Literary Devices in The Fault in Our Stars
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
The Fault in Our Stars is technically set in Indianapolis, but it's not the Indianapolis of tourists or even of normal residents who go to work and school each day. It's the Indianapolis of the sic...
Narrator Point of View
This story is all Hazel's. It makes perfect sense that the story would be told from her first person perspective because she has such an internalized life. She really is in her own little worlds.We...
Genre
This one's kind of a no-brainer. Hazel, Augustus, and their friends are all teenagers who are looking for their way in life. They may be dealing with all sorts of downer illnesses, but they're stil...
Tone
Why not start with a quote from our spunky narrator?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. (2.13) And he...
Writing Style
Hazel is just full of opinionated treasures. Hazel is quick-witted, well-spoken, and snarky to boot. Take her thoughts on the Encouragements scattered all around Augustus' house: This is an old arg...
What's Up With the Title?
We're going to turn to Big Willy for this one. The book's title, The Fault in Our Stars, comes from a line in Shakespeare's play in Julius Caesar where Cassius says, "The fault, dear Brutus is not...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
As the tide washed in, the Dutch Tulip Man faced the ocean: "Conjoiner rejoinder poisoner concealer revelator. Look at it, rising up and rising down, taking everything with it." "What's that?" I as...
What's Up With the Ending?
First things first: let's pass around the tissue box. This ending is filled with some emotionally loaded and tragic stuff. The plot point is clear: in the end, the love of Hazel Grace's life, Augus...
Tough-o-Meter
This one's a little tougher to summit. Not only is the book written with some slightly elevated vocabulary, the themes—cancer, death, teenage sex—are also more appropriate for a more mature aud...
Plot Analysis
A Girl Without a Mission
This
exposition isn't the happiest of Disney-fied beginnings. In fact, a great deal of the exposition has to do with the very depressing topic of "What it's like to b...
Trivia
The book is dedicated to Esther Earl, a young cancer patient who inspired John Green with her humor and, well, normalcy. (Source.)In case you were wondering, John Green never considered ending The...
Steaminess Rating
From the moment Hazel sets eyes on Augustus and takes in his gorgeousness, it's obvious that there's going to be some major steaminess in this book. After all, what usually happens when you throw t...
Allusions
Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare (Title, 7.41) The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T. S. Eliot (10.125)"Ceci n'est pas une pipe," Magritte (12.4)Zeno's Tortoise Paradox (12.87-89) Maslow's Hiera...