Chapter 1. Introduction. The Fault in Our Stars is a famous work written by John Green. It is his

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1 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1. Background of choosing the subject The Fault in Our Stars is a famous work written by John Green. It is his sixth book that is published. Before that Green had published Looking for Alaska (2005), An Abundance of Katherines (2006), Let It Snow (with Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle (2008)), Paper Towns (2008), and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (2010). Green had the inspiration to write the novel in 2000, while he was working as a student chaplain at a children s hospital. The novel wa s first published in January 2012 by Dutton Books. The book revolves around the lives of teenagers with cancers. The novel focuses on a budding romance between two teenagers with cancer, Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters. Hazel acts not only as the main character of the story but also the narrator of the stoty. The book is told from Hazel s point of view. Hazel is a sixteen years old girl who suffered from thyroid cancer with longsettled colony in her lungs. Hazel had to use a cannula and carry around an oxygen tank due to her cancer which had spread to her lungs. In the early chapters of the book, Hazel described herself with cancer and started forgetting the real definition of herself and her life. However she also had the quality of teenage of Suandi 1

2 girl with angst yet she was also more analytical and possessed maturity far beyond her age. Hazel had to attend weekly session of Support Group because her doctor and her mom thought it would help her with her depression if she met people like her. Green wrote the story from Hazel s point of view because he felt that the stories are rarely depicted from the point of view of cancer patients. The character of Hazel is inspired by Esther Earl, a friend of Green who had thy roid cancer and died at the age of sixteen. However, Green also stated that Hazel is not portrayal of Esther Earl even though he gained his inspiration for the character and the novel from her. Hazel met Augustus in one of her Support Group meetings. He wa s friend of the only guy Hazel considered as friend in the support group, Isaac. Isaac had requested Augustus to come to that Support Group session because he felt that he might need support from Augustus. Upon their first meeting, Augustus was shown to had feeling for her almost immediately and ask her to watch movie with him. From their first meeting, it was shown that Augustus attitude towards her had started to change her character already. Hazel shared to Augustus about her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction. After reading it, Augustus became curious of what happened to other characters in the book as well. They started corresponding with the author, Peter van Houten. Augustus later arranged a meeting with the author in Amsterdam by using his wish from The Genie Foundation. However later he revealed to Hazel that his cancer came back and in the end he did not survive the cancer. Suandi 2

3 The novel shows development in Hazel s character which is really interesting. This novel talks about a subject of a teenager with terminal illness that has realistic character. It also relates to real teenagers issues such as conflict with parents and dating problems which also influence development in a character. This paper intends to study the deeper the development of Hazel s character Statement of problem are: The questions which emerged from the background of choosing the subject 1. How does her social life change Hazel s character? 2. How does her concept of death and dying change Hazel s character? 1.3. Objective of the study The objectives of this study are: 1. To find how Hazel s character has developed throughout the novel from actions, speech, and thoughts. 2. To prove that circumstances can change characters Focus of examination and scope of the study The focus of this study is Hazel s character development. The scope of the study covers Hazel s character. This study does not study the plot or setting of the novel. Suandi 3

4 1.5. Theoretical Approach The writer of this study used objective criticism in order to analyze Hazel character in this story. The writer chooses to use this literature criticism because the analysis and assessment of this study only take the intrinsic criteria without the influence of extrinsic aspects. The objective criticism used in this study is as defined by Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms. Objective criticism deals with a work of literature as something which stands free from what is often called extrinsic relations to the poet, or to the audience, or to the environing world. Instead it describes the literary product as a self-sufficient and autonomous object, or else as a world-in-itself, which is to be contemplated as its own end, and to be analyzed and judged solely by intrinsic criteria such as its com plexity, coherence, equilibrium, integrity, and the interrelations of its component elements. (52) From the theory stated previously, the focus of the criticism is the intrinsic elements such as character, setting, plot, and moral message. The intrinsic element that will be the focus of this study is character, therefore the writer of the present paper uses objective criticism approach for this study. In order to analyze Hazel s character development, the writer of this study will use theories on character and characterization. In An Introduction to Fiction, Stanton explains that character can be used in two ways. The first is character as Suandi 4

5 an individual that appears in the story. The second is character as mixture of interest, desire, emotion, and moral that makes up a person (17). Abrams in his A Glossary of Literary Terms states that characters are persons in both dramatic and narrative work who are endowed with moral and dispositional qualities. These qualities are shown in the characters speech and actions. A character s temperament and moral nature in h is speech and actions, said by Abrams, can explain his motivation as well. (32) According to Griffith in Writing Essays about Literature, characters are divided into four categories. The first one is flat characters which is defined as simple characters with only one or two traits of personality traits and often seen as stereotypes. The second type is round characters which are more complex and hold multiple personality traits, therefore it is more realistic. Round characters, in contrast to flat characters, are not stereotyped with one persona only. The third one is static characters which remain the same throughout a work. The fourth type is dynamic characters which change throughout the story. Usually, round characters are the dynamic ones and flat characters are the static ones (60-61). Griffith states in Writing Essays about Literature that characterization is the presentation and development of the characters traits. Characterization of characters is revealed in direct and indirect ways. In direct way, narrator simply describes what the character is like whereas in indirect way author shows what the character is like from signs such as characters speech, thoughts, actions, deeds, and external details (61-62). Suandi 5

6 Abrams in his book Glossary of Literary Terms explains that characterization is shown in two ways. The first one is showing or the dramatic method in which the character s speech and actions show the motives and dispositions behind what he says or does. The external speech of the character might not only show what he implies but also inner thoughts, feelings, and responsiveness to certain events. The second one is telling, where the characterization is described by unraveling the character bluntly without any symbolism behind actions or speech (33-34). According to Murtagh John Murphy in his book Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students, the characterization of character can be understood from personal description by the narrator, character as seen by other characters in the novel, speech, past life, conversation with other characters or conversation of other characters, reactions of the character in certain circumstances, direct comments, thoughts of the characters, and mannerism of the character ( ). In Glossary of Literary Terms, Abrams states that a character can remain stable without going through changes throughout the story. But a character can go under radical changes whether with a gradual process of development or due to result of a crisis (33). Holman in A Handbook to Literature explains that a static character has little changes in the character and even so the character only appears to change in the eye of the readers because the author decides to reveal the character little by little. The static character usually does not change but due to the revelation by the Suandi 6

7 author, the view of the readers may steadily change. However, dynamic character goes through bigger character development than static character. The character develops throughout the story because of the circumstances or gradual changes (76). Based on the theories provided in this subchapter, the writer of this study will use them to discuss the character development of the main character in The Fault in Our Stars. These theories will be the base of the analysis in this study Method of research The method of the research used for collecting data in this paper is library research. The data of this study are taken from library and internet. The main data of this research are from the novel The Fault in Our Stars. The data are collected by the writer from the novel then the writer classified the data to development of character shown in the book. The method of analyzing the data used in this paper is descriptive method. The writer of this study explores the intrinsic elements of the novel by using descriptive method. The character that will be analyzed is Hazel Grace Lancaster and the writer of the study will use the data collected from the novel supported by other sources in order to enrich the analysis Literature Review There has been a thesis on The Fault in Our Stars written by Matthew I. Johnson entitled Young Adult Novels About Terminal Illness and Suicide. Suandi 7

8 Johnson s thesis describes the novel as romance story with background of terminal illness and dying. He states that the work is realistic and it helps the readers to be empathical toward the characters. Johnson also writes in his thesis that the message in the novel is relatable not only to people who suffers from terminal illness. The novel is beneficial for adolescent readers for its delicate way to address death and dying with serioussness, realism, and hope (Johnson 92). Imogen Belcher from University of Chester wrote a dissertation entitled Curing Cancer Fiction: The Significance of Abjection within Young Adult Novels about Cancer. Belcher s dissertation discusses on how cancer and abjection become part of a young adult, where it is usually the age that is socially considered as time of vitality and health. The dissertation shows how abjection caused by cancer is portrayed in the novel in realistic ways (Belcher 18). Debby Hazeleger from Utrecht University has discussed this novel in a thesis with the title Translating The Fault in Our Stars: Tone and Intertextuality in Young Adult Literature. Hazeleger s thesis states that young adult literatures are important as gateway in introducing literature to young adults before they read adult literatures, therefore the choice of words are important. Her thesis discusses the problems faced in translating The Fault in Our Stars and the desirable solutions chosen to solve these problems (Hazelger 4). In Explorations: The UC Davis Undergraduate Research Journal, a study by Shauna Stewart entitled Celebrity Culture in The Hunger Games and The Fault in Our Stars researches the phenomenon of online fandom of the celebrities Suandi 8

9 from the books. Stewart states that young adults need a celebrity of the ordinary person even if it comes from fictional character. The study highlights Augustus needs of being a hero in his life in order to be remembered by people and how it relates to normal young adult s feeling of needing to do something important in order to be noticed (Stewart 3-4). Ibtissam Touhami Adi from University Amar Telidji Laghouat University wrote a thesis entitled The Theme of Existentialism in The Fault in Our Stars. His thesis illustrates the philosophy of existentialism in the novel by describing Hazel s obsession in seeking the ending of An Imperial Affliction as example of philosophy of existentialism in which human existence is an investigation of the meaning of being. The study also discusses Augustus and his quest for finding self-actualization (Adi 3-4). The writer of this paper discusses Hazel s character development that has not been discussed in any other research paper. The paper reveals how Hazel s social life and her view of death and dying have helped her to develop her character Presentation This paper is divided into four chapters. The first chapter introduces the framework of the whole paper. The second chapter tells about the main character s character and characterization. The third chapter explains the analysis of the main character s character development. This chapter contains evidences that will support the development in her social life and her concept of death and Suandi 9

10 dying caused by certain events in her life. The fourth and last chapter is the conclusion of the paper. Suandi 10