Essay type qeustions and analysis of this novel was done using previous formal assessments: SACAI NOV 2019, SACAI JUN 2021, SACAI
NOV 2020, SACAI NOV 2021 & SACAI SEP 2020.
ENGLISH HOME
LANGUAGE
Grade 10
Novel
The Fault in Our Stars
John Michael Green
The following past papers were used to compile these notes: SACAI NOV 2019, SACAI JUN 2021, SACAI
NOV 2020, SACAI NOV 2021 & SACAI SEP 2020.
ESSAY SACAI NOV 2019,
‘… courage [is] not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.’ - Nelson Mandela.
In an essay of 350 to 400 words evaluate the extent to which the characters in The Fault in our Stars
overcome their fears.
Courage is a central theme of the novel as the characters confront the painful realities of life threatened
by cancer. It is the extent to which they are each able to overcome their fears that becomes the measure
of their character.
❖ When we first meet Hazel, we realise she has withdrawn from the world. She knows her thyroid
cancer, while being managed temporarily, will ultimately prevail. Hazel faces her condition full-on,
without avoidance and complaining.
❖ She labels severe pain as a ‘9’ in hospital. She never allows her parents to refer to her death as an ‘if’,
insisting they know it is a ‘when’.
,❖ Her coping mechanism has been a brutal confrontation of the realities of her situation. This is a mark
of her courage; an unflinching recognition of her premature end. Then she meets Augustus Waters, a
cancer survivor who makes her realise she has been hiding from life. Hazel has not allowed herself to
hope.
❖ Augustus shows her that life can be lived fully right up to the last. Where Hazel’s courage has been
passive, Augustus presents her with active courage.
❖ His talent as a childhood basketball star has been cruelly terminated with the amputation of a leg
due to osteosarcoma and he yearns to be someone famous or heroic, to serve others so his life will
have mattered.
❖ He loves films and computer games which feature selfless heroes, The 300, V for Vendetta and Max
Mayhem. It is up to Hazel to show him that just being, and loving are enough.
❖ Augustus has a quirky sense of humour which includes dark comedic references like his fake
smoking. This connects him to Hazel who also uses irony extensively to shield herself from feeling
fear. While Hazel has tried to protect people from the ‘grenade’ effect her illness has on them as one
side of the coin of courage, Augustus has done exactly the opposite. He has not flinched from
embracing the pain of others.
❖ His previous girlfriend, Caroline Mathers underwent a hideous personality change while in the thrall
of brain cancer and treated him and everyone around her dreadfully but, while he felt he could help
her, he remained a friend.
❖ He is selflessly there for Isaac; he gives Isaac the space to grieve when his second eye is removed,
and his blindness brings about the end of his love affair with Monica. Isaac believes in love and
promises – he expects his courage to be matched in his partner.
❖ It is significant that Hazel does not entirely blame Monica for succumbing to her fears. This is why
she is so hesitant to take on a romantic relationship with Gus. She will feel responsible for his
suffering when she dies. The devastating irony of the novel is that Hazel will be the one who watches
as the boy she loves comes to terms with his early demise.
❖ When Hazel and Gus meet Van Houten, the author of the book An Imperial Affliction, they are given
a speaking example of someone who has taken the coward’s way out under the strain of a life lived
in the shadow of cancer.
❖ He is drowning in self-pity and self-blame. At the time of their first meeting in Amsterdam, the lovers
are shocked and disappointed that their hero has turned out to be an angry and drunken lout.
However, Hazel’s honesty and fearlessness prevail when she acknowledges the truths hidden in the
, author’s verbal tirade – that her need to find out the ending of the book which she loves so much is
just a disguise.
❖ What she really needs is to be certain that her ‘book’ will end with a sense of closure for her parents,
that their marriage will survive, that they will move on and still live meaningful lives. In all Hazel’s
courage, her concern is less for herself and more for those around her, affected by her impending
death.
❖ It is characteristic of Gus that in his final days he organises his own ‘funeral’ and asks his closest
friends to present their eulogy for him. Here his courage is not so much in accepting his situation as
in confronting the grief of others at his
passing. This is Hazel’s worst fear and
Augustus shows her how to overcome
it.
❖ Then his last heroic act is in the steps
he takes to ensure he returns the
favour to Hazel. He would have wanted
to be there for her, to comfort and
support her in her last days. He
reaches out after death and provides a
eulogy for her.
In the end, Gus teaches Hazel to have the courage to love. While losing Gus has been devastating for
her, they are each the richer for the experience. He saves her by providing an example of how to go
on living after suffering a terrible loss. She overcomes her fears for her parents as they reassure her
of the strength of their relationship. Their courage is proved by the future they are planning without
her and she is satisfied.
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