Free Essay

The Fault in Our Stars Essay

In: Novels

Submitted By TheCookieMonster
Words 607
Pages 3
The novel The Fault In Our Stars shows the story of a sixteen-year-old cancer patient named Hazel Grace Lancaster, who is forced by her parents to attend a support group where she subsequently meets and falls in love with the seventeen-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee. Important themes in the novel acceptance in society and the fear of oblivion.

Acceptance in society is an important theme shown in this novel. It is shown by both of the main characters in the novel as they both have a type of cancer and are viewed differently by society. For example, because Hazel has lung cancer she requires an oxygen tank to breathe properly. Due to this she receives weird looks in public. Another example of this is near the end of the book when Augustus is at the petrol station getting cigarettes and his G-tube is messed up and requires the assistance of Hazel. He says “...but I wanted...to do it by myself. Do one little thing myself”. Through this as a reader we can see that Augustus feels the need to prove that although he has cancer he can still do small things like go to the petrol station to buy something, although it majorly failed and he ended up in hospital. This theme was very important in this book because in the generation that we live in, everyone has the need to fit in and proved themselves to their peers.

Fear of oblivion is also an important theme shown in the novel.The main characters in the novel are forced to confront death in a way that the young and healthy aren't. Although everyone will eventually die, as Hazel points out in Support Group, death's immediacy to the terminally ill means they can't avoid considering what comes after death, and the potential that all that's waiting for them is oblivion. This theme carries throughout the novel. It's what motivates Augustus's desire to perform some heroic act before he dies and validate his significance. He worries that, without doing something dramatic that lives in people's minds after he's gone, he won't have mattered. His significance, like his consciousness, will simply be consumed by oblivion after his death. For Hazel, the fear of oblivion strikes her in a different way. She needs to know that those close to her, and her relationships with them, will carry on after her death. The fear of oblivion is an important theme in the book as it serves as a reminder to readers that we do not live forever, therefore we must make the most of the time we have no matter how short or long the amount of time we have left is. Due to the fact that this generation is very technologically orientated, I feel as if we take out time being alive for granted by wasting hours on social media and not using our time wisely by staying in our comfort zones and not trying new things

In conclusion, I think that the novel The Fault in our Stars is more than just some sappy love story that so many people take it for. The themes in the book such as the need to feel accepted and fear of oblivion made me realise how lucky I am to have the life I am living. I feel like in the world we are living in we take too many things for granted and this story helps to show people that we should live our life to the fullest and grasp any opportunities that we are given because our time is limited.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

The Fault in Our Stars

...Name Mrs. Kehres English 9 15 February 2014 IRP Reading Essay There are some people in the world who hate getting close to people because they are scared or like to be alone. Then there are other people, like Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, who are scared to become close to people because they don’t want to hurt them. In this book a teenage girl named Hazel has cancer, she goes to a Support Group for kids with cancer and meets a boy named Augustus Waters. Their relationship starts off by just staring at each other, “Look, let me just say it: He was hot. A nonhot boy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward, and at worst, a form of assault. But a hot boy... well.”(41) We bet most of the teenagers you know don't have cancer, right? We can thank our lucky stars for that, but for Hazel, Augustus, and Isaac in The Fault in Our Stars, that means a whole lot of isolation. Sure, Hazel hangs out with her friend Kaitlyn, and Isaac starts off the book with a lovey dovey girlfriend, but when the going gets tough, their illnesses separate them from most other people. Add that to their physical limitations, and they find themselves in a world that is oftentimes very, very lonely. “That was the worst part about having cancer, sometimes: The physical evidence of disease separates you from other people.”(58) Not only do people leave when there are some rough patches, but when Hazel goes out in public people stare. When she gets on the airplane to go visit...

Words: 669 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Who Is the Most to Blame for the Death of Romeo and Juliet?

...thank you) Essay: For hundreds of years people have argued over the reason for the tragic and fatal deaths of the young lovers, ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Audiences are greatly impacted by the fatality of Romeo and Juliet and it makes us consider who was most to blame for this tragic event. Shakespeare’s play presents a variety of characters, which some may have been responsible for this sudden event to transpire. The characters that contribute most dramatically to the deaths are Friar Lawrence, Tybalt and Juliet’s father Lord Capulet. It is clear that the irresponsibility and foolishness from Friar Lawrence was partially to blame for the lover’s tragic death. Although he clearly cares and is empathetic towards the lovers, many of his decisions lead to their fatalities. Friar Lawrence marries Romeo and Juliet in secret, hoping that he would bring peace to the two feuding families, "For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households' rancour to pure love." As well as this, Friar Lawrence devises a dangerous and risky plan to have Juliet fake her death by drinking a poisonous vile, so she can be with lover Romeo. What he does not take into account though is how hastily Romeo might respond to the news of Juliet’s death. With Romeo not receiving the plan due to the delayed delivery, he is distraught and depressed that his lover has “died”, therefore killing himself to be with her. The friar had sent Romeo and Juliet to their death beds and is at most of fault because of the...

Words: 924 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

America Skipps School

...“America Skips School” Nowadays we hear a lot about education, about how there is not enough emphasis put on education and too much put on other things like sports and T.V. The essay “America Skips School” by Benjamin R. Barber talks about that exactly. Barber begins the essay with a bunch of statistics concerning dropout rate, crime in schools, percent of criminals who have dropped out, literacy skills of Americans and things of that nature. After quoting all of the supposed statistics he jumps right into saying that teachers get paid too little, letting the reader draw the conclusion that this is the sole cause of the above statistics. Then he moves on to say that our whole education system is crumbling as well as our society. Americans say that they care, yet sit back and watch the walls of the educational system fall. He then raves on about how kids today learn all they know from the T.V. and society and all the older generation blames the younger ones for ruining society. This in fact is the fault of the older generation for “showing” them that this is what they need to do to survive. Society tells us it is much better to be a basketball star, or take over a company and sell the assets than to be a mere kindergarten teacher (p455). All of these horrible events are a result of not paying teacher enough. We should now start paying the teachers as much as some of the “best young professionals” (p460). That is the only way to fix this downward spiraling problem. ...

Words: 658 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Analysis Of James Deacon's Essay 'Rink Rage'

...Horrific behaviour from fans and parents is something that has come common in almost all hockey games. Parents yelling at coaches for keeping their sons on the bench, or fans getting upset with the referees over a call, this is something that is all too common. The essay “Rink Rage” by James Deacon, brings to light the current issue about how parents and fans are getting too involved in the game itself. James describes incidents where rink rage has gotten so out of control that there has been injuries and some casualties. However, this is not a shocker to the hockey community as it happens quit frequently. Parents have the job to support their kids in any decisions they make, and not make a scene because they did not like what they saw. Hockey...

Words: 811 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Commitment to Family or Freedom to Self

...Freedom to Self The three literary pieces The Glass Menagerie, Barn Burning, and Ulysses all have something in common. A significant character from each work abandoned his family to seek out his own needs. As I read the three different literary works recently I reflected on what a one-of-a-kind thing a family is to each of us. Is it wrong to put our own needs above that of our parents, our brothers and sisters, or even our spouses or children? Even when raised by the by the same parents, in the same community we all grow into unique individuals with directions of our own, independent from the aspirations of our parents and siblings. As I read the three pieces of literature The Glass Menagerie, Barn Burning, and Ulysses it got me thinking about some of the ways in which I feel about my own family situation. I know I could never leave them, but I do know so many people who have set off away from their families. I sometimes desperately envy those with that freedom. In all three works, there is a balance to be found towards responsibility and commitment to family, and freedom and choice to self. For the purpose of this essay I will compare the roles of Tom from The Glass Menagerie, Sarty in Barn Burning, and Ulysses in the poem Ulysses. Although they each served a different role in the family as a brother, father, and a son, they in the end all made a decision to leave their families in each literary piece. | In the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams,...

Words: 1451 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Of Mice and Men

...an odd couple, George the shrewd, wiry yet ultimately caring protector of the ironically named Lennie Small, who is, in fact, a huge man who doesn’t know his own strength and is mentally incapable of making the smallest of decisions for himself; he relies on George completely but equally, George needs Lennie as he gives him a reason to keep going. Lennie, despite his lack of intellect, senses this because when he knows George feels guilty for being angry with him, he takes advantage of the moment to manipulate George into repeating the story of their ‘dream future’, especially the rabbits they intend to keep with which Lennie is obsessed. Lady using a tablet Professional Essay Writers Get your grade or your money back using our Essay Writing Service! ESSAY WRITING SERVICE They are not related but Lennie’s aunt has brought up George and he has promised her that he will look after Lennie, now she has died. The secret dream they share, of building a life together on a ranch and ‘liv[ing] off the fatta the lan’ is central but the very title of the book, taken from Robert Burns’ poem ‘To a Mouse’ foreshadows the ultimate defeat of their dream, since it speaks of plans going wrong....

Words: 1051 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

The Rise of Hentai in America

...definitely rated NSFW. Part 1 here discusses the subject matter; Part 2 compares hentai to live action pornography; Part 3 considers the ramifications of hentai.)  Created by a fan, and named “Jessica Rabbit Naughty Pin-up”. When Jessica Rabbit, the animated femme fatale of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? uttered the line “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way,” I sincerely doubt her creators knew that a decade later she would be made into an online porn star. Now, alongside other American and Japanese cartoon women, she has entire websites devoted to her. Is Jessica being objectified, degraded, and having her rights taken away? Logically, no, because Jessica is merely ink-and-paint, a figment of someone’s imagination brought to life only by the mechanical and visual trickery of animation. As she said, it’s not her fault she was drawn to represent a stereotypical male conception of an idealized woman. Why should we care if people have changed her from a children’s animated figure into an adult porn star? The purpose of this essay is to answer just that: the reasons we should care, and why research should not ignore cartoon porn, and in particular hentai, when it studies pornography. According to anime scholar Mark McLelland, hentai is the Western label applied to Japanese anime, manga and games that depict sexually explicit and pornographic images and narratives. While not used in Japan to...

Words: 4244 - Pages: 17

Free Essay

Media and Sport

...What is behind every major brand in the world? An iconic sportsman endorsing it. The celebrity status of sportsmen all over the world has continued to grow, especially in the past decade. Sports stars are often regarded as role models and therefore it has been suggested they should only be able to endorse certain brands and messages. I will be arguing in this essay through the example of NBA star LeBron James how I agree due to sporting stars growing influence on society, especially children and teens, they should not be allowed to endorse negative brands or messages such as unhealthy food. The influence of sporting stars in today’s society is major. Most athletes idolised by millions around the globe, kids holding onto every word that comes from their mouths. Think of your childhood idol for a second. When you are a child you are so infatuated by your idols you want to be just like them, do what they do, eat what they eat and wear what they wear. With this kind of influence on thousands of people caution needs to be taken when deciding the brands and messages one can endorse. A case study completed by youth in India provides proof of the influence Sporting Stars can have on our youth. About 14.1% of the children tested admitted to purchase products that appear in ads endorsed by their sporting heroes while 51.6% youngsters say that they make the purchase however, not always. 20.4 % say that they never buy products that appear in ads. Another 13% say that they do not want...

Words: 1428 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Genesis 1-11

...Genesis Essay 1 Genesis 1-11 describes and defines most of the core concepts of the Bible and describes God as the creator of the universe. These scriptures give us our first glimpse at God and his characteristics, and the origin of our world. By teaching these two very important concepts we are able to take away a lot from that. We can understand how we are to treat the world, treat others, how we are to interact with God and who we are as both individuals and as a society or civilization. One of the most prominent and obvious themes of these first chapters is how God created the world. The Bible teaches that the world was created in a quite literal and physical way. Infact the very first verse in the entire Bible says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen 1:1) This really leaves nothing up to interpretation. Within six full twenty-four hour days, God had created everything, including humans, animals, stars and planets. Then on the seventh day He rested, and he blessed that day and called it holy and instructed us to set it aside for rest as well. “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Gen 2:2-3) God said to let everything that he created reproduce after its own kind, plants, animals and Humans. The answer to where our human identity...

Words: 1027 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

English Essay

...think of the James Baldwin article “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew” because black kids back then weren’t allowed to be around whites let alone play with them. Thinking that those nice white folks could have been looking down on my children is kind of being defeated by the white people because i was starting to believe for a split second maybe my kids wasn’t good enough to be around their kids. In this society black men are looked at as the ones who will fail in life. The ones who will end up in jail, or the ones who won’t finish school, and amount to anything. Liberal whites are some of the causes for these stereotypes, and or statistics, due to racism, and hate crimes. It isn’t totally all white people fault blacks end up on the wrong side of the fence.We as black people don’t want to feel like we believe what they white people say like when they call us the “N” word, but in all reality we are heathens when we run around, and call each other Nigga’s carelessly. We have so much black on black crime now then blacks had when growing up in a racist community. Baldwin wants the liberal whites to know the injustice, inequality, and hardship caused by racism. He achieves this by writing a letter to his nephew expressing images, anger, and to accuse whites of racial injustice. Baldwin uses a letter to his nephew to...

Words: 1016 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Question a - What Are the Main Strengths and Weaknesses of the Teleological Argument, for the Existence of God?

...Philosophy essay – the teleological argument Question A - What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the teleological argument, for the existence of god? The teleological argument is a posteriori, this means that it is able to support its argument based of the empirical evidence that we can see around us. It states that we can easily observe that there is order and complexity in the universe around us, such as the changing of seasons or the human eye, therefore as things that have order and complexity have designers such as a watch or a computer the world must too have a designer as it is infinitely more complex than many human designs that have designers. This means that the universe must too have a designer (God), yet there are many strengths and weaknesses to this argument. On the one hand this could be perceived as a strong argument for the existence of god as it is backed up by inductive reasoning, meaning that the whole argument is started by something that we can observe, this means that it is difficult to deny that there is order and complexity within our universe. This argument has been backed up by sir Thomas Aquinas in his book ‘summa theologica’ when he talks about qua purpose and qua regularity. Qua purpose can prove the existence of god by looking at things within nature and realizing that everything has a purpose, for example there are species of bird that’s life solely depends on the fruit from a single species of tree, yet the tree depends on the...

Words: 1926 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Violence and Children

...Truc Nguyen Math(2pm-3:25pm) Argumentative essay 05/23/2010 Violence and Children Do you want your children to have psychological problems, to be kept away from neighboring people, or even to become a criminal the rest of their life? In family, children always need love and care from their parents. Every parent always wants their children to become good citizens, to have a wonderful life in the future, so we always try to teach them the best thing we know. However, we always think that whatever we teach will help them in the future, so we want our children follow and obey us. In reality, there are many ways to teach our children, such as, giving them the freedom to discover or telling them what is wrong, and what is right. Nevertheless, there is a very common mistake about using violence to raise a child. It is wrong! Consequently, violent behaviors to children in any situation are absolutely unacceptable because of moral issue, psychological problems, and family relationship for our children. Some families use violence to teach their children because they think a light spanking has more effects than a thousand lectures. Besides, they might think it’s just a light hurt to their children, doesn’t make them too pained or leave trace in their skin. They just want to make their children to be scared and to never repeat the mistake again. However, they are wrong because even thought the light spanking or light violent action doesn’t make the child hurt, it leaves many worse...

Words: 2021 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

The South

...Essay #3 The American South is an interesting culture that has had an avid history in the United States’ past. A vast region, the South is rich with its own individuality that has shaped our history and continues to do so today. Growing up in the South has immersed me in a culture of values and hospitality, instituting morals in my life that have gotten me to where I am now. Each region has its own faults however, and while this region may have a bit of a misunderstood history, what it’s turning into can’t really be appreciated until new perspective is introduced to your surroundings. The South is responsible for ranges of genre in music that stretch far deeper than the 36’30 line. While New Orleans was brewing the most wild of jazz, a collective of states narrated their lives into the Country sound Southern twang. Eventually Soul entered the fray, pioneered by the finest and most innovative of musicians. It was this innovation, this drive that lead to the music of today, music mixed amongst the South that influences my generation as they move about in life. For me, music has inspired me and given me the motivation to keep on moving up the social hierarchy, while helping me identify the curveballs life often tosses my way. While not having the most impact on my musical taste, Wagon Wheel (by Old Crow Medicine Show) reintroduced me to the concept of modern branches of Country music, branches that still retain its roots that remain buried...

Words: 1281 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Blue Velvet & a Wild Sheep Chase

...Writing 2 Final Draft 10/14/2014 Reality and the Struggle between Good and Evil We exist, fundamentally conscious of the world around us, but for many it is with blinders. Everyone has their own version of reality, how the world works and how they think the world should work. Quite often we live comfortably in our own realities and sometimes we struggle in them. Reality can differ from person to person and other times our realities match oneanother. Is the world we think we know real, or are we dreaming? Sometimes in living and struggling with our own realities we miss another struggle, the struggle between good and evil. It is an age old struggle between the light and the dark for dominance over our realities. “All wills struggle for domination, independence, and power over one another, which is the source of change in the universe.” (Friedrich Nietzsche Beyond Good and Evil)Such is the case with Blue Velvet and A wild Sheep Chase. In watching Blue Velvet and reading A Wild Sheep Chase we get an inside look at what happens when two conflicting realities butt heads, when light and innocence fights head on with dark and evil. In Blue Velvet and A Wild Sheep Chase, the main characters become involved in mysteries. They both lead seemingly normal, simple, even boring lives. Absorbed in their own realities of how their worlds work. In both stories the main characters are forced to become involved with scary, powerful men. One throws himself into the mystery, willingly and the...

Words: 1333 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Religious Article Critique

...Final Essay This paper will give a brief critique of the articles that have been provided. Every article will be summarized with the main points of the article examined, and the overall significance of the article appraised. By doing this, it will be possible to read this paper and obtain a general feel for all the articles the have been provided. WHAT DO WE EXPERIENCE IF WE HAVE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE? By Peter Antes. This article looks at why people who have religious experiences never “...saw a person who was totally unknown in the respective religious context where the apparition took place.” (Antes 3). Why don’t people ever see the God(s) from other religions, why do some people “...see Kali or Durga, while in Christian contexts, if the vision is that of a woman, St. Mary is seen instead.” (Antes 3). This thesis is rather profound in the fact that almost every religion claims to have religious experiences and divine visions, but never of the God(s) from other religions. An interesting contrast shown in the body of the article is between Madeleine Le Bouc, and Ramakrishna. The former, was said to be quite mad by Doctor Pierre Janet while the ladder was considered a saint. Antes points out that “...they had similar types of experience which, according to their surrounding milieus, found very different explanations: a medical one in terms of mental illness in the secular context of France, and a religious one in the Indian context of Hindu spirituality.” (Antes 2). By using...

Words: 2847 - Pages: 12