Hazel’s struggles in making her parents happy
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She tries to avoid her parents as she believes that she’s will leave a scar in her parent’s life. She did not want to hurt other people and she tries to minimize the
casualties of her death in the future. She frequently compares herself as a grenade, which will blow up and hurt people around her.
“I’m a grenade,” I said again. “I just want to stay away from people and
read books and think and be with you guys because there’s nothing I can do about hurting you; you’re too invested, so just please let me do that,
okay? I’m not depressed. I don’t need to get out more. And I can’t be a regular
teenager because I’m a grenade.”
Green, 2012:6 Hazel feels that her parents doing so much for her and she cannot repay them
with anything. she did not want to leave them to suffer when she dies, as she calls it “too precious” and she wants them to be happy whatever happens in the future. Her
condition is temporarily stable and she realizes that it won’t last forever. In the other
hand, when Augustus diagnosed that his cancer back and spread everywhere, Hazel feels that shes previously experienced it and she feels thankful that she can pass
through it. “I know,” I said, although I didn’t, not really.
I’d never been anything but terminal; all my treatment had been in pursuit of extending my life, not
curing my cancer. Phalanx for had introduced a measure of ambiguity to my
cancer story, but I was different from Augustus: My final chapter was written upon diagnosis.
Gus, like most cancer survivors, lived with uncertainty. Green, 2012:11
In the quotation above, she explains how she can go through all of her medication when Phalanxifor saved her life until the present time. On the other side,
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she cannot be sure how long the meds can treat her cancer. Augustus has a different story, where he was cured and no one imagines that his cancer was back and now
threatening his life. Hazel knows about the uncertainty of the cancer survivor, but she’s too scared to tell Augustus about it.
“Why? Why would you even like me? Haven’t you put yourself through enough of this?” I asked, thinking of Caroline Mather’s.
Green, 2012:8 After Hazel knows about Augustus’ ex-girlfriend who died of cancer, she asks
him about his feeling. She did not want to leave as his ex-girlfriend did, which leave him desperate although he stated that he did not hurt because of it. Her feelings were
based on her belief that Augustus were the healthy one and she is the grenade.