Young Love

A theme that relates specifically to John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” and other young adult novels is intimacy between two characters. Alleen Pace Nilsen’s article titled “Books for Young Adults: Love and the Teenage Reader” discusses young love in literature and different books that illustrate the struggles and successes of young adult relationships. A specific part of the article that I found applicable to “The Fault in Our Stars” discusses the extremes to which some characters take their relationships. Nilsen describes the relationship between characters in some books to be “dishonest” and unrealistic. This particular statement immediately reminded me of the relationship between Hazel and Gus. To me, their relationship seems a bit unrealistic and “exaggerated” as Nelsen would describe it. Having known each other for such a short period of time, they were in love and were having sex. Hazel and Gus seemed to be mature beyond their years, having not argued once the entire story and did not display signs of a classic teenage relationship, despite their illness. Despite the inevitable deaths of Hazel and Gus, their relationship almost seemed too perfect and fast moving in the moment and did not seem representative of a real relationship between two young adults struggling with a deadly disease. Like Nelsen pointed out in the article, literature is often written for teenage girls who want to see a perfect and long-lasting relationship. However, given the facts of Gus and Hazel’s tough situation, in real life it seems like that would have been an impossibility. The author of the novel of “The Fault in Our Stars” follows the classic script that Nelsen discusses in his article. It’s a script made for young adults who want to read about a relationship that lasts despite the odds of an unrealistic situation.

Nilsen, Alleen P. “Books for Young Adults: Love and the Teenage Reader.” The English Journal 3rd ser. 65 (1976): 90-92. JSTOR. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/814848>.