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Monday, June 14, 2010
June: PAPER TOWNS, Running Away and Being Found
John asks, "Do you think Margo wants to be found? Do you think Margo wants to be found by Q?"
Follow-up: Have you ever felt like running away? How did you deal with that feeling?
I think if someone were to find Margo, she would want it to be Q, and I think she does want to be found, deep down, just so she can have some proof that someone really, truly cares about her. On the outside, of course, she just wants to be left alone.
I haven't read the book yet, but it is on my TBR shelf.
As for running away: When I was ten and my mom threatened to get rid of our dog, Heather, because she, you know, on the carpet again, Heather and I made a pact. We'd head for the road (or the river) should it come to that (I envisioned a Huck Finn kind of adventure thing). But it never came to that. Not because Heather stopped er, doing her thing, but because she had my mom wrapped with the cute cock of her head.
I just finished reading PAPER TOWNS this morning (as in I had to wake up at 3 a.m. to finish it because I couldn't wait till morning - thank you very much!), and I loved this novel.
As a writer myself, I'm a little too attuned to plot twists and turns, but in this novel I was always keep guessing (and often incorrectly) and wondering and loving the journey. And after finishing the novel (around 4:30 a.m.) I'm still not sure if Margo wanted to be found by Q or anyone, but I'm sure that this book is going onto my "recommend to others" list. And I'm glad it all ended the way it did.
If Margo is anything like me then the thing she is running from is the one thing she'll never be able to escape: herself.
Running can be a distraction for a while but I don't think it's the people in her life that she was running from... I know that isn't really the question that was asked, but I had to explain that so that my answer will make sense.
I don't think even Margo knows if she wants to be found, a part of her cares; about Q, about her friends but she tries to sever those ties in a desperate attempt to escape so that she wouldn't have anything tying down.
The other times she ran away, she always came back and but this time it was like she tried to make it so she couldn't go back.
I guess a part of her probably does want to be found. But maybe she feels she can't be that version of herself around the people she cares about, people that care about her... so she has to get away from them to be that way. If she wanted to be found by anyone, Q was probably the one, because he already got a glimpse of that Margo all those years ago when she showed up at his window talking about broken strings.
I can't tell if this is just my warped interpretation of Margo (which is probably all wrong) or if I'm projecting my own feelings onto her... because to answer the other question: yes, I've felt like running away.
A part of me always wants to run away, it's a feeling that has been inside of me for so long that I can't even remember the moment it started.
Sometimes the impulse to run will get stronger... but I've never acted on it because I figured out a long time ago that I'd be running from myself, from my past, from a pain and thoughts that I constantly carry with me so it'd be pointless to runaway, there is nowhere in the world I could run to that would be far enough.
The world usually feels so small when I'm in one of those moods, it makes me feel weirdly claustrophobic.
(I suppose that kind of answers the last question, I don't really deal with it... I don't act on it, but I've accepted that feeling as a part of me and that it might never go away.)
I really think Margo doesn't want to be found. I think that one reason Margo is so unhappy is that she doesn't "imagine other people complexly" either. She says that everyone is a paper person, like she doesn't realize that everyone else has the same depth of feeling that she does, like she doesn't see them as real people. I think that her self-centered perceptions are really clear in her treatment of Lacey too. I think she left the "clues" to entertain herself and it didn't even occur to her that someone else might see them and put them together.
I do think she wants to be found, but I don't think she knows she does (if that makes sense). She leaves these clues, assuming no one will follow them, but I think she wants to be found, and cared for. In her own way.
I often have found myself thinking like Margo. For instance, when driving on the interstate for work in the morning, I commonly think about missing my exit. Just keep driving, see where I end up. Leave everything behind. Of course, I won't, I like what I have too much...but the idea is tempting sometimes.
I love this book! I agree with elfarmy17 that Margo does want to be found, she wants someone to care about her. When I was a little kid, my sister would threaten to run away to get attention. This isn't as obvious with Margo, but it is probably a subtle theme. I also agree that if she would want to be found by anyone, it would be Q.
As others have said, Margo may not have wanted "just anyone" to find her, but she wouldn't have minded Q finding her.
I never wanted to run away. Though, as a kid and a teen, I wanted to be somewhere with more opportunities for my chosen career, I didn't want to run away from my family. I was very fortunate and grateful to have been raised by a wonderful mom and older sister, and I loved my home atmosphere.
I don't think Margo really thought about being found. I think she just liked the feeling of planning to leave and then actually leaving that that was all she thought of. She didn't really plan for afterwards, which is why I think she came back all those other times. Also that's why I think she ended up crouched in a dirty church. She can plan things out really well but it's almost like she doesn't think them through all the way.
14 comments:
I think if someone were to find Margo, she would want it to be Q, and I think she does want to be found, deep down, just so she can have some proof that someone really, truly cares about her. On the outside, of course, she just wants to be left alone.
Well said, elfarmy17. I feel the same way.
And, I've never REALLY felt like running away. Of course I've felt like hiding sometimes, but never actually leaving.
I haven't read the book yet, but it is on my TBR shelf.
As for running away: When I was ten and my mom threatened to get rid of our dog, Heather, because she, you know, on the carpet again, Heather and I made a pact. We'd head for the road (or the river) should it come to that (I envisioned a Huck Finn kind of adventure thing). But it never came to that. Not because Heather stopped er, doing her thing, but because she had my mom wrapped with the cute cock of her head.
I just finished reading PAPER TOWNS this morning (as in I had to wake up at 3 a.m. to finish it because I couldn't wait till morning - thank you very much!), and I loved this novel.
As a writer myself, I'm a little too attuned to plot twists and turns, but in this novel I was always keep guessing (and often incorrectly) and wondering and loving the journey. And after finishing the novel (around 4:30 a.m.) I'm still not sure if Margo wanted to be found by Q or anyone, but I'm sure that this book is going onto my "recommend to others" list. And I'm glad it all ended the way it did.
Bravo!
I think elfarmy hit it just right.
Glad Heather was cute enough, PaulaKayMac. :~)
3:00 AM, MarieLamba!
I don't think I've felt like running. More like Melissa. Just a bit of a hide.
If Margo is anything like me then the thing she is running from is the one thing she'll never be able to escape: herself.
Running can be a distraction for a while but I don't think it's the people in her life that she was running from... I know that isn't really the question that was asked, but I had to explain that so that my answer will make sense.
I don't think even Margo knows if she wants to be found, a part of her cares; about Q, about her friends but she tries to sever those ties in a desperate attempt to escape so that she wouldn't have anything tying down.
The other times she ran away, she always came back and but this time it was like she tried to make it so she couldn't go back.
I guess a part of her probably does want to be found. But maybe she feels she can't be that version of herself around the people she cares about, people that care about her... so she has to get away from them to be that way. If she wanted to be found by anyone, Q was probably the one, because he already got a glimpse of that Margo all those years ago when she showed up at his window talking about broken strings.
I can't tell if this is just my warped interpretation of Margo (which is probably all wrong) or if I'm projecting my own feelings onto her... because to answer the other question: yes, I've felt like running away.
A part of me always wants to run away, it's a feeling that has been inside of me for so long that I can't even remember the moment it started.
Sometimes the impulse to run will get stronger... but I've never acted on it because I figured out a long time ago that I'd be running from myself, from my past, from a pain and thoughts that I constantly carry with me so it'd be pointless to runaway, there is nowhere in the world I could run to that would be far enough.
The world usually feels so small when I'm in one of those moods, it makes me feel weirdly claustrophobic.
(I suppose that kind of answers the last question, I don't really deal with it... I don't act on it, but I've accepted that feeling as a part of me and that it might never go away.)
I really think Margo doesn't want to be found. I think that one reason Margo is so unhappy is that she doesn't "imagine other people complexly" either. She says that everyone is a paper person, like she doesn't realize that everyone else has the same depth of feeling that she does, like she doesn't see them as real people. I think that her self-centered perceptions are really clear in her treatment of Lacey too. I think she left the "clues" to entertain herself and it didn't even occur to her that someone else might see them and put them together.
I do think she wants to be found, but I don't think she knows she does (if that makes sense). She leaves these clues, assuming no one will follow them, but I think she wants to be found, and cared for. In her own way.
I often have found myself thinking like Margo. For instance, when driving on the interstate for work in the morning, I commonly think about missing my exit. Just keep driving, see where I end up. Leave everything behind. Of course, I won't, I like what I have too much...but the idea is tempting sometimes.
Such great honest posts! Lanna, I hear you about Margo trying to escape herself.
I love this book!
I agree with elfarmy17 that Margo does want to be found, she wants someone to care about her. When I was a little kid, my sister would threaten to run away to get attention. This isn't as obvious with Margo, but it is probably a subtle theme. I also agree that if she would want to be found by anyone, it would be Q.
As others have said, Margo may not have wanted "just anyone" to find her, but she wouldn't have minded Q finding her.
I never wanted to run away. Though, as a kid and a teen, I wanted to be somewhere with more opportunities for my chosen career, I didn't want to run away from my family. I was very fortunate and grateful to have been raised by a wonderful mom and older sister, and I loved my home atmosphere.
I don't think Margo really thought about being found. I think she just liked the feeling of planning to leave and then actually leaving that that was all she thought of. She didn't really plan for afterwards, which is why I think she came back all those other times. Also that's why I think she ended up crouched in a dirty church. She can plan things out really well but it's almost like she doesn't think them through all the way.
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