Cigarettes: Are they symbolic?

Okay we all have that fear. That one fear, that no matter what, you can't control. It doesn't go away-- and you can't fix it. Well for Augustus Waters, that fear would be cancer. Augustus is that guy that seems like he's tough, he's strong, and he's cool. At a first glance, Augustus has never feared his cancer. "He fights heroically" as most people say about cancer survivors. But reader let me ask you... do you go around telling everyone your biggest fear? Most of you probably answered no. So just because Augustus seems "tough" doesn't mean he doesn't have fears.

But what does this have to do with symbols?

The most common, well-known symbol in the book is Augustus's cigarettes. If you personally haven't read this book -I strongly suggest you do- then you might be thinking something like: you just said he was afraid of cancer but now he's smoking which is likely to give him more cancer. Well, cigarettes only give you cancer if you light them... and Augustus does not. Seems silly right? Likes he's just trying to play "cool."

However... that's not the case.

As Augustus 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).

You might be confused still. I was when I first read the quote too. But what Augustus is saying is that he is trying to control his fear. Well you can't control cancer, and therefore can't control your fear, this is his way of taking something able to give him cancer, but not giving it the power to do so. He is acting "stronger then the cancer" in a way, like he is finally in charge of it.

This metaphor can be applied to almost every fear. And maybe it will help you overcome yours.

The Fault in Our Stars Fan Art showing Augustus with his crooked smile and cigarette
 

Monica's Lessons

Monica, a minor character when it comes to The Fault in Our Stars, has a bigger role then just playing the cliche girl who breaks a poor guy's heart. But first background knowledge. Monica and Isaac (a teenage boy about to go blind) dated for a long period of time. They were always known to be whispering "always" to each other, promising to stay together. Well lets just say that didn't last. A few days before Isaac has surgery, making him completely blind, Monica leaves him because she couldn't handle having a blind boy friend. This, of course, is followed by a long period of sadness, where even after Isaac becomes blind, he still thinks about her more than the surgery.

At a quick glance Monica is seen as rude, selfish, not really caring at all about Isaac. However, there are definitely more reasons then that to have her be a part of the story.

For one, she teaches the reader that nothing ever lasts, a common theme seen throughout the book. Her leaving Isaac shows that "always" doesn't necessarily mean forever. Everything ends, whether it's good or bad.

Second, while Monica can be viewed as selfish, maybe she was looking out for Isaac. As she said, she couldn't handle Isaac's disability. Leaving him, gives him the chance to find someone that can care for him even though he is blind. Could she have at least tried and stayed? Sure, but at least she was honest.

Also, Monica shows that you have to stand up for yourself. While leaving Isaac may have seemed like a "weak move", I believe it was actually strong of her. She did what was best for her, instead of allowing herself to get hurt in a relationship she couldn't handle. Even though Isaac was very upset, she went through with her decision. You can control your happiness, not others, and Monica's decision benefited her happiness. Isaac shouldn't rely on her as his only form of happiness, and the pain of her leaving will go away eventually.

These lessons that Monica teaches the reader are skills that everyone can apply to their life and they shouldn't be overlooked, even though Monica is just a minor character throughout the novel.