My Literary Essay

           In the book, “Paper Towns” by John Green, the Green talks about a senior in high school named Q, who has two best friends, Radar and Ben. Q is the average high school kid he has good grades, doesn’t get into trouble, has friends, not very popular, etc. However, one night, his crush, and most popular girl in school, Margo, came up to his window and asked him to help her on an eleven- step mission. At first, he was hesitant to go with her on a mission at night, but eventually, she convinced him to go with her. He thought it might make their relationship better, wishing that it might result in him taking Margo to prom. However, he never knew that it could’ve changed the way he acts, talks, and what he does. This made me think about if the author purposely tried to teach a lesson on why you shouldn’t change yourself so others will like you more.

            In the book, Q was a good, intelligent, and kind guy. He never would think to stay awake on a school night, or even on a weekend. He got lots of good grades, and never broke the rules. He did everything he could to stay on top of his work and keep everything going for just a few weeks until school officially ended. He was nice to his friends, helped them out when they needed it the most. For example, when Radar had girlfriend problems, he helped him out. Adding on, he barely got into fights with them, thus, they were very close. They would play games every day after they all finished their school work. Overall, Q was a very nice, intelligent person.

            However, he eventually changed after that night with Margo. He broke the rules, didn’t do his homework, went to bed late, and didn’t even study for his final government exam the next day. For example, Q took his mom’s car without her permission and left with Margo to help her with the eleven- step mission. In addition, him and Margo broke into three houses, Jason’s (Margo’s cheating boyfriend), Becca’s (Margo’s ex-best friend), and Chuck’s (the bully that bothered Q everyday) and spray painted their cars and house. Adding on, they broke into one of the most popular buildings in Orlando, Florida. Q even ran from a guy shooting a shotgun and the police. In fact, he skipped graduation (which he would’ve never done if he didn’t go with Margo that one night) just to find Margo when she never came back to school after that crazy night. Also, when he and his friends skipped graduation, he didn’t tell his parents, which is very usual because he never lies to his parents. Clearly, Q changed himself just for Margo to like him more so that he could take her to prom (which never really happened).

            After realizing this, I noticed that Green was probably trying to teach the readers a lesson on why you shouldn’t change yourself just for others to like you more. For example, at the end of the book, after all Q did for Margo, she still didn’t date him, nor did she stay friends with him, thus, all the changing with Q was a big waste. Adding on, Q could’ve gotten arrested when he went with Margo to get revenge on her boyfriend, Jason and her ex-best friend, Becca, this is something he would’ve never even thought about before, and he didn’t like getting in trouble, especially when it involves police. Another example of Q changing himself for Margo is when he spray painted her ex-boyfriend’s car, he would’ve never done that before because he knew that would have gotten him into huge trouble with Jason and his friends, but he still did it so he could look cool and “bad” in front of Margo. I think John Green purposely put these details in there to show that Q wouldn’t do these things normally, but he would just to fit in. Overall, I think that Green is trying to show us that changing yourself for others is not worth it.

            All in all, Q is a very intelligent teen that just wanted his crush to like him back, like all other teens. In result, he tried to be someone that he was not. Overall, I believe that John Green was trying to make his readers understand that changing yourself is never the answer to being cool, popular, or for your crush to like you. I think he was trying to send a message that being yourself is always the answer.

Link to my original blog post: http://amanisawesomeblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/iam-currently-reading-book-paper-towns.html