Tuesday, April 9, 2019

What did Margo say when Quentin asked why she hated Chuck in Paper Towns?

Throughout John Green's novel Paper Towns, Chuck Parson is described as a bully. He serves as a foil to our smart, sensitive narrator, Quentin Jacobsen (Q). When Chuck is introduced, Q describes the differences in them as Chuck walks towards Q and his friends in the hallway at school.

[W]e all three simultaneously saw the human-shaped container of anabolic steroids known as Chuck Parson walking toward us with some intent. Chuck Parson did not participate in organized sports, because to do so would distract from the larger goal of his life: to one day be convicted of homicide. (17)

When the most popular girl in the school comes to Q's bedroom one night with plans to "right a lot of wrongs tonight," he joins in not quite sure what to expect (24). All she'll tell him is that she plans to right eleven wrongs and needs his help to do so. After she takes her revenge on her cheating boyfriend and best friend and fixes issues with seven other people, she turns to Q to tell him it's his turn to pick: "Part Ten—Q’s turn to pick a victim” (39). When he struggles to come up with someone, she suggests Chuck. Q agrees Chuck is "pretty horrible," and when Margo reminds Q of a time in sixth grade when Chuck orchestrated a school-wide prank against Q that both humiliated him and stuck with him throughout his middle school years, Q takes off towards Chuck's neighborhood.
As they flee from Chuck's house, Q pauses to ask why Margo hates Chuck. She responds, “I didn’t say I hated him. I said he was a sniveling little shit" (43).

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