Mortality in the novel "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green. An exploration of the theme with reference to the cancer patients Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, , course: IB English, language: English, abstract: “The Fault In Our Stars” is a tragic love story that deals with the sufferings and deaths of cancer patients. John Green borrows the title of the story from Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar", wherein Cassius says, “The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings.” But contrary to what Cassius says, this story establishes the conundrum that we are helpless before our destiny. In Green’s novel, Hazel and Augustus are lovers, not unlike “Antony and Cleopatra”, and “Romeo and Juliet.” But what separates them from the legendary lovers is the fact that they are born with cancer in their cells. Their story, although of great love and compassion, will not be written in the pages of history.