“The Fault in Our Stars” is a young adult realistic fiction novel that shows the life of a young girl thrown into a world of depression, cancer, and love. After its publication, the story became an international sensation because it reflected the life of a sixteen-year-old girl called Esther Earl. John’s experience with terminally ill children like Esther made the story relatable to the readers.
Historical Context
“The Fault in Our Stars” continues to resonate among young people due to its humane portrayal of two lovers struggling to beat the odds.
Relevance of Period
“The Fault in Our Stars” was published in 2012. The world’s political landscape was closer to stability than instability during this time. Obama ran for a second term in office, and the European Union struggled to ensure its economy rebounded. However, all these did not affect the overall storyline of John Green’s novel.
In the medical field, 2012 produced some significant leaps in cancer treatments. During this time, Proton Beam Therapy, a type of radiation therapy that uses high-energy protons to treat cancer by destroying tumor cells and sparing healthy tissues, was invented. Young adults under the age of 25 were the primary recipients.
Major Historical Events’ Influence
“The Fault in Our Stars” was not primarily influenced by the politics of its era. Instead, it focused on the medical advancements involving cancer during this time. 2012 was a good year in the fight against cancer as treatments like Temozolomide chemotherapy and Proton Beam Therapy came. In the story, Hazel undergoes an experimental treatment involving Phalanxifor, a drug meant to prolong her life by delaying her cancer’s growth.
Socio-Political Influence
As a teenage girl in an advancing world, a rapidly evolving pop culture influenced Hazel and her friends. Her friend, Kaitlyn, was an avid partygoer who loved shopping and boys. Also, “The Fault in Our Stars” portrayed the prevalence of gaming among teenagers as Hazel, Isaac, and Augustus were fond of video games.
Novel’s Historical Context
Death makes people believe their lives have meaning in the bigger picture of the universe. However, some people’s lives are unchangeable, and they realize they are only another sad story in history.
“The Fault in Our Stars” is a story formed from the experiences of a person who watched his friend die from something uncontrollable. John Green wrote the story after his dear friend, Esther Earl, lost her life to cancer. Because of experiencing parts of her life, Hazel’s story became one that resonated with people who have experienced the pain of losing a loved one from an incurable ailment.
The story’s attention to the issues of life made it realistic. However, John included a fundamental element in the story: love. His novel portrayed how love heals, even in the darkest situations. With love, life became a bit bearable for the story’s characters; this reflected an ideology that it does not have to be the opposite of pain and suffering, which was also one of the main themes in “The Fault in Our Stars.”
Another thing “The Fault in Our Stars” focuses on is the relevance of family. The story expresses the concept of blood being thicker than water as it dives into the sacrifices families make for each other. The novel shows unity is necessary when people get thrown into difficult situations.
As a novel that showed the expression of love in suffering, there was an undiluted portrayal of the bleak nature of pain in “The Fault in Our Stars.” Pain created a cruel aura around the novel. It seeped into its characters’ lives and gradually ate them up. The story’s portrayal of pain made it a natural epistle of the lives of its characters and real-world victims of pain.
Author’s Background
John Green is an American author, philanthropist, and YouTuber. He is famous for books like “Turtles All The Way Down” and “The Fault in Our Stars.”
Influences and Motivations
John Green was a chaplain at a children’s hospital before writing “The Fault in Our Stars.” There, he met a young girl, Esther Earl, who battled cancer. He became friends with her, and sadly, she lost her life to the disease; this inspired John to create a novel of two teenagers who found love amid their raging terminal illness.
Impact of Previous Works
Before writing about Hazel, John Green published “Looking for Alaska.” The novel centers around young people navigating a world of love and loss. John’s desire to create meaningful young adult stories like “Looking for Alaska” must have influenced his second novel: “The Fault in Our Stars.”
Cultural Context
John Green used “The Fault in Our Stars” to introduce the world to the complex reality of young adults in pain. He humanized the nature of suffering from terminal illnesses and portrayed the reality of dying from incurable diseases.
Cultural Norms Influenced
“The Fault in Our Stars” received excellent recognition from teenagers and adults. Before it, many adults paid little attention to stories that portrayed the transition from teenagehood to adulthood and the obstacles young adults face. However, with the novel’s publication, the young adult genre started receiving an audience from adults.
The novel also propelled teen fantasies in literature. Before it, there was little focus on the romantic fantasies of teenagers. However, the story paved the way for novels that started to place teen characters at the center of action and romance.
Influence of Cultural Movements
“The Fault in Our Stars” has heavily impacted pop culture. It set a precedent for a new era of realistic fiction. Before it, no story dived into the mental and emotional trauma experienced by teenagers thrown into the world of a terminal disease. However, after its publication, a new type of storytelling involving diving into the lives of people faced with the bleak reality that their lives would never be the same as their peers came to the young adult fiction genre.
Literary Context
“The Fault in Our Stars” is a realistic young adult fiction novel that uses intricate themes and realistically flawed characters to tell its story.
Genre and Its Conventions
“The Fault in Our Stars” is among the best young adult fiction stories ever written. Upon its publication in 2012, it garnered so much positivity for its intentional depiction of the world through the eyes of teenagers suffering from terminal illnesses. John Green’s placing of the spotlight on his characters’ humanity propelled the novel, making it a beacon for many authors interested in diving into young adult fiction.
Literary Movements
“The Fault in Our Stars” is a fast-paced novel. It has 25 chapters and 352 pages. The story progresses linearly and sequentially introduces its characters. Hazel Grace Lancaster is the primary narrator as she experiences the story from her perspective; this means her death, even though certain, is not shown.
Comparison to Other Works
Compared to other works like “The Sun Is Also A Star” and “Turtles All The Way Down,” “The Fault in Our Stars” follows a distinct path. It portrays people in unimaginable pain and shows how they find a love that alters their perception of everything.
Critical Reception
“The Fault in Our Stars” skyrocketed to fame upon publication; this meteoric rise was because of the story’s characters, plot, and ending.
Initial Reception
Upon publication in 2012, “The Fault in Our Stars” rose to critical acclaim. Many critics and readers gave the novel some of the best ratings ever received by a young adult fiction novel. The primary reasoning behind the excellent remarks was the story, which realistically portrayed cancer and the lives of young adults suffering from it. The book won the 2012 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction and the 2013 Audie Award for Teens.
Critical Analysis Over Time
“The Fault in Our Stars” remains relevant in young adult fiction many years after publication. It propelled the trope of realist young adult fiction and set a precedent for other authors who want to create stories that focus on the humanity of their characters.
Impact on Literature
“The Fault in Our Stars” had one of the most significant impacts on young adult fiction literature in the past decade. It changed how teenage characters were written and popularized writing about the trials young people face in an ever-changing world.
Modern Relevance
Since its publication, “The Fault in Our Stars” has remained relevant in literature. Its story altered how people perceive those suffering from terminal illnesses and increased empathy.
Themes’ Relationship to Contemporary Issues
“The Fault in Our Star’s” themes dive into the nature of pain and suffering as it portrays teenagers whose lives have been cut short or severely altered by cancer. The story mirrors the real world intricately as it depicts the brutal realism many young people battling cancer face.
Adaptation and Awards
After its publication in 2012, Fox 2000 Pictures got the rights to create a film adaptation. On acquiring the rights to adapt, film production began. With Josh Boone serving as the director, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort starred as the characters of Hazel and Augustus. The film dropped in theatres in the United States in June 2014. It received incredibly positive reviews and became a hit, grossing over 305 million dollars worldwide.
The film’s immense success led to 18 awards won, which included 7 Teens Choice Awards, 4 Young Hollywood Awards, 3 MTV Movie Awards, Kid’s Choice Awards Argentina for Favorite Movie, 18th Hollywood Film Awards for Hollywood Breakout Performance – Actress, 41st People’s Choice Awards for Favourite Dramatic Movie, and 15th Golden Trailer Awards for Best Romance.
Fox Star Studios stated it would adapt the novel into a Hindi version in 2014. With Kizie Aur Manny as the film’s name, production began in 2018. The film’s title changed to Dil Bechara after many delays. With A. R. Rahman as a composer, the production team set May 8, 2020, as the release date after pushing it from November 2019. Delays from the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the release date forward, and it eventually dropped on July 24, 2020.
