Amanda

Journal Entry #1

This part of the book starts out with Miles Halter in the midst of leaving his school in Florida, which he hates because of the different social groups that he doesn’t fit into. Miles wanted to go to Culver Creek boarding school to find his “Great Perhaps” and he knew he wasn’t going to find it in his old school. He was hoping to find this “Great Perhaps” before he died, unlike the write Francois Rabelais who said he was going to find it once he passed on. In this book it doesn’t specify what this “Great Perhaps” is, but I think it means a person who is searching for happiness, belonging or maybe their meaning in life.

Also I feel like at the beginning of the book, Miles is trying to leave his life in his former school for a new, more exciting school where he hopes to fit in. he also mentions all the social groups a his old school that he doesn’t fit into, but what I don’t think he realized at the time was that every school had their social divisions, and even Culver Creek had “groups”. Regular boarder and Weekday Warriors was the division between borders. I think every school has its division and presumptions about those groups and I think Culver Creek is no different from this idea.

I really relate to Miles with his liking of Mr. Hyde, because I tend to be more interested and engaged in class where someone is talking at me, as long as they have something interesting to say, rather than class work and group projects. I respect the actions of Mr. Hyde when he gets mad at Miles for looking out the window during class. I know that he wants his students to be involved in the class, but I also think that he went overboard in his reaction when Alaska stood up for Miles, but I think the principle of the thing is fair.