The Fault in Our Stars: Romance as a New Religion

The Fault in Our Stars: Romance as a New Religion

    Despite some beliefs that our current generation is drawing away from religion as a more liberal stance permeates our culture, novels and media continue to romanticize the thought of a greater being’s existence. Themes of religion, self reflection, and both platonic and romantic love are depicted in the wildly successful and still relevant novel, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. The novel follows the lives of precocious teenagers Hazel and Gus, to illustrate a tear-jerking coming of age story. They grapple with their respective cancers against the backdrop of adults in their lives urging them to turn to Christianity as a means of finding solace within their shortened life trajectories. As the reader steps into the shoes of Hazel, it is evident that her understanding and skepticality with religion intermixes with her growing romance with Gus, who is one of the few people who can truly understand her and her circumstances. As they navigate their relationship and mortality, their consuming love is able to deepen Hazel’s understanding of religion and at times, even replace desire to have greater meaning through faith and the belief that there is something “bigger” out there. Although the movie adaptation, general reader reception, and even academic publications interpret the romance to be the main focal point of the story, viewing their romance through the lenses of theology and how Green combines the two provides insight and a layered understanding of the themes and meaning. Scholarly essays such as “A Psychological Review of Adolescents with Cancer” by M. Jebaselvi, delves into the psychology of how a limited adolescent life span affects teens, as they are likely to face existentialism, hence a possible religious awakening, and intensity of emotions such as romantic ones, but ultimately fail to connect such themes to one another. “The Spiritual Quest amid Loneliness, Depression, and Disability” by Trudelle Thomas discusses Hazel’s desire for guidance through her “depression as a side effect of dying” (Green 3) by unsuccessfully attempting to feel a divine presence, but does not mention how her depth of love for Gus relates to her spiritual awakening or understanding of it. Such interpretations discuss religion and love respectively, when evidence conveys that Green actually connects the two. Hazel is able to fulfill her desire for deeper and more tangible meaning, not through the satiric version of Christianity Green depicts, but through her heart wrenching and tangible romance she develops with Gus; This can be viewed through her undeniable and genuine urge for comfort through religion, finding visceral, “forever” love with Gus that is so deep that it provides a form of solace that she once tried to find in religion, then finally how Gus’ death and its impact on her once again deepens her personal beliefs about an afterlife and God. 

    To preface the topic of how religion and romance interact in Hazel’s life, many argue that Hazel outright rejects the concept of religion and a greater being’s existence, adding to her cynical charm and connection as a perfect counterpart to Gus’ more idealistic and vulnerable character. This is understandable because she scoffs at the concept of religion and God throughout the text; One of the first impressions of Hazel is her response to Gus’ voluntary comment during support group that he fears oblivion. She replies, “Everything [...] will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon, [...] we will not survive forever. [...] If the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone does.” (Green 12). Terms such as “everything,” “all,” and “everyone” indicates Hazel’s complete and utter belief that nothing will exist after this life and universe, that none of it really truly matters like Gus thinks. The sheer vastness of her diction conveys her encompassing disregard for the supposedly futile search for depth, legacy, and meaning. But as the novel goes on, deeper analysis reveals her more truthful longing in the depths of her struggle and suffering, to truly believe and trust that such a being and afterlife may exist. It is essential to understand it isn’t that she is necessarily a wholehearted atheist, but that she has not seen or had enough proof to allow her pragmatic personality to completely believe that there is more than what meets the eye. To illustrate, in a desperate moment of extreme physical pain when she is rushed to the hospital during a medical emergency, she reveals her genuine craving for something greater than herself as comfort during that time, “the only solution was to try and unmake the world, to make it black and silent and uninhabited again, to return to the moment before the Big Bang.” (Green 106). Comprehension of how her relationship with Gus and her desire to have faith intersect allows the reader to interpret how Gus helps her change her initial staunch stance. Gus encourages her to think critically and discuss religion: he asks her, ‘Afterlife?’ to which she replies, 'No. Well, maybe I wouldn't go as far as no.’” (Green 168). Jebaselvi agrees with this belief that Hazel desires a legacy and “afterlife” both in this world and possibly in her own afterlife in his critical essay, “A Psychological Review of Adolescents with Cancer,” “Hazel, often more existential in her reflections, shows subtle signs that she, too, worries about how she will be remembered. [...] Hazel observes: ‘made me worry that when I died they’d have nothing to say about me except that I fought heroically, as if the only thing I’d ever done was Have Cancer.’” (Green 100). She discusses this to a large extent with Gus throughout the novel, they have a mutual understanding that “depression is a side effect of dying.” (Green 3). Hazel never quite has an all encompassing religious awakening or views Gus as a replacement for God in her exploration of purpose and meaning through their romance, but she takes steps towards opening her mind towards depth in her own existence, the existence of Gus, and the depth in her life’s meaning that arises as a result of their connection. Their interactions reveal how she manages to make steps towards fulfilling Maslow’s self-actualization needs, something she mentions that she is worthy of searching for despite having bad health. Such factors allows her to fall in love with Gus and therefore disprove the fact that there is absolutely no meaning behind their actions in their shortened lives, that there is meaning in love, and there will always be a legacy left behind when you experience love. 

    The theme of awareness is prevalent in the story of Hazel and Gus, who are both extremely intelligent teenagers with a mutual fascination with deepening their understanding of exactly what they are here for and why; It is no surprise that they discover deeper meaning in and through each other rather than the useless religious platitudes adults attempt to force onto them. Many turn to religion as a means of feeling truly seen or understood, arguing that only God can truly see you at your core and for who you really are through transcending the limitations of humankind. As alluded to before, Hazel never quite brings herself to feel utterly understood by her parents, Patrick, fellow cancer survivors, or any of the adults in her life who try to comfort her, let alone a mysterious God. But it’s no surprise that she discovers this understanding in Gus. They find solace in each other’s scorn for what they both deem as ridiculous “Encouragements” (Green 27). Their flirty exchanges of “okay” (Green 72) over the phone replaces the desire for prayer or discussion with a transcendent being with whom one has a wholly unique and special relationship with. They associate this routine with a spiritual reverence because it replaces “always,” which indicates the existence of a forever. Their exchanges of “okay,” is like their own language that only the two of them can understand, much like the conversations each may have with their personal God. Hazel even explicitly states regarding her phone calls with Gus, “the line was quiet but not dead. I almost felt like he was there in my room with me, but in a way it was better, [...] we were together in some invisible and tenuous third space.” (Green 72). Close reading of the meanings behind the first sentence alludes to how after Gus’ death, when she attempts to find the space again, “I waited for that feeling, but it never came: The dead air on the line was no comfort, and finally I hung up.” (Green 263). The first instance states that the space and air was quiet, but not dead, yet when he’s gone, it’s simply dead and provides no comfort.  This unusual solemn feeling she only had with Gus seemed to exist only when he was around, without him, she still feels uneasy about if she will ever feel that way ever again, with Gus or with a religious figure. His death only brings more reflection and realizations about such feelings and possibilities, further growing her understanding of where she stands in her faith.

    Hazel’s journey with her own religious beliefs never quite gets resolved by the end of the novel, but much of her stance and how it has changed over the course of the story is revealed at the end, when Gus dies. As previously mentioned, Gus is at times, able to replace her connection to a greater sense through their form of prayer and her feeling on the phone with him. Yet when he dies, the reader sees first hand how little is left of him and Hazel’s attempts to salvage as much of him as possible, both successfully and unsuccessfully. Despite the not so idealistic ending and the empty space he leaves in her life, her relationship with Gus ultimately furthered her understanding of a greater sense of “Something with a capital S” (Green 168) out there. Her growth as a person from the beginning to the end of her relationship with Gus is extraordinary. Rather than condemning the sheer possibility of a God who can and will take away children with cancer and sickness, she reflects, "Who am I to say that these things might not be forever? [...] All I know of heaven and all I know if death is in this park: an elegant universe in ceaseless motion, teeming with ruined ruins and screaming children." (Green 308). This describes her layered understanding of life and forever after her love is gone, the possibility of heaven, ruined ruins and children, much like her and Gus, screaming through the ceaseless motions, which Gus has helped her reach with the beauty he brought into her life, and how quickly it was taken away, by a great “Something with a capital S.” Similarly, when Gus meets his untimely “oblivion,” those who remember Hazel’s moment of contempt towards the idea of greater meaning and resigned feeling towards the inevitability of their deaths and subsequent plunge into the dark unknown will be surprised to read the last lines of the novel that Thomas discusses in his scholarly paper, “The Spiritual Quest amid Loneliness, Depression, and Disability,” “She remains devoted to him right up until his death—and beyond. ‘I like my choices. I hope she likes hers.” Hazel responds without hesitation, “I do, Augustus. I do’ [...] a posthumous marriage vow. (Green 313)” Leading up to Gus’ death, Hazel mentally acknowledges that she will never be able to grow old with Gus. Yet when it comes, after going through her short-lived relationship with Gus and feeling their special connection, she can say with confidence that she will love Gus for as long as she lives, as initiated by the marriage ceremony-esque declarations that hint at a forever, even past her initial claims that one day nothing will exist, in the cards. Although many brides and grooms say “till death do we part,” she rejects this fully because despite her figurative groom’s death, she still says “I do;” Hazel’s love is therefore wholly unconditional, similar to that of a religious figure such as God, who loves no matter what. Hazel fully believes that it is possible to love someone even after they are gone from the physical sphere, there is more to religion and afterlife than what is tangible and visible, that some things on Earth or beyond can take on a holy meaning, even if they are not inherently religious. 

    Overall, the concept of religion in a time as tumultuous as now, with seemingly more and more evidence and scorn against the concept of a potential God or single religion with rules, is layered and complicated. Green attempts to distill such topics in relation to romantic love in teenagers experiencing a shortened life span; Any reader, whether they are a teen or adult is able to garner some insight into how the two interact. This can be done through understanding Hazel’s deeper desire to understand the presence of a God or the concept of it in her own life, how her love for Gus have parallels to the love and relationship one may have with their God, and finally how his death serves as a way for her to better understand herself and come to conclusions or simply further her personal beliefs about faith. 

Works Cited

    Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. Penguin Group, 2012. 

    Jebaselvi, M, and M.V. Sivakumar. “John Green's The Fault in Our Stars: A Psychological Review of Adolescents with Cancer.” Journal of Positive Psychology, vol. 6, no. 2, 2022. 

    Thomas, Trudelle. “The Spiritual Quest amid Loneliness, Depression, and Disability: Reflections on The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.” Religious Education, vol. 113, no. 1, 2018, pp. 73–83.