Hazel Grace and what people leave behind
In The Fault in Our Stars, Augustus Waters writes to Peter Van Houten to get help in writing a eulogy for Hazel Grace. Waters intimates that Hazel Grace knows the truth of life – people will not be remembered and that they only leave scars. People are more likely to hurt the universe than to heal it. Thus she treads lightly and will leave a lesser scar than others, which is the true act of heroism.
Mini-malls, coups and the rock star lifestyle hurt people, and those who create them end up being forgotten. If these scars are the best we can hope to leave behind, we would be better served trying to minimize our impact on the existence of others. Rather than lashing out at those who hurt us or striking out to create the largest scar possible, we should mindfully consider our actions and our words so that fewer people get hurt and so that there is less pain in the world. We can recognize, as Hazel Grace does when she talks about being a grenade, that we will leave behind people that we have hurt. That some sort of damage is inevitable. However, if we choose carefully who, how and what gets hurt in the process of our lives, then maybe we can come out on the good side of the universe. Part of life is the mutual choice made between two people to be vulnerable to each other, and that vulnerability will bring pain and destruction with it. However, it will also bring all of the good that can be found in life because it will bring love. |
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