The Importance Of Control In The Fault In Our Stars By John Green

In the short story, The Fault in our Stars by John Green, the author introduces a character named Augustus, who has a tendency to hold unlit cigarettes in his mouth. When Hazel, the protagonist, starts to reprimand Augustus, he says, “It’s a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do its killing” (Green 20). This philosophy means that anyone has the power to do whatever they please, but they need to have control so they will not be harmed, giving one control over their body rather than letting something get the better of them. This philosophy shows that it is important for an ill person to feel like they have a sense of control because it makes them feel as though they have jurisdiction over their illness, giving them the potential to take control of their life. This is shown through Augustus’s fear, Isaac and Monica’s phrase, and Hazel’s choice.
The first way that Green shows that it is important for an ill person to have a sense of control is when Augustus reveals that his greatest fear is oblivion. “ I fear oblivion. I fear it like the proverbial blind man who’s afraid of the

“I’m going to a movie with Augustus Waters. Please record the next several episodes of ANTM marathon for me” (Green 21). When Hazel’s mom arrives to pick her up after Support Group, she tells her mom that she will not be going home at the moment. She wants her mom to record the shows she will be missing since she will be at Augustus’s house to watch a movie. This gives Hazel a sense of control because her mom is not forcing her to go home immediately and she is allowed to make her own decisions. Even though she is forced to go to Support Group by her mother, she feels like she can finally do whatever she wants after Support Group despite her breathing