Psychological Analysis Of The Contemporary Novel “The Fault In Our Stars” By John Green

Abstract:

This research paper focuses on the psychology of the main characters in the novel “The Fault in Our Stars” by Green. This novel aims on the reality of the life where an ill adult suffers by their physical illness which affects them mentally. The novel runs around the characters Hazel and Augustus who are affected by cancer on their young age. ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ is differently moved by the author by giving funny expressions and dialogues which hides the characters physical illness to the readers. The novel is ultimately different from other novels because of the theme mortality and how the characters are fighting to live their life.

Keywords: Psychology, illness, fighting, interest.

Introduction:

John Green is a living American author whose genre is Young Adult Fictions. His full name is John Michael Green. ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ (2012) is his fourth novel and become as New York Times Best Seller list on the same year 2012. He wrote eight novels and short stories. This novel is adapted as a film at the box office 2014. This novel is his great turning point for his writings because it reflects the reality of life.

The novel ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ by John Green is meant to be a psychological novel. This novel focuses on the characters Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Water. These characters are fighting to live their life by trying to overcome the physical illness, this physical illness makes them to go mentally numb. Mainly Hazel who is worrying about her death which is revealed by her attitudes likes staying home, not having any contact with her friends, reading books which reflects her own life. But every human has a change in their life and the change of Hazel by having Augustus in her life. This novel moves how they both mentally come out of their physical illness by seeing each others happiness. The role of Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Water is not only important but also dominant. They both dominate the whole story.

Characterisation of Hazel and Augustus:

Hazel is the protagonist of the novel. She is 17years old adult who is affected by thyroid cancer and that spreads to the lungs. She always carries an oxygen machine, because she can’t breathe naturally. She is characterized as a depressed girl at the beginning of the novel. Augustus is the boy friend of Hazel who is also affected by Osteosarcoma. It is also a type of cancer, by this disease he lost his right leg when he was 16 years old and now he was 18 years old boy. When these characters met each other they forget their physical illness and get mentally fit.

“..my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spentquite a lot time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate frequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free thinking about death..”(the fault in our stars, 2012, p.13)

This was the statement of Hazel when her mother thinks she was depressed because she rarely goes out of the house and mostly she spent her time on the bed by reading her favourite book again and again, but this a common problem for a human being when they come to know their destination while they are living. They will loose their happiness by thinking terrible fate of death on their young age; this is a common thing in human psychology. But here author says there is only thing to live one’s life happily by having a loved one with them. Love and relationship is a pure thing which a living begins gets into. This relationship will give happiness into one’s life easily.

Psychology of Human Being in Love:

“Do not make the mistake on giving the heart to anything that is changing, because that is misery”. (Swami Vivekananda)

Human beings are blessed with a wonderful thing in life and that is Love. Love is most delicate and defined thing in human’s life. Every being will have a love in their life but in the novel ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ the protagonist Hazel will reject the approach of Augustus at the beginning because she is afraid, when she is dead he is about to loose his life by thinking her and she is not interested to give any fake promise to him. This mentality shows that she is already in love with him.

“Mom: Hazel you’re teenager. You’re not a little kid anymore. You need to make friends, get out of the house and live your life.

Me: If you want me to be teenager, don’t send me to Support Group. Buy me a fake ID so I can go to club, drink vodka, and take pot” (the fault in our stars, 2012, p.7)

At first they both meet each other in cancer support group where Hazel is compelled by her mother to attend that meeting to get socialize with people. Because she is disinterested to go out of the house.She is highly hated to go for the meeting. Once she attended that meeting she started to go regularly only of Augustus. Love is an act of thing which brings happiness to the inner mind and heart and releases all pain within oneself by bringing peace of love.

“Every act of love brings happiness; there is no act of love which does not bring peace and blessedness as its reaction”. (Swami Vivekananda)

Love and Passion:

Hazel is mad on reading the books of the author Peter Van Houten and mainly one of his books An Imperial Affliction. When she suggested the same book to Augustus who found that is the book which gives happiness for Hazel in her life. When a person is truly loved by someone they can get through easily what makes them happy in their life. Augustus connects his love to her passion by making the favourite author of Hazel to meet her in his funeral.

There is mortality in life but not in love. He made the thing possible even after he is dead by making her meet to her favourite author Peter. Though he left her wholly but he made his memories strongly so that she can be happy on those memories and by reading the books of Peter Van Houten’s upcoming novel.

“Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own”. (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam)

This is more than enough to explain the love of Augustus towards Hazel and her passion of reading books. He made her wish as his happiness to bring delight in her life. Even they are physically ill they also has a feeling of love towards one another but they are panic to show the love because of their physical illness, but when they come to know that there is a soul waiting for them even they know the truth of life that they can’t spent their whole life with them. Always love can bring a positive thought on one’s mind only because they are supported by each other and stays together.

Conclusion:

‘The Fault in Our Stars’ expresses the theme of young mortality, and love between the two characters. In this novel Hazel is described as a depressed girl at the beginning and this paper dealt about how that depression becomes positive thoughts in her mind. Normally, this positive thought will be enhanced by oneself by their own, but as the characters are physically unfit, and they need a support to come out of those depressions by the help of each other. Even they both are characteristically opposite, still they love one another and Augustus positivity made changes in Hazel’s growth.