Sunday, October 17, 2010

Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice is the anonymous diary of a young girl that gets involved in drugs. The girl does not say her name in the book. Go Ask Alice was given the title based off of "White Rabbit" written by Grace Slick.

Through her diary "Alice" expresses her feelings about teenage problems. In the beginning her problems are common to many teens, like weight gain, moving to a different city, parents, boys, and friendships. When she is reunited with a old friend and goes to a party, her problems get even more serious. At the party she has her first experience with drugs. Though she has fun after that it is a downward spiral.

"Alice" becomes involved with many of the wrong kind of people and has terrible and illegal episodes. "Alice" runs away to California. Her family worries about her a lot. She meets a girl named Chris and they work at a boutique where they make money to buy marijuana. They get into even more troubling situations. "Alice" knows that doing drugs is wrong and tries to stop many times. She has a strong addiction and cannot stay clean.

The only thing that keeps her going through her many struggles is her diary, her "dearest friend" (184). "Alice" always says she wishes she had a person to talk to, someone to help her with her addiction. "Oh, I would like to talk to Mom or Dad or Joel or Tim about this, but everything I do seems to make things worse" (130). Her only real friend is her diary. Not even health care professionals give her the help she really needs. In the end, the importance of her diary is fully shown.

1. At her worst point, "Alice" finally got professional help. Her family tries to help her too. Still it is not enough to get her out of the vicious cycle with drugs. Many teens in society are involved with drugs like "Alice." They feel they have no one that understands them or can help. What help do you think "Alice" or teens like her need to break their addictions for good? Is such help possible?

2. "Alice" says her diary is her only friend. She can tell her diary everything. "Alice" could communicate to her diary well but not to people. Do you think if "Alice" would have had good communication skills with people that she would have had better life?

6 comments:

Leah K. 7-8 said...

1. I think that they need a lot of support and need to be kept away from any situations that might allow them to have access to more drugs. I think that eventually they can stay clean but still need the support.

2. Yes I think she would have had a better life. If she was able to communicate with her friends and family, then I think she would have been able to stop her drug addiction earlier and wouldn't have had to run away from home. Everyone cared about her but she couldn't talk with them so they couldn't help.

Sydney S. 1-2 said...

1. I think that "Alice", and teens like her, need people to help them break their addictions. "Oh, I would like to talk to Mom or Dad or Joel or Tim about this, but everything I do seems to make things worse" (130). This quote shows that she truely does feels alone, and wishes there was someone there for her. I think that if someone was there for "Alice" and others struggling with addictions, breaking those addictions would be very possible.

2. Going along with the first discussion question, I think that if "Alice" had good communications with others, she would've had a better life. If someone is going through a difficult situation, it is always easier for them if they have friends and family to support them. However, because "Alice" wasn't able to communicate to anyone about her problems, they didn't know she needed help.

Hannah K. 1-2 said...

1. I think that teens with addiction problems need to be fully committed to recovery, and have support from family and/or friends to watch out for them and help them through the process. Professional help is often necessary, and even then, the recovery may not "stick" because of environment or even luck.
2. While a diary is a useful tool for venting emotions, it cannot offer constructive advice. Also, writing in a diary does not constitute a bond of trust, which can be helpful in the recovery process. I believe that if "Alice" could have confided in someone she knew, they could have gotten her help, or allowed her to help herself.

Unknown said...

1. I think teens like "Alice" should all keep a diary like her. I think that teens addicted to drugs should be able to share their thoughts even if they do not feel comfortable sharing them with other people, they can have people read their diary and receive help from drug counselors. Yes, such help is possible.

2. Yes, i believe if Alice had better communication her life might have been better. Also, her life might have been better if other people read her diary so she could get the help she needs.

Mia G. 1-2 said...

I'm not answering the questions, I just wanted to comment saying I think the book over-all had a much more positive message to it's readers than you dipicted. Although she is a victim of a drug dominated culture, she has the strength to pull herself through. I read this book and i really enjoyed every minute of it.

Sevgim A.1-2 said...

Mia, this book did not really have a positive outcome for Alice. Hopefully it gives the message to people to stay away from drugs - that would be a positive. I enjoyed the book also. Did you read the epilogue? She really did not pull herself through. In the middle of the book she kind of pulled through but not in the end.