Raya KadowMs HaffnerENG 1DI04 June 2018 Star-crossed lovers in a modern world doomed by their diseases What is self discovery? Self discovery is one becoming aware of their true potential, character and motives. Two young souls who suffer from cancer meet, instantly they feel a connection to one another. Then, they spend plenty of time making unforgettable memories together, and falling in love with each other “slowly then all at once”(125).
After some time, Augustus’s cancer returns and he dies, leaving Hazel heartbroken yet grateful for the time she got to spend with her love. The Fault In Our Stars, John Green demonstrates how Hazel Grace Lancaster evolves from being a depressed “hopeless case”(116) who does not enjoy her life to learning how to cherish and live every moment of her (limited) life to the fullest (because of her love for Augustus Waters).Topic sentence. After being diagnosed with stage four thyroid cancer Hazel does not enjoy nor is thankful for (the gift of) her life. Furthermore, after being rushed to the intensive care unit in the middle of the night, Hazel states, “People talk about the courage of cancer patients, and I do not deny that courage. I had been poked and stabbed and poisoned for years… But make no mistake: In that moment, I would have been very, very happy to die.
“(102) Moreover, Hazel is awoken before dawn due to excruciating, unbearable pain and is quickly taken to the isu (in the children’s hospital). Hazel claims in that moment of time, she would be happier dead rather than alive having to face the many struggles she has to deal with due to her cancer such as tremendous pain, not being able to go to normal school and having to bring an oxygen tank wherever she goes, these factors make it seem as if she does not have much to lose in her life. In addition, Hazel supposes the thoughts she had in the isu such as wanting to die make her less courageous, but no matter how courageous you are, that does not mean that you can not feel pain, “pain demands to be felt”.(57) In conclusion in that moment in the beginning of the novel, the protagonist strongly believes that she would be more content dead then alive because her life exclusively consists her cancer affiliated struggles. Additionally, Mrs.
Lancaster thinks her daughter is depressed since Hazel is quite a bit fixated on the subject of her death: “Media literacy about cancer always list depression among the side effects of cancer. But in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying.” (3) Hazel’s mother forces her to go to a weekly cancer support group because she thinks her daughter is depressed as result of her cancer. Hazel strongly disagrees, she claims she does not have depression because of her cancer, she has depression as a result of her dying.
She does not sugarcoat or have illusions about her state of health, likewise, she is well aware she will never be considered an average teenage girl and she is humurous about it rather than of tackling it in a self-pity type mannerThe Fault In Our Stars shows us how to appriciate what we have while we have it and accept life for what it is with no regrets.Some fates are easier avoided then other but unfortunately death is not one of them. Death is inevitable dispite that, illness nor death could break Gus and Hazel’s unbreakable bond.
