“You’re allowed to scream, you’re allowed to cry, but do not give up.” No one knows who wrote that quote; however, it is a quote that cancer patients live through. The book The Fault in Our Stars is about Gus and Hazel, who would know this particular quote well as they are cancer patients and their cancers can very likely cause death. They have an epic love story, but it was cut short but she learned many things.
Hazel, 16 years old, had stage 4 thyroid cancer. I found her growth development very interesting because the way she acted changed without her realizing it. In the beginning, she thought very depressing things like, “My mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death.”(Green, 3) She truly thought there wasn’t a point in living and lived her life like a CD in a loop. Then she met Gus, a boy, at her Cancer Kid Support Group and he changed her and she lived more of a normal teenage life.
Hazel over thought a lot and she worried so much about everything that she stopped living in the moment and hesitated. She would say things like “Then I found myself worrying I would have to make out with him,”(Green, 93) When Gus was in her lfe her perspective changed. She smiled more and didn’t see the negative; she saw the joy in life even with the troubles of cancer. I think Gus helped her see that, helped her see that she can still have a life, even if it seems like the world is ending. I think that helped in her growth development because she started to take more risks and have more fun. She wouldn’t be stuck at home all the time and she started to go out and socialize with people. I think Gus helped her do that because he introduced her to so many things and people.
The world came crashing down on Hazel when Gus died. It was expected as he had terminal cancer. He had told her to do his funeral in front of him. She said “But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You gave me forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.”(Green, 260) She said a lot more; however, I cried reading this part of her words because her world had left her in a matter of seconds. John Green, the author, worded it so perfectly that I had so much sympathy for her and truly made the book that much better. Hazel learned how to love someone and to see the joy in being with somebody, even if it wouldn’t last forever she grew from the experience.
We should spend as much time as possible with ones we love, because Hazel’s was cut short. She cared for Gus in words that can’t be explained. She once said, “Much of my life had been devoted to trying not to cry in front of people who loved me, so I knew what Augustus was doing. You clench your teeth. You look up. You tell yourself that if they see you cry, it will hurt them, and you will be nothing but a sadness in their lives, and you must not become a mere sadness, so you will not cry, and you say all of this to yourself while looking up at the ceiling and then you swallow even though your throat does not want to close and you look at the person who loves you and smile.”(Green, 213) She wouldn’t just think for herself; she would think how it affected him. Hazel never regretted any moments she spent with him. She was heartbroken that he couldn’t spend anymore moments with her and her with him. He changed her and turned her life upside down. He had a huge impact on her and she wouldn’t be who she if she hadn’t met him.
In many ways, she grew, learned, and experienced many things, none of which she regrets and all of which changed her. It could have been for the better or for worse ; however, she met a person that changed her life in so many ways, and she’ll never forget that.