It is no secret that leaving behind a life you’ve invested in is a struggle. However, in John Green’s novel Paper Towns, Margo Roth Spiegelman leads Quentin Jacobsen on a wild goose chase, teaching him the secret of moving on and starting a new chapter in your life: “Leaving feels good and pure only when you leave something important, something that mattered to you...But you can’t do that until your life has grown roots” (234). Her ability to completely push aside her life in Orlando is subsequent to, in her eyes, the end of it. The end of her story in Jefferson Park contrasts with the start of Quentin’s, the reason he is unable to follow Margo in the uprooting of life. In her home subdivision of Jefferson Park, Margo is somewhat of a legend
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On her last night home, she enlists the partnership of neighbor Quentin Jacobsen. She explains that she needs a car and getaway driver, which leads him to question the situation at hand. Margo explains they are to “right a lot of wrongs” (30). She views this final adventure as a way to correct the mistakes that she has been subjected to. In Margo’s eyes conquering those who wronged her is the last step of her Jefferson Park Life, therefore doing so will allow her to leave her life behind. When Quentin and the gang discover Margo in a run down shop in Agloe, they attempt to tie the loose ends Margo left by vanishing. Quentin tries to persuade Margo that she should go back to Jefferson Park, yet realizes “it is hard to go back once [she has] felt the continents in [her] palm” (296). Here, he realizes that Margo has done everything possible back home, which is why she cannot follow her friends back home. She has to continue on with her life, a life that does not move forward where it started. When Quentin questions if she is at all apprehensive about not going back, she reminds him “forever is composed of nows” (296). Although there is an unavoidable future for her, Margo chooses to live her life one day at a time. Although there is no question her past took place in Orlando, she does not believe that is where her future will be. These reasons allow her to …show more content…
When he and his friends are outside the abandoned strip mall, Quentin has a realization: “[he has] trying to prepare...[his] body for the real fear when it comes. But [he is] not prepared” (141). In the very early stages of the bread crumb trail Margo left for him, he understands that he is not ready for such an adventure. Different to Margo, Quentin cannot yet handle such emotional extremes, a cause of him not being capable of completely leaving behind life in Orlando. When he is about to graduate, Quentin begins to put his life into perspective. He discerns “[it is] the first time in [his] life that so many things would never happen again” (228). Contrast to Margo, Quentin’s life at home is nowhere near finished. He still has too many firsts, and lasts, he must go through before transposing himself elsewhere. While he is on the search for missing Margo, he “[has] only just learned” the secret to leaving (234). To him, what came easily, almost naturally to Margo, is a new occurrence in his mind. Prior to the lengthy search Margo subjects him to, leaving is a very distant spec in Quentin’s brain. Before trying to find Margo, he has put nowhere near enough thought into leaving for it to actually become his current reality. Once it is time for Quentin, Radar, Ben and Lacey to head back home, Quentin stands
On her last night home, she enlists the partnership of neighbor Quentin Jacobsen. She explains that she needs a car and getaway driver, which leads him to question the situation at hand. Margo explains they are to “right a lot of wrongs” (30). She views this final adventure as a way to correct the mistakes that she has been subjected to. In Margo’s eyes conquering those who wronged her is the last step of her Jefferson Park Life, therefore doing so will allow her to leave her life behind. When Quentin and the gang discover Margo in a run down shop in Agloe, they attempt to tie the loose ends Margo left by vanishing. Quentin tries to persuade Margo that she should go back to Jefferson Park, yet realizes “it is hard to go back once [she has] felt the continents in [her] palm” (296). Here, he realizes that Margo has done everything possible back home, which is why she cannot follow her friends back home. She has to continue on with her life, a life that does not move forward where it started. When Quentin questions if she is at all apprehensive about not going back, she reminds him “forever is composed of nows” (296). Although there is an unavoidable future for her, Margo chooses to live her life one day at a time. Although there is no question her past took place in Orlando, she does not believe that is where her future will be. These reasons allow her to …show more content…
When he and his friends are outside the abandoned strip mall, Quentin has a realization: “[he has] trying to prepare...[his] body for the real fear when it comes. But [he is] not prepared” (141). In the very early stages of the bread crumb trail Margo left for him, he understands that he is not ready for such an adventure. Different to Margo, Quentin cannot yet handle such emotional extremes, a cause of him not being capable of completely leaving behind life in Orlando. When he is about to graduate, Quentin begins to put his life into perspective. He discerns “[it is] the first time in [his] life that so many things would never happen again” (228). Contrast to Margo, Quentin’s life at home is nowhere near finished. He still has too many firsts, and lasts, he must go through before transposing himself elsewhere. While he is on the search for missing Margo, he “[has] only just learned” the secret to leaving (234). To him, what came easily, almost naturally to Margo, is a new occurrence in his mind. Prior to the lengthy search Margo subjects him to, leaving is a very distant spec in Quentin’s brain. Before trying to find Margo, he has put nowhere near enough thought into leaving for it to actually become his current reality. Once it is time for Quentin, Radar, Ben and Lacey to head back home, Quentin stands