Jez Takes a Second Look at Paper Towns
In which The Jez steals back her schtick from Gaby! But doesn't have a tonne of time to explain because she has a big ole pile of work due tomorrow.
So, tomorrow I have to do a presentation for my women's literature class and I chose to do it on Paper Towns because, well, I'm strange like that. Who else would go into a feminist class and pick a book by John Green?
But it's interesting, looking at old favorites from a new perspective. Before, Margo Roth Speigelman was this great ideal that could never really be obtained, this fabulous lost "could-have-been" for Q. Now...well, it's a problem. For most of the book anyway. Green is a real feminist in this piece! No, seriously! Q himself is the one to point out his own objectification of Margo. He put her on a pedestal and wouldn't let her down. She was always that epitome of awesome from his childhood, and even more so as they got older. She was an adventure. She was never just...Margo. There's a good quote there too: "The fundamental mistake I had always made--was this: Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl."
Another problem Q makes is thinking that he's responsible for "saving" Margo, from the world, from herself. But Margo's not someone who needs saving. She goes out and takes the world on by herself, she doesn't need saving. She never did, that was the whole of who she was. She was strong, independent, a little crazy, yeah, but she wasn't a damsel in distress.
Suddenly, this story has themes of not just adventure & love, but also escape, independence, objectification, family (broken), intelligence, women's roles in society, identity, and freedom.
1. Did you have a problem with Q's original view of Margo when you first read it? How about now?
2. Have you ever re-read something from a different perspective only to find it different? Was that good or bad?
3. Do you consider yourself a feminist? (this question is for guys too)
4. What's the first thing I should read after I finish exams this week?
So, tomorrow I have to do a presentation for my women's literature class and I chose to do it on Paper Towns because, well, I'm strange like that. Who else would go into a feminist class and pick a book by John Green?
But it's interesting, looking at old favorites from a new perspective. Before, Margo Roth Speigelman was this great ideal that could never really be obtained, this fabulous lost "could-have-been" for Q. Now...well, it's a problem. For most of the book anyway. Green is a real feminist in this piece! No, seriously! Q himself is the one to point out his own objectification of Margo. He put her on a pedestal and wouldn't let her down. She was always that epitome of awesome from his childhood, and even more so as they got older. She was an adventure. She was never just...Margo. There's a good quote there too: "The fundamental mistake I had always made--was this: Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl."
Another problem Q makes is thinking that he's responsible for "saving" Margo, from the world, from herself. But Margo's not someone who needs saving. She goes out and takes the world on by herself, she doesn't need saving. She never did, that was the whole of who she was. She was strong, independent, a little crazy, yeah, but she wasn't a damsel in distress.
Suddenly, this story has themes of not just adventure & love, but also escape, independence, objectification, family (broken), intelligence, women's roles in society, identity, and freedom.
1. Did you have a problem with Q's original view of Margo when you first read it? How about now?
2. Have you ever re-read something from a different perspective only to find it different? Was that good or bad?
3. Do you consider yourself a feminist? (this question is for guys too)
4. What's the first thing I should read after I finish exams this week?