Elle Bishop is the first-person narrator and protagonist of the novel. The Paper Palace centers on her life from birth through the present. As readers, we see Elle contend with the choice that she made in the past to not save her stepbrother Conrad when he is drowning, a decision she made with Jonas, her childhood friend. Another significant choice for Elle in the novel is the one between her husband Peter and best friend Jonas. After having an affair with Jonas, she thinks, “now there is no turning back. No more regrets for what I haven’t done. I love him, I hate myself; I love myself; I hate him. This is the end of a long story.” Because of the way that her choices haunt her, she stays away from Jonas to avoid confronting her guilt.

Elle first shows growth when she holds her ground against her father and choses to disown him when he mistreats her grandmother. This is the first time she does not let herself be subordinate to a man in her life. She defines her own worth, as well as holds her father accountable for treating her with the respect she deserves.