Paper Towns

Quentin notes that Margo has always been the glue that holds their high school together. People always think of high school as an anarchic state, which is untrue. High school, says Quentin, “is a divine-right monarchy (94),” and when the queen leaves, thing change. Since Margo’s absence, things have gotten worse. Arriving at school that day, Quentin learns that Chuck and two other popular boys—Teddy Mac and Clint Bauer—have destroyed twelve bicycles that belonged to underclassmen by running them over with Clint’s truck. As Quentin and his friend stand near their lockers before school, a boy with a ski mask knocks Quentin down and drenches two freshman boys with a squirt gun. To everyone’s horror, the liquid is urine, not water.

Quentin tries to assure everyone that things will get better. In class, he finds out from Radar who the culprit in the mask is. Shocked to learn that it was a boy who has always been timid up until this point, Quentin realizes that matters have devolved in Margo’s absence and that he needs to take action. Returning home, he creates an email account and writes to Jase, attempting to blackmail him with the naked photo he and Margo took of him. Jase tells Quentin that he knows who he is, but says that none of what happened is his fault. Quentin does not relent, however, and tells Jase that if the students are not treated better, he will release the photo.

Later that same night, Quentin and Ben are playing their favorite video game, “Resurrection,” when Jase and Chuck arrive at his front door. Uncharacteristically, Chuck apologizes for running over the bikes and for ordering the student to spray the freshmen with urine. Typically, Ben pretends to offer Chuck a hug but punches him in the stomach instead. Though the punch does not even hurt Chuck, he angrily lunges at Ben and has to be held back by Jase. Ben is hurt from the punch and marvels at how hard Chuck’s abs are. Jase compliments Ben on having the guts to hit Chuck, and then the two leave.

Ben and Quentin return to playing their game, but Ben soon falls asleep. Quentin marvels at his newfound role of keeping the popular kids in line during Margo’s absence. He assumes that Margo will be back by Monday, but is happy that he was able to stick up for his friends.

When Quentin wakes up on Saturday morning, he goes downstairs and finds five people sitting at the dining table: his parents, Margo’s parents, and a man he has never seen before. After his parents and Mr. Spiegelman ask him a few questions, the man introduces himself as Detective Otis Warren. Quentin is told that Margo has run away again. The detective says that this is the fifth time that the Spiegelmans have reported her missing. Margo’s mother is upset, and says that she and her husband are going to have the locks changed this time. They are tired of Margo’s antics and have decided to wash their hands of her. Quentin’s mother tries to calm Mrs. Spiegelman down, but to no avail.

The detective mentions that Margo often leaves clues when she runs away. When she left for Mississippi, for instance, she left the letters M, I, S and P visible in her alphabet soup. When she spent the night at Disney World, she left Minnie Mouse ears. Margo’s father says the clues are never useful, and that Margo is always disappointed that no one solves her clues. Despite Mrs. Jacobsen’s protestations, Margo’s mother says that Margo was a sickness in the family and that they are glad she is gone.

Getting nowhere, the detective takes Quentin aside. He confides that he does not agree with the Spiegelmans’ assessment of Margo or how they are handling the situation, but he would like to know whatever Quentin can tell him about Margo. He begins asking Quentin if Margo had a partner who helped her plan all of these events, someone extremely smart that no one would notice—like Quentin. Quentin tells Detective Warren that he has nothing to do with the schemes, but, as he trusts him, he reveals that he was out with Margo the night before she disappeared and tells him everything that happened.

After hearing Quentin’s account of that night, Detective Warren says that Margo is like many other children. He describes her as a tied-down helium balloon that has been straining against her strings her entire life and has now cut the string and floated away. Detective Warren tells Quentin that he has a desk-load of files on kids just like Margo. He also says that the only thing worse than worrying about all of those kids is to worry about just one. He understands Quentin’s optimism and concern, but tells him that “once that string gets cut, kid, you can’t uncut it” (105). Quentin says he understands, though he actually doubts that he knows what Detective Warren is saying. He believes that Margo will return, as she always has in the past.

Quentin returns downstairs with the detective, who then leaves with Margo’s parents to look through Margo’s room. Quentin talks with his parents about how poorly the Spiegelmans are dealing with the situation. Quentin curses, which his parents actually like because it makes them feel that Quentin trusts them enough to be himself. Quentin then suggests that when Margo returns, she can stay with them, which Mrs. Jacobsen happily agrees to. 

When Ben wakes up, Quentin tells him everything, and they play “Resurrection.” Radar arrives and the three talk about the implications of Margo’s disappearance, with Quentin speculating about Margo’s grand plan. When Quentin glances out of his window he notices that the shade to Margo’s bedroom window which her parents had lifted up shortly after she left, has been lowered, and that a poster is taped to the back of it. The poster depicts a man holding a guitar, with the phrase, “This Machine Kills Fascists.” Radar logs on to Omnictionary and searches for the phrase, finding that the man in the poster is Woody Guthrie, a twentieth-century folk singer. Radar suggests that Margo may have left the poster for Quentin to find, and Ben agrees, given that the poster is facing Quentin’s window. Quentin then speculates that, by the look of the man, he wants them to go inside of Margo’s room.

The three friends concoct a plan of action for getting into Margo’s room. Quentin and Radar sit in living room, waiting for the Spiegelmans and Detective Warren to leave. When the coast is clear, the three boys go over to Margo’s house, where they are met at the door by Margo’s little sister, Ruthie, and an excited Myrna Mountweazel. Ruthie does not want to let them in to Margo’s room because Margo does not let friends into her room, but when Radar gives her five dollars she leads them upstairs.

In Margo’s room, Quentin is shocked to find that Margo has hundreds of vinyl records. He often saw her listening to music while she was running, but he never knew she was obsessed with music to this degree. As they search her room for clues, Quentin looks for a Woody Guthrie album on the shelf. Though he is unable to find one, he does find an album of Woody Guthrie covers, and the album cover features the same picture as the poster beckoning them from the window shade.

Quentin, Ben and Radar look at the album for clues, and are disappointed when they find nothing after taking the album out of its sleeve. Ben, however, notices that one of the song titles, “Walt Whitman’s Niece,” has been highlighted. Radar searches online for clues, but finds no information about the poet’s niece. They search for a book of Whitman’s poetry and, finally, Ben finds a small copy of Leaves of Grass on the bookshelf. Radar is certain that more clues await Quentin inside the book. He then wonders why Margo has singled Quentin out this time, when all her previous clues were left for her parents. Though Quentin does not say it, he hopes that Margo has in fact chosen him again, as she did before. He really hopes that she wants to be found, and by him.

The boys return to Quentin’s house, where a look through the book of Whitman’s poems proves fruitless. After Ben and Radar go home, Quentin spends the rest of the day reading “Song of Myself.” He notices that Margo has highlighted many lines in the long poem, but that two lines are highlighted in green while all the others are highlighted in blue. The lines, “Unscrew the locks from the doors! / Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!” are an enigma to Quentin, but he feels that Margo wants him to follow the trail until he finds her. He spends the rest of the weekend searching for clues in the poem.