Paper Towns

Though Quentin has gone along with all of Margo’s schemes up until this point, he adamantly refuses to break into SeaWorld. Margo agrees that they will probably get caught, but that nothing bad will happen if they do. She tells Quentin that he should at least stop worrying for a while, especially after everything she has done for him already over the course of the night, and that he should just enjoy their last adventure together. Quentin is infuriated by Margo’s suggestion that she has been helping him all night, and that everything they have done has been for his benefit. He remarks that she did not choose him because she cared about him, but because she needed help.

Margo, in turn, takes issue with the idea that she needed Quentin, telling him that she could have stolen her car keys back from her parents if she had wanted to. She could have just given the dog some sleeping pills. She says that she did not need Quentin, she chose him and that, when he came along, he chose her too. They owe allegiance to each other because of this “promise.” Quentin reluctantly agrees to help her break into SeaWorld. Margo tells Quentin that he will still get into Duke, and that he will be a very successful person. She says that at the end of his life, when he looks back over everything, he will remember that breaking into SeaWorld with her was actually the best thing he ever did.

As they are sneaking in to SeaWorld, Quentin thinks about Robert Joyner. He connects the image of the strings snapping that Margo used to explain why the man killed himself to Margo’s earlier comment about Jase’s infidelity being “the last string.” Though he is worried that Margo might want to kill herself, Margo dismisses the idea, saying that she is too vain to do so. Additionally, she would not want her body to be found by some neighborhood kids in the way they found Robert Joyner’s body.

Margo tells Quentin that her plan is to sneak them into SeaWorld through a drainage ditch. As they live in central Florida, Quentin is afraid that there will be alligators, but Margo says that they can face it because they are ninjas. Quentin then wades into the repulsive water and Margo follows. As they exit the drainage ditch, Margo is bitten by a snake. Quentin tries sucking out the poison before Margo realizes that it was just a garter snake. Laughing, the two climb over the fence into SeaWorld.

The two are dumbstruck at being inside SeaWorld at this time. However, as they pass rows and rows of tanks, they do not see any animals. A security guard spots them, and though he is tasked with arresting them, he is about to end his shift and does not want to deal with the paperwork. Margo gives the man one of the hundred-dollar bills and he leaves them alone, though he tells them to leave before they are caught. Quentin enjoys the fact that they have skirted trouble, and his spirits rise.

The two continue walking around the empty tanks. Margo comments on how anticlimactic breaking into theme parks is. The attractions that are so amazing during the day are closed at night. She confides to Quentin that the joy comes from the planning the break in, not the act of being inside. She also says that nothing really feels as good as the person who planned it hopes.

Margo and Quentin stop in front of an empty tank. Quentin imagines spending the rest of the night with Margo on the grass by the tank. He says the pleasure for him was not in the planning or doing, but in “watching our strings cross and separate and come back together” (58). Jazz music begins playing from the park’s speakers, and he and Margo dance to the music. 

Leaving SeaWorld, Quentin and Margo head home in the early hours of a new day. Quentin wonders what life will bring now that the two have shared this experience. He wonders if Margo will accept his offer to eat lunch with him and his friends. They clean up the minivan, and fill up the gas tank so that Quentin’s mom will not suspect anything. As they stand in Quentin’s driveway, Margo gives Quentin the digital camera with Jase’s picture on it. She tells him to use the picture wisely. Quentin says that he will return the camera to her at school later that day, but she does not reply.

Margo gives Quentin a hug and tells him that she will miss hanging out with him. Quentin reminds her that they can hang out together anytime, but Margo says it is impossible. She then smiles and walks away before climbing effortlessly through her bedroom window. Quentin again reflects on Margo’s actions, saying that he believed her smile. He thought she was happy and that everything would be fine. He then goes to bed to get what sleep he can, eagerly awaiting what the day will bring.