"The Fault in Our Stars" combines grief, love, and literature into an interestingly relatable story about two young adults navigating a world of death.
"The Fault in Our Stars" is a young-adult novel that follows the life of Hazel, a sixteen-year-old girl suffering from terminal cancer. While attending a support group, she meets a handsome boy, Augustus Waters, and together, they go on a fun adventure to learn the secrets of a novel ending.
The cities of Indianapolis and Amsterdam were vital parts of "The Fault in Our Star's" story. Both places affected the protagonists' view of the world and made them fall deeply in love, a feeling that never faded after Augustus's death.
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Article written by Joshua Ehiosun
C2 certified writer.
“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green tells the story of Hazel, a sixteen-year-old girl struggling with thyroid cancer. She meets a young boy named Augustus and falls for him. However, her life changes when she encounters a writer she cherishes and discovers he is far from the person she imagined.
“The Fault in Our Stars” is a heart-wrenching story of love, self-discovery, and tragedy. It portrays the budding relationship between Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters, two teenagers in a world of tragedy. Though it is meant to be a young-adult fiction novel, the story explores deep themes many readers have praised.
“The Fault in Our Stars” begins with Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year-old with thyroid cancer. After the cancer spreads to her lungs, she is hooked to a machine that enables her to breathe. After visiting her doctor, Maria, Hazel is given a flyer to attend a support group for young adults facing the impossibly difficult prospects of dying.
Though initially reluctant to go, she joins the support group, where she meets Patrick, the middle-aged leader of the group and a cancer survivor. While in the support group, Hazel meets new people like Isaac, a boy who is partially blind from eye cancer.
The rising action begins when Hazel meets a new group member, Augustus Waters, a handsome seventeen-year-old boy who lost his right leg to Osteosarcoma, after attending the support group for a few weeks. She learns he is Isaac’s friend, and they grow close to each other. After they become friends, Hazel introduces Augustus to her favorite novel “An Imperial Affliction” by Peter Van Houten.
Hazel’s initial relationship with Augustus is pure and beautiful. They met through tragedy and terrible circumstances. However, even with looming death over their heads, they still formed a beautiful relationship that developed into something deeper. “The Fault in Our Stars’s” portrayal of the unique friendship between Hazel and Augustus makes it an exceptional story.
Augustus receives Hazel’s novel and gives her his favorite: “The Prince of Dawn.” After reading “An Imperial Affliction,” he calls her and expresses displeasure with the novel’s ending. Hazels tells him about her plans to message Van Houten for an answer to his book’s ending but explains that the author relocated to Amsterdam.
A week later, Augustus tells Hazel he contacted Van Houten’s assistant, Lidewiji Vliegenthart, and messaged him through her. He further states that Van Houten replied and was already exchanging emails with him. Excited, Hazel asks if Van Houten wants to answer her question, but Augustus tells her Houten wants her to come to Amsterdam to receive the response. Although excited, Hazel realizes she cannot travel due to her medical condition.
The conflict begins when Augustus surprises Hazel with two tickets to Amsterdam, and they travel to meet Van Houten. On reaching his house, they are shocked to meet a drunk hostile Van Houten.
The climax occurs when Van Houten violently tells Hazel she is nothing but a flaw after she asks him for an answer to his novel’s ending. Realizing she would never get an answer from her once favorite writer, Hazel leaves Van Houten’s residence. However, she and Augustus are treated to a tour of Amsterdam by Lidewiji, Van Houten’s assistant.
There is a popular phrase: “Never meet your heroes.” It applies to Hazel when she realizes the writer she holds in high regard is a drunk. She thought she would meet a brilliantly dressed man willing to give answers to his esteemed novel, but all she got was a stern reminder of reality; this made Hazel remember her fragility and the imminent death she faced.
After visiting Anne Frank’s house, Hazel and Augustus kiss for the first time. Later that night, she confesses her love to him, and they lose their virginity to each other. He finally reveals that his cancer has returned and spread throughout his body.
After returning home, Isaac tells Hazel and Augustus that his surgery was successful, but he lost his eye. Augustus is furious when he learns that Isaac’s girlfriend, Monica, refuses to contact him after losing his eye. Eventually, his health deteriorates as he becomes weaker and weaker. Hazel continually visits him, and they hang out as he faces the last stages of life.
The falling action begins when Augustus requests that Hazel write his obituary and read it to him. One afternoon, she walks up to his bedroom and finds him mumbling in a pool of urine. He is cleaned up and though too weak, he plays video games with her. The next morning, Hazel wakes up to a call that Augustus is dead.
Most stories and movies romanticize dying. Because humans are irked by the idea of losing their lives, most stories shy away from the reality of death. However, “The Fault in Our Stars” portrays reality. It showed how emotionally heart-wrenching Augustus’s dying process was, and depicted how his health deteriorated until there was nothing left. The story’s portrayal of death was on point and its exceptional realism made it tug at the heart tighter.
The resolution occurs at Augustus’s funeral. Hazel heads to his casket and cannot help but notice how plastic his face looks. As she is on the verge of tears, a voice reaches behind her, and she realizes it is Van Houten. He tells her that he and Augustus remained in contact and wanted him to explain the ending of “An Imperial Affliction” as an apology. Van Houten tries to apologize to Hazel, but she rejects his apology.
The turning point begins when Hazel is contacted by Lidewiji, who tells her about some letters that Augustus sent to Van Houten. She realizes that Augustus had written an obituary for her and discovers that his letter was written while he was in various stages of consciousness due to dying. Hazel reads the letter. Augustus tells her that getting hurt is a constant, but one can choose who hurts them. He tells her he is glad she was his choice.
The novel ends with Hazel stating she is happy she chose him with two words: “I DO.”
“The Fault in Our Stars” ends on one of the saddest yet somehow most optimistic notes. Though Augustus dies and Hazel will too, it gives me solace learning that their love transcended beyond the fear of death, and their hearts found peace in each other. No one wants to die, but love in one’s final moments is the best comfort in the universe.