Hazel Grace Lancaster

Hazel is the protagonist and narrator of The Fault in Our Stars. A well-read and intelligent sixteen-year-old girl, she admits that she knows her life will be brief and that this knowledge shapes her experiences. While her mother insists that Hazel is “depressed” because of her terminal cancer diagnosis, Hazel looks at things another way. Rather than behaving like a depressed person, her apparent fatalism is actually, in her eyes, simply a desire to enjoy the things she enjoys without caring about what is “cool” or what others think, simply because she will not be on earth for long. She describes her cancer in forthright terms: it is a fact of life she has come to terms with.

However, there are still areas where Hazel struggles, largely in relation to how her cancer may affect other people. While she tries to live life to the fullest possible extent, she is extremely anxious about what will happen to her parents after she dies, noting that, however terrible it may be for a teenager to die of cancer, it is worse for that teenager’s parents. Her reluctance to hurt others also prevents her from beginning a relationship with Augustus until it becomes inevitable, as she does not want to put him through the pain of losing her.

Augustus Waters

Hazel’s first impression of Augustus, when she meets him at her support group, is that he is “hot.” From the beginning, he charms Hazel with his wit and intelligence, which seems to interlock with her own, as well as with his good looks. Unlike Hazel, however, he is approaching life from the perspective of somebody who has—or so he believes—beaten cancer. He approaches Hazel very quickly and makes it obvious that he wishes to pursue a relationship with her. He shows the same initiative and drive when he writes to Peter Van Houten, something Hazel has never done despite her prolonged curiosity about the ending of her favorite book. Augustus’s brush with death seems to have intensified his desire to somehow make his mark on the world, to do something “for the greater good.” Ultimately, he feels that this opportunity has been taken from him when his cancer unexpectedly returns; as far as Hazel is concerned, however, he has made a powerful impression on her, enabling her to better accept her situation in life and feel more comfortable about forming close bonds with others.

Isaac

Isaac is the mutual friend through whom Hazel and Augustus are first introduced to one another. At the beginning of the story, Isaac has one glass eye and is awaiting surgery to remove his other eye. While he struggles to be a supportive friend and to maintain an upbeat attitude, he is deeply wounded when his girlfriend, Monica, breaks up with him shortly before the surgery that will leave him blind. His usual optimism is replaced by an outburst of anger and despair at how life has treated him.

In contrast to Monica’s behavior, however, Augustus’s friendship and loyalty for Isaac remain unshaken. The relationship between the two of them shifts over the course of the book: early in the story, it is Isaac whose suffering is greatest, and Augustus supports him. Later, when the tables are turned and Augustus’s cancer returns, Isaac’s chance comes to repay Augustus for his kindness and to recognize that, while his anger at the world is justified, he can continue to live as a blind person now that he is cancer-free. Isaac is deeply perceptive and sensitive, as his eulogy for Augustus demonstrates.

Peter Van Houten

Peter Van Houten...