Today, many modern works of literature use symbolism throughout their writing. This includes a famous novel by John Green, The Fault in Our Stars. The novel uses symbolism as hidden messages all throughout its pages. A significant symbol John Green used was water. Water was used in order to symbolize a very negative thing, the fluid in Hazel’s lungs that gave her cancer. This symbol, water, was used in three different ways, a way for the purpose of Hazel to express her pain, the relationship between Amsterdam and Hazel’s situation, and a way to tie in Augustus Waters.
The first way John Green used water as a symbol was as a way Hazel could express her pain. Green used the concept of drowning and tides rising as a way to express Hazel’s suffering. Hazel often uses phrases including those ideas to compare and explain how her pain seems to her. In the middle of Chapter two, Hazel says, “But even so, there’s a certain unpleasantness to drowning, particularly when it occurs over the course of several months”(Green 24). This quote is implying on the fact that Hazel’s lungs are filled with fluid when it brings up drowning.
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The second way the author used water as a symbol was when Hazel was going to Amsterdam with her mother and Augustus. At Amsterdam, the group of three sees many canals, which apparently have to be drained out so the city does not go underwater. This situation relates to Hazel’s cancer. When she arrives at Amsterdam, Hazel states, “The land seemed sunk into the ocean, little rectangles of green surrounded on all sides by canals”(Green 155). That quote reveals how both Amsterdam and Hazel have the distress of “drowning”.
Lastly, the author, John Green, uses water as a way to incorporate Augustus Waters. Clearly Green chose his last name to show how big of a motif water is in this novel. Throughout the story, Augustus is always seen saying things that include concepts related to water. Near the
Today, many modern works of literature use symbolism throughout their writing. This includes a famous novel by John Green, The Fault in Our Stars. The novel uses symbolism as hidden messages all throughout its pages. A significant symbol John Green used was water. Water was used in order to symbolize a very negative thing, the fluid in Hazel’s lungs that gave her cancer. This symbol, water, was used in three different ways, a way for the purpose of Hazel to express her pain, the relationship between Amsterdam and Hazel’s situation, and a way to tie in Augustus Waters.
The first way John Green used water as a symbol was as a way Hazel could express her pain. Green used the concept of drowning and tides rising as a way to express Hazel’s suffering. Hazel often uses phrases including those ideas to compare and explain how her pain seems to her. In the middle of Chapter two, Hazel says, “But even so, there’s a certain unpleasantness to drowning, particularly when it occurs over the course of several months”(Green 24). This quote is implying on the fact that Hazel’s lungs are filled with fluid when it brings up drowning.
The second way the author used water as a symbol was when Hazel was going to Amsterdam with her mother and Augustus. At Amsterdam, the group of three sees many canals, which apparently have to be drained out so the city does not go underwater. This situation relates to Hazel’s cancer. When she arrives at Amsterdam, Hazel states, “The land seemed sunk into the ocean, little rectangles of green surrounded on all sides by canals”(Green 155). That quote reveals how both Amsterdam and Hazel have the distress of “drowning”.
Lastly, the author, John Green, uses water as a way to incorporate Augustus Waters. Clearly Green chose his last name to show how big of a motif water is in this novel. Throughout the story, Augustus is always seen saying things that include concepts related to water. Near the end of the book, Waters wrote, “ A desert blessing, an ocean curse.” (Green 313). By this, Augustus is alluding to an abundance of water, which would be helpful for a desert but not for an ocean. This also hints at the fact that Hazel’s lungs have had an abundance of fluid before, which led to her condition.
As you can see, John Green used water as a symbol on many occasions in the novel, The Fault in Our Stars. John Green used this specific symbol in three different ways, a way to let the audience know about Hazel’s suffering, a way to correlate Hazel and Amsterdam, and an approach to bring the character Augustus Waters into the storyline. All of these ideas are key to making the story the way it is. In conclusion, this entire novel had an important motif used all throughout its plot. This significant motif was water.
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