Category: The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars is a novel composed by John Green, a prestigious creator of Young Adult fiction. The story gives a record of Hazel, who can barely recall existence without malignant growth and has nearly surrendered expectation on her life. She at that point meets Augustus Waters, a malignant growth survivor and once had a tumor in his leg, which peruses her preferred books for her and spends time with her and this encourages her to accumulate quality. Both of them manage malignancy and love. The two fall pitifully infatuated, despite the fact that they realize their story will just end in deplorability.

The story is written in an amazing manner which causes us to turn into a piece of the characters and feel similar feelings. Hazel and Augustus bid to perusers through their comical inclination and their mental fortitude. Be that as it may, behind this mental fortitude, them two shroud their torment to ensure their families. John Green, through Hazel and Augustus, brings both: tears and giggling.

Hazel Grace Lancaster hasn’t encountered the ‘ungainliness’ that is young life in three years subsequent to being determined to have malignant growth when she was thirteen. Constrained by her mom, Hazel Grace hesitantly goes to a disease bolster gathering to meet other people who probably comprehend what she’s experiencing.

This insipid and really hopeless care group is the place she meets the enchanting, alluring and unremarkably attractive Augustus ‘Gus’ Waters, an amputee whose positive thinking towards life intrigues Hazel. Gus turns out to be promptly pulled in to Hazel and, however the inclination is shared, Hazel realizes that their affection is bound from the beginning.

Be that as it may, Gus still charms Hazel. He completely changes herself by giving her, as she states: ‘Everlastingly inside the numbered of days’ and changing her frame of mind towards life.

The two travel to Amsterdam to look for the writer of their preferred book, ‘An Imperial Affliction’, where their relationship blooms and they discover that life, with or without malignancy, is difficult to look when all is said in done, and some of the time the individuals who encourage you to settle on brave and indiscreet decisions can’t generally cull up the fortitude to make their own.

Their ‘little interminability’ advises you that even the most awful romantic tale can be idyllic, smart, silly and loaded with inspiration, in any event, when you know there’s no possibility of consistently having a ‘fantasy’ finishing.

John Green (additionally the creator of blockbusters ‘Searching For Alaska’, ‘An Abundance of Katherine’s’ and ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’) makes you extremely upset in the most ideal manner, and makes you cry, chuckle, and grin all through. Despite the fact that he writes in a playful and cheerful way, you can at present sense Hazel’s disturbance at life, which is charming, as despite the fact that Hazel Grace is compelled to be adult for her age, you can see she’s still only a cantankerous, cranky teenager.

With a film set to be discharged in June, Hazel and Gus have just charmed a huge number of hearts with their rousing and drawing in story. Despite the fact that numerous books have been corrupted by the motion picture, you can detect just by the trailer that this film will satisfy its hopes. Shailene Woodley, an honor winning on-screen character, and newcomer Ansel Elgort, will star as the affection wiped out youngsters. I trust that they will depict the characters honestly and sincerely.

The Fault in Our Stars is one of those books you can’t quit perusing, yet you never need it to end. It’s warm, happy and manages a touchy theme like malignancy in such a downplayed and unpretentious way. You feel it’s only one of life’s numerous issues and, despite the fact that it’s an intense issue, Hazel and Gus instruct you that you can’t give an ailment a chance to like malignant growth influence your adoration forever.

This book is valuable. It reveals to you that you can’t surrender in any event, when something is attempting to prevent you from getting a charge out of a glad life. It’s an uncommon book that is enthusiastic and loaded with light. The Fault in Our Stars is something that will speak to everybody, as it pulls on your heart strings and makes you chuckle. Be that as it may, above all, it makes you consider how important love is, the way short an actual existence can be, and how only one individual can completely change yourself in the most basic manner.

The environment in the book ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ is a big part of the book. Through the environmental descriptions in the book one can imagine the scenes in the head and this makes it a good book that arouses the interest of the reader. The author John Green has done it well, and it is a part that makes the book fun to read. The book has a nice environment that captivates the reader through the descriptions.

There are two different ways to describe the environments. They are referred to as referring to environmental description and design environmental description. A referencing environmental description is when a character in the book or when the author himself describes the environment for the reader and a shaping environmental description allows the reader to read in and feel the environments where the characters move. In this case, this book contains both a reference environmental description and a descriptive environmental description, since the book is presented from the main character Hazel’s perspective, however, there are paragraphs from the book where one has to make one’s own picture. She is the person who explains how it looks around her and it is also she who tells how both the social and physical environment look. She explains how something looks, how it smells, tastes and feels and also how they sound. She also describes what feeling she gets from the environment she is in.

The main place that the story takes place in is Indianapolis, and this place is where everyone of the main characters in the book lives. Her life in Indianapolis merely revolves around her home, the hospital and the support group. Hazel describes Indiana as someplace where she feels confined: ‘It was a cloudy day, typical Indiana: the kind of weather that boxes you in’.

John Green’s way of writing is very good because he writes with clear environmental descriptions that the places are imaginable. Usually, I exclude the environment when reading these types of books, but in this case it is difficult to exclude the environment. Hazel lives and visits many different places in the book. In the book’s introduction she spent most of her life at home, but with the help of Augustus her life began to resemble a healthy sixteen-year-old’s life. After she met Augustus, she wanted to visit the Netherlands. When they were in the Netherlands I noticed extra clear descriptions, which may be because the environment in the Netherlands differs from the environment in Indianapolis. “There were elm everywhere along the canals and a lot of seeds blew from them. But they did not look like seeds. They just looked like minimal rose petals drained of color. These pale petals gathered in the wind like birds flocking – thousands, like a spring snowstorm”.

The mood of this story varies depending on which part of the book you are reading, since the book deals with several different aspects of life. Some scenes can have a romantic mood, but others can have a really sad and melancholic mood. In the introduction, we can sense that this story is bittersweet. It is depressing to know that someone in the support group will die and even to know that we, ourselves, will die. For that reason, the mood of this book is often sorrowful or full of grief. A quote from the book is ‘Small boats were moored by the brick beaches, half full of rainwater, some of them were near to sink.’ This quote shows the grief that lies in the book, because even though Hazel and Augustus were in Amsterdam and enjoyed being together in Amsterdam. This quote has a ton of sadness in it, which helps convey that feeling throughout the book. This book contains many different emotions like shock, worry and curiosity. The reader experiences emotions from Hazel, throughout her story and adventurers. The mood change as Hazel does. When she is having a good day, the mood of the novel is cheerful. When she is having a bad day, the mood of the novel is depressing and melancholy. The fact that I can relate to her gets a deeper emotion between a character and a reader because it allows the readers to really ‘see’ what it would be like to live with cancer.

Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet and Josh Boone’s The Fault in Our Stars share similarities closely intertwined; both romance-tragedies share key themes regarding the necessity of pain, price of intimacy and the inevitability of fate. Equally, they question the impact of love in two different respects, both of which consider death but more importantly, that love surpasses the difficulties of living.

Mortality and its prelude pain, share a distinct presence being ubiquitous to both tragedies, as even within the first moments of both films we learn of the deaths soon to come. As a build-up of water is located in her lungs, Hazel has learned to adapt to pain her entire life. Yet she fears the emotional pain of those around her when she eventually passes, this being evident in her questions she asks Peter Van Houten in Amsterdam and her metaphor of being “a grenade” and ‘feeling obliged to minimize the casualties”. However, when Gus succumbs to his osteosarcoma spreading, Hazel learns that pain not only must be lived with but is a direct scar of love, she wouldn’t have it any other way, pain is the consequence of great memories of Augustus and her love for him surpasses that pain. The sacrifice she is willing to make is well summarized in Hazel’s eulogy for Gus, “If you want the rainbow you have to deal with the rain’.Similarly, in Romeo + Juliet, love bears pain and in the climax of the film both Romeo and Juliet are subjected to the worst pain they would experience. Subsequently ending their lives in hopes of being reunited in death. Suffering in Romeo + Juliet is brought on by love, and alike The Fault in Our Stars the ultimate sacrifice is made in pursuit of love and is paid in pain. The director of both films displays love is the most important part of living through the sacrifices characters make for it.

Love overcomes pain

Love is shown to be the binding element of both films and the catalyst to hurt. In Romeo + Juliet the forcefulness of Romeo’s love is shown as a violent rush that overpowers their beliefs and catapults them into defiance of their family and isolation. The film centers more around the barriers that obstruct their passion rather than its blossoming. The climax of their love proves that love is brutal and further, that “violent delights have violent ends”. As Romeo puts it “love is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like a thorn.” But despite its brutal nature it can bares the potential to resolve conflict. Romeo and Juliet’s love ends the ancient feud between the Capulets and Montagues. No matter how long hatred festers, love can overcome it. True love not only refuses to surrender to hate but also has the greatest power of ending hostility. Josh Boone’s depiction of love in The Fault in Our Stars is of a similar sort. Love is shown to have a bittersweet ending with Hazel cherishing the memories of Gus. Hazel states such a similar thought opening Gus’ eulogy with “Without pain, how could we know joy?”. Both films prove that love conquers hardship and is worth its turmoil.

Coming of age

The path to maturity is yet another driving factor for the plot of both films. For both Hazel and Augustus, their cancer is paired with their passage toward adulthood and the story unfolds as they grapple with coming of age in the face of their diagnoses. The relationship they develop is stunted by the fear of thier inevitable deaths and the process of transitioning into adulthood is subsequently a difficult one. Death helps Hazel see the importance moving on, a virtue neither Romeo nor Juliet were seen to have. Being blinded in irrational love, their unsteady transformation into adults was cut short from the ramifications of their emotions. Over four days, Romeo is subject to many situations that mature him and make him a more experienced individual. For example, he makes the decision to avenge the death of Mercutio, which leads to the death of Tybalt, which leads to his exile.

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-fault-in-our-stars/themes/coming-of-age

Conclusion

The importance of love is a key theme well defined in both films, and ultimately, overcomes the cost of its survival. Through the resolving of conflict and overcoming of trauma, both films highlight the inherent virtues of love and the powers that accompany it.

• Title: The Fault In Our Stars
• Author: John Green
• Publisher: Penguin Books UK
• Number of pages: 313

Why did I choose this book: I chose this book because I already saw the movie and I found it very impressive, so I was curious about the book.

1. a: Realistic, love story
2. b: The story is told from Hazel’s perspective.
3. c: I think the writer chose for this title because it stands for that person with cancer are a fault but that doesn’t mean that they are less important.

• When: The story is set recent, in the same time we live. They are very modern, the are driving cars, have mobile phones and they took the airplane to The Netherlands.
• Where: Hazel’s home, Augustus’s home, the support group, Amsterdam.
• Time: It is hard to say but I think from the beginning till the end there was 0,5 or 1 year expired.

Summary.

Hazel is a sixteen-year-old girl she already should be dead. She has cancer and three years ago she already thought she couldn’t live anymore, but a medicine made sure she could live at least a few years longer. Hazel doesn’t have many friends because she can’t go to school. Her parents are extremely worried about so they send her to a support group from the church. She finds it terrible, but someday there is suddenly a new boy at the group. His name is Augustus Waters. He immediately caught her attention. Augustus actually only came to the group because of his friend Isaac, who has eye cancer. Augustus himself also had cancer but survived, but he had to amputate one of his legs, so he only has one leg left. Hazel and August start to hang out together and quickly they have a very strong friends relationship. Hazel actually doesn’t wants to make new friends because she doesn’t want to hurt people when she dies, so she keeps people a little remote. Slowly the two fall in love with each other, but Hazel finds it hard to allow that. He favorite book is ‘’An Imperial Affliction’’ by Peter van Houten, a writer who lives in Amsterdam. The book is about a sick girl and in the middle of the story it just stops. Hazel thinks it is because the girl dies or becomes to sick to write the book further, but she really wants to know what happened with the other characters in the book and how the story ends. Advised by Hazel, Augustus also reads the book. Now he is curious too, and decides to email the secretary of Peter van Houten. She tells them that Peter van Houten wants to answer all her questions, but not over the internet they have to come to Amsterdam so he can tell them in person because he doesn’t know if he can trust them. But there is one problem the parents Hazel don’t have enough money to pay the trip and she already used her wish from The Wish Foundation. Augustus arranges that he can use his wish from The Wish Foundation to fly him and Hazel to Amsterdam so they both can meet Peter van Houten. They have an unbelievable nice and romantic time together and they are totally in love, but the meeting with Peter van Houten doesn’t seem to be as good as they hoped. Van Houten seems to be an alcoholic and he’s absolutely not friendly. Hazel and Augustus still didn’t get the answers they hoped for.

When they are home again it turns out that Augustus’ cancer returned. They spend as much time as they can together during the last phase of Augustus’s life. After a couple of weeks Hazel gets a call in the middle of the night, it’s the mother of Augustus telling her that he died. Hazel is devastated. Peter van Houten suddenly shows op at the funeral of Augustus. She is not sure if she wants contact with him but she can’t avoid him. He was drunk again so he was acting funny about it all. During the conversation, Hazel hears that van Houten has lost his daughter because she had cancer and that that’s the reason why he stopped writing.

After the death of Augustus, Hazel finds out that Augustus planned to write an end for the book for her. She searches on his computer but finds nothing. Later, the father of Augustus calls her to tell her that thy found a notebook where the first pages are torn out. Hazel is looking for the book everywhere and ended up writing another letter to van Houten to ask If Augustus wrote to him. Eventually, van Houten said that Augustus didn’t wrote an end of the book because he was to sick to do that, but he did asked van Houten to write an end for Hazel.

Hazel: Is a sixteen-year-old girl. She is very smart but has few friends because most of the time she was in the hospital because she has cancer and can’t goes to school. Her mom thinks she is depressed so she sends her to a support group where she meets Augustus.

Augustus: is a seventeen-year-old boy, he is very confident even though he has one leg left. He survived cancer, but later in the book he find out that he has cancer again. He falls in love with Hazel.

Isaac: Is a friend of Augustus, he also goes to the support group. He has eye cancer, he already has one eye removed, in the middle of the book the doctors have to also remove his other eye.

Peter van Houten: writer of ‘an imperial affliction’ the favorite book of Hazel.

He is an alcoholic and doesn’t want contact with anybody.

How is the book written:

I think that the book is well written I understood everything, they didn’t use very difficult words and explained everything very good. I didn’t had the feeling that I wanted to skip a part of the book, the opposite actually I wanted to keep reading so I know what was going to happen and how it would end.

The story was…

• a: Very good
• b: exactly right
• c: I chose this book because I already saw the movie and I found it very impressive, so I was curious about the book. Also my friends told me it was a good book.
• d: I would recommend this book because, it is very impressive. It really makes you think about life and how fast it can be over. So you have to appreciate everything in life is the lessons I learned from it.

My opinion.

As I already said before I find the book very impressive. I couldn’t stop reading because I wanted to know what was going to happen and how it was going to end. It was very realistic so you can relate to most parts of the book. Also I think cancer is still a hard subject to talk about for everyone, and it’s for people who for example ha d cancer that they are not the only ones.

Richard Puz, the American author, once said, “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.” One’s inevitable death, due to sickness, will be mourned by loved ones, but the memories that have formed throughout that relationship will remain forever. In his novel, The Fault in Our Stars, John Green presents two teenagers developing a relationship, while both battling illnesses of their own. John Green develops the Romance genre in his novel, The Fault in Our Stars, by utilizing elements that help readers connect with the characters.

Green demonstrates the development of the characters, as two star-crossed lovers that are both dealing with terminal illnesses. To begin, the relationship begins as two teenagers that go to a youth group together. To illustrate, Hazel went to a youth group for teenagers dealing with illnesses, and after a discussion, she has introduced a boy named Augustus, who had also been dealing with an illness (The Fault in Our Stars 14-15). This is the start of the relationship between the main hero and heroine. They are two teenagers that have made the acquaintance of each other, both dealing with the illnesses they have. Furthermore, the relationship between Hazel and Augustus has further developed into an affectionate relationship. To illustrate, Augustus knew that Hazel wanted to visit Amsterdam, so he used his “make-a-wish” to fly Hazel and himself to Amsterdam, where they had gone a romantic lunch date (The Fault in Our Stars 162). The relationship between the two friends had further developed into an affectionate relationship. Along with the development of this relationship, Hazel experiences emotional backlash from it. To illustrate, she has doubts on whether she is good enough for Gus, as well as her sickness being a burden to the ones around her, and she tells her parents that she just wants to be alone, and not negatively affect the ones around her (The British Journal 2). The growing relationship helps Hazel grow emotionally so that she is able to cope with the emotional stresses that she has to face. Therefore, it is through the development of the characters, both dealing with illnesses, that develops the romance genre.

In addition to the development of characters, the style in which Green wrote this novel helps readers relate to the characters. Readers are able to relate to the emotions of the characters in the novel. To illustrate, Hazel and Augustus are both appealing to readers through their sense of humour and their courage, but behind this, they both have their desires to protect their families (The Guardian, AnushlaO 1). Both being victim of illness, Hazel and Augustus both feel like they are burdens to their families. They try to make sure that their personal problems do not affect their loved ones, which is a feeling that readers can relate back to. In addition, readers can also relate to the experiences the characters face in the novel. When Augustus had taken Hazel to his home to have dinner with his parents, she felt special, but only until she thought that he brought home a new girl every night (The Fault in Our Stars 27). Augustus made Hazel feel special, but she thought that this was the way he treated all girls. Often times, people who are insecure will act carefully when they have affectionate feelings for another person, and letting insecurities, such as her sickness, affect the way she continues the relationship with Augustus. Above all, the style in which the story is written revolves around the development of the relationship between Hazel and Augustus. While Hazel and Augustus were having a casual discussion about poetry, Augustus surprisingly confesses his love for Hazel (The Fault in Our Stars 153). Despite being young and ill, Augustus desires to be with Hazel, knowing that the moment of their death is inevitable. Therefore, Green has written his novel in a style that enables readers to relate to the characters.

In conjunction with the style the novel is written, another element used is how the storyline unfolds, as the couple continuously develops their romance, while battling illnesses. The story begins with two teenagers meeting each other in a youth group. To illustrate, Hazel attends a youth group, along with other victims of illnesses, where she makes the acquaintance of Augustus Waiters, also another victim of illness (The Fault in Our Stars 6). They are both teenagers that are currently dealing with their sicknesses, and they continue their friendship, supporting each other in their illnesses. Their relationship has developed into an affectionate one, but they had faced a severe problem. The story had unfolded into two people falling in love, one of whom has cancer (The Guardian, Milo 1). When Hazel and Augustus are enjoying their trip in Amsterdam, Augustus tells Hazels that he had been scanned for a severe case of cancer (The Fault in Our Stars 214). The real battle with cancer had begun, as Augustus’ case of cancer is now very severe. Furthermore, after a long battle with cancer, the problem between the couple had been resolved. To illustrate, Augustus had dies shortly after his prefuneral, when cancer had stopped his heart (The Fault in Our Stars 261). Although this is not the outcome that they had wished for, Augustus’ long battle with cancer had ended with his death. Therefore, the unfolding of Hazel and Augustus’ relationship, as well as their battle with cancer, is how Green incorporated the element of storyline in his novel.

Green utilized elements that helped connect the reader with the characters, as well as showing the struggles of illnesses and death. No matter the obstacles or struggles that may occur, Green shows that if a couple truly loves each other, they will overcome those obstacles.

The fault in our stars is a book about a 16-year-old girl named Hazel Grace Lancaster suffering from a thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs. Since she is very depressed and lonely she loves to read books. One day her mom notices she reads the same book “An Imperial Afflicton” over and over again. She visits doctor and tells her about her condition behalf of which the doctor recommends her to join a cancer patient group where people going through tough phases of life like herself come together to share stories and socialize. One fine evening while she enters the cancer patient group building she bumps into a guy named Agustus Waters. Agustus is a guy whose osteosarcoma caused him to lose his right leg. Agustus is a surviver of cancer but he comes to cancer patient group just for his friend named issac who unfortunately suffers from eye cancer. In the group everyone starts to share their biggest fear of their life. Agustus says his biggest fear is being oblivion then suddenly hazel debates and says everything and everyone that exists will come to an end oblivion is inevitable.

After the class ends while hazel waits for her mom to pick her up from the cancer patient group Agustus comes by and talks to her and both share their liking about books. Everything goes fine until Agustus pulls out a cigarette and puts it in between his lips. Hazel gets angry thinking he smokes knowing that cigarette causes cancer and he being a cancer surviver smokes and promotes a company that spreads cancer then Agustus smiles and says he doesn’t ever light the cigarette he just puts cigarette in his mouth as a metaphor that not giving the power to the thing that kills even it is very close. Then Hazel smiles and they both go for a movie that agustus house where they talk about books and how agustus loves a book about zombies and stormtroopers. Hazel talks how good an imperial affliction is and recommends agustus to read the book. Agustus reads the book and finds out that book ends in half sentence probably character dies suddenly. Agustus gets curious and asks hazel. Hazel has the same question and says she has been asking this question to the writer peter van hal via email but doesn’t ever get an email back. One day in a phone call agustus reads his email to Hazel which apparently comes from the writer than Hazel has been trying to contact for ages. When asked how Agustus says he contacted his assistant and requested to forward to the writer. In the email he says he cant tell how the story ends because she might leak the info and demand for a sequel might arise and invites them to Amsterdam where the writer lives.

Hazel gets excited and tells her mom about it but mom says cost is an issue because they are not financially strong. Agustus tells her to use her wish which is provided by a company called genie which grants one wish to the dying patients. Hazel apparently already used her wish to go to Disneyland while she used to be a kid. Agustus laughs at her foolishness and they go back to their home. Next day agustus invites Hazel to a park over a sandwich like a picnic and says he wants to use his wish for her and go together to Amsterdam to meet the writer of the book and find out the answers like what happens at the end. Everything was fine until one morning she couldn’t breathe properly and had to be rushed to a hospital. Her lungs filled up with liquid so she couldn’t breathe. She gets better after medication but she feels sad that she couldn’t go to Amsterdam to meet the writer and get answer to her questions. After few days her mom and agustus manage everything and they go to Amsterdam to meet the writer they were so excited for. They reach Amsterdam and go to the writers house where they find out the writer is a drunk and it was his assistant that Invited them to Amsterdam. Writer disrespects them makes fun about their cancer disease and tells them to leave.

They get sad and sit in a bench by the park where Agustus says he developed cancer to and is in his last stage. One night Agustus gets sick at a gas station and calls Hazel for help and is taken to the emergency room. Agustus gets sick and knows he is about to die so he requests Hazel to not stay at hospital to see him die. Next morning she gets the news that Agustus passed away leaving a letter to the writer that saying how beautiful and smart she is and how lucky he felt to get to love her.

This book is for everyone who is going through a tough phase in life because the character in this book go through a lot of hardship but never give up. Their love keeps them together and takes them through every tough situation. I have read many love story books but “THE FAULT IN OUR STARS” is the most true to life and simple story that doesn’t fail to touch my heart. So I want to recommend this book as it is a full of emotion and refreshing read.

Hazel Grace is the protagonist in the novel, as she is the center of the story and the major character. She is a seventeen- year -old girl who has had cancer for a while now. Due to her mother’s request she attends a support group for cancer patients. Upon one of these meetings, she meets Augustus Waters who has had cancer himself. However, he is there to support his friend Isaac who currently has cancer as Hazel does at this point in the novel. Augustus no longer has cancer as his osteosarcoma was rid of through leg amputation. Augustus and Hazel come to learn that they are very similar with just as similar interests. Such as reading but precisely the novel “An Imperial Affliction”. This novel coincidently is about a girl who has cancer. Time passes after they discuss over the novel and Augustus surprises Hazel that he had contacted the author and that the author, Van Houten said he would only answer Hazel’s question about the novel’s ending in person taking them on an adventure that they never saw coming in the end where they find love, sadness, and happiness.

In this film and novel, I chose the developmental theory of Psychoanalytical theory which was born from Erik Erikson. Since his theory describes eight stages that fit Hazel’s challenging developmental crisis due to cancer. Cancer is the factor that plays a huge roll in Hazel Grace’s life. Erikson declares that when a person experiences a psychosocial crisis it could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development. In this case, cancer affects her development negatively.

In the stage of Industry vs Inferiority, it occurs from ages of five to twelve. One thing that occurs in this stage, which is stage four, is that it is where the child could gain a great self-esteem from their peer group. If the initiative is not encountered it will result in the child feeling inferior, and doubtful of one’s abilities. For Hazel, in this stage she was diagnosed with the terminal form of thyroid cancer that has now spread to her lungs. This sets her aside from other children as throughout this stage the healthy children were able to go through this stage and complete it and find that sense of being inferior. However, for Hazel she now couldn’t get that high self-esteem from her peer group as she feels outcasted for her illness. This is shown as Hazel finished high school early to not associate with those her age since she was surrounded with people that were not like her.

The other stage from Erikson’s theory found in the movie is the stage of Intimacy vs Isolation. The six stage of psychosocial development. In this stage it centers on forming relationships with other people that is with someone who is not a family member. If one is successful in this stage, it ends with a relationship that is happy that contains commitment and care. However, for Grace at first, she fails at this stage. When one fails at this stage it leads to isolation, loneliness, and possibly depression. Hazel Grace has been making herself fail at this stage as she knows yet denies to act on her feelings for Augustus for a period of time. She developed the habit of closing off to situations or people to avoid future pain as relationships come with attachment. All she could think of was when she would die it would hurt those who she left behind, and her parents have no option since they are family. Yet, this mentality of hers led her to believe that she should minimize the amount of people she’d leave behind, hence her reluctance to her feelings for Augustus at first. This however changes as they fall in love and she lets herself. Grace towards Augustus says, “I fell in love with the way you fall asleep; slowly and then all at once”. (Green, 2012) Now, Grace has passed this stage successfully and she no longer was fearful to commit to a relationship, no longer was isolated. Instead, she now had a relationship that withheld care, commitment, safety, and love with Augustus, and a friendship with Isaac.

‘The Fault in Our Stars’ and ‘Holding Up the Universe’ are two books written by award winning authors. They each have a unique and intriguing storyline that catches the reader’s attention and has them at the edge of their seat throughout the whole story. Although both stories are not in the action genre and are both love stories, they completely manage to engage the reader and capture ones emotions and compels them to fall in love with the characters.

‘The Fault in Our Stars’ was published in January of 2012, written by John Green, the bestselling author of several books such as ‘Paper Towns’ and ‘Looking for Alaska’. Green won several awards for his writing and is not only a writer, but an editor, producer, and educator too. (Green, 2014) This young adult fiction novel follows the journeys of 16-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster as she battles cancer and falls in love. As the storyline progresses you watch as Hazel falls in love and learns more not only about the world but about herself.

‘Holding Up the Universe’ was first published in April of 2016. It was written by the bestselling author of the novel ‘All The Bright Places’, Jennifer Niven. It is a young adult fiction and romance novel about a girl and a boy both facing major conflicts in their lives who eventually cross paths; the contrast between the brutal circumstances and the beauty of coming together is truly remarkable. The moral of the story is to truly love someone inside and out, and to appreciate them more for who they are on the inside and not for their appearance.

One aspect that is similar in the two stories is the morals or lessons that you learn from reading them. Even though each lesson is different, not many novels teach you important life lessons like these. In ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, you learn through the main character, Hazel, and her experiences, to love life and yourself, despite whatever circumstances you are experiencing. This happens through watching her learn to look at life in a completely different way, and fully grasp on to the fact that her cancer does not define her. She also learns to appreciate what she does have in her life instead of focusing on all that she does not, which is another extremely important life lesson.

Furthermore, in ‘Holding Up the Universe’, an important lesson learned from this book is to act dependent on your own feelings, not on society’s opinions, and to focus on putting your happiness and self-satisfaction above everyone else’s. This is really an important lesson that should be addressed more especially among today’s generation where most teenagers and even adults brush aside their real opinions and follow the crowd.

Another important lesson taught in ‘Holding Up the Universe’ is to accept people for who they truly are on the inside despite what they look like. This is also an important lesson because it is another issue commonly experienced today. In that, many people judge from the outside and never actually give themselves the chance to get to know others before they decide if they like them or not and instead base their opinions on what they’ve heard from other people. Which takes us back to the previous issue of doing as other people do and not having an independent opinion.

One significant difference I noticed is that while ‘Holding Up the Universe’ is more of a straightforward story that is mostly emotional, ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ has more of a thrilling and engaging storyline with deeper meaning and more metaphors behind many aspects of the story. For example, the author chooses to focus on other aspects of life such as the fact that death is inevitable and that there is no way to avoid it therefore no reason to fear it. By doing this, he also expands in the lessons and morals of the story.

The two novels both have an amazing purpose and lesson. Books like these should be more recognized since they teach the reader to be emotionally aware and carry valuable life lessons. The two books have quite a few similarities but are also very different. While they both portray a love story through unpleasant circumstances, each storyline focuses on different aspects of life. Overall, I enjoyed reading both novels but personally I prefer ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ over ‘Holding Up the Universe’.