Chelsea Judd

Judd 1

Mr. Smith
Period 3
March 19, 2015

Augustuss Metaphor
In John Greens teen novel, The Fault in Our Stars, cigarettes are not whats killing the
characters-- its cancer. Ironically though, Gus is often seen with an unlit cigarette when he is
with Hazel. In fact, when Hazel initially saw Gus with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, she almost
ended things before they started. A fatal flaw is what she called it, and was completely
disappointed. Throughout the book, the cigarette appears to symbolize Guss control over his
cancer, rather than symbolizing a typical cancer-causing drug.
As mentioned before, Hazel is very disgusted when she sees Gus with a cigarette in his
mouth. He defends himself by explaining that,They dont kill you unless you light them...And
Ive never lit one. Its a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but
you dont give it the power to do its killing (Green 20). Even though Gus has no control over
cancer itself, he seems to feel a sense of control by almost smoking. And because smoking can
actually cause cancer, this makes almost smoking even more powerful to him. He could smoke,
but purposely chooses not to in a more dramatic way.
Later in the novel Gus is seen here and there with his pack of smokes. Surprisingly, he
gets a cigarette out on the plane ride to Amsterdam to just sit in his mouth unlit like

Judd 2

usual. Of course, this does not fly with the stewardess. Hazel tells the lady, He puts the
killing thing in his mouth but doesnt give it the power to kill him (Green 146). Gus ends up
putting the cigarette away. In this situation, the cigarette could represent when Gus is starting to
lose control. At this point, his cancer was coming back and starting to take control over him,
even though he had not announced it yet. He is trying to enjoy the trip. He gets the cigarettes out
routinely, but is breaking the rules, and submits, just like he has no choice but to submit to his
unfortunate fate.
In the final stages of Guss cancer, the cigarettes symbolize what little control he has left
of his life. When Hazel discovers him in an emergency situation one night at the gas station in
his car, he realizes at this point what little control over his cancer he has. Gus says, I wanted to
buy a pack of cigarettes...I wanted to do it myself. Do one little thing myself (Green 244). He
had driven to the gas station in the middle of the night to buy a pack, and ended up leaving in an
ambulance. He was not able to even buy the cigarettes to continue his ritual of power.
The fact that cigarettes are usually associated with addicts, that have no control over
their lives, as some believe, makes their symbolism in the book interesting. For Gus the
cigarettes give him a sense of control, because he knows they are detrimental to his health in all
reality if he actually smoked them. The metaphor eventually represents the end of Guss
control over his life. As Hazel points out, The Augustus Waters of crooked smiles and
unsmoked cigarettes was gone, replaced by this desperate humiliated creature sitting there
beneath me (Green 245). Gus admits, This is it. I cant even not smoke anymore (245).

Judd 3
Works Cited

Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.