Overcoming Cancer: Story Of Hazel Lancaster From "The Fault In Our Stars"

Hazel Lancaster is a bright teenage girl, whose world was slightly dimmed by lung cancer. At age thirteen she was diagnosed terminally ill and was given a drug named phalanxifor. Phalanxifor gave Hazel an incalculable number of more years to live. Most people in Hazel’s situation would immediately give up hope of a good life and they would succumb into their misery and darkness. However, Hazel did not let this happen to her, she decided to let her difficulty take over her slightly because she knew she would be able to overcome it.

In John Green’s novel, The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel Lancaster overcomes cancer and its side effects by persevering through it and using her strength.

Hazel perseveres through the hardships she faces with cancer in order to overcome her adversity. In the book, Hazel is going through a lot of pain and is ready to lose consciousness, but she reminds herself that she, “had been poked and stabbed and poisoned for years and still I trod on” (Green 106).

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Hazel has lung cancer and is miraculously kept alive by phalanxifor, which does not guarantee her an abundance of time. Yet, Hazel is determined to persist through cancer and life. The determination to live with cancer strengthens Hazel for each battle she faces. With each hardship she encounters, Hazel is able to keep moving forward and refuses to let her cancer consume her. Hazel has trouble going up many steep stairs, yet while climbing the stairs at the Anne Frank House she does not give up.

Instead she says, “it’s okay, I can do it” (Green 198). As she goes up the stairs, she struggles but eventually makes it to the top floor. Hazel’s ability to do this, despite the challenge, shows how tenacious she can be if she sets her mind on overcoming her affliction. This fortifies Hazel by making her realize that she can do anything, and cancer does not define who she is and what she is able to do. By persevering through cancer Hazel is able to overcome her adversity.

In summation, Hazel Lancaster overcomes cancer and its side effects by persevering through it and using her strength. Hazel’s aptness to keep her course in life with cancer strengthened her for all the hardships she would soon face. She is also taught that her cancer does not define who she is and what she is capable of doing. In addition, Hazel’s strength helps her overpower her tribulation by fighting for her life and knowing if she remains strong everything will turn out fine in the end. In conclusion, Hazel not only became stronger by conquering her ordeal, but she also learned how to live alongside cancer, so at a point in her life she can defeat it.