The Fault in Our Stars, written by best-selling author John Green, follows two teenagers with terminal cancer diagnoses as they search for meaning to their suffering. As their relationship blossoms, Hazel and Augustus pursue their wish to travel to Holland and meet Peter -the author of their favorite book. Peter seems to understand the teens’ pain and their wrestling with humanity’s impending oblivion, but their visit with him leaves them unfulfilled, with many questions remaining. When Augustus dies, Hazel must face the reality of her lover’s greatest fear and fight to find meaning and purpose in a life marked as a “failed experiment in mutation.” By the end of the novel, Hazel concludes that while life is full of suffering and pain, the main issue is the meaninglessness of it all. While unfulfilled and lost in the agony of a dying world, she resolves that even though oblivion is coming, living with pain is possible, and it is the pain itself that gives one’s life meaning. Searching for Meaning In pivotal moments throughout the novel, Hazel and Augustus attend a support group for those impacted by cancer. These teenagers, wrestling with their imminent death and mortality, are misled by a professional helper intending to provide encouragement and support. This support group meets in what is nicknamed “the heart of Jesus” - where Christ’s heart would have been, were He splayed on the church’s architectural inspiraPurpose in Pain: John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars with the Gospel Truth Jasmine DePalmo and Michael Sherr
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