The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

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Discussion Topic

The main conflict and its symbolic representation in The Fault in Our Stars

Summary:

The main conflict in The Fault in Our Stars is the struggle with terminal illness and the search for meaning in life while facing mortality. This conflict is symbolically represented by the recurring motif of stars, which signify both the beauty and the fleeting nature of life.

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What is the main conflict in The Fault in Our Stars?

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The main conflict in The Fault In Our Stars concerns Hazel Lancaster's inner struggle to come to terms with her terminal form of cancer and the possibility of dying young.  To this end, she attends Cancer Support Group, which she secretly loathes but continues to visit because it makes her parents feel better about how she is coping with her illness.  When she meets Augustus Waters at one of the meetings, his positive and unique outlook influences her perspective on her situation.  Ultimately, when Augustus dies, Hazel is left alone at the end of the novel, but realizes that although she can not control her circumstances, she can make her own decisions and choices. 

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The climactic event in a novel, such as The Fault in Our Stars" , is the pivotal moment when "something" happens and...

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a lot of consequences happen as a result of it. Aside from being the moment of highest intensity in the reading, it is also the agent that will produce the most changes in the original sequence of the reading, sometimes even moving the plot away from its original path. The result of the climactic event is thedenouement, or the falling action. This is often easiest to identify and, for this reason, I recommend that you always look at the part of a literature work where things begin to turn towards a final point. The catalyst that caused those events to take place is the climax.

In The Fault in Our Stars the characters of Augustus and Hazel, two young terminal cancer patients, meet in their support group, demonstrate a clear attraction to each other, and even begin to share common interests, such as the books by Peter Van Houten, who is a writer whom they both admire. Augustus builds the rising action that leads to the climax when he starts exchanging letters with the writer, which is a bold move on Augustus's part and something that means a lot to Hazel. That alone is a change of the usual events in the novel that surely will lead to something big.

And it does! The climax starts to develop in the form of "The Genies" foundation sponsoring Augustus dream to fly to Amsterdam and visit the alcoholic and reclusive author that he and Hazel admire so much. This big event start the sequence of events (all quite pivotal) that entirely turn the story to another direction.

  • First, Peter Van Houten, although generous, was rude and mean to the kids because he had no idea that the entire visit was a trick by his representative to try and get him to stop drinking. The situation was bad enough for Augustus to even yell at Van Houten.
  • Shortly after, Augustus and Hazel kiss at Anne Frank's house, declaring their feelings for each other.
  • In that same visit, Augustus also makes his ultimate confession: that his cancer had metastasized and that he did not have much longer to live.

Since all three big events occur during the visit to Van Houten, we can say that the inciting event was the visit to Amsterdam, and there the climax of the story took place: Augustus confession about his cancer.

The falling action would consist on how Augustus begins to deteriorate, the effects on Hazel, and even the eventual discovery of why Peter Van Houten was so rude to the teens: he also was a victim of cancer, through the death of his daughter, Anna.

The courage that Augustus demonstrates throughout his final days is commendable;

If you don't live a life in service of a greater good, you've gotta at least die a death in service of a greater good, you know? And I fear that I won't get either a life or a death that means anything.

he even tasks Isaac and Hazel with his funeral. However, Hazel (while stoically accepting the finality of hers and Augustus lives), still manages to find comfort in that you can find longevity even in brief moments, as long as the moments are well-lived.

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What object best represents the main conflict in The Fault in Our Stars?

The book The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, is about two teens with cancer learning to embrace their lives and make the most of it. Hazel Lancaster has thyroid cancer which is currently in a state of non-progression thanks to an experimental drug. Though the cancer is not progressing, Hazel's mother feels she is depressed and decides to send Hazel to a cancer support group. There she meets Augustus Waters, who had osteosarcoma as a child and is in attendance at the group to support his friend Isaac. After the group, Hazel and Augustus talk for a while. When Augustus puts a cigarette between his lips, Hazel begins admonishing him, and Augustus explain that the cigarette is not for smoking. It is a metaphor. He simply puts the (unlit, and therefore harmless) cigarette between his lips, but does not light it. He does not give the cigarette the "power to kill."

One of the troubles people with cancer struggle with, in real life and in the book, is a feeling of a lack of agency. People with cancer may feel that their power to make decisions about their health, their life, and their death has been limited or removed entirely. This is the major conflict in the book. When one's life and death are uncertain, it's important to make the most of what time is left. Though Hazel's condition is relatively stable, she is still limited in what she does in life by her poorer quality of health. She has to use an oxygen tank as her lungs are at risk of filling with fluid, and she becomes fatigued easily. Hazel wants to have good quality of life and wants to live a life that is good for others. She is a vegetarian and tries very hard to not make a negative impact on the world.

The plot action really begins to build when Hazel introduces Augustus to her favorite book, and both of them are left with questions unanswered by the author. Augustus, who is later revealed to have had a relapse in his condition, tries to use his remaining time to enjoy Hazel's company and help her make the most out of her time, too. He decides to use his Wish (granted by a charity for young people with cancer) to take Hazel to Amsterdam to visit her favorite author and ask their questions in person. Though the author does not turn out to be the kind of person they were expecting, Hazel and Augustus have a great time in Amsterdam and are only mildly limited by their health.

I believe that the cigarette Augustus puts between his lips, but does not smoke, is a great object to represent the conflict of this story. The cigarette, on its own, does not have the power to kill someone. The cigarette must be given the power by being lit. This can be a metaphor for depression or poor quality of life experienced by someone with cancer. While cancer has a huge impact on someone's health condition and capability for physical activity, cancer must be given the power to keep someone down. Augustus teaches Hazel that it's about accepting each other, accepting oneself, and accepting the cards we are dealt in life and making the  most of it. Even with cancer, there are many brilliant things someone can do with their time. 

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