Existentialism In The Fault In Our Stars By John Green

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Life is a purpose, waiting to be fulfilled. The paper intends to take into account the lives of the protagonists of the fault in our stars to infer the meaning and true purpose of life. Why does one exist? Is one the creator or the acceptor of life? Is death a part or peril to life? Do choices define people? The paper further talks about how the book interprets and answers the aforementioned questions using a variety of tools. "The purpose of mortality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live"(Ayn Rand, brainyquote.com). Ayn Rand has, with the use of a simple English sentence, defined the purpose of existentialism. The protagonists of the book, written by John Green, The Fault In Our Stars, have exemplified this …show more content…

It gives the reader a myriad of lessons in life. To summarise one of the main themes of the book, it could be said that "The beauty of living does not lie in the number of days, hours, months or years you have left, but rather in what you chose to do with that amount of time"(Academia. edu/8055205, para 1). The protagonists, despite having different views and ideals on existentialism, had actually lived life, the way it’s supposed to be lived. Augustus Waters, In a simple line, describes his way of life as "I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up".(Green, pg 12-13) "When the purpose of life is fulfilled, death seems a part of life, not a peril to it". Both the protagonists deal with death in different ways. Augustus accepts death as a part of his life. He believes that cancer is a part of him, which it even scientifically is. His experience of his ex-girlfriend, Caroline's death, made him more acquainted and less afraid of the concept of death(Green, page 190) He, however, feared oblivion(Green, page 14). His only quandary regarding death is whether he would be remembered or not(Green, page 144) Augustus indeed realized that he was uniquely different. His biggest flaw and biggest strength were the fact that he wishes to make his mark on the universe. He did not, however, realize, that people do make a mark on this world, but it slowly fades …show more content…

She only cared about how her death might affect the people she loved (Green, Page 162)Love is the greatest strength and weakness of all humans. Hazel feared her Cancer , as if it were some other being (Green, page 1-2). She did not realize that dying is a side effect of cancer, and depression is a side effect of living with the certainty of death. "You cannot choose who you were born, But you can choose what you can choose" Choices define people, choices make up the person's essence, choices make people unique. What made Hazel and Augustus different from most other people with a terminal disease were the choices they made. They understood what the world is, It is not a “wish- granting factory” but a stable entity where people come and go (Green, page 14) The world cannot be changed, but the way the world is viewed could be. Augustus was proud of his choices regarding Hazel(Green, page 314). He realizes that even the word "forever" has a time period. John Green leaves Augustus' life open-ended. Augustus did and did not fear death. He knew his cancer would kill him, but he also knew that death is what makes up life. This was a major factor in influencing his choices. The certainty of death makes people do what they wish to do, and live life the way it is supposed to

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