Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism, violence, and alcoholism.

The protagonist of Paperboy is an 11-year-old boy named Victor. Victor has a stutter, which impacts his day-to-day ability to interact with people. At the beginning of the novel, Victor feels embarrassed about his stutter, believing that most people he interacts with are judging him for it. In order to alleviate his anxiety around the stutter, Victor often says things in roundabout ways, only using words that are comparatively easier to pronounce. By the end of the novel, Victor’s stutter hasn’t decreased in severity; however, Victor has learned to accept it as a fact about himself and to not be embarrassed about it.

Victor’s two closest relationships are with his nanny, Mam, and his best friend, Rat. Victor feels distant from his parents, both of whom struggle to connect with him. These feelings are heightened by the discovery that his father is not actually his biological father, which becomes a source of confusion for Victor. Throughout the course of Paperboy, Victor makes another close friendship with neighbor Mr. Spiro, whom Victor likes because he intellectually stimulates him and treats him like an adult. Victor tries to get to know Mrs.