In John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, cancer possess every character in distinctive ways, yet this isn’t the standard cancer book, because according to the protagonist, “cancer books suck” (Green 3). Or as Gwynne Ellen Ash views the novel as a, “learning to trust, and to love, while dying […] there is no sap here, no melodrama, no maudlin schmaltz.” This is about being able to cope with existence. It’s the full human experience—filled with the lightheartedness of life and the darkness of cancer. This disease is just that, a disease. It can consume and take over the physical body, but the mind is present. Hazel Grace Lancaster is sixteen years old and has been suffering from terminal thyroid cancer since she was thirteen. Hazel is depressed, “a side effect of dying” and isolates herself from others (Green 3). However, she learns through Augustus Waters, ex-cancer patient amputee, about the true meanings of life and love. Discovering a way to live with joy and laughter even amidst extreme pain is demonstrated through the use of themes, motifs, and symbols.
Several themes are included throughout the novel, such as, the necessity of suffering, the fear of oblivion, the insensitivity of the universe, and the importance of fiction. Hazel, Augustus, and their friend Isaac all have, and or had cancer, with that there is physical and emotional pain. The buildup of fluid in Hazel’s lungs deprives her of oxygen; at one point has her rushing to the emergency room. Isaac has to surrender his remaining eye, leaving him fully blind, and leading his girlfriend to break up with him. Augustus physically deteriorates so much so that he takes pain medication, which leaves him nearly inaudible; his faces agony for future, knowing ...
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...heart of the novel are these themes, motifs, and symbols.
Works Cited
ASH, GWYNNE ELLEN. "Visual And Digital Texts." Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 56.3 (2012): 241-244. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
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Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton, 2012. Print.
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The character Augustus strives to not allow the cancer become his identity, rather to be remembered for something bigger than his illness. Augustus changes a lot from when he is first introduced at the beginning of the book till the final chapters before his death. When Hazel Grace first meets Augustus Waters at the support group she describes him as an attractive, strong and normal boy. It’s later during support group she finds out that he Augustus, once suffered from cancer and is now in remission. He attends the support group only as a companion for his friend Isaac who is a few days away from losing his eyesight. As the support group discussions go on, Augustus is asked what his fears are and he replies “Oblivion” (Green, 12) Augustus wants his life to mean more, rather than to just be forgotten when he dies. After each support group meeting a prayer is said with the list of all the members who have passed away added at the end. “And we remember in our hearts those whom we knew and loved who have gone home to you; Maria and ...
Hassler, Donald M., and Clyde Wilcox. "Gender Identity in Star Trek." Political Science Fiction. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1997. Print.
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
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The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century. Ed. Orson Scott Card. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2001. 212-217.
...ir relationship Augustus shows Hazel how to live each day to its fullest. Another theme would be the courage within the characters. Hazel and Augustus are cancer patients and they are definitely tougher people because of it. The way they approach their close deaths takes a large amount of courage in itself.
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The novel starts off with a young 16-year-old girl named Hazel with thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs. She serves as the witty narrator and makes death seem like nothing to be afraid of. Augustus Waters, a 17-year-old formally diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, is in remission but has lost a leg due to his cancer. From the beginning, John Green makes readers feel suspenseful as to when or if Hazel is going to die and break Augustus’s heart. But when Augustus goes back into remission, a twist is added to the story and Hazel becomes the healthier partner in their relationship. Hazel and Augustus’s love is put to the test as Augustus’s health deteriorates more and more each day. Readers are sitting on the edge of their seats, as they must wait to see what the fate of this courageous couple will be.