How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Don't tell me you're one of those people who becomes their disease." (2.70)
Is it possible to separate yourself from your disease? Do Hazel, Augustus, and Isaac identify completely with cancer?
Quote #2
I understood: No wasting good lungs on a hopeless case. (8.14)
Can your identity be controlled by those around you? Hazel's well-meaning doctors see her as a "hopeless case," so does that make her feel more like one?
Quote #3
"Hazel is such an inspiration to me […] She just keeps fighting the battle, waking up every morning and going to war without complaint. She's so strong. She's so much stronger than I am. I just wish I had her strength." (9.14)
Well, what else would you do if you had cancer? Ignore it? Give in to it? Hazel hates this kind of rhetoric and finds it condescending.