Life just like fireworks

"The Fault in Our Stars" tells a love story between 17-year-old Hazel and Augustus. Of course, it seems boring just to use one sentence to explain this story. Hazel suffers from thyroid cancer. Although she can move freely, she has to drag an oxygen cylinder and breathe through a nasal tube all the time. Meanwhile, Augustus has to amputate half of his leg due to osteosarcoma. Even though he has a prosthetic limb, he can’t deny that he is a disabled person. Their love is just like fireworks, short but a beautiful fault in life.

What truly appeals to me is not the beautiful romantic love story in this book, but the way they face death. When fighting cancer, what they fear the most is not death. Augustus is terrified that he will be forgotten after he dies as if he had never existed in this world, so he tries his very best to live his life and do something that can make people remember his name in the future. On the other hand, Hazel is the exact opposite. She feels like a grenade whose safety lever has been pulled out, fearing that it will hurt too many people at the moment of the explosion. Her every step is light and leaves no traces. She even avoids getting too close to those who love her.

In facing death, what I fear the most is not being able to spend time with the people I love, and that I wouldn't be able to feel the world anymore. I wouldn't be able to play the guitar and sing my favorite songs. Furthermore, I wouldn't be able to know whether my parents are healthy or not. I don't think that death itself is horrible. The uncertainties and unresolved concerns after leaving this world are what petrifies me the most.

In the book, the cancer support group that Hazel participated in would yell "Living Our Best Life Today!" at the end of each meeting. This sentence may seem simple, but it is certainly not easy to achieve. We often hear stories about people only understanding the value of life after experiencing a near-death experience. They become passionate in life and began to know how to live it the right way. I have always envied those people because I feel that I have never been so passionate about my life. I wasted too much time muddling along without any aim. Knowing that I was indeed wasting too much time, I still couldn’t bring myself to change. It may be a bit scary to say this, but I want to experience a catastrophe. It is like rebooting my brain to install a software called “Love life 1.0”, and then I can finally live the life that I've wanted.

The term "side effects" is often mentioned in "The Fault in Our Stars", but it has nothing to do with medical science. Hazel's insight into the side effects of "moving towards death" makes me feel very interesting. Perhaps it is because she was very close to death, so she could easily see through it all. She believes that there are many side effects of death. Some of them include depression, realizing the privileges of being alive, the coming and going of cancer group supporters, and believing that one will never die.

Although the book is very sad, my heart feels warm after reading it. Hazel and Augustus have a positive attitude towards life and a strong sense of humor even though they are sick. The title "The Fault in Our Stars" is taken from Shakespeare's play "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar". In the original, it is what Cassius said to Brutus: he warned that Brutus would have such status. Not because our nature is doomed, but because of our fragility. Cancer may be part of their destiny. But knowing how to live in such a circumstance, accept your fate, and living a better life in spite of it all, are the principles that this book wants to tell us.