This post is a full analysis of The Fault in Our Stars book characters after reading the entirety of the novel. Make sure you’re all caught up!
Let’s Review
So, I’ve finished reading The Fault in Our Stars, and to be quite frank, it’s sad. Augustus dies of cancer, leaving Hazel to cope with the pain she was afraid she’d force on Augustus.
Having reached the end of the story in a book that has so many themes, I thought I’d reflect on what stood out to me most–the glaring differences between Hazel and Augustus. Now I know what you’re thinking. How could I put two lovers against one another like this? To this I’d answer, it was hard not to. Despite their differences, they manage to influence each other for the better, especially Gus when it came to Hazel. Let’s take a look at how John Green uses juxtaposition to highlight two different approaches to life, and how each character changed because of it.
Comparing the Characters in The Fault in Our Stars – Hazel and Augustus
Hazel is a girl diagnosed with cancer who wants to live her life quietly and closed off from the outside world. Then she meets Augustus Waters, the ever intriguing boy who wants to make himself known to everyone. They live two similar lives but approach things very differently.
Now I know what you’re thinking. How can I put one of the most beloved book couples against one another, especially these two who have gone through so much together? Well, it’s kind of hard not to when they have such distinct characteristics. It’s called juxtaposition.
What is Juxtaposition?
Juxtaposition is when the author puts two concepts alongside one another to highlight the differences between them. Hazel and Augustus are foils to one another—the type of juxtaposition that specifically compares characters.
It makes for an interesting dynamic. Hazel and Augustus share fascinating conversations that explore topics such as life, death, relationships, and human limitations. In the end, both of their characters help to answer the question: How should we live our lives?
While Hazel seems to take a more realistic approach when it comes to viewing her life, Augustus has a more starry-eyed, optimistic way of looking at the world. So which way is better? Let’s take a look.
Hazel’s Realism
Hazel Grace Lancaster is our lovely protagonist who lives with a terminal illness of thyroid cancer. She doesn’t want pity for it. Throughout the story we get the sense that she is incredibly practical, down-to-earth, honest, realistic, and skeptical. She accepts reality as she sees it. Instead of waiting on a miracle she knows will never happen, she thinks on how to cope with her reality.
A lot of her thought processes come from her most favorite book ever, called An Imperial Affliction. One quote she reads from it says, “There will come a time when all of us are dead. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught.”
And it’s something she lives by. Hazel doesn’t put much pressure on herself to be anything great. She wants to live her life quite simply, reflecting feelings similar to that of apathy. I can’t blame her. It’s unfair when she has much less time than anyone else.
When she meets Augustus, she learns how to live her life more spontaneously while still maintaining her realistic outlook on life.
What I find interesting is that at the end of the book when she learns that Augustus is sick, her natural reaction is to grapple onto hope—a perfectly human reaction to seeing a loved one in that type of situation.
When he does inevitably pass away, she cherishes the small amount of time she was blessed to share with him.
Augustus’ Optimism
Augustus is very much different from Hazel. He fears oblivion. Before it is his time to pass away, he wants to make something of himself. Something that everyone loves and admires.
So, he puts on a show every day, making memories and pushing himself as much as possible just so everyone can see how great he is. He has no problem dreaming beyond what he has now (despite the hand he was dealt), and he has no problem expressing his true feelings. He wants to be in control of his destiny.
We see Augustus push himself beyond his limits the most when he attempts to buy a pack of cigarettes from the store by himself, despite the cancer that was withering his health away. In Hazel’s words, “The Augustus Waters of the crooked smiles and unsmoked cigarettes was gone, replaced by this desperate humiliated creature sitting there beneath me.”
It’s only in the hospital when Augustus stops pushing himself. He starts to listen to his body instead of his ambitions. And it’s nothing to be ashamed of. He was being honest about the condition he was in. Like everyone else, he is human after all.
I hope he realized the extraordinary impact he had on Hazel, despite their time together being short lived.
Whose Worldview do I Prefer?
What I love about this book is that it doesn’t exactly present one answer as right or wrong. John Greene simply allows his characters to exist in the story, and we as readers can draw any conclusion we’d like.
I like both perspectives. I appreciate how Hazel looks at things realistically and recognizes the limitations of herself while living with her illness. I also like Augustus’ perspective, who is always dreaming of better and pushing his limits to accomplish his desires. Both of their worldviews are flawed on their own, but when they meet together in the middle, I ultimately think it can help us to navigate our lives better.
But if this answer is unsatisfactory to you, and I had to choose one extreme or the other, then I prefer Augustus’ perspective. Even if it is cliche, I do truly admire how he was fighting for as long as he did. I like how he always had his “head up in the clouds”, how he always expressed himself, and how he always took action to get what he wanted. He truly believed that he had no limitations, and it’s his child-like hopefulness that I wish to emulate. Because while I think it’s wise to recognize our limits, it’s the mindset that we can do anything that creates greatness.
Final Thoughts:
The characters of Hazel and Augustus explore so many more beautiful themes that I’d love to explore. One of these themes is the importance of our “small” relationships, coming from a girl who was too afraid to make connections, and a boy who wanted everyone’s attention.
What do you think of the juxtaposition between Hazel and Augustus? Whose approach do you prefer?
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