John Green's Novel The Fault in Our Stars and Ol Parker's Film Now Is Good

940 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Theme of death in literature

John Green’s 2009 novel ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ and Ol Parkers 2012 film ‘Now Is Good’ both centre on the theme of life and death. Both of these texts are focussed on coming of age and the journeys of young women suffering from cancer. Sharing various themes including identity and fear of being forgotten, loves triumph over struggle and hardships and existence and consciousness. With the ‘Fault in Our Stars’ written about sixteen year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster and her battle with Stage 4 Thyroid cancer. Hazel is forced by her parents to attend a support group for children living with cancer. Here she meets Augustus "Gus" Waters, a former basketball player who lost his right leg to osteosarcoma and is in remission. As their relationship deepens Augustus reveals that his cancer has returned and has metastasized to several other parts of his body. Even though he starts an aggressive treatment regimen, he is not expected to survive long. The romance continues through pain, struggle, and incredibly odd circumstances until Augustus passes away.
Ol Parkers 2012 film ‘Now Is Good’ is about seventeen year old Tessa (Dakota Fanning), a young girl with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Despite her four-year devotion to chemotherapy, she has discovered that her cancer is terminal and her doctors don't give her very long to live. Tessa and her best friend Zoey (Kaya Scodelario), come up with a list of things for Tessa to do before she dies, including some risky behaviours that she deems necessary to have "lived". Zoey is excited and supportive of the “bucket list” until an unplanned pregnancy occurs. One of Tessa's last wishes is to find love, of which she thinks she has with her neighbour Adam (Jeremy Irvine). Adam is shy, and his main priority...

... middle of paper ...

... series of moments, she has come this far and it is now time for it to come to an end. When Hazel learns of Augustus’ recurrence she talks to her dad about her life and how the universe impacted her when her father states "I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is improbably biased toward consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed.” (Ch.14, Page 223)
To summarise Ol Parkers ‘Now is Good’ and John Green’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ both centre on the theme of life and death. Both Parker and Green present themes such as including identity and fear of being forgotten, loves triumph over struggle and hardships and existence and consciousness to enhance their stories based on the journeys of two young cancer patients caught in their own failing bodies as they discover themselves.

Show More
Related

  • Terry Fox

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    Terry knew that aches and pains are common in athlete’s lives. At the end of his first year of university there was a new pain in his knee. One morning Terry woke up to see that he could no longer stand up. A week later Terry found out that it was not just an ache he had a malignant tumor; his leg would have to be cut off six inches above the knee. Terry’s doctor told him that he had a chance of living but the odds were fifty to seventy percent. He also said that he should be glad it happened now fore just 2 years ago the chance of living was fifteen percent. The night before his operation a former coach brought Terry a magazine featuring a man who ran a marathon after a similar operation. Terry didn’t want to do something small if he was going to do something he was going to do it big. "I am competitive" Terry said, "I’m a dreamer. I like challenges. I don’t give up. When I decided to do it, I knew it was going to be all out. There was no in between Terry’s sixteen month follow up he saw all the young people suffering and getting weak by the disease. He never forgot what he saw and felt burdened to thoughts that died to run this marathon. He was one of the lucky one in three people to survive in the cancer clinics. Terry wrote asking for sponsorship " I could not leave knowing that these faces and feelings would still be here even though I would be set free of mine, s...

    Read More

  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... loss of loved ones like Junior in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Andi in Revolution or faced your own inevitable passing like Hazel Grace in The Fault in Our Stars, you are not alone. In confronting and facing death, these characters learn that death is merely a small part of living. It is an element of the human experience. To return to the wise words of the late Steve Jobs, “Almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important…There is no reason not to follow your heart.” Living is the adventure. In facing their fears and sadness, these characters learn how to be courageous, how to hope, how to love, and how to live. Join them on their journeys by checking out one of the spotlighted books at your local library.

    Read More

  • The Fault In Our Stars is a Novel by author John Green

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the first day that Hazel and Augustus encountered, the two are practically inseparable. The basis of their relationship ended up being Hazel's beloved book, An Imperial Affliction. She required Augustus to read it and in return, he required her to read the book that was the basis of his favorite game. Hazel related to the character in the book, Anna, because she had a rare blood cancer malignancy. Augustus and Hazel bonded within the book because both of them had a burning desire to determine how the story ended, because the author stopped the book before providing the conclusion on what happened to every one of the characters.

    Read More

  • A Brief Biography of Terry Temperst Williams

    1856 Words  | 4 Pages

    Terry Tempest Williams writes a beautiful memoir bringing together the unnatural and natural world. Williams claims that cancer found in her family was caused by the atomic and radiation testing where she lived during the 1950s and 1960s, but she came to realize that once one is diagnosed with cancer, its course occurs naturally, and slowly deteriorates one’s body. Terry Tempest Williams describes how cancer affected everyone in her family by detailing how she and her family struggled through the time when her mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer to the time after her death. She specifically describes this struggle by incorporating the birds that she studies near her hometown in Utah with the flooding of Great Salt Lake to her mother and other relatives’ journey with fighting cancer. In the first half of the book, Williams often times describes the birds that she studies at the Bird River Migratory Bird Refuge as a means to escape and suppress the hardships that she faces with her family. By the end of book, she learns that suppressing and escaping the cancer and disease that surrounds her family is not the answer, instead, she realizes that it is better to accept it, and learn how to cope with death and the changes it can bring. The relationship between the inescapability of life and death and the uncontrollable elements of nature deliberated in Terry Tempest William’s memoir Refuge make this a poetic, graceful, and telling book.

    Read More

  • Of mice and Men and The Fault in our stars comparrison essay

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...or George and Augustus cares for Hazel. George cares for Lennie and Hazel cares for Augustus.

    Read More

  • The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cancer affects Hazel Grace, Augustus Waters, and their families deeply, it represents the lost, hope, and surprise of cancer often, but this is not only true in books,it also affects people in real life, parents start to view their kids differently, and the children start to view themselves as nothing but disease, and the culture they once had starts to change. Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace each have their own struggles, Hazel suffers from thyroid cancer and is terminal, Augustus had been cured, but it popped back making his body full of cancer, he as well ending up with terminal cancer. Often organizations and people would give them a little bit more because they are kids who had inevitability of death to look to. They both having to deal with the fact that they never knew what was coming, or if Hazel would lose Augustus first or if Augustus will lose Hazel first, though eventually that fact became obvious. Their families treat them in a way if they were healthy, they wouldn’t be treated in such a way. In real life there are hundreds who suffer cancer, but less who are terminal. Families have to learn how to deal with this, especially when the person is an adolescent. There are point where The Fault in Our Stars shows how different society becomes for those with cancer, and this is true in real life. Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace experiences and cancer let us view the world of cancer for several.

    Read More

  • Augustus Theme Essay

    427 Words  | 1 Pages

    One of the main themes of this novel is the fight against cancer. All three of the main characters struggle with cancer. Hazel struggles with her terminal lung cancer, and Isaac has to have his eyes removed because of cancer. Augustus, who has already lost a leg to Osteoscarcoma, struggles with his cancer returning. However, they all learn through this that their cancer does not control them. They still live their lives to the fullest that they can, and make the best of what they have.

    Read More

  • Comparison Between The Fault in Our Stars and Of Mice and Men

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    When was the last time you felt certain of your impending future? For cancer survivor, Hazel, the answer is never. In The Fault in Our Stars, sixteen year old Hazel lives with cancer and attends a support group where she meets Augustus, another young cancer survivor who changes her outlook on the world forever. He takes Hazel on an adventure of love, friendship, and pain, and together they yearn to have authority over their uncontrollable fates. Isaac, a blind teenager, and Hazel’s mom also play significant roles in her life. Similarly, in Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie strengthen their friendship through love and suffering, and they learn that humans have some control over their end destination. At the ranch they work at, Lennie and George have to choose how they want their lives to turn out, which directly impacts the choices they will make regarding the future. While John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men both establish motifs of friendship, games, and hands, they convey different universal ideas about humanity. In particular, Green suggests that humans cannot always manipulate every situation, while Steinbeck focuses on the ideas that men often have a choice in their destinies.

    Read More

  • Eng Comparison Essay

    1510 Words  | 4 Pages

    Innocence, happiness, success, and optimism, are all characteristics of human kind. A cure for cancer is superior to the elimination of physical abuse and suicidal death’s. A result to have all people treated equally appreciated and loved. Is it a possible gesture? It may not happen in our lifetime, but if powerful and caring individuals join forces, it is possible to draw conclusions. To live the dreams and allusions each identity performs and has a reality to people and society. Within the three novels, Ellen Foster, A Virtuous Woman, and A Cure for Dreams, all written by the author Kaye Gibbons, each character from different novels struggles to face reality and find the correct path that will lead them to the right direction in life. While coping with the endless pain, Ellen, Jack, and Betty have only hope to lead them into the direction they encounter to approach. A fate in their lives can change forever. In addition, keep their “depressing days” only a memory so that they will become successful. All characters are determined to overcome their obstacles and misery through hope, courage, and inspiration.

    Read More

  • Of Bildungsroman Novel The Fault In Our Stars And The Secret Life Of Bees

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cancer limits her chances at being a normal teenage girl with a normal life. As reluctant as she was to go to support group, she meets other teenagers going through the same stuff. Hazel gets to experience the flirting, adventure, and excitement of teenage life. She allows herself to be immature and careless. Gus’s death reminds her how unfair the world is but she doesn't regret her choices. In her eulogy at the funeral, Hazel says “I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.” (Green 260). This quote shows she doesn't regret becoming close to him; even with the unfortunate fallout she’s thankful for the time and experiences. Hazel matures because of her relationship. She got the chance at “normal” and love. Caring for someone with cancer helped her mature.

    Read More

  • The Last Lecture Essay

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    Diagnosed with cancer and given just months to live, Randy Pausch decided to give a last lecture. Randy felt this was important so that he may give a sort of goodbye to those who he cared about, share advice and life-experiences that he felt were important, and most importantly for his kids, whom would never really get to know him because of their age. This book is a collection of stories and general life advice that Randy felt was important to share before moving on.

    Read More

  • death and adolescents

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Death has a way of changing people, whether it is the passing of someone close to you or coming to terms with your own mortality, no one remains the same after dealing with death. Some people mourn in the face or death, while others are re-born and enlightened. In the novel The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, we are introduced to two adolescents that have faced death and gained different perspectives on life after doing so. When facing death, whether you’re own or someone you love, there are two types of reactions, two types of people, the “Augustus’s” and the “Hazel Grace’s”. After losing his leg, Augustus Waters decided that he wanted to make his mark on the world before he died, he was terrified of dying and feared oblivion more than anything but it was that very fear that compelled him to live the most fulfilling life possible, “I decided long ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence”(Green 11). Instead of wallowing in misery over having cancer, Gus wanted to enjoy life; he found beauty in everything, especially Hazel Grace. He lived his life through metaphors; he revolved many of his beliefs and actions around metaphors, one of his favorites was, “you put the killing thing in your mouth, but you don’t give it the power to kill you”(Green 13). I think he liked this metaphor and having a cigarette dangle between his lips so much, because unlike his cancer, which he had no control over, he could control whether or not he lit the cigarette. It made him feel like his destiny was in his own hands and under his control. Gus’s experience with death made him a more positive person, a “better” and inspirational person; he wanted to “drink stars” and live his life questioning everything. “While...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of When Breath Becomes Air By Paul Kalanisia

    1925 Words  | 4 Pages

    The concept between life and death cannot simply exist without one another, where the topic is widely discussed throughout “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi. This memoir explores Paul’s definition of death as he passes through the distinct “stages” of his life. As Paul progresses through each stage, he views death differently as he transformed from a student to a neurosurgeon, neurosurgeon to a patient, and eventually becoming a father, where he needed to take full responsibility as an adult.

    Read More

  • Existentialism In The Fault In Our Stars By John Green

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    "You cannot choose who you were born, But you can choose what you can choose" Choices define people, choices make up the person's essence, choices make people unique. What made Hazel and Augustus different from most other people with a terminal disease were the choices they made. They understood what the world is, It is not a “wish- granting factory” but a stable entity where people come and go (Green, page 14) The world cannot be changed, but the way the world is viewed could be.

    Read More

  • The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Green’s wonderful yet tragic best-selling novel The Fault in Our Stars tells a heart-wrenching story of two teenage cancer patients who fall in love. Augustus Waters and Hazel Lancaster live in the ordinary city of Indianapolis, where they both attend a support group for cancer patients. Falling in love at first sight, the two are inseparable until Augustus’s cancer comes out of remission, turning Hazel’s world upside. This is one of the best young-adult fiction novels of the year because it keeps readers on the edge of their seat, uses themes to teach real life lessons, and uses a realistic point of view instead of the cliché happy ending of most books.

    Read More

More about John Green's Novel The Fault in Our Stars and Ol Parker's Film Now Is Good

Open Document