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