The first half of the sentence says one’s body returns to God, which means death in
regular sense. But the second half says the soul rewards, meaning that the soul will
not disappear with the body, but continue to exist in another form. Thus, religions
has many influence on this topic.
Based on the accumulation of various knowledge mentioned above, from
science to philosophy to religion, teenagers’ perception of death gradually forms.
Meanwhile, personal experience shapes their attitudes toward death. Before the
accident happens, Alaska seems to have no fear of death. She even has a premoni-
tion about it. She and her friends usually drink and smoke in the hidden corners of
the school. The rest of her friends all do these for ease and decompression, but she
says, “Y’all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die” (Green 44). She knows the potential
risks of unbridled indulgence, and she realizes the finity of life. But even so, she
does not stop hurting herself. Also, when she teaches her friends calculus, she says
the similar thing, “I may die young, but at least I’ll die smart” (Green 44). We can
see that she does not expect a long lifespan for herself, but she really cares about the
impression she leaves this world. She does not want to die miserably or stupidly.
She wants to die with dignity and wisdom. Therefore, she has her own perception of
mortality way beyond her age.
As Alaska has predicted, she dies young, unfortunately. One summer night,
she got a car accident and she spent the last moments of her life on the highway.
Since then, great changes have taken place in Pudge and Colonel. They used to live
in the mess and troubles of little everyday things, nothing matters very much to
them. But when death, the heaviest topic in the world, suddenly gets so close to
them, they are overwhelmed and helpless. In the first few days, they take these
things too hard. They cannot concentrate on studying, they lose their emotional
control at the funeral, and they even fight against each other for this. But as time
passes, they gradually move on and begin to learn something from it. In the end,
Pudge understands that “here is a part of her greater than the sum of her knowable
parts. And that part has to go somewhere, because it cannot be destroyed” (Green
220). He knows that nobody can escape from death, but death itself does not neces-
sarily represent the finale of everything. No matter in what forms, people do leave
something in this world that could prove their existences, and nothing could ever
erase that part.