In the book Fault in Our Stars by John Green a scene
that stood out for me was when Augustus and Hazel had their first conversation
outside support group. In this scene Augustus ironically pulled out a cigarette
in front of hazel, who is struggling and battling lung cancer! He carelessly
places it in his mouth, creating the illusion he would smoke it in front of
her. As shocked as I was when reading, I soon came to realize that he was not
smoking the cigarette, he was creating a metaphor. He says, “You put the
killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do
its killing.” At first, I didn’t quite understand what he meant. It seemed
selfish that after being a cancer survivor himself, he had the nerve to put a
cigarette between his teeth. However, when I really thought about it, I finally
understood his meaning behind this metaphor. It’s as though Augustus is looking
death right in the eyes and saying “screw you”. He teaches a lesson to not let
anyone or anything bring you down or give them the ability to hurt you. You
need to face your fears and show them that without me letting you hurt me or
giving you power, you cannot do any harm to me. I believe John Green’s decision
to give Augustus a cigarette to use as a metaphor was a relevant way to
emphasize this message. Being a survivor of cancer he is showing that by
lighting a cigarette, you are giving something the power to kill you. You
choose to make that decision, yet so many people find it so hard to refuse. This
Metaphor in particular made me mad that so many people have the choice of
choosing to give in to the temptation that is harmful for you, but in the end
we give it power and wonder why we are getting hurt. I believe this doesn’t just
apply to the use of cigarettes. It is also demonstrating the power we have in
real life to not give in to something that will negatively affect our lives. If
we let people, or things walk all over us, we won’t achieve anything. We fall
into the trap of its power, which slowly weakens us, doing exactly what it
wants. We need to be strong and not give power to things that demand our
weakness. Our weakness is simply that we undermine ourselves and what we are
capable of. By Augustus facing the cigarette and holding it between his mouth
but not giving it power to do the killing, right there he shows his power
within himself and showing his strength.
This book really made me think and take a second look at my
life. I think I connected so much with the book because John Green manages to
relate to teenagers. Despite each character having cancer, we can still relate
and see from their point of view. We are taken on a journey in the book to see
their prospective of life. I believe not a lot of books can do this, especially
to teenagers who find it hard to actually connect with a book or even read a
book. “It’s a good life, Hazel Grace.” When Augustus said this to Hazel Grace,
it hit me straight away that indeed it is a good life. They both teach me
amazing things about life. Through the novel of their love story I see how much
they have been through and coped with but still have the will power to say how
good life is. This truly inspires me. It inspires me to recognize the beauty in
life and all the little things that we forget. We forget that the little things
are the things that make us smile, such as Augustus bringing flowers to Hazel.
This random act of kindness shows the effort he put in for her and that he was
thinking about her. They teach us that even if the world may seem cruel and
harsh and we feel like we have to give up on everything, that we must not let
it strip us of our hope, as hope is a very important thing in life. Without
hope we wouldn’t become the people we are today, as we all have been in a tough
place but somehow we made it out, how? Because we had hope. One Particular
quote from hazel that inspired me was “I had been poked and stabbed and
poisoned for years, and still I trod on” This emphasizes my point of what Hazel
can teach us. She is showing that in life you will be kicked and pushed down
and there will be obstacles that get in your way but you can choose to move on
and do what you gotta do. Hazel had it bad but she is a fine example of
resilience. She chooses to bounce back and continue her journey of her life.
Hazel and Augustus teach me that life is special and I must make each day
count, I must make the best of my days. I have learnt that I can choose to make
it a good life, but only if I allow myself to. We all face challenges. Who we
become is based on how we handle what comes our way.
