The Paper Town

Q, Ben, Radar and Lacey who was Margo’s friend and now Ben’s girlfriend all decide to skip graduation and go find Margo Roth Spiegelman. They have like no time to complete the road trip so they have planned only four stops along the way and Q has to go over the speed limit in order to get there on time. They finally arrive at Agloe were they see Margo’s car parked. They get in there and they see how she clearly didn’t expect to see them that day. Margo got so angry that she starts making fun of everyone, so Lacey, Ben and Radar walk away leaving Q with Margo. She was so mad that she was screaming at Q and saying that she didn’t want to be found no matter what. Later, she tells him a story she wrote about them when they were little and how she always thought he was a paperboy but admits he isn’t one after all, but she is a papergirl. Q tried to convince her to come back home but she denied. This novel ends when Margo and Quentin burry their old selves, leaving them behind. 

“As long as we don’t die, this is gonna be one hell of a story.”

I liked this quote very much because the background of it talks about true friendship and making the best of every situation. They are all sharing their memories and the fun they’ve had together during the road trip. Also, it talks how after a terrible accident they had they are just laughing and saying how happy they are to be all together.

“Just remember that sometimes the way you think about a person isn’t the way they actually are… People are different when you can smell them and see them up close, you know?” (266-267)

Jumping up to conclusions is something society now days does a lot; people don’t realize how wrong that can be and how much damage it can cause in a person. People either judge too quickly or compliment without knowing for a fact what they are saying. In this case, Ben is telling Q not to like Margo without knowing her a 100% since he has learned so many new things about her as the book goes by.

Final Thoughts

The novel ends by telling us how Q and Margo finally got to really know each other just the way they are and how their lives are not meant to be together. Each one of them has a different idea of the future and how they want their life to go on. They both loved each other and tried to convince each other to come with them, but they were both strong enough to decide their own 

Un-Margo

Q has decided to go back to the mini-mall to see if he could find any other clue in order to find Margo. The first thing he found that was different than last time was a calendar that had been moved and a travel guide with marked destinations; he keeps going and he finds Margo’s nail polish and spray can that she used on their night together. Finally, he found a little blanket that smelled just like her. Q was so happy because now he knew she didn’t kill herself, but nothing made sense to him because everything there was so un-Margo; he decided to stay there the night and wait for her to come. Nothing happened. Ben and Radar analyzed the places marked on the travel guide to see if they got any closer with the clues and they realized that she might be back for graduation day because it takes that amount of days to go trough those places. But Q isn’t convinced with that statement so he decided to search the term paper town again and found a different definition; it was a place in NYC were the population was considered 0, but there was a comment that said that currently the population was 1, and it was written by Margo.

“It is so hard to leave- until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world. (229).

Leaving something you love behind can be a very difficult and horrible decision to make, but once you do, you wont regret it. If it is hard to leave something you love behind is because you have grown memories behind it and created something you never want to forget about there. Leaving can be extremely hard because of the fear of loosing all the good memories you have experienced in there. But once you live you realize the memories will always be there no matter were you are.

                                                               LET IT GO

“The town was paper, but the memories were not.” (227).

As Q lives school on his last days he realizes that the place that he has always considered a boring place is actually a place that holds so many of his memories. Small things like seeing his classmates everyday to waiting for his friends to get out of band practice can be seen as a routine but once it ends, you realize how important that is for you.

Final Thoughts

As Q visits the mini-mall several times you can see how each he realizes he knows less of the Margo he thought she was. He never expected her living on an abandoned place like this or wanting to run away from home. He considers everything she is doing un-Margo, which means that has nothing to do with her and her “personality.” He later realizes that he isn’t the only one that doesn’t really know Margo.

A Fake Paper Town

When Quentin found the address on his door, he immediately called Ben and Radar to go see what this place was and to see if he found Margo. The next day they all pretended to be sick and headed directly to the place the note said.  They arrived to a very old place that turned out to be an abandon mini-mall; it smelled terrible and it seemed like it was about to break. Q begins to jump into conclusions and for a moment he thinks that the book she left him was a suicide note. When they got in, they went through some rooms but didn’t find anything significant until they arrived to the last room and found “YOU WILL GO TO THE PAPER TOWNS AND YOU WILL NEVER COME BACK”.  Q cannot get that phrase off his head so he decides to investigate more about paper towns and finds out that abandoned places are called that; he doesn’t waist any time and sets off to go look on every place he could find. There was no trace of Margo.

“Peeing is like a good book in that it is very, very hard to stop once you start.” (183).

I found this quote interesting and funny at the same time because you can actually relate two completely different things and still get the same sensation. I liked how Q used this phrase in order to express what he is feeling when he realizes that there was someone else in the bathroom with him. I think that quotes like this make a book more interesting to read because it helps you get going easily.

“YOU WILL GO TO THE PAPER TOWNS AND YOU WILL NEVER COME BACK” (149).

At this scene, Q, Ben and Radar and investigating the mini-mall and find this quote spray-painted across the wall. At that moment everyone thought that Margo was dead because she used to refer at Orlando, the city she lives in paper towns, so that will mean that once you are there is no way of coming back. Q got really scared because before this happen, he thought that the book she left him was a suicidal note.

          

Final Thoughts

Margo has left a really weird place for Q to look for her without leaving any other obvious clue so Quentin has no idea to what to look for in there. I predict that Margo left another clue for Q in there, but this time not as obvious so it takes them a longer time to find her. This way she is going to be able to run away and never return to her home that she calls a paper town.

Clues Appear

The next morning after Quentin and Margo’s adventure, Q arrives to school and realizes Margo hasn’t arrived yet; he meets with his friends Ben and Radar and tells them everything that happened last night. Margo missed school again the next day and since she is the queen of high school, a mess begins to take place; not only at school but also in her house. Q realized that Margo has left a clue for him to go search for her but he doesn’t understand what anything means; he waits until Margo’s parents leave and enter her room with Ben and Radar were they found the next clue in a record, which was rare since she never talked about music. There was a song circled that was connected to a book; so he decided to take it with him. From there he finds the next clue that has to do with a door knob so he goes to Margo’s room again and takes down her door and doesn’t find anything, but once he does the same to his door he find an address.

 

“High school is a divine-right monarchy. And when the queen goes on vacation, things change.” (94)

Margo Roth Spiegelman was considered the queen of school, and since the da she left, things were starting to get out of control. When she isn’t there people do not respect each other since there isn’t a person to tell them how immature it was for them to do that. The school needed Margo in order to keep the school stable and safe for freshmen and others.

“She was just- like, a person.” (119).

Q feels that some people are superior to others when that is not really true. There will always be a group of girls that will be considered “popular”, but that doesn’t mean anything to see if someone is worth it. When Lace, Margo’s friend comes and talks to Q, he doesn’t know what to respond because he was scared of what he was going to say in front of her. People should not be scared of other people because at the end no one is better than anyone else.

Final Thought

Since the day Margo was missing you can see that the whole school depends on her instead of trying to be nice people by yourself. Q realizes that he got the first clue so I think that Q is going to find millions of clues that slowly guide them to Margo. I feel like there are going to be clues waiting at the end of the other clue.

An Unexpected Night

Paper Towns is a novel based on Quentin Jacobsen’s life and the love he has for a beautiful girl named Margo Roth Spiegelman. Since small kids, they have been close friends, but one day they found a dead body in Jefferson Park that made them closer since they shared an experience. Many years after during an unexpected night, Margo appeared at Q’s window and asked him to help her complete her plan that consisted on 11 parts. They jump into the minivan and start the night by getting revenge on Margo’s ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend. Then Q got his revenge on someone he didn’t like and ended the night by breaking into Sea World. At the end of the night Margo tells Q that she is going to miss him and he has no idea what she is talking about; Q tries to tell her she can spend time with him more often but she answers, “ I’m afraid it’s not possible” (81).

“I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much she became one” (8).

People you know from a distance can be seen in so many different ways. Q has only known Margo a little but has always been interested on her and what she likes and how she acts. I find it interesting how Q wants to find out how Margo behaves after they shared a common experienced when they saw a dead body and how their reactions were completely different.

“That's always seemed so ridiculous to me, that people want to be around someone because they're pretty. It's like picking your breakfast cereals based on color instead of taste.” (37).

When I read this quote, it reminded me of how society can influence your way of thinking and behaving so much. Margo is saying how she hates that people choose a girlfriend based on looks and not on personality, she wants to make sure people don’t choose wrongly because of looks. “Never judge a book by its cover.”

Final Thoughts

As the story begins by telling two outstanding experiences between Q and Margo you can see how their friendship begins growing more over time. I would say that after that night Q and Margo will start hanging out more, but I think that what really is going to happen is that Margo is not going to talk to him so often like it was before because I feel that she is wants to have her own space now that she got rid of her friends.