FEAR OF OBLIVION
INTRODUCTION
Augustus nodded at the screen. “Pain demands to be felt,” he said, which was a line from An
Imperial Affliction.
Augustus says these words while playing video games in the basement with Isaac, who is
grieving after being dumped by his girlfriend Monica. On a fundamental level, The Fault in
Our Stars is a novel about coping with harsh realities, and particularly with suffering. We
often watch the characters deal with intense pain, physical and emotional, and one of the
more prominent ideas that comes up again and again is the notion that pain can’t be avoided.
As Augustus puts it in the letter to Van Houten that Hazel reads at the end of the novel, we …show more content…
What she clearly means is that
she has to believe that her own parents will continue on once she's gone, and that's why she's
so greatly relieved to learn later that her mother has been taking classes to become a social
worker.
What the novel ultimately suggests is that one person's death doesn't consign their
significance and relationships to oblivion, and that what makes our lives matter are the
relationships we form. As Augustus learns, his importance isn't defined by the fact that his
life is temporary, because his importance to those around him will carry on. He leaves his
“scar” on Hazel, as he puts it in the letter to Van Houten that Hazel reads at the close of the
novel. Hazel, via a different route, discovers much the same. Her mother will continue to be
her mother. Nothing, not even her death, can change that.
The title is inspired from Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which the
nobleman Cassius says to Brutus: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in
ourselves, that we are underlings."
We open up the story with Hazel Grace, who is your average teenager except for the little …show more content…
They go to Amsterdam and have beautiful and romantic times, but
when they meet Peter Van Houten, it doesn't exactly go as planned. First of all, he's a mean
drunk. Second of all... well actually, no, that's totally it. He's just a mean drunk and doesn't
answer any of Hazel's questions. Hazel is angry and upset, but Van Houten's assistant Lidewij
takes her and Augustus out to explore Amsterdam. They see Anne Frank's house, where
things are kind of redeemed because she and Augustus finally kiss.
Augustus then drops a bomb: his cancer has returned. This is very, very bad. When they
return to Indianapolis, it's clear that Augustus's health is deteriorating and he might not have
much time left. In a heartbreaking scene, Hazel and Isaac even share the eulogies that they
wrote for him. Throughout it all, Hazel is there with Augustus, until the very end.
When he dies, Hazel is shocked and filled with grief. At his funeral, though, she gives a
different eulogy than the one she had written him. Why? Well, she realizes that she needs to
deliver something that's tailored to his parents, who are the ones suffering now (not him).
At the funeral, she's shocked to see that Peter Van Houten is there. She talks to him
INTRODUCTION
Augustus nodded at the screen. “Pain demands to be felt,” he said, which was a line from An
Imperial Affliction.
Augustus says these words while playing video games in the basement with Isaac, who is
grieving after being dumped by his girlfriend Monica. On a fundamental level, The Fault in
Our Stars is a novel about coping with harsh realities, and particularly with suffering. We
often watch the characters deal with intense pain, physical and emotional, and one of the
more prominent ideas that comes up again and again is the notion that pain can’t be avoided.
As Augustus puts it in the letter to Van Houten that Hazel reads at the end of the novel, we …show more content…
What she clearly means is that
she has to believe that her own parents will continue on once she's gone, and that's why she's
so greatly relieved to learn later that her mother has been taking classes to become a social
worker.
What the novel ultimately suggests is that one person's death doesn't consign their
significance and relationships to oblivion, and that what makes our lives matter are the
relationships we form. As Augustus learns, his importance isn't defined by the fact that his
life is temporary, because his importance to those around him will carry on. He leaves his
“scar” on Hazel, as he puts it in the letter to Van Houten that Hazel reads at the close of the
novel. Hazel, via a different route, discovers much the same. Her mother will continue to be
her mother. Nothing, not even her death, can change that.
The title is inspired from Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which the
nobleman Cassius says to Brutus: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in
ourselves, that we are underlings."
We open up the story with Hazel Grace, who is your average teenager except for the little …show more content…
They go to Amsterdam and have beautiful and romantic times, but
when they meet Peter Van Houten, it doesn't exactly go as planned. First of all, he's a mean
drunk. Second of all... well actually, no, that's totally it. He's just a mean drunk and doesn't
answer any of Hazel's questions. Hazel is angry and upset, but Van Houten's assistant Lidewij
takes her and Augustus out to explore Amsterdam. They see Anne Frank's house, where
things are kind of redeemed because she and Augustus finally kiss.
Augustus then drops a bomb: his cancer has returned. This is very, very bad. When they
return to Indianapolis, it's clear that Augustus's health is deteriorating and he might not have
much time left. In a heartbreaking scene, Hazel and Isaac even share the eulogies that they
wrote for him. Throughout it all, Hazel is there with Augustus, until the very end.
When he dies, Hazel is shocked and filled with grief. At his funeral, though, she gives a
different eulogy than the one she had written him. Why? Well, she realizes that she needs to
deliver something that's tailored to his parents, who are the ones suffering now (not him).
At the funeral, she's shocked to see that Peter Van Houten is there. She talks to him