follows Miles Halter as he sets off on a new adventure at a boarding school in the hopes to find something more exciting than the life that he was previously leading. Both of these characters find themselves on a journey of self-discovery as they maneuver through love, loss, and other things that life has to throw at them. Despite being set in 1906 it can be argued that A Northern Light has more to offer the modern reader in terms of empathy, understanding, and realism than that of Looking for Alaska.

Consistently throughout A Northern Light readers are presented with moments that they can relate to their own lives and experiences. A major theme in the novel is the limited options for women and set gender roles for women within the time period. As Mattie Gokey strives to chase her dreams she is met with pushback from her father as she is the main housekeeper, caretaker, and maternal figure in her family. Mattie’s struggle presents conflict that countless women can connect with as redefining gender roles has been a struggle for decades. Another aspect of Mattie’s journey that resonates with readers is the introduction to relationships/sex that she experiences. Readers are taken through Mattie’s thoughts about relationships, lessons her mother had taught her about virtue, and the treatment of the women that she is closest with. There are dramatic scenes of abuse, infidelity, and entitlement. The audience sees Mattie being physically abused by her father for  buying a journal, Emmie Hubbard’s sexual affairs are highlighted and heavily criticized, and Royal’s possessiveness over Mattie’s body breaches sexual assault (Donnelly). Alisa Clapp-Itnyre notes that these aspects of the novel are supposed to make us uncomfortable because of how realistic it is (Video for English L391, Spring 2022).

There is an obvious connection between readers and A Northern Light. A reviewer described Mattie as a heroine whom readers can appreciate and identify with (The Book Smugglers). It was said that the book was “a beautifully told story about a young woman’s journey of self-discovery amidst racism, sexism, and poverty” (The Book Smugglers). The dynamics of the story allow for the story to reach more than one type of audience. The story appeals to women, people of color, and opens the eyes of men. Women are able to empathize with Mattie as some may have experienced similar situations. People of color can equate their struggle to find higher education and deal with prejudices. Men are given a very blatant account of how their actions, intentional or unintentional, can deeply affect the women in their lives.

On the other hand, Looking for Alaska could be questioned for exhibiting over-exaggerated depictions of teenagers. Brittni, a reader, discussed how, “John Green may have been a bit extreme with everything that the teenagers do in the story…”(discussion for English L391, Spring 2022). The audience’s ability to resonate and create attachment to the storyline affects credibility. Miles and his group of friends take part, heavily, in smoking, drinking, sexual experimentation, and demonstrating pranks across the school’s campus. It can be argued that these actions/scenes aren’t realistic to that of an actual teenager, especially at the age of sixteen. One review found Miles’ counterpart, Alaska,  unrealistic. Alaska was described as, “mostly a male fantasy” due to the characteristics that Green attributes to her and has Miles focus on (Publisher’s Weekly). More specifically the reviewer speaks to Alaska being a “…curvy babe who loves sex and can drink guys under the table” (Publisher’s Weekly). An example of such unrealistic aspects of the novel besides the way that Alaska is hyper-sexualized and written for men, is the complete lack of adult supervision that allows for all the drinking, smoking, and sex to go on. This shows how the story was manipulated so that these scenes could be more overt. Writing unrealistically and to fit the societal norm deeply diminishes the connection that should/could be developed between a novel and its reader.

The rawness that is seen in A Northern Light is lacking in Looking for Alaska. Although both exhibit tragedy there is more of an awe surrounding Mattie Gokey as readers wait for her to make her next decision and take her next steps regarding whether or not she will follow her dreams or put them aside to maintain the life that people want her to lead. Miles’ mindset and personality lead him to fantasize and hyper-fixate on things like beauty and tropes, so does Mattie as she focuses on romantic aspects of the stories she has read, but Mattie is brought back to reality through scenes like that of Minnie giving birth, Mr. Loomis having an affair with Emmie, and the discovery of Grace Brown’s body (Donnelly). Miles tends to linger in his fantasies. For example, he continuously sexualizes and fantasizes about Alaska, focuses on a metaphor, “The Great Perhaps”, to lead his real life, and he is quite naive when it comes to Alaska’s mental health/death (Green).

The novels both offer different representations of a coming of age story, but when put side by side the detail, relevancy, and authenticity of A Northern Light outshines Looking for Alaska. The social issues brought up throughout Mattie Gokey’s journey don’t take away from her personal issues, they weave into her story. Miles is very separate from the stories of his friends Chip and Alaska, he is thrown into their friend group and since the book is from his point of view, the reader is also just thrown into the mix. This separation makes it more difficult to identify with what the readers are exposed to. The characters aren’t intertwined, so there is more of a reach to have readers resonate with the themes of mental health, poverty, loss, etc. The community that surrounds Mattie and the way that she narrates her story makes it so there is smoother transition from issue to issue.

A way that it was made easier for Donnelly to reach her readers is the specificity in the time period that her story was set in. Although it is 1906, readers are aware of the differences that made Mattie’s journey harder before they experience them in the story. It is expected that she will face misogyny, her African American friend will face racism, and her father will face scrutiny for the way that he provides for his household. Looking for Alaska is set in 2005 and even though there are some influential moments from that time, there isn’t anything overly significant to pair with the storyline presented. Readers are thrown into the story whereas readers of A Northern Light can consider themselves a part of the story. Prior knowledge sets the story up to have prepared the readers for certain events and gives them more freedom to relate their own experiences to Mattie and the other characters. The structure of A Northern Light also contributes to the way that readers are able to be involved in the story. The inclusion of flashbacks and the murder mystery keeps the reader engaged. Miles is very set in his journey, Chip is very content, and Alaska is a wild card, so there isn’t much room to have the audience “participate” in their stories.

The ability for an author to create scenes and characters that the audience can relate to means more exposure and appreciation for their novel. Now, even though both novels discussed are extremely popular in young adult literature the disparity between the awards that they received is very telling. Looking for Alaska received the Michael L. Printz Award which signifies that it was the best Young Adult novel written that year. A Northern Light received the Carnegie Medal, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature, and the Printz Honor. This shows that Donnelly was better affiliated with young adults and adults. A Northern Light was more compatible with a wider range of readers because the Carnegie Medal is a recognition of the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers. This pushes Donnelley’s exposure past just Young Adult literature.

Looking for Alaska provides readers with peeks at what it is like to find yourself and create your own journey. A Northern Light goes in depth and introduces readers to what they already knew but hadn’t had the opportunity to analyze as deeply. The novels speak beautifully to different times and moments in their characters lives, but when compared it is obvious that A Northern Light creates a more realistic story and more realistic feeling that the audience can be a part of.

Works Cited

Clapp-Itnyre, Video on A Northern Light. For English L391, Indiana University East, Spring 2022.

Donnelly, Jennifer. A Northern Light. Harcourt, Inc., 2003. Print.

Green, John. Looking for Alaska. Penguin, 2006. Print.

Reviewer, “Book Review: A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly.” The Book Smugglers. September 22, 2009.

Reviewer, “Looking For Alaska.” Publisher’s Weekly. March 1, 2005.

Walker, Brittni, Discussion on Looking for Alaska. For English L391, Indiana University East, Spring 2022.