False Perceptions In John Green's Paper Towns

Quentin Jacobsen Throughout the novel, “Paper Towns”, which is written by John Green, our protagonist Quentin Jacobsen undergoes significant character development which is largely influenced by his interactions with his neighbor and childhood friend Margo Roth Spieglman who eventually goes missing. Quentin is initially described as a timid and quiet individual however, as the story progresses, his character grows and becomes more courageous and is determined to find Margo at all costs. His relentlessness in his pursuit of Margo highlights his character growth as he is confronted with various challenges that he is forced to overcome, but in doing so, is forced to do things that he would never in his life imagine doing. Initially, Quentin, or

For instance, throughout the sequence, though she is intoxicated, Margo is pictured being quite docile; projecting her voice loud and far so that all the party guests may hear. Her fiery demeanor causes her many of her guests and friends to look upon her as if she’s being unnecessarily rude. However, when compared to the soft-spoken, reserved manor of Eve, Margo’s hostile nature seems to overcome the atmosphere. This contrast between the two women illustrates the common misconstruction that strong, powerful women are hostile and mean because of their success and control. By omitting much of the background sound in this scene, this misconstruction can clearly be seen as well as Margo’s fading security that her guests, friends and colleagues are rooting for her, rather than

“Just like seasons, people change,” an exceptionally true quote by Ritu Ghatourey. This quote states that people change, whether the change is effective or not. People change over the course of time in order to reveal their true character and to show the person they are within. In the novel Paper Towns by John Green, a clear vision of character change of Quentin Jacobsen Margo Roth Spiegelman, and Lacey Pemberton, is shown over the course of each section of the novel; The Strings, The Grass, and The Vessel The protagonist of the novel, Quentin Jacobsen, develops self-confidence throughout the novel.

In a society where young adults are consumed by superficial appearances, the desire to understand others and conceptualize life is neglected. In the novel, Paper Towns, John Green challenges young adults to consider different perspectives through relatable characters and their experiences. At the beginning of the novel, Margo and Quentin do not recognize each other’s existence. Then, one night, Margo enters Q’s room through the window, and they go on an epic adventure of revenge. The next morning, Margo is gone.

In the novel Paper Towns by John Green, Margo Roth Spiegelman’s whole life has revolved around the philosophy of strings. Margo’s strings represented life, the living and dead, she uses metaphors and examples to show what strings are to her and the way she uses them. She used them to express being or something being broken, though in her eyes everything is shattered. She used the strings to explain how she was a paper girl which mean margo is fake, not real, and most importantly non existent in her eyes. Margo lived in a paper town which was full of paper people who she never liked because all they did when she ran away was make rumors.

"'It's beautiful,' I said. Margo scoffed. 'Really? You seriously think so?'" Quentin replies, "'I mean, well, maybe not,' I said, although it was.'" (Green 57). Quentin is keen on Margo’s approval and willing to change his opinions and beliefs to agree with hers, which determines the weak sense of self-essential to his personality. Margo glorifies his confidence when he flirts with her, but it is clear Quentin still lacks the confidence to defend his views and opinions. If Quentin does not become more confident in himself, he will always second guess himself and he will not be happy with

“It’s a paper town. I mean look at it, Q: look at all these cul-de-sacs, those streets that turn in on themselves, all the houses that were built to fall apart. All those paper people living in their paper houses, burning the future to stay warm.” (Green, 57)The novel “Paper Towns”, by John Green is about a boy named Quentin Jacobson, who has spent a life time loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar, so when she cracks open a window into his life, he follows. I think a major theme in the novel is seeing the truth in people, and knowing that our view or idea of a person will never be enough to show all that a person really is.

Not so much in the way that he scatters social media throughout his books, but more so in the sense that he addresses the way situations, interactions and experiences have changed since the days of Walt Whitman. Green often does this through the use of textual analysis and allusion, something that doesn’t exactly translate very well to the screen. Although, the screenwriters here did find a relatively savvy way to incorporate such allusions into the film through the direct use of Walt Whitman’s ‘Leaves of Grass’ (again, an aspect derived from the novel). This film specifically emphasizes idealism, seeing something not as it is, but instead as what you’d like it to be. The film asks you to look at the way you view your work, life, relationships, and, like the film’s title, your own town, and ponder why you see it the way you do, is it out of idealism or realism? ‘Paper Towns’ also touches on an epoch in someone’s life, specifically the final stretch of high school. Not in the cliché sense to where the protagonist doesn’t know exactly what he wants to do after high school, but more so in that he fears the freedom that will accompany the end of his

She believed nobody would like her true personality because of her flaws, which is why she cultivated her paper identity. Even Quentin fell for her fake personality, helping her cultivate it without him knowing it. Margo struggled to see meaning and value in everything because her paper identity was preventing her from doing so. Quentin believed Margo was describing her own opinion of Orlando and its people when she was actually describing how she felt about herself. I too, hadn 't noticed that Margo was talking about herself at first, which is why I chose to use it.

Margo is just another victim of the concept of rebirth; for a new star to rise, the older one needs to disappear. Phoebe 2002 analyzes such matter, “But it is her former existence (young self) she must shed in the black waters of Lethe in order to proceed as a ‘fulfilled woman.’ ‘The fading fragrance of the dying rose’ is how Baudelaire said it’” (46). Margo is so mesmerized by the youth and future she possessed.

Life is very complex and often hard to define. However, this challenge does not stop people from trying to sum up the meaning of life in one word. In Paper Towns by John Green, the three metaphors the strings, the grass, and the vessel are used throughout the book to chronicle the protagonist’s, Quentin, experiences. The novel revolves around Quentin Jacobsen, a high school senior. When his former best friend and long time crush, Margo Roth Spiegelman, comes back into his life and then suddenly disappears, Q attempts to piece together the clues he believes Margo left behind for him. Each of these three metaphors represent what Q is feeling and allow him to view life from different perspectives. As

The main theme in Paper Towns is to always chase after what you want in life. This can be seen in many of the characters- Margo who leaves everything behind to find herself. Ben, who never gives up hope of dating Lacy. Quentin, who misses his graduation in order to find Margo.

The book, Paper Towns, written by author John Green, consists of three main character: Margo Roth Spiegelman, Jason Worthington and Quentin Jacobson. These main characters live in a world of status and it could take anything to lose it. The main antagonist of this novel is Jason Worthington. He is one of the most famous people in the high school that Margo and Quentin go to. He cheated on Margo with her friend, Becca. He is a very rude person who alwy 's bullies Quentin and so Margo is against this all since she is his friend. Jason has a characteristic of a very malicious person throughout the novel and he is also considered as a stereotypical joke and bully. He is a very malicious person because, when he cheats on Margo and the fact that

The main character of Paper towns is Quentin Jacobsen. He is 18 years old, lives in Orlando, Florida, and is a senior about to graduate high school. He is a regular person in the beginning of the book with fears and isn't special in any way and he lives a very normal life, except for that he is madly obsessed about his lifetime neighbor, his childhood friend, and his lifelong crush, Margo Roth Spiegelman. Margo unlike Quentin, lives a very not normal life and her personality is the complete opposite of Quentin’s. Margo is brave, curious, confident, and is downright awesome. These attributes make Quentin feel like Margo is amazing and make him want to be with her. Nine years ago at the age of nine, Quentin and Margo find a dead body in Jefferson park, Quentin is scared of it and backs away while Margo on the other hand is curious and approaches it. Margo says that she can see that all the strings inside of the dead guy are broken. Then Quentin grabs her and they run home away from it. This shows that Quentin is a person that is easily scared and afraid of things, but he also really cares about the people he love. Then nine years later, Quentin Jacobsen is an average, unpopular student that is still afraid of things, while Margo Roth Spiegelman is one of the most popular girls in the whole school and is still courageous and brave. Quentin and Margo now hardly even talk to each other now until, One night, Margo goes to Quentin’s room and asks him if he wants to

The main goal of the protagonist (Quentin) is to find his childhood best friend, Margo after she “goes missing”. However, Quentin hasn’t spoken to Margo in over nine years, until she shows up at his window for the first time since they were kids. Margo takes him on a crazy adventure, but little did Quentin know that she was going to leave after that. He ends up being the last person to see her, so he feels like it is his obligation to find her. Margo loved leaving clues, so when quentin starts finding “clues” around her house and the town, he starts to believe that the clues were left for him. Quentin even said it himself, “i don’t know who she is anymore or who she was, but i need to find her”(pg.141) this shows how determined he was to find her, despite how much he even knows about her.