Paper Towns

Quentin calls Ben the day after prom to tell him about what he found at the strip mall, but Ben is hung over and hangs up on him. Furious, Quentin tells himself that Ben never really cared about their friendship. Moreover, Quentin thinks that Ben has just been waiting for someone more popular to come along so he can ditch him.

After calling Ben back to curse him out, Quentin calls Radar, who is also hung over. Radar has just thrown up, but tells Quentin he will head over to his house. When Radar arrives—on time, as always—Quentin tells him everything and shows him the travel books as well. When Radar looks at the books, he notices that whoever read them marked specific locations: Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, and California. Radar then uses a map-making program to plot possible routes based on these specific places.

Radar also mentions that he has been monitoring Omnictionary constantly for any activity from Margo’s account, as well as tracking the IP addresses of people who log on to search for the phrase “paper towns.” Quentin is shocked to see how dedicated Radar is to the search for Margo. Radar says they should invite Ben over so they can cover more ground in the search, but Quentin refuses and tells Radar about his earlier phone call with Ben. Radar suggests that Quentin should try and be more accepting of other people, especially Ben. He says that Quentin keeps “expecting people not to be themselves” (194). He also reminds Quentin that he is flawed too, that he is compulsively late and obsessed with Margo, and that he never wants to hear about Radar’s relationship with Angela.

Quentin finally agrees to call Ben, who says he will come over when he learns that they will be playing “Resurrection.” When Quentin finally asks Radar about Angela, he says that they are doing well, and that they had their first fight that morning because she thinks his parents’ black Santa collection is wonderful and uplifting. Ben arrives and thanks Quentin for driving him home from the party. 

Quentin spends Monday afternoon reading Whitman’s poem and listening to the Woody Guthrie cover album he found in Margo’s room. At dinner, Quentin’s mother tells him that she ran into Chuck’s mother the previous day, and learned that Chuck would be going to school on a football scholarship. Quentin says that Chuck is an “asshole,” but his mother tells him that one day he will see his peers as human beings, struggling to be cared for, just like he is. She also mentions that Chuck has learning difficulties, so going to college is a good thing for him.

Quentin’s father remarks that during his time as a therapist, he has learned that people simply “lack good mirrors” (198). Quentin’s mother agrees, explaining that it is often difficult to see other people as human beings, and that people either idolize or dehumanize their fellow human beings. Listening to his parents, Quentin realizes that he himself has never thought about Margo as a person. Up until this point, he has never recognized this fact. He realizes that being idolized by her peers must have made Margo extremely lonely; at the same time, she played a part in perpetuating this image of herself.

Quentin and Lacey, along with Ben and Radar, have all agreed to go to the strip mall in search of more clues about Margo. While Quentin and Lacey wait for Ben and Radar to finish band practice, he admits that he does not think that looking for clues in the pseudovisions is the right approach, and Lacey agrees, given that Margo seemed to be above the dirt and grime of those places.

As the four head towards the strip mall, Radar says speculates that Margo has actually gone on a tour of America’s strangest roadside attractions. Ben is still convinced that Margo is in Orlando, and is watching them as they search for her. Lacey is convinced that Margo has gone to New York. Quentin considers these different possibilities and is struck by the fact that each scenario reveals more about the person imagining it, than about Margo herself.

When the group reaches the strip mall, Ben and Lacey go off on their own. However, they suddenly return, saying that there are others in the abandoned building and that they should leave immediately. As it turns out, the other people are merely exploring, and Lacey recognizes one of them as Gus, the security guard Quentin met at the SunTrust Building. Gus tells them that Margo used to spend a lot of time in the building, and his friend, Ace, tells Lacey that when they heard Margo had disappeared, they decided to look for her in the strip mall.

Gus tells Quentin and his friends that he and his friends are urban explorers. They find abandoned buildings and photograph them as a hobby. Ace goes on to explain how Margo used to explore with them but she never had an interest in looking around or taking photos. She simply wanted to break in and then stay in the building. Another of Gus’s friends, called the Carpenter, recalls how Margo would always sit in a corner and write in her black notebook while everyone else was off exploring. Gus says that Margo seemed really depressed all the time, which infuriates Lacey. She screams at Gus for not asking Margo why she seemed depressed. The Carpenter insults Lacey in return, and Ben attacks him, punching him and knocking him down. Gus and his friends decide they have had enough and leave.

Quentin and the others go through the rooms again searching for clues. Lacey says that she remembers the black notebook that the Carpenter mentioned, but never saw inside it. She is upset because she herself never thought to ask about the notebook or whether anything was wrong with Margo. Ben and Radar find the thumbtack holes and guess that Margo must have hung up postcards or pictures. Quentin, rummaging through the rooms, happens upon a pile of brochures advertising subdivisions, one of which is Grovepoint Acres. Quentin is ecstatic about the new find, and writes down the names of other places. He does not tell anyone else about the brochures, however, because he wants to find Margo on his own.