Point of View

Paper Towns is written from the first-person perspective of Quentin Jacobsen. Quentin narrates most of the story in real time. He explains what he is thinking and doing at each moment. Early in the book, when Quentin flashes back to his childhood, he tells his story in the past tense but again always from his direct and conscious experience. The author never enters into the internal mental lives of the other characters in the book. Everything is interpolated through Quentin's point of view. However, one important feature of the book is Quentin's attempt to reason about the mental states and emotional states of others, especially and overwhelmingly his ability to imagine Margo's inner mental life. Ultimately Margo reveals her thoughts to Quentin, but they are all presented through Quentin's perspective.

The point of view of the book is also set by the author in his explanation...