The roles of women in literature have continually evolved over the ages, with female characters becoming more and more present over time . Nowadays, women in literature are becoming the main characters in novels such as The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars, where the novels are presented from the perspective of the female protagonists, but there are still associated stereotypes Women's. in the novels, thus defining women by these stereotypes, this includes the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. According to a blog post on Manic Pixie Dream Girl (Zuckerman, 2015), John Green stated in his Tumblr that his book Paper Towns "aims to challenge the character trope", unlike his other book, "Looking for Alaska", which presents the trope through the character of Alaska. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The first is the story of Quentin, who is drawn into a night of adventures by his longtime crush, Margo Roth Spiegelman, who suddenly disappears. Using the clues left for him, he pursues Margo, even going on an unplanned road trip with his friends to find her, only to learn that the Margo he thought he knew is not who she really was. John Green's goal of deconstructing the trope through his character of Margo Roth Spiegelman raised the question: "To what extent is John Green successful in challenging the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope through his character of Margo Roth Spiegelman in Paper Towns? According to Nathan Rabin (2014), John Green, for one, was so passionate about the toxic nature of this trope that in a Tumblr post he stated that his novel "Paper Towns" "is devoted IN ITS ENTIRETY to destroying the lie of the world. Manic Pixie Dream Girl” before adding, “I don’t know how I could have been less ambiguous about this without calling (Paper Towns) The patriarchal lie of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl needs to be stabbed in the heart and killed. » In an interview with Vautour. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a term coined by film critic Nathan Rubin to describe Kirsten Bell's character in Elizabethtown. He describes the manic girl from pixie dreams as a character who "exists only in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach young men with brooding souls to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures." In a subsequent essay, The Bataan Death March of Whimsy Case File #1: Elizabethtown, (Rabin, 2007), Rubin (2007) states that the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is an archetype that "taps into a particular male fantasy: being saved from depression and boredom by a fantastic woman who sweeps in like a sparkling breeze to save you from yourself, then disappears once her job is done. ". The Manic Pixie Dream girl trope emphasizes the sexist characteristics of women, as the trope turns women into guides who aid in male character growth instead of creating characters from women. The Manic Pixie Dream Girls are solely there for the development of the male character. According to LA Review of Books (Cramb, 2016): “The power of the manic girl with pixie dreams is a limited, feminized type of power, too often the kind of power that women in our culture are encouraged to pursue. Instead of changing the world, they encourage men to change the world; they act as muses rather than artists. » Nathan Rubin originally coined the phrase to denounce cultural sexism, but ultimately he believes the trope itself has become sexist. According to the Odyssey (2017): “The problem withthis archetype is that it leads audience members to view women's talents and personal choices as disposable and second-hand. This inspires the idea that women are simply necessary tools to propel the patriarchy and help men lead better lives. "According to TV Tropes ("Manic Pixie Dream Girl", n. d), the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is the character whose presence is to provide the male hero who gives meaning to her life. She is "incredibly attractive and energetic" and She will focus on the male protagonist and help him learn to live freely and love madly, but the Manic Pixie Dream Girls can be distanced from the trope through character development, which gives them more depth in their perspectives. female characters can also help separate them from the trope and further convey the idea that they are not there for the male character's sake. In an interview with Digital Spy (2015), John Green described the MPDG as ". a very lazy” and ultimately dehumanizing trope “I think the danger – and it’s a real danger for me – is that when you put people on a pedestal and you idealize them, you romanticize them, you. you may think you're doing them a favor, but you're actually dehumanizing them. ", he explained. The importance of this study is to see how an author is able to challenge and deconstruct a trope, as this essay will focus on John Green's success in portraying his characters. For This essay, lines from the text were analyzed to give a better idea of ​​how John Green deconstructed the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope through the points of view of the characters in the text. The novel is told in first person. through the protagonist, Quentin Jacobsen From the beginning, readers can see that Quentin feels a connection with Margo as he states that ending up living next to Margo Roth Spiegelman describes her as "the most fantastical creature." beautiful as God ever created” (Green, 2015)The beginning already gives us the sign that Margo could be a Manic Pixie Dream Girl Quentin also seems to know a lot about Margo as he knows personal information about Margo such as her. relationships, although readers are unsure of Quentin's trustworthiness, they can only see the characters from how he perceives them, but this further highlights Margo's character as a possible Manic Pixie Dream Girl. In the book, Margo convinces Quentin to sneak in and help her with her personal tasks. In doing so, she manages to push Quentin out of his comfort zone. During the getaway, Quentin says: “It was 2:49 in the morning. I had never felt so tired in my entire life. ” (Green, 2008, p. 52) This shows how much he loved spending time with Margo, even when it was early in the morning and he had school the next morning, which is very important to him. Margo pushed Quentin to embrace and enjoy life more. The text shows readers that Margo is a very important character in Quentin's life because his thoughts usually revolve around Margo. After their previous fling, he hoped that Margo would spend her last days of high school with him, as shown in the lines: "He knew that 'she couldn't spend the last week of school with the friends she had always had , so maybe she would spend them with me after all” (Green, 2008, p. 93) The night Margo disappeared, he kept trying to fall asleep “hoping that Margo Roth Spiegelman would come back to my window and would drag my tired ass out for one more night. I will never forget. » (Green, 2008, p. 93) Margo has become a character who, Quentin hopes, can brighten up his life and himgive body. Quentin goes to an abandoned minimal which was Margo's old hideout and didn't care about the dirty environment, because he was in a place where Margo had lived, he doesn't care about the environment, as long as he felt close to Margo, he was satisfied. Margo's prior presence in an unfamiliar area makes Quentin feel more comfortable, giving readers an idea of ​​the effect Margo has on Quentin. However, during his night in the minimall, he realizes that the person he thought was not who she really was, saying that the image of Margo he imagined in the abandoned minimall seemed to him lonely and therefore very “un-Margo” (Green, 2008, p. 169), so he thinks that what he had to do was find out what Margo was like when she was not what Margo had in mind. (Green, 2008, p. 170) As the storyline progresses, he realizes that he has seen and misseen Margo. He describes Margo as a “metaphor made incomprehensible by its omnipresence, that there was room enough for endless imaginings, infinite sets of Margo. » (Green, 2008, p. 173) Quentin is madly in love with Margo Roth Spiegelman as Quentin himself says, there is a moment where he makes trying to understand Margo his work because he realizes that his perception of Margo was very different from Margo's. who she really was. He has an important moment of realization about his night at the Minimal when he declares that "The fundamental error that I had always made – and which it had, in all honesty, always led me to make – was this: Margo was not a miracle. It wasn't an adventure. She was not a beautiful and precious thing. It was a girl. » (Green, 2008, p. 199) and “That was the Margo as I had seen her. But then, inside the buildings, she's not the Margo I always imagined. » (Green, 2008, p. 206) when searching for clues in the minimum. These lines also show Quentin realizing that Margo may not be the person he imagines her to be, but that she was his own person. At a minimum, he also does his best to imagine what kind of person Margo was, because it's different from what he expected. Quentin mentions in the early chapters that "I cared too much about a school day" (Green, 2008, p. 92) when thinking about Margo's adventures, but there is a change in attitude brought about by Margo as Quentin begins sacrificing school days and important school events such as prom and graduation in order to search for Margo. He mentions that Margo, the only girl he would go to prom with, was “hanging around some kind of perpetual or something.” " (Green, 2008, p. 123) and when Quentin discovers where Margo is, his first instinct is to head towards her, dropping his diploma in order to find Margo. When Radar tells him that they are waiting in line for the graduation, he says "I'm not going. I can't risk the time" (Green, 2008, p. 238). In response, he says he just wants to find her because he wants to see her alive. This further highlights Margo's importance in Quentin's life as she is his number one priority. go on an adventure He also becomes angry when his friends bring up the idea that Margo may not necessarily be where they want her to be (Green, 2008, p. 267). death, his first thought is her, but now there is a change in his perception as he begins to blame Margo for putting his life in danger (Green, 2008, p. 268) At the end of the road trip, before meeting Margo, hestates that he just wants to remember Margo one last time. , hoping to see her again (Green, 2008, p. 278) This shows the readers how much he truly cares for Margo, how much he wants to see her. When he and his friends finally find Margo, Quentin feels irritated by Margo's attitude. “I’m so angry with her. For…for, I don’t know. Not being the Margo I expected her to be. Not being the Margo I thought I finally imagined correctly” (Green, 2008, p. 284) Quentin is furious that his false perception of Margo is similar to who she is in real life. He is suddenly mad when he realizes how much Margo has taken from him, blaming her for her actions. There's also a moment where Quentin says, "We are now as I wish we were then." (Green, 2008, p. 299), comparing their current situation to one that shows how his perception of Margo has changed over the course of the trip. “I'm standing in the parking lot, realizing I've never been this far from home, and here is this girl I love who I can't keep up with. I hope this is the hero's mission, because not following it is the hardest thing I've ever done. » (Green, 2008, p. 304) Quentin is aware that his perception of Margo is incorrect, understanding that she is her own person. He understands that he cannot follow her and that she will not return to their hometown anytime soon, he cannot control his actions. Margo Roth Spiegelman's importance to Quentin is highlighted by her thoughts and actions that challenge his norms. From Quentin's point of view, readers can also observe what other characters' thoughts are towards Margo. From the first chapter, readers already get the impression that Margo is popular in her school, and as her stories circulate, Margo has a good reputation in her school. However, the case is different when it comes to his family. Her parents believe the reason Margo ran away is self-centered and were angered to the point of changing the locks on their house. Quentin's interaction with Margo's parents reveals that they are ashamed of Margo's behavior towards him. Ms. Spiegelman says, “I don’t want her under our roof. I know it's terrible but it's true. » (Green, 2008, p. 102) Margo was a burden to her parents as they had bad thoughts about her, even describing her as an illness in the family. (Green, 2008, p. 103) In one of the chapters, Quentin tells his parents how Margo left clues and he believes that it is her who asks him to find her. Her parents give their opinion on Margo, believing that she needs attention and reminding Quentin that she was not his responsibility. Other characters such as Ben and Radar, Quentin's best friends, and Lacey, Margo's best friend, also view Margo differently as they have different relationships with her. Ben is a character whose opinions of Margo are negative as he says, "Whatever, it's kind of lame of her to hijack the last three weeks of school, you know?" She's worrying you all, and she's worrying Lacey, and prom's in three days, you know? Can't we just have a fun prom? ” (Green, 2008, p. 153) and when Quentin states that Margo could be dead, he describes her as a drama queen who wanted attention. (Green, 2008, p. 153) Ben's opinions are a source of conflict for Quentin as they search for Margo. There's a part where Ben is too hungover where Quentin gets frustrated that he starts insulting Ben. “It bothered me that Ben only wanted to talk about Margo when it was an affair he was attracted to, that he thought there was something wrong with me infocusing on her rather than my friends, even though she was gone and they weren't. » (Green, 2008, p. 211) Ben takes Margo's disappearance lightly, not showing as much dynamism as Quentin, Lacey or Radar. Although Ben helps Quentin in his pursuit of Margo even though he doesn't really care why, he remains loyal throughout. Radar seems to show more sympathy towards Quentin as he always tries to help him. “Q, tomorrow and the next, and the day after that and every day for the rest of my life, I am happy to participate in your investigation. But I have a girlfriend. She wants to have a nice prom. I want to have a nice prom. It's not my fault Margo Roth Spiegelman didn't want us to have a nice prom. » (Green, 2008, p. 163) Although Margo is not a priority, he still wants to help Quentin achieve his goal. When the four of them meet Margo, he says, "I never knew you until I knew you by your clues, I like clues more than you." » (Green, 2008, p. 283) Radar also had a false perception of Margo, preferring the Margo in his mind to the Margo in front of him. Before Lacey is introduced in the novel, Margo's opinion of Lacey is shown as Margo calls Lacey a terrible friend, but throughout the story readers learn that Lacey is someone who cares of Margo because she is worried about his disappearance. She also cares deeply that Margo, when confronted with the possibility that Margo may have committed suicide because of the "signs" given off by Margo, she began to cry. She also said: “Everything sucks without Margo. (Green, 2008, p. 184) Lacey also presents a misperception of Margo as she admits that "I had no idea who she really was. Honestly, I never thought of her as anything other than my crazy beautiful friend who does all the crazy beautiful things. ” (Green, 2008, p. 200) This shows how she had also associated Margo with beauty and pleasure, thus creating a false illusion of Margo in her mind. Margo Roth Spiegelman is a girl who “loved mysteries so much that she became one.” “Readers' knowledge of Margo is limited to what Quentin knows. Margo Roth Spiegelman is a mystery to her peers as she is known for having extreme and extraordinary adventures such as traveling with the circus and spending time with a band. Margo is glorified in Quentin's eyes, but Margo is also a person with negative qualities, such as being vengeful and seeking revenge on multiple people. Margo is a very secretive character, not letting any of her friends into her room. Margo is a character who is aware of what people perceive of her as she is seen as a character who seems perfect to the people around her, but she is a character who, like everyone else, is deeply flawed . This is supported by the quote “I looked down and thought about how I was made of paper. I was the fragile, pliable person, not everyone else. And here's the problem. People love the idea of ​​a paper girl, they always have. And the worst part is that I loved it too. » (Green, 2008, p. 293), this quote shows that she was aware of what people thought of her and that she truly appreciated the way they viewed her. “Because it’s pretty cool, it’s an idea that everyone loves. But I could never be the idea for myself, not to the end. And Agloé is a place where paper creation has become reality. A point on the map has become a real place, more real than the people who created the point could have imagined. I thought a girl's paper cut might start to get real here too. And