The Fault in Our Stars

Hazel and her mom pack for the trip, but Hazel’s oxygen tanks, breathing machine, and other medical equipment take up most of the space in their luggage. When they get to Augustus’s door to pick him up, they overhear part of a loud argument between Augustus and his parents. Augustus yells that his life belongs to him. They wait in the car until he is ready, and he comes out smiling, as if nothing is wrong. At the airport, Hazel experiences a brief moment of liberation when she takes off her oxygen tank to walk through the metal detector, followed by the crushing pain of being unable to breathe after a few short steps. Augustus disappears from the gate until boarding time, and Hazel worries that he is embarrassed to be seen with her. 

On the plane, Augustus is astonished to see the world from a plane for the first time; they watch the movie 300, and when Hazel sees the dead bodies pile up during a battle scene, she thinks about what it means to consume, to even enjoy, death as entertainment and spectacle. Augustus tells her that he has done the math, and going back to the beginning of human history, there are fourteen dead people for every living person on earth: “‘I was wondering if everybody could be remembered,’” he says (151).