When I think of a book that has impacted me personally, I immediately think of “The Fault in Our Stars.” This book on it’s surface is about two teenagers dealing with with their cancer diagnoses’. However, this novel actually dives into the ways these characters go about finding their own self identities while they are facing some very immense challenges. Hazel and Gus- the main characters- both have dealt with being sick most of their late childhood and teenage lives. Hazel has thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs, while Gus previously had a tumor in his bone which led to an amputation. They meet at a support group for young adults with cancer. They both don’t like the group, but luckily meet each other and a spark begins. The two grow closer throughout the novel and the climax is when Hazel uses her ‘Make A Wish’ on a trip for her, Gus and her Mom to go to Amsterdam to meet their favorite author. The trip has twists and turns, but overall it is a great experience. To avoid spoilers, I will stop the recap there.
Identity is a strong theme throughout the novel. It is already hard enough to find yourself, your passions and what you want to make of your life at an early age, but doing this while sick is even more stressful and pressuring. Hazel and Gus want to make a positive impact on the world, but in different ways. Hazel, specifically wants to help people cope after loosing loved ones to an illness, but Gus wants to be a writer. However, they both want their mark to be stronger than their illness and to go beyond being a cancer kid. At multiple times in the book they say that when they die, they want to have such a big impact that they are remembered by so many people. Gus and Hazel truly help each other find their identity just by getting to know each other and laying out what is important to them. Because of their illnesses, they think about death quite often and this drives their passion to be something bigger and make an influence on others. They are both kind, intelligent and fun kids that that can change the world for the better.
Similar to texts from this semester, identity is such an important theme in any medium of entertainment such as books, music, television, podcast, etc. Identity is something easily relatable and it gets the audience to think and reflect on their own self identity. I feel that the author’s intent was to show how cancer can affect someone at that age and that we all should be living life to the fullest because anyone could get diagnosed with a disease any day and life is short. You cant live in fear no matter what you’re going through. Also, this work inspired me to look at my identity- how I affect others and how others affect me leads to my decision making and outcomes.