Through AIA Augustus and Hazel seem to bond, mostly due to the fact that it is a "cancer book," though not the cheesy type that they are so against. Eventually Augustus reaches out and contacts the author, Peter Van Houten, to ask about the ending to the story, which ends mid-sentence. He first reaches Van Houten's assistant, then Van Houten himself who, though he lives in Amsterdam, says he would be happy to meet Augustus and Hazel after hearing their story. Hazel is beyond belief, but because her family doesn't have much money to spare she knows she will probably not make it to meet him. Augustus though has a "wish" left, and chooses to spend it on flying with Hazel to Amsterdam to meet Van Houten. At first her parents are unsure, but eventually it seems that Hazel's health may permit it.
With Hazel's mom as a guide, Hazel and Augustus are able to travel to Amsterdam and have plans to meet with Van Houten their second day there. They arrive in the morning and that night are treated to a fancy dinner on the river, courtesy of Van Houten. Augustus and Hazel bask in the beauty of the city, and talk of the possible endings to AIA that Van Houten could have written in his head. The dinner goes perfectly, but when they go to meet Van Houten the next morning they find that his assistant was the one that orchestrated everything, and that Van Houten himself did not even know that they were coming. It turns out that Van Houten is a nasty, fat drunk, and he is unforgivably rude to Augustus and Hazel, telling them that their existance has no meaning and that they are the "side effect of an evolutionary process" and that their whole life is meant to revolve around pity from others. Though Hazel takes this calmly, Van Houten's assistant quits on the spot, crying. As they walk away, Hazel apologizes for "wasting" Augustus' wish, though he tells her it was not a waste at all. The assistant runs after the two, and offers to pay to take them to Anne Frank's house. Hazel manages to make it through the house, though the steep stairs are very hard on her lungs. After, Augustus and her sneak away to his hotel room.
The next day, their last day in Amsterdam, Augustus admits to Hazel that his sickness has spread to the rest of his body, and that he does not have much time to live. The next weeks are a series of good days and bad days, though mostly bad, as Augustus' body begins to fail him more and more. Augustus dies. Hazel meets a surprise at his funeral when Van Houten appears, but she tells him off and he watches as she drives away. Hazel runs into him again days later and it becomes apparent that AIA was written after his daughter, who died of leukemia at the age of 9. Van Houten had tried to write her a future in this story, and her death was what had left him so bitter. The novel ends with a letter Augustus wrote to Van Houten after their trip to Amsterdam.
I think this narrative is a perfect example of John Green's works of literature. There is usually not a typical "happy" ending, but instead the type of ending you would actually find in life. In the end of each novel, his characters eventually come to peace with what has happened to them, just as in real life you must come to peace with your failures and losses. I think his purpose in writing is to show a relate-able and somewhat accurate take on the struggles of young adults in today's time.
2) I feel like the theme of this novel was that no life is lived in vain. Augustus was afraid of dying a death that was not for some bigger, noble purpose but in the end he simple died of cancer. But he didn't die without leaving marks on those around him,and not just scars. Meanwhile, Hazel lived her life trying to make the smallest mark she possible could, because she knew her life would be short and she didn't want to hurt too many people when she eventually passed away.
3) John Green's tone, through the voice of Hazel Grace, is very frank and straight-forward. Hazel, a girl who has spent most of her teenage life living with the knowledge that she won't live much longer, has a very realistic look towards cancer, dying, and life. She accepts her fate with open arms, and sees the fates of those around her with the same realistic, to the point of cynical, view. For instance: "But, in fact, depression is not a side affect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying. (Cancer is also a side effect of dying. Almost everything is, really.)" Also, "'There will come a time,' I said, ' when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything.'" The last quote comes from Peter Van Houten, another harshly frank character in the novel. "'You are a side effect,' Van Houten continued, 'of an evolutionary process that cares little for individual lives. You are a failed experiment in mutation.'"
4) Literary Elements/Techniques:
#1- Plot Twist: One thing that took me by surprise in this book was when Augustus announced that he wasn't as healthy as he lead on that he was. On page 213 he starts "Just before you went into the ICU, I started to feel this ache in my hip.." and ends with how his condition has returned, and worse.
#2- Red Herring: When Hazel wake up at "four in the morning with an apocalyptic pain fingering out from the unreachable center of her head," (Page 104), you get the sense that Hazel is the one that who is getting sicker, when in fact during that same time Augustus learns he only has a short time to live due to his disease.
#3- Imagery: Hazel describes scenes in great detail, like her room in Amsterdam, page 157. "Our room was small; a double bed pressed against a wall with my BiPAP machine, an oxygen concentrator, and a dozen refillable oxygen tanks at the foot of the bed."
#4- Plot Device: Peter Van Houten's main purpose in the story is to bring Augustus and Hazel together, which he does so by giving them a reason to travel to Amsterdam, and then bringing them closer after he disses them. "After a minute, Augustus said, 'Your book is sort of the thing that brought us together.'"
#5- Flashback: A flashback is used mostly to define how Hazel found out that she had cancer. "I finally ended up in the ICU with pneumonia, and my mom knelt by the side of my bed and said, 'Are you ready, sweetie?' and I told her I was ready, and my dad just kept telling me he loved me in this voice..." (Page 24)
#6- Irony- One of the people Hazel doesn't understand the most is the Support Group's leader, Patrick, but in the end she learns that her mom is taking classes to pretty much do his same job. "'But if I get myMSW, I can counsel families in crisis or lead groups dealing with illness in their families or-'" (Page 297)
#7- Symbolism: For Hazel, her old swing set stands for the childhood of possibilities she had that only lead to her diagnosis of a short life. "The swing set was just sitting there, abandoned, the two little swings hanging still and sad from a grayed plank of wood..." (Page 122)
#8- Metonymy: Augustus and Hazel use "Okay" as their promise of forever. "'Okay,' he said after forever. 'Maybe okay will be our always.'"
#9- Personification: Green again uses the swing set as an object that is personified. "'I see your point,' he said as he put an arm around my shoulder. 'That is one sad goddamned swing set.'"
#10- Soliloquy:
“Hazel Grace, like so many children before you—and I say this with great affection—you spent your Wish hastily, with little care for the consequences.CHARACTERIZATION:
The Grim Reaper was staring you in the face and the fear of dying with your Wish still in your proverbial pocket, ungranted, led you to rush toward the first
Wish you could think of, and you, like so many others, chose the cold and artificial pleasures of the theme park.”
“I actually had a great time on that trip. I met Goofy and Minn—”
“I am in the midst of a soliloquy! I wrote this out and memorized it and if you interrupt me I will completely screw it up,” Augustus interrupted. “Please
to be eating your sandwich and listening.” (The sandwich was inedibly dry, but I smiled and took a bite anyway.) “Okay, where was I?”
“The artificial pleasures.”
He returned the cigarette to its pack. “Right, the cold and artificial pleasures of the theme park. But let me submit that the real heroes of the Wish
Factory are the young men and women who wait like Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot and good Christian girls wait for marriage. These young
heroes wait stoically and without complaint for their one true Wish to come along. Sure, it may never come along, but at least they can rest easily in the
grave knowing that they’ve done their little part to preserve the integrity of the Wish as an idea.
“But then again, maybe it will come along: Maybe you’ll realize that your one true Wish is to visit the brilliant Peter Van Houten in his Amsterdamian
exile, and you will be glad indeed to have saved your Wish.”
1) Green directly characterizes Augustus as attractive and confident and Augustus describes Hazel as sure of herself and realistic. I would not know Augustus's looks if not for this, but I already had a sense of Hazel's attitude through her narrative. You learn about Isaac through his actions after his girlfriend dumping him and Augustus dying.
2) Yes, through Hazels's own personal narratives their is a very personal aspect to the syntax and diction, but when she is merely describing things or relating the actions of another character, there is a less personal sense to what she is saying.
3) Hazel, the protagonist, is both a dynamic and round character. Though she keeps a lot of her views somewhat the same, she learns more about love and what it means to make a difference and leave a legacy She also finally has to finally face the death of someone she truly loves, even though she is very acquainted with the idea of death.
4) I came away from the book feeling like I had met a person because of the style of writing John Green has. Its almost like Hazel was writing down her thoughts as she experienced them, and it made me feel really close to her because of it, as well as her realistic portrayal of life.
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