The Plot of "Paper Towns"

Rising Action

As Quentin and his friends try to finish their senior year of high school, they begin to gather clues that they believe Margo has left for them. One of the important clues is a poem they found in her room by Walt Whitman. The clues lead him to an abandoned mini mall where Quentin thinks Margo has been spending time at recently. The mini mall has what he believes are clues to Margo's whereabouts. Quentin convinces himself to believe that Margo has committed suicide and wants him to find her.

Climax

The climax of the novel is when Quentin finally discovers that the map of New York lines up with the pin holes that he found on the wall in the abandoned mini mall. One of the points specifically lines up with Algoe, New York. Quentin and his friend do some research on Algoe on "Omnictioary" and they discover that someone has posted that the population of Algoe "Will actually be One until may 29th at Noon." This post alerts Quentin because he only knows one person who capitalizes words in the middle of sentences, Margo. On May 29th, also being the day of graduation, Quentin and his friends set off on a journey to find Margo.

Falling Action

Quentin, Ben, Radar, and Lacey all decide to skip their high school graduation to take a 19 hour road trip to find Margo in Algoe. They have 24 hours to find her and they experience many bumps along the road, including a near death experience. They finally arrive in Algoe and discover Margo in yet another abandoned building. They discover that Margo isn't the same person they all thought they knew.

Resolution

When the group of friends finally find Margo, she is furious that they went to find her. However, the group of friends is also upset that she is not the Margo they knew before she disappeared. They come to the conclusion that they don't need to be who everyone wants them to be. They are all now graduated from high school and they can choose any direction in life that they want. Margo will decide to travel and will no longer be the fake, "paper girl" she was in Orlando. The novel ends with Margo and Quentin kissing, but both characters realize that their relationship will never be anything more than friends.

Text to World

The plot of "Paper Towns" has a connection to the real world because some times, a guy will do whatever he could to be able to be closer or to have the girl he has fallen in love with.