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The Fault in Our Stars

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on John Green's The Fault in Our Stars . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Fault in Our Stars: Introduction

The fault in our stars: plot summary, the fault in our stars: detailed summary & analysis, the fault in our stars: themes, the fault in our stars: quotes, the fault in our stars: characters, the fault in our stars: symbols, the fault in our stars: theme wheel, brief biography of john green.

Other Books Related to The Fault in Our Stars

• Full Title: The Fault in Our Stars
• When Written: 2002-2012
• Where Written: Indianapolis and Amsterdam
• When Published: 2012
• Literary Period: Postmodern
• Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Coming of Age
• Setting: Indianapolis, Indiana
• Climax: The meeting in Amsterdam with Van Houten
• Antagonist: Cancer
• Point of View: First Person narrative told from Hazel’s point of view

Extra Credit for The Fault in Our Stars

Dedication and Inspiration. Green’s novel is dedicated to Esther Earl. Esther was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 12 and died in 2010, shortly after her 16th birthday. Green has said that Esther was a major inspiration for the novel. Esther’s parents have since published a collection of Esther’s writings called, “This Star Won’t Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earle.”

The Silver Screen . The Fault in Our Stars is set to hit the big screen in the U.S. on June 6th, 2014. John Green spent time on set making video blogs that chronicle his artistic journey in making the film adaption of his novel. The film's trailer gained over 3 million views in less than 24 hours after it was released.

The Fault in Our Stars

Table of contents.

Published in 2012 by John Green, The Fault in Our Stars is the story of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old girl living with terminal thyroid cancer. She meets another teen, August, at a support group for kids with cancer. Hazel and Augustus initially fight their attraction because of their illnesses, but they eventually decide to have a romantic relationship. They share a brief emotional journey while facing their imminent mortality, exploring their differences and relationships with others while becoming independent young adults.

• My Storyboards

The Fault in Our Stars By John Green

John Green’s fourth novel, The Fault in Our Stars , has gained a following among tween and teen readers. This is partly due to its tragic love story, but may also be due to its thought-provoking subject matter. The book explores philosophical questions about the meaning of life, death, and suffering. While adults may find the topics in this novel heavy and too mature for children, Green believes that young readers are probably already thinking about them. Green has stated that he enjoys writing about intelligent teenagers, and he makes a point of including lines from an interview with Otto Frank ( Anne Frank’s father) in which Frank states, “I was very much surprised by the deep thoughts Anne had … And my conclusion is … most parents don’t know really their children”.

The Fault in Our Stars provides young adults with a poignant way to explore the important questions of the human experience. From a literary perspective, it calls upon students to recognize a number of important metaphors and symbols while tracing the subtle character development of the protagonists.

Student Activities for The Fault in Our Stars

Essential Questions for The Fault in Our Stars

• What makes life meaningful?
• How should humans deal with death?
• What is the role of suffering in our lives?
• What makes someone a good friend?
• How much control do we have over our own lives? Is there such as thing as destiny?
• How can good literature and/or art help us better understand our lives?

Note to the Reader

The Fault in Our Stars focuses heavily on the experience of cancer patients. While John Green acknowledges that “disease and its treatment are treated fictitiously” in his novel, he nevertheless includes a number of medical terms and cancer-related discussions. Students might benefit from a preview of the medical vocabulary in the book, including such terms as metastasize, G-tube, PET scan, PICC line, cannula, BiPAP, and prosthetic . Students should also be reminded that the novel is fictional and does not represent the experience of all cancer patients. A good starting place might be this 2014 article on teen cancer patients reacting to the novel.

Full understanding of the novel also requires familiarity with the title’s allusion . “The fault in our stars” refers to a line spoken by Cassius in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar : “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” The line refers to the ancient belief that a person’s fate was determined by the alignment of the stars upon their birth, much like the idea behind horoscopes today. In contradicting Cassius’ original line, The Fault in Our Stars announces its exploration of fate and free will. Students may benefit from an explanation of this Shakespearean allusion and a debate about its validity. As they continue reading, they will be able to make connections between the book’s title and its characters’ development.

In addition to its Julius Caesar reference, The Fault in Our Stars contains a number of other allusions to literature. The list below identifies some of the works mentioned in the novel. Consider pairing these with students’ study of the novel.

• “There’s a certain slant of light” by Emily Dickinson
• “J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot
• “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath
• “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams
• “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens
• The prologue to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
• The Greek legend of Sisyphus

More Activity Ideas for The Fault in Our Stars

• The Fault in Our Stars is a classic example of a Bildungsroman novel. Have students keep track of the different elements of Bildungsroman literature through storyboarding! Students can create a storyboard chart with illustrations and descriptions of each Bildungsroman stage.
• Create a storyboard to depict one chapter or section at a time.
• Create a storyboard that shows precise causes and effects of events.
• Add a presentation to any storyboard project.

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The Fault in Our Stars

By john green.

From interestingly relatable characters to a captivating storyline, ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ stands out as one of the best realistic fiction romance novels in literature.

About the Book

Article written by Joshua Ehiosun

C2 certified writer.

‘The Fault in Our Stars’  by John Green eloquently disseminated a heart-wrenching story to the audience and showed them the emotional vulnerability of its characters. The story dived into the ideology of its primary character, Hazel, and showed how her perception of life, cancer, and death affected her relationships.

‘The Fault in Our Stars’   presented a story where its primary character got thrown into a crisis she could never escape. Though her ailment was incurable, Hazel’s story changed for good as she met Augustus. The novel’s inculcation of love into Hazel’s life makes the story dynamic as the reader gets thrown into a state of euphoric agitation. However, the story brings its reader back to reality by revealing that Augustus would inevitably die. 

The novel propelled realism by turning Hazel’s romantic infatuation into sorrow. By losing Augustus, Hazel got thrown into the realization that her fate was ultimately inescapable. However, though she felt broken and torn, a letter from Augustus made her realize that though their love story was short, it was worth every second. The authenticity of the story made it an incredibly relatable tale. Its apt attention to intricate details about the lives of its characters made it a story worth reading.

The characters’ lives got limited to Hazel’s observation. Because the story occurred in the first-person perspective, Hazel’s relationship with the characters was the only way to give an insight into their lives. For one, Patrick got described as an over-optimistic middle-aged man who felt thankful for losing his fertility to cancer. Though some characters had a subtle and happy persona, Hazel still defined the majority as sad people waiting to die.

For the non-terminal characters in the novel, a shadow of sadness clouded them as each had a personal issue that made their life terrible. Peter Van Houten became a mean alcoholic because of the feeling of getting isolated from his family legacy. Both Hazel and Augustus’s parents never felt happy because they watched their children slowly lose to cancer. Some had a spark in their personality; one of them was Kaitlyn, Hazel’s friend from her life before cancer.

‘ The Fault in Our Stars’  dialogues was natural and progressive. The story’s fluidity made them intricately definitive. Though it got narrated from the first-person perspective, its dialogues were not dependent on the story’s narrator; this added to character authenticity. Though, for the most part, the tone had a melancholic affiliation, there were times when dialogues were happy and romantic. John Green’s use of short but precise sentences ensured the story never lost its emotional grip on the reader.

Writing Style and Conclusion

‘The Fault in Our Stars’  employed an excellent writing technique that disseminated story plots progressively. The use of compact sentences with a detailed description of events made the story leave an impression of realism on the mind of its reader. John Green’s use of simple wording made the story compact. 

The novel had a great ending because it expressed the essence of tragedy and love. It ended with Hazel stating that Augustus was the choice she never regretted. Though this proved her love for him, it did not dilute the fact that she was dying; this made the ending realistic. From the story, Hazel always admired abrupt endings, and her story’s ending was a perfect portrayal of an abrupt ending.

Is The Fault in Our Stars a good novel?

‘The Fault in Our Stars’   is a great novel. The characters, dialogues, and themes work perfectly in sync to create a story that draws out emotions from the reader. Because it pays attention to the lives of its characters intricately, the novel makes the reader relate to the story personally.

Who are the primary characters in The Fault in Our Stars ?

The primary characters in  ‘The Fault in Our Stars’   are Hazel and Augustus. Other characters that had an immense influence on the storyline are Peter Van Houten, Hazel’s hero; Fannie Lancaster, Hazel’s mom; Isaac, Augustus’s friend; Kaitlyn, Hazel’s friend; Lidewiji, Van Houten’s assistant and Dr. Maria, Hazel’s doctor.

What killed Augustus in The Fault in Our Stars ?

Augustus died from cancer. After he went for a checkup, it got discovered that his cancer had returned and spread throughout his body. On returning from Amsterdam, his health began to decline, and after some time, he gave in.

What is the last part of Augustus’s letter to Hazel?

“You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers.”

The Fault in Our Stars Review

Book Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Book Description: In 'The Fault in Our Stars' Hazel's life transforms through love and pain after meeting Augustus.

Book Author: John Green

Book Edition: First Edition

Book Format: Hardcover

Publisher - Organization: Dutton Juvenile

Date published: January 10, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-525-47700-1

Number Of Pages: 313

• Writing Style
• Lasting Effect on Reader

‘The Fault in Our Stars’  is a novel that tells the story of a sixteen-year-old girl, Hazel, who meets Augustus Waters. Hazel begins a journey that leads her to meet her hero, fall in love, and experience intense pain.

• Incredible story
• The novel has great characters
• Dialogues are fluid
• The characters are relatable
• The ending was inconclusive about Hazel

About Joshua Ehiosun

Joshua is an undying lover of literary works. With a keen sense of humor and passion for coining vague ideas into state-of-the-art worded content, he ensures he puts everything he's got into making his work stand out. With his expertise in writing, Joshua works to scrutinize pieces of literature.

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The Fault in Our Stars

By john green, the fault in our stars literary elements.

Young Adult Fiction

Setting and Context

Indiana and Amsterdam, 2010s

Narrator and Point of View

Hazel narrates the story in first person.

Tone and Mood

The book, though concerned with cancer and death at a young age, keeps a humorous, witty, and chipper tone throughout most of the story, though it has moments of realistic sorrow.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Hazel is the story's protagonist. Though it could be argued that cancer is the story's antagonist, Hazel herself argues that this is not the case.

Major Conflict

Hazel does not want to get into a relationship with Augustus because she fears that she will hurt him if her illness worsens and/or she dies. However, this conflict is shifted and intensified when Augustus's cancer returns worse than ever before.

Augustus asks Hazel and Isaac to hold a funeral for him that he is able to attend. They hold it in the room where they met at support group and Isaac and Hazel both give heartfelt eulogies. A week later, Gus dies and Hazel is left to cope for the remainder of the story.

Foreshadowing

The return of Gus's illness is foreshadowed by the loud fight he has with his parents just before leaving for Amsterdam and by the pain and instability he shows throughout the beginning of their trip.

Understatement

Green makes many allusions to classic literature, poetry, and art. Most notably, the title of the book is an allusion to the play "Julius Caesar" by Shakespeare.

Green, though an adult himself, writes his teenage characters with incredible care toward the complexity of their emotion and thought. Their lives and mental spaces are full of imagery, created linguistically through complex concepts explained, in most cases, in fairly simple vocabulary.

Parallelism

Metonymy and synecdoche, personification.

Hazel and Augustus both personify elements of their illness - Hazel her oxygen tank and Augustus his prosthetic leg.

The Fault in Our Stars Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Fault in Our Stars is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

The fault in our stars

Augustus uses his wish from The Genie Foundation, an organization that grants one wish to cancer kids , to get Hazel, him, and Hazel's mother a trip to Amsterdam.

can u tell me more about the book call the fault in our star

Check this out, I'ts a good introduction to the book:

https://www.gradesaver.com/the-fault-in-our-stars

what DOES the quote "osteosarcoma sometimes takes a limb to check you out, then if it like you, it takes the rest" mean

Hazel says this personifying cancer as some kind of creepy stalker or monster.

Study Guide for The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars study guide contains a biography of John Green, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Fault in Our Stars
• The Fault in Our Stars Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

• Agape, Philia, and Eros: Greek Love in "The Fault In Our Stars"

Lesson Plan for The Fault in Our Stars

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Fault in Our Stars
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Fault in Our Stars Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Fault in Our Stars

• Introduction
• Publication history

Screen Rant

Isabela merced teases turtles all the way down & her upcoming superman role.

Turtles All The Way Down star Isabela Merced chats about starring in John Green's adaptation for Max this summer and joining James Gunn's Superman.

• Turtles All The Way Down brings a powerful mental health story to the screen with Isabela Merced in the leading role as she tackles OCD challenges.
• John Green's work gets a new adaptation, exploring the struggles of anxiety and OCD in a relatable and honest way.
• Isabela Merced shines in her portrayal of Aza Holmes, navigating the complexities of mental health with grace and authenticity in this upcoming film.

Isabela Merced breaks down taking on the leading role in Turtles All The Way Down and taking on a powerful mental health story. John Green's work is making the jump from page to screen, as Turtles All The Way Down will be brought to life, based on his young adult novel from 2017. This is Green's latest book getting a film adaptation, as the author serves as an executive producer on Turtles All The Way Down , as it joins The Fault in Our Stars , Paper Towns , and Looking for Alaska .

In Turtles All The Way Down , Merced plays Aza Holmes, a 16-year-old High School student who deals with the many challenges of having OCD, as it controls a lot of her everyday life. However, as Aza tries to maintain her anxiety and system for her OCD, new obstacles rise as she begins to connect again with a long-time childhood crush, which is easier said than done. Hannah Marks directed Turtles All The Way Down , which also stars Cree, Felix Mallard, and Judy Reyes, and will be hitting the Max streaming service on May 2 .

15 Movies Like The Fault In Our Stars You Need To See

Screen Rant recently interviewed Merced herself about taking on one of Green's infamous works as Aza in Turtles All The Way Down and the exploration of OCD. Throughout the interview, Merced reflects on her experience taking on such a crucial role and story that involves the challenges of mental health. Merced also looks at what's ahead with joining James Gunn's Superman movie cast , as she will be playing the first big-screen version of Hawkgirl.

Isabela Merced Previews Turtles All The Way Down

Screen Rant: I love the movie, first of all, it's really a powerful story. How do you prepare for a role like that as an actor that really takes on a lot of mental health with the story?

Isabela Merced: Well, I had the script, it was very detailed and I think they did a really good job of taking the book and taking what would mostly be a voiceover movie and not making it one. You only hear the voiceover when it's her anxious thoughts, I think that was really carefully curated and crafted. I had John Green to refer to and to defer to, he always was there for me, he's a producer of this movie, and even just watching him - because this character is basically like him and a very honest depiction of his struggle - I pretty much just watched him and his mannerisms and the way he talked. I parented him in somewhat of a subconscious way, and also just have a lot in common with Aza. Although I don't suffer from OCD, I am a very anxious person and probably won't get around with some undiagnosed stuff too. But I feel like Aza and I have everything in common minus her being an introvert and me being an extrovert.

There are a ton of scenes in this film where you have to act by yourself, was there one in particular that was particularly challenging for you?

Isabela Merced: I'm gonna be so honest, I'm kind of bad at memorizing like big paragraphs. I think whenever there were big paragraphs, I was always stressed out like the night before, I tried to do it on the weekend. But it's just a lot of information to withhold to your brain. Then when the pressures is on you [and they] start rolling, and you immediately forget. he Turtles scene where the title gets explained, I had to go on a rant about the Russian dolls that you open up and there's one inside of each one. I could not recite that back to you, but that was definitely a struggle for me [laughs] and then I think what's easier for me though is listening to other characters. I don't find that challenging, my listening face is really just me listening to them.

Merced Teases James Gunn's Superman & Future Projects

Before I let you go, I was hoping to talk a little bit about the Superman movie . How's filming going for you and is there anything you can tease about Hawkgirl, have you tried on your suit?

Isabela Merced: Oh, well, I have to say your house reminds me of Nathan Fillion's house, he has a Superman doormat and he has a doorbell actually plays the theme of Superman entering his Fortress of Solitude. It plays the theme when you walk into the house and I'm really excited to work with him. He's a great Green Lantern casting choice and Edi Gathegi is amazing, as well as Mr. Terrific. We're going actually this Sunday, I think to film the first stuff, yeah. [Editor's Note: this interview was conducted on Friday, April 5, two days before the Sunday that Merced was referencing]

In the suit, I am hoping?

Isabela Merced: Yeah, yeah, of course!

You've dealt with big projects like Marvel and DC, so what are you hoping to do next and what do you have coming up next besides Superman?

Isabela Merced: I'm in Alien: Romulus that's coming out in August and The Last of Us season 2 where I play Dina.

About Turtles All The Way Down

TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN tackles anxiety through its 17-year-old protagonist, Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced). It’s not easy being Aza, but she’s trying... trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis, her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope.

Check out our other Turtles All The Way Down interviews here:

• Felix Mallard & Cree
• Hannah Marks (Director) & John Green (Executive Producer)

Turtles All The Way Down arrives on Max starting on May 2.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Turtles All The Way Down