In the novels of JoJo Moyes’ ‘Me Before You’ and John Green’s

In the novels of JoJo Moyes’ ‘Me Before You’ and John Green’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ both authors effectively present characters whose relationships transcend challenging circumstances. John Green’s novel is seen through the perspective of the main character Hazel Grace, who is always infused in her own thoughts. The novel is centred on the experience of a relationship between two teenagers, Hazel and Augustus, and follows their passage from childhood to adulthood, a progression which is affected by the sufferings of cancer during their journey.

Hazel, an intelligent 16-year-old and her friend Augustus do not experience a typical teenage relationship as their futures are compromised because of cancer.

In Moyes’ ‘Me Before You’ Will’s future is also uncertain. Will Traynor is an intelligent, wealthy and extremely frustrated young man, who has spent the last two years of his life as a quadriplegic. The novel’s main female character is Louisa Clarke, a working-class girl who lives in a sleepy market town, where the largest employer is a National Trust Castle.

Louisa lives at home with her parents and works in a small caf?, a job that allows her to lead a straitened but easy existence and to help support her family. The relationships between both families in ‘Me Before You’ are portrayed as opposites. The Clarkes are a wild bunch of working-class people who are open about their many issues. Louisa lets her own family control her but the one bright side to this, is that, because she contributes financially, she receives more attention and love from both parents; ‘their dependence on my income… meant that I also received a little more respect within the house.

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’ On the other side of the Castle there are the Traynors, who were from the upper-classes. Moyes present Will’s father Stephen and Will’s relationship, as the opposite of the Clarke family relationship. However, Stephen concludes that his son needs his own independence, ‘Will needs to be allowed to feel like a man… not possible unless his mother is always on hand.’ Although there is nothing wrong with Camila’s desire to pay close attention to her son, through the character of Mr Traynor, Moyes makes it clear that it is important to let Will feel a hint of self-sovereignty.

The root of ‘Lou’s frustration in the relationship with her sister, is that Treena is portrayed as the family favourite, however Louisa is quick to point out that Treena was in fact the daughter who had a baby outside of marriage. Although Louisa is the older sibling, she has always felt like she is stuck in Treena’s shadow, ‘Everything that is sensible or smart, Katrina did first, despite being 18 months younger than me.’ On the other hand, although ‘Lou’ might resent Trena in many ways, I believe that, despite this, they are close as Moyes clearly connotes that the two sisters have a tight strong bond, ‘there were ways in which I disliked my sister… very glad indeed that she was my sister.’ It is ironic that Lou is given the unenviable job of supporting the Clarkes when times get tough, despite her sister being the apple of her parents’ eyes. It also adds to Louisa’s sense that she will never be able to escape her insular family and explore life on her own. Here Moyes clearly conveys the challenging circumstances that Lou must face, in order to maintain the strong bond in the relationship with her family.

For ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ Green momentarily focuses on the life of the parents of children with cancer. Hazel’s mother and father are an emotionally strong couple who have transcended the challenges posed by her illness to care for her to care for her. Throughout the novel Hazel obsesses over the emotional devastation that her death will cause to her parents. However as Hazel so eloquently puts it, she is delighted that her mother will have a life, whether she is in it or not, ‘There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer… that’s having a kid who bites it from cancer.’ Mrs Lancaster consistently wants to be there for her daughter whenever she can to make her life more fulfilling and fun. ‘It’s labour day! Let’s hug trees and eat cake!’ As Hazel’s life is cut short, Mrs Lancaster decides that she is eager to do everything with her daughter. Green portrays Augustus’ parents as a different breed of cancer parents than Hazel’s. From the minor glimpse that we get of his parents in the novel we notice that Mr and Mrs Waters seek to find the comfort in religion and God, which is evident in the adornments surrounding the walls in their home.

After being hired to work as a professional caregiver for Will Traynor, the reader identifies the complicated relationship between Louisa and Will. As this novel is a love story between two unlikely lovers, it is only fitting that from the beginning of the novel, Louisa and Will’s relationship is conveyed as challenging, both personalities irritate each other to create a sense of hatred. From the starting point of Louisa’s new job, she has known Will to be rude and negative when in her presence. However, when Louisa hands him a pain killer, Will follows it with a polite ‘Thank you’ which, in a sense, she finds disturbing. This is viewed as ironic, as Louisa has been longing to hear those words, but when she finally does, it frightens her in a way that she knows something may be wrong. The characters of Louisa and Will are an emblem of the Professor Higgins and Eliza Doolittle characters in the George Bernard show ‘Pygmalion,’ Louisa is the uneducated, although not unintelligent assistant and Will is the educated well-travelled professor who teaches her about social grades, learning and has a transformational effect on the rest of her life. In turn, like Eliza, she softens his personality and makes him a gentle character who is capable of love again. Although, at first Moyes portrays Will’s character as obnoxious and stubborn, Louisa is met with a surprise as she hears him laugh for the first time, ‘and then out of nowhere, Will Traynor laughed. It exploded out of him in a gasp, as if it were entirely unexpected.’ This change in tone is implied as a huge step forward for the couple’s relationship.

Hazel and Augustus first meet through their shared experiences with cancer, however in the novel they begin to engage through the things beyond their illness like humour, pop culture and literature, showing that even though they are both battling cancer, they are still normal teenagers. When both characters first converse, Augustus flirts with Hazel in a blatant way, portraying the sense that he has more experience than her, ‘Why are you looking at me like that… because you are beautiful, I enjoy looking at beautiful people.’ This also reflects his immediate attraction to her. She admires the fact that although he has lost a leg, he still exhibits confidence. As Hazel recites her cancer story to Augustus it is seen as symbolic that the water in Hazel’s lungs is used in a literal sense in this passage, but in the remainder of the novel it comes to represent her suffering. As Augustus’ last name is ‘Waters’ it draws a symbolic connection between both Hazel and Augustus’ relationship and cancer. The success of Hazel’s cancer treatment shows, to the reader, that the way in which life and death is unpredictable. However, it is ironic that she continues to be careful to make herself look as healthy as possible for Augustus, although he understands what she is going through. Augustus’ confidence in the future shows Hazel that he is not concerned about death, however this gauge is proven to be inaccurate later in the novel.

As Hazel and Augustus start to get to know each other the reader sees how the two enjoy each other’s company. Similarly, in Moyes novel she conveys how Will and Louisa too, begin to appreciate each other’s company. ‘I was no longer in sole charge of a poorly quadriplegic. It was just me sitting next to a particularly sarcastic bloke having a chat.’ Here ‘Lou’ lets go of her perceptions of quadriplegics and looks at Will as an individual. Lou seems to be fascinated by Will and Alicia’s relationship prior to his accident, more than she is in her own relationship with her boyfriend Patrick., ‘they looked like they were really happy together… I had a framed photograph at home, where I was beaming at Patrick like he had just pulled me from a burning building.’ This evokes how Louisa’s relationship with Patrick is just a facade. The photograph would be portrayed as if she and Patrick were madly in love, if a casual observer were to see it, however sadly it is the opposite. ‘Go Patrick! He didn’t see me,’ this is a perfect metaphor for Patrick and Louisa’s relationship, he is always running toward his personal goals, while she stands on the side-lines, ironically managing to remain enthusiastic.

As Louisa’s relationship with her boyfriend begins to falter, both Will and Louisa can be honest and vulnerable with each other in a way that they are not with anyone else. Will tells Louisa of how he is making sacrifices for his family although they do not always see it. Lou also reveals that sacrificing her freedom to take care of her family is a choice she made, to make herself feel safe and content, ‘they need me to look on the bright side… you Clarke are the only person I have felt able to talk to.’ For Will spending time with Louisa gives him a sense of Normality that he has not felt in a long time as his and Louisa’s relationship begins to flourish, ‘I just want to be a man who has been to a concert with a girl in a red dress.’ Here Moyes evokes a hint of irony as Will has probably gone to many concerts with many girls, however this is the one that seems to be the most meaningful. In a way Moyes celebrates the love that Louisa and Will share though cautions against the romantic tendency of making a lover one’s entire world. We see through the authors use of effective syntax to connote how although Will and Lou’s love enriches their lives, it cannot solve their problems, ‘Sometimes, Clarke you are pretty much the only thing that makes me want to get up in the morning.’ While the two go on vacation following Louisa’s breakup with her boyfriend, the love between the couple seems to quickly grow, ‘I did the only thing I could have, I leaned forward, and I placed my lips on his.’ Despite the fact that, Lou and Will’s kiss is magic, it is also conveyed as fleeting as Will sadly, not only starts to lull Lou into a false sense of security, but the reader is also convinced that this will be another happily every after.’

In ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ both Augustus and Hazel are living with the challenges of suffering from cancer, which of course, becomes a force that enables them to mature together in their relationship, as they can see past the deficits of the other’s body and allow themselves to recognise their sexuality. ‘I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasures… and I ‘am in love with you.’ Here Green employs receptive language to accentuate how Augustus has been entranced in love. While there may only be oblivion after death, Gus refuses to let this prevent him from loving Hazel. However, for Hazel, she is unable to say it back as she is still working through these ideas philosophically. As Gus calls for help after driving to a gas station, to make his regular purchase of a packet of cigarettes, Hazel thinks of the person he has become as we read, ‘Augustus… replaced by this desperate humiliated creature sitting there beneath me.’ Here John Green conveys how the false conventions regarding cancer patients are just clich?s used by society. Green had experience of working in a hospital with young children suffering from life threatening illnesses, which was a reason for the inspiration to write this novel. Not only that, but another major inspiration for this book was his decision to dedicate it to Ester Earl, who was a daughter of his close friend who had been diagnosed with Cancer at aged 12 and sadly died 4 years later, in 2010, just after her 16th birthday.

The first words Hazel says to Augustus in the Support group wows him from the beginning, ‘There will come a time when all of us are dead’ This sets their romantic path as grittily realistic yet wittily philosophical. This contrasts with when Will tells Lou to challenge herself prior to his death, ‘promise me you won’t spend the rest of your life stuck in a bloody parody of a placemat,’ this humorous diction accentuates how Lou has a similar outlook on life that Hazel has, sheltered and monotonous. Unlike Hazel, Augustus is determined to maintain his positive outlook on life, as he is constantly joking around with Cancer, ‘I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up my friend.’ Here Green employs a sense of irony, as Augustus life seems to be going in a downward spiral, which is the prominent part of both his and Hazel’s lives, that he chooses to ignore. In Moyes’ ‘Me Before You,’ after pulling back from Lou’s romantic advances, Will explains his reasonings for going through with assisted suicide, despite his love for her as he says to her cold heartedly, ‘You have no idea what you’re going to feel in six months from now. And I do not want to look at you every day… and not be able to do what I want with you.’ Will maybe enriched by his and Louisa’s relationship, however he is unable to enjoy it without feeling inner pain. On the other hand, despite the pain that he inflicts on her life, Will has transformed Lou’s perspective on life, promoting her to finally take steps toward fulfilling her dreams through Moyes’ presentation of a range of rhetorical questions, ‘who do you think encouraged me to make something of myself, to travel places, to have ambitions?’ In this way Louisa’s relationship with Will enables her to transcend the challenging circumstances with which they are faced.

As Hazel reads the Eulogy that she writes for Gus prior to his death, she says ‘without pain, we couldn’t know joy.’ Here Green makes it obvious to the reader that pain is necessary throughout life. ‘I can’t talk about our love story, so I will talk about Math… you gave me a forever within the numbered days and I am grateful.’ The choice that Hazel makes to keep their love story to herself shows its meaning to her. Instead she turns herself to Van Houtten’s ramblings of zeno’s paradox to think about their relationship. By thinking about the infinites between 2 numbers, Hazel can make the most out of the time they had together despite the circumstances of suffering from threatening illness that cut it short. As Hazel reads Augustus’ letter to Peter Van Houtten, she and the reader can see how Gus realised that being loved deeply was more important than being loved widely. ‘You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world, but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers.’ He further suggests that pain is unavoidable and that we should accept it as a scar left by a loved one. In ‘Me Before You,’ Moyes uses Paris as an effective symbol to represent the life Will no longer has. He wistfully describes the beauty of being within the City, drinking coffee and eating croissants. Will writes a letter prior to his death and requests that she is not to read it until she is at a specific Caf? in Paris. Will is trying to imbue Louisa with the same sense of exploration and adventure that he once enjoyed so much before his accident. Paris also symbolises the life Lou has been missing, while being trapped in her small village, underlying how her relationship with Will allows her to transcend the challenging circumstances of their love and forge a new future for herself

In conclusion both novels work well in presenting the relationships between the lives of the characters presented despite the challenging circumstances that they encounter on the way. Moyes’ novel asks how much one should sacrifice for the people you love. The title ‘Me Before You’ creates the idea of prioritising one’s self above others. This lesson is hard for Lou to learn in a way, as she so often put her family’s happiness above her own. As we reach the end of the novel however, we can see her desire to journey through her own freedom. Similarly, as we come to the end of ‘The fault in our stars,’ we see that Hazel can communicate with Augustus after death and feel his presence. The title ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ comes from a line in Shakespeare’s play in ‘Julius Caesar’ where Cassius seems to be saying that it is not fates that dooms men, but instead their own failings as he says, “The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” In relation to Green’s novel, he contends that sometimes we are not always the fault, as the bad circumstances in life just cannot be avoided. However, the beauty of the message is that Hazel and Augustus can still live and make their decisions despite the fault in their stars, even when they know the inevitable fate that awaits them. In both novels the characters relationships allow them to transcend the challenging circumstances with which they are faced.