Paper Towns

As they drive, Quentin and the others play a game of “Metaphysical I Spy,” in which they only “spy” abstract things. Radar spies something that he says is “tragically hip.” Quentin guesses that it is their road trip in the minivan. Radar tells them that it is actually the fact that they failed to turn in their rented graduation robes on time. Still going 72 miles per hour, Quentin speeds past a policeman, though luckily, they are not pulled over.

Lacey creates a detailed shopping list for the group in preparation for their very first stop. It all has to be executed quickly, as they have no time to lose. The gas station is nearly two hours away, but Ben desperately has to pee. Since they cannot stop, Ben uses two of the beer cans from the cooler, emptying them into the road. Though the friends are disgusted, they are in good spirits again after Ben has relieved himself. After just a few moments, however, Ben announces that he has to pee again.

Radar has calculated that the group only has six minutes to spare for their gas station stop. Lacey comes up with a plan to make sure that they get all the provisions they need, giving everyone a list with their items on it, including clothing for Ben and Radar. When they reach their destination, they run out of the minivan, with Radar pumping gas while the others race through the station and bring items to the counter. Though they look comical running back to the minivan with their arms full—Ben still in his graduation gown—Quentin feels happy. He says that he does not quite know how they look, but he knows how he feels: “Young. Goofy. Infinite” (254). As they jump into the minivan and Radar speeds off, they are ecstatic to find that they are actually ahead of schedule.

As Lacey sorts through the provisions they have secured and arranges them in groups based on a system that is both strange and intriguing to Ben and Quentin, she realizes that Quentin has forgotten to get any healthy food. She complains that she cannot eat any of the junk food as it will make her fat. The boys tease her with one of their favorite items, a chocolate-flavored nutrition bar. She finally takes a bite and is unable to hide just how great the bar tastes. To Radar’s horror, the shirt Ben bought for him in the gas station has a Confederate flag on it. Under the flag is the slogan, “Heritage Not Hate.” As Radar is African-American, he chides Ben for getting his “token black friend” a racist shirt, though he ultimately laughs at the irony.

The group finally hits the traffic they were afraid of in South Carolina. To pass the time, Quentin and Radar play a game where they make up life stories for the other drivers. Watching a Hispanic woman in a neighboring car, Quentin says that she is an undocumented immigrant who left her family behind for a better life in the U.S., and whose husband is a migrant worker who is gone for most of the year. Radar says that Quentin is being melodramatic, and that based on her nice clothing the woman is a secretary in a law firm. He also says she is studying for a law degree. Radar’s story causes Quentin to think about the different and sometimes distorted ways in which people view others. As if reading Quentin’s mind, Radar says that the game reveals more about the person playing it than the person in the neighboring car. Quentin thinks of Whitman again, and wonders if it is possible to fully become another human being.