I am currently an near the end of Paper Towns, by John Green, and after getting further into the book, I started to realize the big role that setting plays in this story. In this story, Quentin Jacobsen had always had a crush on Margo Roth Spiegelman, and one day, Margo appears at his window. She asks him to accompany her on an all-nighter of pranks and giving people revenge. Quentin thinks that this night will bring him and Margo closer together as friends again, as they were friends in their childhood. However, Margo runs away after their adventures. Quentin and his friends, including Radar and Ben, go into an attempt to find her. They find books about Walt Whitman, and other things that link to her being in New York. In this book, the setting really effects their adventures,w ho they are, and what they feel like.
First of all, this story takes place in Winter Park, Florida. When Quentin and Margo go to the Sunset Trust Building, one of the highest buildings in the town, they can see everything. When Margo goes on top of the building, she makes a realization. She realizes that everything is so much better from afar and when you actually go up close, you can see all of the blemishes, cracks, and the rust. The setting of this story, Winter Park, Florida, is probably a run down town that isn't well maintained. With this setting, and Margo being on top of the Sunset Trust Building, is what makes her hate Winter Park, Florida, and that is probably why she ran away. The readers aren't told yet why Margo has ran away, but this might be a reason. Margo might have wanted to go to the places where all her idols, like Walt Whitman, lived, and she might have believed that their land is perfect. She doesn't want to live in a "paper town" anymore. Also, the author describes Winter Park as a fake, basic place. That is suppose to be Margo's view on the world. The author intrudes with Margo's view on the world.
The aspects that make up the setting is a basic American town, a time of slight unrest, and in modern times. There are many other smaller settings, which include Margo's room, Quentin's house, and Jason's house. Having different settings is very important to the story, because a new side of a character is shown in each different setting. If there weren't multiple settings, many traits and sides of a character will not be shown. Also, the fact that Margo's room is very packed with interesting records and books provokes Quentin to be more interested in her life and to track her down. The fact that this part of the setting has all of this stuff makes Quentin full with all this stuff. All of her books occupies all of Quentin's free time, and he can't get it out of his mind. Another example of how the setting really effects the characters is that since Quentin believes that Margo is in New York City, and since that New York City is a really large city, it makes Margo almost "invisible". The readers aren't 100% sure that Margo is in New York City, but there is a big chance that she is there. This makes Quentin work harder, this makes Margo harder to find, and this makes more people care. Like for example, one of Quentin's friends, who lives in New York City, started to care and that person was going to place missing posters on a lot of places in New York City.
In conclusion, the many settings that are in this story are very important to the characters, their traits, and on what they think about the world. The fact that Quentin and Margo live in Winter Park, Florida, makes Margo think of it as a "paper town", and makes her really hate Winter Park, Florida. This might have caused her to run away. Also, the fact that Margo's room is packed with interesting stuff makes Quentin care more about where Margo is, and takes up all of his mind and free time. Also, since Margo might be in New York City, and that Quentin thinks that she is, it makes a lot of people care and try to find her, because New York City is really big and she is basically "invisible" if she is in New York City. I really liked this book, and it showed me how important setting can be to the story!
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