Teens are faced with challenges every day. In the book The Fault in our Stars by John Greene, main character Hazel is faced with the challenge of lung cancer. Hazel is not optimistic about the cancer and she lets it bring her down. Augustus Waters is Hazels boyfriend, and although he has cancer as well, he try’s to live life to its fullest extent. These characters perceive the world very differently.  

While Hazel is dreaming about what she wants to do, the other people in her life are turning her dreams into reality. Hazels favorite book is An Imperial Affliction, and she has always dreamed of meeting the author because she needs to know the ending. The book ends abruptly and she has the urge to find out what happens to the characters. After meeting Augustus, she told him about this. He emailed the author and the author arranged a meeting with the two characters. Another example of this is when they reach the author Van Houten. He is drunk and annoyed that they are in his house. Instead of getting mad and leaving, his assistant takes them to the Ann Frank Memorial Museum. Another example of this occurring was when hazel was trying to help Augustus feel better about dying. She was sitting around with him, but Augustus came up with the idea to go to the sculpture of bones.

     Augustus does odd and crazy things, while Hazel is very conscious about what she does. One piece of evidence is that Augustus makes his friend egg his exes house because she broke up with him. She broke up with him because he had his eyes surgically removed and she couldn’t deal with it. Augustus was mad because she said "Always", meaning that she would stay with him forever. Augustus helped relieve his friend of the pain of breaking up with his girlfriend and he felt much better afterward. This was a very nice thing because Augustus knew that he might be caught, but he knew it was worth it to help a friend in need. Another piece of evidence was when Augustus would put a cigarette in his mouth and say that the cigarette does “not give the killing item any power”. He does this to show that he knows the cigarette has the capability to kill him but he doesn't give it the power to. This was impactful to me because Augustus is living on the edge and he is well aware of it. One piece of evidence that Hazel is more self conscious is that when Augustus is driving recklessly, she tries to stop him because she is very nervous he may crash. This is important because it shows the two different characters lifestyles.

     All in all, These two characters contrast and compare in many ways. Their relationship is a perfect balance because Hazel controls Augustus, and Augustus makes Hazel do fun and exciting things.