Struggles for Pe
rfections in John Green’s
novel
The Fault in Our Stars
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Attainment of Sarjana Sastra Degree in English Language and Literature
By
Agung Larsonianto
10211141026
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
MOTTOS
Power belongs to those who take it.
DEDICATION
I dedicate this thesis to my parents:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All the praise goes to Allah SWT, the God of all mankind, for the
endless mercies and blessings that always enlighten me. Therefore, I could
finish writing this thesis. It cannot be completed without some help from other
people. My sincere gratitude is delivered to:
1. Dr. Sugi Iswalono, M.A., my first supervisor, and Rachmat Nurcahyo,
S.S., M.A., my second supervisor, who have given me priceless and
precious knowledge, attention, time, guidance, and patience so that I
could finish this thesis;
2. the late Asih Sigit, M. Hum., my academic supervisor, who guided me
during my study in this university;
3. all the lecturers of English Education Department of Yogyakarta State
University for their valuable knowledge and support;
4. to my parents, bapak Lamidjo & ibu Rita Susanti and my little sister
Tika for their never-ending attention, support, and love;
5. all my friends who always motivate and support me;
6. my triangulators. namely Damast Eskasari and Dita Pravita for their
time, patience, and guidance to check and recheck this thesis;
7. all my friends in Linguistics Class 2010 for every amazing time and
experiences; and
8. all people, whom I cannot mention by time, who helped me finish this
thesis.
Writing this thesis would have been impossible without the assistance
from the afore-mentioned people. Any suggestions and criticism are indeed
welcome to improve my thesis since this thesis is not perfect yet. However, I
hope this thesis will give some contribution to me and also the readers.
Yogyakarta, 20 December 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
C. Formulation of the Problems ...4
D. Objectives of the Research ...5
E. Significance of the Research ...5
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ...6
A. Notions of Individual Psychology ...6
B. Basic Assumption of Individual Psychology ... 7
1. Fiction Finalism ...8
2. Inferiority Feeling ...9
3. Striving for Superiority ...9
4. Style of Life ...10
5. Social Interest ...11
6. Creative Power ... 12
b. Safety needs ...14
c. Love and belongingness needs ... 14
d. Esteem needs... 14
e. Self-actualization needs... 14
D. The Fault in Our Stars novel ... 15
E. Previous Research Findings ...16
F. Conceptual Framework... 17
G. Analytical Construct ... 19
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD ...20
A. Research Design ...20
B. Data and Source of the Data ...20
C. Research Instrument ...21
D. Data Collection Technique ...21
E. Data Analysis ...22
F. The Trustworthiness of the Data ...23
CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...25
A. Kinds of life perfection giving meaning to Hazel ...26
1. Knowing the ending of An Imperial Affliction ...26
2. Making her parents happy ...29
3. Minimizing casualties of her death ... 35
4. To be closer with Augustus Waters ... 37
B. Hazel’ struggle in getting her life perfection ...41
1. Hazel’s striving in knowing the ending of An Imperial Affliction. 41 2. Hazel’s struggles in making her parents happy ... 43
3. Hazel’s attempts in minimizing the casualties of her death ... 45
4. Hazel’s effort in order to be closer with Augustus... 47
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS ...52
Conclusions ...52
REFERENCES ...55
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ... 15 Figure 2. Analytical Construct ... 19
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1. Kinds of life perfection that gives meaning to Hazel ... 58
xii
LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix 1. Summary of the novel ... 57
Appendix 2. The Data ... 58
xiii
STRUGGLE FOR PERFECTION IN JOHN GREEN’S NOVEL THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
Agung Larsonianto 10211141026 ABSTRACT
This study is under the field of psychological studies. Specifically, it is a psychological study which explores the relationship between life perfection of a girl as a socialized entity. The aim of this study is to analyze the psychological developments called life perfection performed by Hazel Grace Lancaster, the main character in The Fault in Our Stars. This study has two objectives, they are to identify the life perfection and find out how the character’s struggle to reach it.
This study is a qualitative research employing content analysis method. The main source of this research is a novel entitled The Fault in Our Stars by John Green which was published in 2012 by Dutton Books. The data were some expressions used to show the kinds of life perfections and character’s struggle in the novel. The researcher was the primary instrument and the data sheets were the secondary instrument. Data analysis was conducted through four steps: organizing and preparing the data, reading and re-reading the data, sorting the data, interrelating the description, and interpreting the meaning of description. The trustworthiness of the data was gained by providing rich, thick description; reading and re-reading the data; and conducting triangulation.
This study revealed 2 findings. First, there were four kinds of life perfections found in this research. They are: knowing the ending of An Imperial Affliction, making Hazel’s parents happy, minimizing casualties of Hazel’s death and to be closer with Augustus Waters. Second, there were four categories of struggle related in gaining the life perfection. They are Hazel’s striving in
knowing the ending of An Imperial Affliction, Hazel’s struggles in making her parents happy, Hazel’s attempts in minimizing the casualties of her death and
Hazel’s efforts in order to be closer with Augustus.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the study
Human beings in this world want perfection in their life. Life perfection
is a condition where someone is able to gain maximum state of happiness in their
life. It is fulfilled by anything that maximizes their state of mind. The perfection
of life depends on human mindset, so it is explains the differences of perfection in
people’s minds.
Perfection is one of the important factors in someone’s life, means everyone deserves perfection in their life even though they have to struggle and do
everything as a form of sacrifice. Most of the people search for it without knowing
what it looks like. Some of them know the perfection they dream of but they do
not know how to get it. They pursue their own perfection to reach the maximum
happiness of life. As perfection of life is a complex feeling inside human minds, it
cannot be measured or bought by anything. From this definition, the idea of
perfection is complicated as it requires a hard work and sacrifices to gain.
Commonly, people attempt to gain this need in different ways, as they dream
about it in a different meaning.
Based on human nature, they want to fulfill their needs, to the maximum
possibility of perfection. Unfortunately, fulfilling a need is not easy because the
nature of human need is unlimited. To be successful in fulfilling the unlimited
to get their perfection. Perfection is a state of mind that is constructed by
personality developments. Adler (1971:2) states that
I should like to emphasize first of all that striving for perfection is innate, this is not meant in a concrete way, as there were a driver which would later in life be capable of bringing everything to completion and which only needed to develop it.
The above statement explains that personality developments define
someone’s characterization, which makes every person unique and different from the other. As stated by Allport (1961:28) personality is the dynamic organization
within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his
characteristics behavior and thought. His theory of personality emphasizes the
uniqueness of the individual and the internal cognitive and motivational processes
that influence behavior, for example, intelligence, temperament, habits, skills,
attitudes, and traits.
Adler (in Fredenburgh, 1971:2) states that each person has a unique
psychological structure and traits that are possessed by only one person; and that
there are times when it is impossible to compare one person with others. He
believes that personality is biologically determined at birth, and shaped by a
person's environmental experiences. The experiences themselves can be good or
bad, depending on his capabilities in facing her daily problems. The person’s bad experiences unconsciously shapes his inferiority complex, which taking part in
defining his representation in social life.
According to Moritz (2006:11), inferiority complex is a lack of
often subconscious. This feeling of inferiority sometimes develops from one's
position in the family group, particularly if early experiences of humiliation
happened; a specific physical condition or deficiency existed, or a general lack of
social feeling for others was present. It is a factor of personality development
which takes a big part in defining someone characterization.
Someone with specific physical conditions often has a lack of self-worth,
a doubt and uncertainty because of his physical limitations. He will face
difficulties in his personality development because his efforts in gaining his life
perfection will be more difficult than the others who do not possess it. Whenever a
person suffers from any disadvantages that make him inferior to others, his main
aim becomes to bring those disadvantages to an end.
In The Fault in Our Stars novel written by John Green, there are some
issues about the seeking life perfection with an inferiority feeling which describes
the personal life of a girl named Hazel Grace Lancaster. She is a kind and
thoughtful teenage girl. In contrast, she has specific physical limitations which
make her feel alone and useless because her environments do not meeting with her
needs. Therefore, she decides to find the meaningful reason in her journey of life.
This situation puts her in an event when she met Augustus, who soon becomes the
answer of her journey.
B. The Focus of the Research
Considering the explanation above, this research describes how the
and perceiving particular life situation. The researcher wants to reveal the efforts
of a girl who just lost her insight to life in gaining her life perfection.
The novel portrays the life of Hazel, a girl who lives her life in very
particular reason and situation. A girl who has thyroid cancer that sometimes
made her suffocates and forces her to use a portable oxygen tank to breathe
properly. She need her life perfection as her last wish before she dies. As a result,
it disturbs her psychological development and leads her to have a difficulty in
facing her future life.
The researcher uses psychological theory by Adler and Maslow’s theory of needs to conduct the research focusing on the effects of physical condition
toward Hazel’s psychological development. Adler mentions that human personality development is shaped by the individual's unconscious self-work to
convert feelings of inferiority to superiority, and in the novel, this situation is
experienced by Hazel. Therefore, Adler’s theory is relevant to analyze Hazel’s psychological development. The result will be analyzed with Maslow’s theory, as the theory itself exemplifies the needs that Hazel tries to fulfill.
C. The Formulation of the Problem
The problems of the research are formulated as follows.
1. What kinds of life perfection that gives meaning to Hazel?
D. The Objectives of the Research
Based on the formulation of the problem, the objectives of the research
are
1. to identify the kinds of life perfection that gives meaning to Hazel, and
2. to analyze the struggle of Hazel in getting her life perfection.
E. The Significance of the Research 1. Academically
This research reveals some points about the effects of inferiority feeling
toward someone’s psychological development. Hence, the finding of this research gives the results to the students, especially for those who use psychological theory
in their research.
2. Practically
This research can be a tool to increase the awareness about the effect of
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents the underlying theory, which supports the discussion
of this thesis. In analyzing the problem, the writer uses psychological approaches,
Adler’s individual psychological theory and Maslow’s theory of needs. They can be used as a theoretical framework to analyze the character’s personality.
In order to make the theory easier to understand, the writer provides several
aspects of the theory. The elaboration consists of the Notion of Individual
Psychology, Basic Assumption of Individual Psychology, Theory of Needs and
Theoretical Application.
A. Notions of Individual Psychology
According to Adler as quoted by Ryckman (1985: 95), Individual
Psychology is a science that attempts to understand the experiences and behavior
of each person as an organized entity. He believes that all actions are consciously /
unconsciously are guided by a person’s fundamental attitudes. Adler (in Hjelle and Ziegler, 1982: 141) believes that the purpose of a personality theory should be
to function as a reasonable and useful guide for counselors and ultimately for
everyone, in affecting the healthy behavior of psychology. As stated by Adler (in
Feist, 1985: 64),
organized in one-self consistent totally. No definite division can be made between mind and body, between conscious and unconscious, or between reason and emotion. All behavior is seen in relation to the final goal of the superiority of success. This gives direction and unity to the individual.
Adler in Hjelle and Ziegler (1992: 139) portrays the human being as single,
invisible, self-consistent and unfired. Adler makes consciousness of the center of
personality, which makes him as a pioneer in the development of an ego-oriented
psychology. He is aware of the reason of consciousness of human being for his
behavior. He is aware of his inferiorities and conscious of the goals for which he
strives. More than that, he is a self-conscious individual who is capable of
planning and guiding his actions with a full awareness of their meaning for his
own self-realization (Hall and Lindzey, 1981: 121).
In his earliest writings, he writes that the final goal of our struggle was to be
aggressive and all-powerful, dominating others. Humans were seen as selfish and
concerned only with ambition, Adler revised his thinking and claimed that the
B. Basic Assumption of Individual Psychology
The basic assumption of Individual Psychology can be presented in six
general categories: (1) fiction finalism, (2) inferiority feeling, (3) striving for
superiority, (4) style of life, (5) social interest, and (6) creative power.
1. Fiction Finalism
Fiction finalism is the individual goal of life, which is imaginary in nature
or as a fiction as stated by Adler in Hjelle and Ziegler (1992: 154) that each
person’s quest for superiority is guided by the fictional goal that he or she has adopted.
Adler (in Hjelle and Ziegler, 1992: 154) believes that the person’s fictional goal of superiority is self-determined; it is formed by the person’s own creative power, which makes the individually unique. Adler (in Ryckman, 1985: 98)
argues that people create ideas that guide their behavior and he concludes that, no
one’s different struggling can occur without the perception of goals. The fiction finalism takes a place as imaginary goals where all kinds of striving and struggle
of a person will lead to.
Adler’s concept of fiction finalism is the idea the human behavior is directed toward a future goal of its own making. Adler (in Hjelle and Ziegler,
1992: 153) theorizes that our ultimate goals (those goals which give our live
direction and purpose) are fictional goals that can neither be tested nor confirmed
2. Inferiority Feeling
Inferiority feeling is the manifestation of individual consciousness due to a
condition, which results from incompetence or imperfection feeling. Literally,
inferiority is feeling weak and inexperienced in the appearance of tasks that
need to be completed. Hall and Lindzey (1985: 147) explain that this inferiority
feeling is considered as a challenge to strive for the compensation of inferiority
until psychological equilibrium is attained.
According to Adler as quoted by Hall and Lindzey (1985: 147), the feeling
of inferiority is quite normal. Throughout life, feelings of inferiority arise as we
meet new and unfamiliar task that must be completed. Each time we confront a
new tasks our initial awareness of inferiority is overcome as we achieve a higher
level of functioning. Feeling of inferiority basically can be constructive or
destructive.
3. Striving for Superiority
Each individual is naturally forced to be superior, dominant and considered
by others. A person will make some efforts to cover the feeling of inferiority and
will strive to cover his or her weaknesses to be better. Feist (1985: 68) states that
the one dynamic force behind the person activity is the striving for success
I should like to emphasize first of all that striving for perfection is innate, this is not meant in a concrete way, as there were a driver which would later in life be capable of bringing everything to completion and which only needed to develop it. The striving for perfection is innate the sense that it is a part of life as striving, an urge, a something without which life would be unthinkable…
Adler (in Hall and Lindzey, 1981: 123) explains that the striving for
superiority may manifest its elf in a thousand different way and that each
person has his own actual mode of achieving or trying to achieve perfection. He
also believes that the great dynamic force governing human behavior is a striving
to be aggressive and there are three different stages in his theorizing on the
ultimate goal of human life: to be aggressive, to be powerful, and to be superior
(in Hjelle and Ziegler, 1992: 143).
4. Style of Life
According to Adler (Hjelle and Ziegler, 1992: 144), the style of life
acknowledges the unique pattern of traits, behaviors, and habits which, when
taken together, defines the flavor of a person’s existence. The style of life, originally called “life plan” or “guiding image” refers to the unique ways in which people pursue their goal (Ryckman, 1985: 98).
Style of life does not contain only the person’s goal, but also self-concept, feelings toward others, and attitude toward the world. It is the product of the
i nt er act i on o f h er ed i t y, envi ronm ent , an d go al o f s u c c e s s , soci al
interest and creative power (Feist, 1985: 74). The individual’s style of life is largely determined by the specific inferiorities, as it is referred to the taste of
Adler (in Hall and Lindzey, 1981: 126). There are four types of style of life:
ruling type, getting type, avoiding type, and socially useful type.
a) The Ruling Type
The ruling type is people who are forceful, aggressive, and active with little
social awareness or interest. Adler gives an example of drug addicts that he
considered as the ruling type person.
b) The Getting Type
The getting type is people with lifestyle attitude relate to the outside world
in a dependent manner, leaning on others to satisfy most of their needs.
c) The Avoiding Type
The avoiding type is people with neither sufficient social interest nor
activity to solve their own problem.
d) The Socially Useful Type
This socially useful type is people with maturity in Adler’s system. Such a person personifies both a high degree of social interest and a high level of
activity.
5. Social Interest
According to Adler as quoted by Feist (1985:71) social interest can be
collaboration with others for social development rather than for personal gain, as
it is part of human nature and some amount of it exists in everyone. Adler (in
Phares, 1988: 93), says that social interest is a predisposition, nurtured by
experience to contribute to society.
Naturally, man is a social creature where realizes his position as a free
individual. In his efforts to develop himself, he must also consider the existence
and the importance of his society. Since a man was born, he automatically
becomes a member of society. If his social feeling can develop naturally; he will
be able to make an adaptation with his living environments appropriately. Hall
and Lindzey (1970: 125) acknowledge that a man should live among others,
where he interacts with others in his society that make his behavior is always
influenced by his society.
According to Hall and Lindzey (1985: 147), Adler’s concept of social interest is not easy to define. It can be translated in many different ways and the
wider meaning of the concept is still questioned. For this study purposes, we will
define social interest as caring and concerning movement that continues to guide
a person’s behavior.
6. Creative Power
Creative power is the influence of any environment toward a person in
facing the problem of life. Each person is gifted with freedom to create their own
no matter what. This power of life is responsible for achieving person’s life goal and contributes to the development of social interest.
The creative power gives meaning to life, as it creates the goal as the future
objective which needs to be completed. Hall and Lindzey, (1970: 166) stated that
it is the principle of human life, as it develops each person to be uniquely stylized
and dynamically unified. The uniquely stylized person implies their own
personality, as the sum of experiences and inheritances.
Adler (in Hjelle and Zeigler, 1992: 150) explains that the concept of the
creative underlining his belief that human beings are masters of their own fate. It
creates freedom which enables a person to choose their experience, whether they
choose pain, joy, or anxiety, or to defend themselves against these experiences by
creating various safeguarding actions.
C. Theory of Human Motivation
The theory of human motivation is created by Abraham Maslow in 1943. He
believed that people possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or
unconscious desires. He also acknowledged that people are motivated to achieve
certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfill the next one, and
so on.
Maslow believes that every person is capable and unconsciously has the
desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization (1943).
lower level needs. Life experiences or physical deficiency may cause an
individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy.
The earliest and most widespread version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs
(1943) includes five motivational needs, often illustrated as hierarchical levels
within a pyramid. The stage model divided into five basic needs which are
physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization.
1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear.
3. Love and belongingness need - friendship, intimacy, affection, and love, - from work group, family, friends, and romantic relationships.
4. Esteem needs - achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, and respect from others.
Figure 1. Maslow Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow (1943) acknowledge there only one in a hundred people become
fully self-actualized because our society rewards motivation primarily based on
esteem, love and other social needs.
The lack of basic needs is said to motivate people when they are not meet
each other. Also, the need to fulfill such needs will become stronger as the longer
the duration they are denied. For example, the longer a person goes without food
they will become more hungry from time to time. A man must satisfy lower level
basic needs before progressing to higher level growth needs. Once these needs
have been reasonably satisfied, he may be able to reach the highest level of needs
called self-actualization.
D. John Green and The Fault in Our Stars
The Fault in Our Stars story is a sum of Green's experience working with
terminally ill kids and his encounters with his online fans, and one in particular.
to whom he dedicated it. According to Green, Esther’s biggest contribution to the novel was that he truly liked her and was genuinely angry when she passed away.
For him, writing the novel was a way of working through his own grief and anger
and coming to terms with the loss of a loved friend, who taught him a great deal
about the truths, horrors, and clichés that are a part of living with cancer.
E. Previous Research Findings
There are two literary types of research that focus on psychological analysis
and socio-emotional development. The first thesis is Eka Setiawati’s thesis entitled “The Psychological Effect of World War II on Ira Hayes and John
Bradley’s Character in James Bradley’s Flags of Our Fathers” in 2011. The
thesis focuses on describing the psychological matter experienced by the main
character after the world war and how the character deals with the traumatic
experience related to Adler’s individual psychological theory. The results of the research show that there are two crises suffered by the main characters according
to Adler’s individual psychological theory; those are inferiority feeling and style of life.
The second thesis is Dwi Purwaningrum’s thesis entitled “A Struggle for Love in F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby: An Individual Psychological
Approach” in 2006. This research focuses on identifying the condition experienced by the main character in the novel and the impact of the crisis toward
problems occurring on the main character in the novel; inferiority, striving for
superiority, and style of life.
This research investigates The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, as it
pointed to identify the steps in the process of seeking perfection and the struggle
to get it in the main character in the novel as the effects of life perfection using
Adler’s psychological development theory. Psychological development is applied in the research to show the causes and the impacts of the life perfection toward
Hazel, the main character in The Fault in Our Stars. There has not been a research
on Green’s The Fault in Our Stars conducted by either students or lecturers in the English Department of Yogyakarta State University.
This research reveals some points about the effects of inferiority feeling
toward the main character’s psychological development. Hence, the finding of this research will give the results to the students, especially for those who use
psychological theory in their research.
F. Conceptual Framework
Seeking perfection of life is an idea of constructing the goals of a person’s
will. It related to human psychology and their consciousness to sum all their
experiences and decide which one they want to chase. Their decision is based on
their awareness and self-understanding of their own body and mind. The
awareness creates the unique motivation of creating their own perfection, and the
The researcher applies Maslow’s theory of needs to answer the first research questions. Maslow believes that people possess a set of motivation systems
unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. People are motivated to achieve
certain needs when one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfill the next one, and
so on. Each person is capable of planning and guiding his actions with a full
awareness of their meaning for his own self-realization.
The second research questions use Adler’s individual psychological theory, this theory believes that each person is ordinarily aware of the reason for his/her
behavior. He/she is a conscious of his/her inferiorities and conscious of the goals
for which he/she strives. The more an individual resolves his/her life planning
The Fault in Our Stars
What kind of life perfection that giving meaning to Hazel How does Hazel struggle to get her life perfection
Theory of Human Motivation
Physiological needs Safety needs Love &
belongingness needs Esteem needs
Self-actualization needs
Individual Psychology
Fiction Finalism Inferiority Feeling Striving for
Superiority Style of Life Social Interest Creative Power
G. Analytical Construct
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHOD
A. Research Design
This study uses a descriptive qualitative research. Creswell (2007:37)
explains qualitative research begins with assumptions, a worldview, the possible
use of a theoretical lens, and the study of research problems inquiring into the
meaning of individuals or groups assign to a human or social problem. The result
of the analyzing process is also presented in the form of words, clauses, and
sentences as a replacement of numerical data.
B. Data and Source of the Data
Data source used in this research was taken from a novel entitled The
Fault in Our Stars. Since this research is a qualitative research, the data are the
expressions, symbols, words, phrases, clauses and sentences taken from the novel.
The data were related to the kinds of life perfection that gives meaning to Hazel as
the main character in the novel and analyzes the struggle of Hazel in getting her
life perfection.
The Fault in Our Stars was written by John Green which was published
for the first time in 2012 by Dutton Books (Penguin Group Inc.). Its luminous
story has made it as #1 bestseller all around the globe. The novel has 313 pages
some books, journals, and websites which refers to psychological analysis. Those
resources were taken to improve the researcher’s knowledge and comprehension in conducting this study.
C. Research Instruments
The primary instrument in analyzing the data was the researcher himself,
as it is stated by Creswell (2007:38) that in qualitative research, the researchers
collect data themselves through examining documents, observing behavior, and
interviewing participants. The researcher is the one who gather the information
and he does not use or rely on questionnaires or instruments developed by other
researchers. He uses his own capacity to gather, reduce and analyze the data.
In addition, the researcher’s secondary instrument is a set of data collected from the novel entitled The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012).
This instrument functions as the primary data for the researcher in the process of
identification and analysis.
D. Data Collection Technique
In this study, the researcher used the technique of analysis of documents
and material culture since the source of the data was a written text (Vanderstoep
and Johnston, 2008:189). The process of data collecting technique consists of four
steps, to be precise careful and comprehensive reading, taking notes, interpreting
of the data, the researcher read and reread the novel to get a more rich
understanding of it.
To acquire the required data, the researcher also took notes and underlined
the data which were related to life struggle of a girl towards the life perfection that
she dreamed of. The data which had been gathered through note taking process
were interpreted using psychological criticism. Finally, the data were categorized
into the parts which were relevant with (A) kinds of life perfection that giving
meaning to Hazel as the main character in the novel and (B) analyzing the
struggle of Hazel in getting her life perfection. The researcher wrote the
categorized data in a table of data collection and classification. To conclude the
conclusion, the researcher marked some sentences bold which support and
emphasize the categories he made to simplify the analyzing process.
E. Data Analysis
Here is the sequence of seven steps the researcher used in analyzing the
data of the research.
1. The researcher identified the data which were taken from the novel by making
some notes.
2. The researcher read and re-read the whole data and placing them into two major
topics under the study questions. The first analysis was kind of life perfection that
3. The researcher categorized the data into thematic categories related to life
perfection and the struggle to get it.
4. The researcher sorted the data to get the most relevant data. Hence, the
irrelevant data were excluded in this step.
5. The researcher making the relation between the data and theories to get findings
based on the objectives of the research: to reveal what kinds of life perfection that
gives meaning to Hazel and her struggle to get the life perfection in Green’s The Fault in Our Stars.
6. The researcher focused on making interpretation of the findings based on his
comprehension with the theories which were used in the study.
7. The researcher entered the data into table as seen as follows
Table 1. Data Sheet (Table of Analysis) No
Sub-category
Quotation Chapter Page Explanation
1 Fiction
Finalism
“...seemed to understand me in weird and impossible
ways. An Imperial
Affliction was my book, in the way my body was my body and my thoughts were my thoughts.”
2 12
F. The Trustworthiness of the Data
According to Moleong (2006:326), there are four criteria to gain research
confirmability. Triangulation investigator was employed to prove and improve the
trustworthiness of this study. To gain more trustworthiness, the researcher applied
credibility and dependability. To gain credibility, the consultation was conducted
with her two advisors namely Drs. Sugi Iswalono, M.A. and Rachmat Nurcahyo,
SS, M.A. as the lecturers of Yogyakarta State University who are knowledgeable
in the study of literature. In completing dependability, the researcher examined
the data collection and data analysis with discussion with two peer-reviewers
CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter elaborates the findings and discussions of the research on the
novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. This research attempts to identify the
individual psychological development of a teenage girl named Hazel Grace
Lancaster. Adler’s individual psychology theory is employed in this research to guide
the researcher in countering the research objectives related to Hazel’s struggles.
In this chapter, the researcher describes the findings and discussions of the
study, which is divided into two sub-chapters. The first sub-chapter answers the first
research objective about finding the life perfection with Adler’s individual
psychological theory. The second sub-chapter answers the second research objective
about the struggles of Hazel in getting her life perfection with Maslow’s theory of needs.
A. Kinds of life perfection that gives meaning for Hazel.
Life perfection is an important factor which guides a person action in gaining
the maximum state of happiness. The life perfection itself can be anything, a limitless
and behavior that people possess in their life. In its simple explanation, it is the sum
of life experiences of people have in their life.
Individual Psychology is a science that attempts to understand the experiences
and behavior of each person as an organized entity. Adler (in Ryckman, 1985:95)
believes that all actions are guided by a person’s fundamental attitudes toward life. The major purpose of a personality theory is to serve as an efficient guide to
explaining people’s life perfection based on their experiences and behavior.
Green’s The Fault in Our Stars is a novel that shows the life of a girl who suffers from the physical illness. With Adler’s individual psychological theory, the researcher explored the novel and he found that the character struggle of seeking her
life perfection is varied in many ways. There are four kinds of life perfection that
giving meaning to Hazel found in the novel.
1. Knowing the ending of An Imperial Affliction
In The Fault in Our Stars novel, Hazel is the major character that represents the
life of a teen girl who lives with thyroid cancer in her body. Every human has their
own goal, so was Hazel. She is an ordinary girl who has her own goal in life.
Unfortunately, her physical condition makes her life goal seems unreachable for her.
In the story, Hazel mentioned her several fictional goals which reflect her wish in a
“...and then there are books like An Imperial Affliction, which you can’t tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal .
(Green, 2012:2)
...seemed to understand me in weird and impossible ways. An Imperial Affliction was my book, in the way my body was my body and my thoughts were my thoughts.”
(Green, 2012:2)
This quote describes her favorite novel entitled An Imperial Affliction. It is a
novel about a girl named Anna who has cancer, and it's the only book she's read of
living with cancer ties with her experience. Hazel’s bound to the novel offers a sort of companionship, which comforts her. The novel represents Hazel’s experience the
battles for her illness and she obsesses over the fates of the character in the novel
because they function as her representations for her own parents.
I'd learned this from my aforementioned third best friend, Peter Van Houten, the reclusive author of An Imperial Affliction, the book that was as close a thing as I had to a Bible.
(Green, 2012:1)
This line of quotation expressing Hazel feelings towards An Imperial Affliction
where she considered that novel is a sort of religion for her. The novel is the only
thing that understands her in every aspect of life, even her parents cannot be like that.
Hazel found this book as a marvel, where her thoughts were accommodated and her
novel, where she can start a charity foundation for cancer and die as a heroine who
tries to reduce the effects of cancer.
Hazel is pessimistic in her existence with the world, she feels that the world is
not fair with her. She did not have a chance to live like other girls or die gorgeously
like what Anna does in An Imperial Affliction. She expresses her feeling when she
speaks about oblivion in the Support Group.
"Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten […] and this will have been for naught […] and if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that's what everyone else does."
(Green, 2012:1)
Hazel gets the expression from the novel, where she emphasizes how she is
facing the world as a temporary place, where she did not need to please everyone for
what she do as everything will be forgotten and no one will remember. She was
provoked by the author of An Imperial Affliction. She thought to have the same
experience as the novel main character’s, who understand what it’s like to be dying and not have died. Hazel treats the novel as the guide for her action, where it
affecting her life in many ways. She found it successfully express her feelings
towards the world and understand her so deeply.
“If I could just stay alive for a week, I'd know the unwritten secrets of Anna's
mom and the Dutch Tulip Guy.”
In chapter 8, Hazel mentions the book again as she says that she wants to be
alive even for a week just to know the story of An Imperial Affliction. This appeared
after she got a sudden health attack that fulfills her lungs with water. She is hopeless
after her health turned to be bad and her trip to Amsterdam is threatened to be
canceled. This condition reflects how much the novel meant for her. The novel itself
turned into her imaginary goal where she wants to strive for. Adler’s concept of imaginary goal is the idea the human behavior is directed toward his own future goal
of its own making (Hall and Lindzey, 1981:122). That is why after this incident she
tries to convince her doctors that she is capable of making the trip, although her
health did not good enough for her as she wants to know how the novel ends to fulfill
her own goals.
2. Making her parents happy
In the beginning of The Fault in Our Stars novel, Hazel mentions her feelings
about being a depressed girl:
Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death. I
hadn’t been in proper school in three years. My parents were my two best friends. My third best friend was an author who did not know I existed.
(Green, 2012:1)
This line shows Hazel state of feelings in the beginning of the novel. As a girl
knows that her mom thinks that she was depressed, as she often thinking about death.
As a teenager, that means so much to her and she realizes where she is, no friends, no
boyfriends and dying all time. Her life will be completely empty if she did not have
her parents.
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that Hazel is suffered from
inferiority feeling. Hall and Lindzey (1985: 147) state that inferiority means feeling
weak and unskilled in completing the tasks that need to be accomplished. It is an
expression of an individual perception due to a condition, which is caused by inability
or imperfection feeling. The inferiority feeling often leads people in destructing
themselves, as they believe that they are relying on something which is not good
enough for them. Hazel believes that she is relying on something that did not mean
for her, her parents. In that case, she strives for her own power as she wants to be
acknowledged by her parents about her needs. It is clear that her needs are not
fulfilled, because of her physical limitations and she lacks common knowledge about
being a teenager.
“If you want me to be a teenager, don’t send me to Support Group. Buy me a fake ID so I can go to clubs, drink vodka, and take the pot.”
(Green, 2012:1)
The quotation indicates how her expectation of being a teenager is different
from her parents. Her parents want her to go to support group, but she did not want
taking the pot. The idea of fake ID is based on her opinions about other teenagers
with same age with her, and her mother said that it is wrong. She hasn’t gone to any club or drinks vodka, but she wants her parents to fulfill her wish although her
parents clearly did not agree with that.
In her daily life, Hazel fights her unaccompanied life by watching TV and
reading books. She likes to watch America’s Next Top Model and sometimes reminds
her mother to record it when she is not at home. She mentions it as she said:
“I refuse to attend Support Group.” Mom: “One of the symptoms of depression is disinterest in activities.” Me: “Please just let me watch America’s Next Top Model. It’s an activity.”
(Green, 2012:1)
Hazel’s favorite activities are different from the other teenagers, as the others may prefer to go outside and socialize. Her inferiority feeling limits her movements
and activities, which automatically align her position in her companionship with
other. Her physical condition also forces her to leave home the entire day and, she
almost did not have a plan to go somewhere. This activity gradually becomes her
style of life, as she spends almost of all her time in the home.
Style of life is the taste of a person’s life, including the person’s goal, self-concept, feelings toward others, and attitude toward the world. Feist (1985:74) states
it is the product of the interaction of genetics, environment, and goal of success,
Hazel’s style of life is explained in the novel, where she did not have anything about her health condition and nothing she can do about it. Her life completely
depends on medicine and medical treatments. This condition places almost all of her
time at home, doing the same routine all day to keep her health stable. It can be said
that her health forces her to do things that she did not like to do, such doctor visits
and attends the support group.
But my mom believed I required treatment, so she took me to see my Regular Doctor Jim, who agreed that I was veritably swimming in a paralyzing and totally clinical depression and that, therefore, my meds should be adjusted and also I should attend a weekly Support Group.
(Green, 2012:1)
Almost all of her activity involves her parents, which made a strong bond
between them. The same routines she doing every day has become her style of life, as
it embraces her unique pattern of traits, behaviors, and habits which define the taste
of her existence. Ryckman (1985: 98) states that the style of life, originally called
“life plan” or “guiding image” refers to the unique ways in which people pursue their
goal.
I just kind of crawled across the couch into her lap and my dad came over and held my legs really tight and I wrapped my arms all the way around my mom's middle and they held on to me for hours while the tide rolled in.
(Green, 2012:21)
Augustus dead. She believes that their love is the best for her, and she thinks that she
must make her parents happy whether it makes her happy too or not.
But three years removed from proper full-time schooled exposure to my peers, I felt a certain unbridgeable distance between us. I think my school friends wanted to help me through my cancer, but they eventually found out that they couldn't. For one thing, there was no through.
(Green, 2012:3)
The quotation above shows her feeling toward her condition, no friends at all.
She imagined that her school-mate will show up for encouraging her to be stronger
and better in her cancer fight, but it did not happen. She did not get the support that
she need in her difficult times and it’s hard for her. Although she is a college girl who
taking a class at MCC, she never mentioned about her friends from there which
reflects her loneliness or she did not have friends at all.
This behavior was affected by her society, where she did not have any friends
to support her through her struggle. In this point, she adjusted her stance about
friendship. She thought she has friends but she did not, so she did not try to make one
anew. Her mother was concerned about it, so she reminds Hazel to make some
friends whenever she goes out, as Hall and Lindzey (1970: 125) acknowledge that a
man should live among others where he interacts with others in his society that make
his behavior is always influenced by his society.
(Green, 2012:1)
The quotation above shows the lack of Hazel social interest, where her mom
needs to remind her to make friends. Hazel did not have many friends and her mother
recognizes her behavior so she needs to remind Hazel to make friends.
“I love you,” she said as I got out. “You too, Mom. See you at six.” “Make friends!” she said through the rolled-down window as I walked away.
(Green, 2012:1)
This lack of social interest is correlated with her physical limitations, as she did
not have much energy to leave her house and did not have much time as she needs to
regularly visit the hospital. Hazel realizes her lack of social interest, and she tries to
do something to reduce it. When she thought:
“And yet, just this once, I decided to speak. I half raised my hand and Patrick,
his delight evident, immediately said, “Hazel!” I was, I’m sure he assumed, opening up. Becoming Part of the Group.”
(Green, 2012:1)
The people are amazed at her turn, as it is unusual and quite shocking for
everyone in her cancer support group. She was a passive member of the group, and
that day she becomes an active member by raising her hand to speak. Her decision to
becoming part of the group is caused by her disagreement of Augustus opinions about
oblivion. Hazel realizes her existence in her society is too thin, and she needs to
develop herself to be more adjusted to her situation. This situation is not what she
I went to Support Group for the same reason that I'd once allowed nurses with a mere eighteen months of graduate education to poison me with exotically named chemicals: I wanted to make my parents happy.
(Green, 2012:1)
Hazel may be irritable about her medication; as she did not want to go to
Support Group and taking medicine. However, her compassionate love to her parents
makes she does it to make them happy, even if she hates it. Hazel’s compassionate love to her parents is based on her social interest, which unconsciously shaped by
them, According to Adler (via Feist, 1985:71), social interest can be defined as an
attitude, which likely appears as empathy. The empathy feeling reflects a person
personality, where the empathy takes as an important part in controlling how a person
behaves. Hazel’s empathy to her parents drives her to be a better person, who wants them to be happy above her feelings.
3. Minimizing casualties of her death
As Hazel lives with her cancer, she develops her self-concept which derives all
things she believes. Self-concept is a collection of beliefs, a compilation of one’s abilities and performances. The self-concept idea is the identity which unconsciously
shaped by a man individual experiences and their perception of it (Bong, 1999:34).
Hazel sees herself as a lonely girl who suffers because of her cancer. She is hopeless
hand, she wants to be stronger, as she already met Augustus and want to be with him
as long that she can.
I tried to tell myself that it could be worse, that the world was not a wish-granting factory that I was living with cancer not dying of it, that I mustn't let it kill me before it kills me.
(Green, 2012:8)
This quotation indicates her own prognosis of her health condition, in which
where she cannot decide whether she must fight her illness or she just give up and let
cancer kills her. Hazel sees herself as an outsider, who slightly alienated from the
world. She has a mixed up feeling towards herself. In the first, she doesn’t want to be close with anyone because she will leave a scar, a mark that hurts everyone as she
compares herself as a grenade which can explode anytime and wound everyone
nearby.
I wanted to know that he would be okay if I died. I wanted to not be a grenade, to not be a malevolent force in the lives of people I loved.
(Green, 2012:11)
In this line, Hazel explains how she worried about Augustus when she dies.
She’s afraid that Augustus will be shattered if she dies beside him. This situation also
occurred with her parents. Hazel loves her parents, whatever she agrees with them or
not. She knows that she needs them, but she doesn’t want to hurt them.
“I’m like. Like. I’m like a grenade, Mom. I’m a grenade and at some point,
books and think and be with you guys because there’s nothing I can do about hurting you; you’re too invested, so just please let me do that, okay? I’m not depressed. I don’t need to get out more. And I can’t be a regular teenager
because I’m a grenade.”
(Green, 2012:6)
This quotation appeared when Hazel was dying in the ICU. She underlines the
use of ‘minimizing the casualties’ to show her emotion that she loves them, and did
not want to hurt them. She knows that her condition is in bad shapes, so she came up
with the idea that she don’t want to hurt anyone if she dies. She wants to alienate
herself from her parents to minimize the victims when she dies.
4. To be closer with Augustus Waters
Living her life as a teenager makes Hazel unconsciously thinking about a
relationship with another person. In the novel, Hazel has a mixed up feeling toward
others. In her efforts to develop herself, she found the existence and the importance of
her society. As stated by Hall and Lindzey (1970: 125), since a man was born, he
automatically becomes a member of society. If his social feeling can develop
naturally; he will be able to make an adaptation with his living environments
appropriately.
Hazel is cautious when she meet a stranger and keep still until she feels comfort
with them. At first meet with Augustus, the boy she met in the Support Group she did
not show any interest to him. In the meeting, she found that Augustus is staring at
first meeting, she showed her curiosity as she agrees with Augustus invitation to
watch a movie together in his home.
“So, see you next time, maybe?” I asked. “You should see it,” he said. “V for Vendetta, I mean.” “Okay,” I said. “I’ll look it up.” “No. With me. At my house,” he said. “Now.” I stopped walking. “I hardly know you, Augustus Waters. You could be an ax murderer.”
(Green, 2012:1) Hazel shows her suspicious features as she assumes that maybe Augustus is an
ax murderer. She accepted Augustus invitation to justify her curiosity about him. It is
obvious that Hazel was attracted to him. She wants to know more about him but she
did not want to show her curiosity. When she becomes closer to him, she realizes that
Augustus is the person she suited with. In chapter 2, she said
“I nodded. I liked Augustus Waters. I really, really, really liked him. I liked the way his story ended with someone else. I liked his voice. I liked that he took existentially fraught free throws. I liked that he was a tenured professor in the Department of Slightly Crooked Smiles with a dual appointment in the Department of Having a Voice That Made My Skin Feel More like Skin. And I liked that he had two names. I’ve always liked people with two names because you get to make up your mind what you call them: Gus or Augustus? Me, I was always just Hazel, univalent Hazel.”
(Green, 2012:2)
Hazel opinions about Augustus are hyped; she describes that her feelings about
him are so remarkable. It is obvious that is the first time she met a person who knows
her well enough and did not feel pity for her condition. She describes Augustus as the
“My name is Hazel. Augustus Waters was the great star-crossed love of my life. Ours was an epic love story, and I won’t be able to get more than a sentence into it without disappearing into a puddle of tears. Gus knew. Gus knows. I will not tell you our love story, because—like all real love stories— it will die with us, as it should”
(Green, 2012:20)
This line of eulogy shows her that she to be with Augustus whatever they
would be. She realizes that their time is closer to the end and she wants him to know
that she would be with him, whatever happens after. She added that her experience
with him is like forever and she’s thankful for the chance he has given to her.
“But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within
the numbered days, and I’m grateful.”
(Green, 2012:20)
It is clear that Hazel is making Augustus as her closest friends, who she wants
to be with. Somehow, she cannot deny the reality that she loves Augustus. Hall and
Lindzey, (1970: 166) stated that it is the principle of human life, as it develops each
person to be uniquely stylized and dynamically unified. Hazel is a uniquely stylized
person, who has her own personality, as the sum of experiences and inheritances she
has been through. Her life experiences shaped her personality, to be accepting the
facts and realize that time matters. In the end, after Augustus passed away she said:
(Green, 2012:21)
Hazel cannot stand the way Augustus died, although she knows that does
happen. In this situation, she tries to recollect the memories she had with Augustus,
but it did not help much in reducing the sadness of the loneliness she suffers in that
moment. She cannot stand the way she that in the end she just wants to live with
someone who meant so much to her.
The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me because there was no longer anyone to remember with. It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself as if the things we’d done were less real and important than they had been hours before.
(Green, 2012:21)
This line appears at the end of the novel when Hazel wants to live her life to the
fullest before it becomes less real and important. Everything seems unreal for her and
she cannot deny that Augustus was really meant for her. She realizes there is no one
left to be remembering in her life after Augustus gone.
Adler (in Hjelle and Zeigler, 1992: 150) explains that the concept of the
creative underlining his belief that human beings are the masters of their own fate. It
creates freedom which enables a person to choose their experience, whether they
choose pain, joy, or anxiety, or to defend themselves against these experiences by
creating various safeguarding actions. Hazel chooses to taste all of them by striving
B. Hazel’s struggle in getting her life perfection.
Maslow (1943: 12) believed that people possess a set of motivation systems
unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. He admits that people are motivated to
achieve certain needs when one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfill the next one,
and so on. Every person is capable and unconsciously has the desire to move up the
hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization (Maslow, 1943). Unfortunately, the
moving progress is often interrupted by the failure to meet the lower level needs.
In The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel is motivated in getting her life perfection as
she tries to fulfill all of it.
1. Hazel’s striving in knowing the ending of An Imperial Affliction
Hazel’s striving for knowing the ending of her favorite novel An Imperial Affliction is driven by her curiosity and ambition. Her ambition encourages her to
struggle with any condition she’s facing in. When her health deteriorates, she said:
“Can’t I just get like a lung transplant or something?” I asked. Dr. Maria’s lips shrank into her mouth. “You would not be considered a strong candidate
for a transplant, unfortunately,” she said.
(Green, 2012:8)
Dr. Maria’s answers hurt her a little, although she realizes it is no use wasting good lungs for her hopeless case. She continues to strive for her wish, when she asks
“Can we call Dr. Maria and ask if international travel would kill me?”
(Green, 2012:7)
This line implies that her ambition to go to Amsterdam for meeting her favorite
author although the travel itself may threaten her life. She is ready to gamble her life
with the travel plan as it is her last attempt to find the author and she are did not want
to waste Augustus’s last wish to fulfill her own wish. Hazel uses her own power to overcome her physical limitation with the cancer perk. Cancer perk is a kind of free
pass, which not everyone has it because of it only for people with cancer. She found it
useful. Hazel’s cancer perks indirectly affect her communication to others. As she said in chapter 6:
“He’s not a stranger. He’s easily my second best friend.” “Behind Kaitlyn?” “Behind you,” I said. It was true, but I’d mostly said it because I wanted to go to Amsterdam.
(Green, 2012:6)
Hazel describes Augustus position to her mom as the second best friend of her
mom. She uses the phrase ‘my second best friend’ to strengthen her bonds with
Augustus in her mother eyes to make sure that she allowed going to Amsterdam with
him. She is using her mother knowledge about her social lack to empower her
limitations, in this case, the trust of her mother.
People are responsible for who they are and how they behave in their life no
her destiny, when she chose to go to Amsterdam besides her deteriorates health
condition. Her creative power takes part to convince her doctor to allow her to go
abroad, with her mother assist.
2. Hazel’s struggles in making her parents happy
In The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel is described as a girl who has a thyroid cancer.
Her health is in a bad condition which, which forces her to carry an oxygen tank
every time.
“No, it's fine,” I said. The cylindrical green tank only weighed a few pounds, and I had this little steel cart to wheel it around behind me. It delivered two liters of oxygen to me each minute through a cannula, a transparent tube that split just beneath my neck, wrapped behind my ears, and then reunited in my nostrils. The contraption was necessary because my lungs sucked at being lungs.
(Green, 2012:1)
“Well,” I said, “I wish I could give you my cannula but I kind of really need the help.” I already felt the loss. I focused on my breathing as Jackie handed the tubes back to me. I gave them a quick swipe with my T-shirt, laced the tubes behind my ears, and put the nubbins back in place.
(Green, 2012:3)
The cause why she carries an oxygen tank is because her lungs cannot function
as normal people. She said that her lungs suck being lungs, as sometimes it fulfilled
with water and she cannot breathe because of it. She needs the oxygen tank to help
her breathe, and she cannot breathe normally without it. Although she can breathe
