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Introduction
Hazel Grace Lancaster is the narrator and also the central character of the novel, The Fault in Our Stars. She is a sixteen years old and suffers from a terminal Stage IV thyroid cancer. The cancer has affected her lungs due to which she has to carry an oxygen-tank as an obligation. Although the doctors successfully removed the cancer from her body, Hazel has no hope of living a complete life due to her damaged lungs. Despite the fact that Hazel is adamant that her illness does not define her personality, the thyroid cancer has tremendously affected her physical features. She is thinner and paler than the normal girls of her age. She has the appearance of a pixie doll with short haircut. Hazel is fighting a battle with her cancer every day. She becomes tired easily and her medicines frequently make her feel nauseous or queasy.
Selflessness
Unlike a lot of diseased people, Hazel is a courageous teenager who has approached her illness in an extremely light manner. In fact, she is more careful in not hurting others instead of the complete realization that she can die a tragic death sooner or later. She is a remarkably strong teenager who is more considerate towards the feelings of people around her. Even though she constantly fights inner drowning, she does not want to make her parents suffer more because of her illness. She is always anxious about the pain she will cause them with her death. For the same reason, she is not interested to make new friends as she does not want people to grieve after her passing away to the next world. She assumes herself to be a ‘grenade’ that would hurt others unnecessarily. Her altruism and selflessness is also revealed when she tries to avoid the handsome Augustus Waters. She shows persistent resistance to his affectionate attitude as she does not want another mournful victim after her death.
There is no doubt that readers can instantaneously observe the non-typicality of Hazel as a teenage girl. It would not be incorrect to conclude that Hazel is rather mature for her age. Her concern and thoughtfulness makes her a self-sacrificing being as she desires to not tread upon the world without due consideration. As already mentioned, selflessness is one of the most important characteristic of Hazel’s personality as she is desperate to lessen the hurt caused to her loved ones due to her existence. Hazel’s intelligence and assiduousness allows her to think profoundly about her living and passing away. Therefore, she decides valiantly to keep others at a distance from her so that her death may not damage them endlessly. When she falls in love with Gus, their relationship helps her to develop a novel perception on life and death. Thus, she finally acquiesces with her impermanent condition and the consequences it will inflict on her loved ones.
Amusing Wittiness
Another prominent characteristic of Hazel Grace Lancaster’s personality is her sarcastic nature. She tries to find humor in almost every situation that surely makes the reader laugh. Augustus describes her by saying, “She is funny without ever being mean” (Green 25.76). It is a quite appealing and incomparable feature of a person’s character in today’s snarky world. She even finds humor to discuss her cancerous condition. Hazel says, “I told Augustus the broad outline of my miracle: diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer when I was thirteen. (I didn’t tell him that the diagnosis came three months after I got my first period. Like: Congratulations! You’re a woman. Now die” (Green 2.13). Although the novel is mostly overwhelmingly heartbreaking, Hazel’s amusing wittiness gives readers a good feeling throughout. She exemplifies a courageous, funny teenage girl who knows how to find humor in every situation even if she realizes that her departure from this world is anytime soon.
Loving and Devoted
Although both Hazel and Augustus were suffering cancerous conditions, they couldn’t stop falling in love with each other. For Hazel, it is her first love and she experiences the stomach-churning, adoring insanity for Augustus. She gets attracted towards him instantaneously after seeing him for the first time. Even though it was only good-looks that appealed her, she later developed a cerebral-kind-of-love for her lover. According to her, “I almost felt like he was there in my room with me, but in a way it was better, like I was not in my room and he was not in his, but instead we were together in some invisible and tenuous third space” (Green 5.67). The best thing about their love is that it is not fake, but simple and free of drama. They are attracted towards each other, plainly and simply. As a lover, Hazel surrenders herself into all the sweetness and reality of true love. She realizes that Augustus was neither a perfect person nor he was her Prince Charming out of a fairytale. However, she still has the purest of feelings for him.
Hazel’s love for Augustus also changes her perspective, particularly about life and death. After the reappearance of his cancer, she realizes that Augustus is the ‘grenade’ now. However, the saddening state of affairs did not make her feel sorry for falling in love with the love of her (short) life. She prepares herself mentally about Augustus’ death although she knows that this incident would damage her immeasurably. In its place, Hazel shows merriment and gratefulness for the time they spent. Even after the death of Augustus, she continues to love him and cherishes their memories. She does not demonstrate any sort of bitterness or any desire to change their circumstances. She accepts her past, present, and future, with and without her lover. This is because she was a girl who was and is madly in love with Augustus.
The novel’s ending sentences are a symbol of Hazel’s spiritual development. “I do” is an implication of a marriage that happens between Hazel and Augustus through memory. Hazel originally means that she will continue to love Augustus till her last breath and will never forget him. In this sense, Hazel’s love for Augustus makes her learn that it is not right to consider death as the omnipresent and inevitable finality. She learns that her relationship with Augustus will persist, even if they die.
Conclusion
In my opinion, Hazel Grace Lancaster is one of the most dynamic, memorable, and unique leading female characters. Her wittiness, devotion for her lover, courageousness, and altruistic nature makes her an exceptional character. It can be said that she can haunt the readers’ minds due to her goodness and outstanding characteristics. She is, in fact, an example for people who lose hope in life due to tragic experiences or conditions.
Work Cited
Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. USA: Penguin Group, 2012. Print.
