The Feelings of Support Group
This picture is my idea of the way the members of Support Group feel that people who don't have cancer understand them. This relates to Support Group because it is the only place where the members can experience complete understanding from peers and not have to feel isolated because of their disease.
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The members of the support group all are experiencing various stages and side effects of 'cancer and dying', which I believe has significance towards Hazel and Augustus's declining states of health. In the support group, Hazel and Augustus make comments about feeling pity for the members who pass away or are in their final stages of the disease, which I believe helps them prepare for when they eventually reach those stages in their disease. The reflection between the other sick members and themselves are sad in the aspect that they even feel pity for themselves for when they reach that stage, but it also allows Hazel and Augustus prepare for when they get to that point, and also so they will know what to expect.
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"How are you?" p. 294
This question is asked numerous times by Patrick during Support Group, but can have so many meanings behind it. Due to the context of the question, every time a support group member is asked this question, it is evidently directed towards their cancer state. Unfortunately, the other members of the Support Group didn't have the same outlook as Hazel and Augustus, which was that cancer doesn't rule their lives. In the situation of all these teens and young adults, I think that this obviously directed question was something that made the cancer experience harder for the people in Support Group. Although the reason behind the group was to connect with other people going through the same problems as yourself, I feel like the mindset of the majority of the group was inappropriate for the setting and was a source of some of the anger that Hazel and Augustus both felt towards the disease inside of them.
This question could have been more uplifting if it were asked along with other questions not relating to cancer. I think that the Support Group was a good idea, since it is where Hazel and Augustus met, but could have helped the people dealing with cancer better than it did, by being more positive and not relating everything to each persons state of health.
This question is asked numerous times by Patrick during Support Group, but can have so many meanings behind it. Due to the context of the question, every time a support group member is asked this question, it is evidently directed towards their cancer state. Unfortunately, the other members of the Support Group didn't have the same outlook as Hazel and Augustus, which was that cancer doesn't rule their lives. In the situation of all these teens and young adults, I think that this obviously directed question was something that made the cancer experience harder for the people in Support Group. Although the reason behind the group was to connect with other people going through the same problems as yourself, I feel like the mindset of the majority of the group was inappropriate for the setting and was a source of some of the anger that Hazel and Augustus both felt towards the disease inside of them.
This question could have been more uplifting if it were asked along with other questions not relating to cancer. I think that the Support Group was a good idea, since it is where Hazel and Augustus met, but could have helped the people dealing with cancer better than it did, by being more positive and not relating everything to each persons state of health.
"LIVING OUR BEST LIFE TODAY" p. 14
This is a 'stupid' mantra that Patrick makes the Support Group recite each day before the meeting is over, but i think that it resonates within the members and has meaning, regardless if they acknowledge it or not. 'Living our best life today' has meaning because it is a general statement and doesn't differentiate between levels of sickness, and implies that each Support Group member should try their hardest to make the best of their disease and take advantage of their opportunities.
This is a 'stupid' mantra that Patrick makes the Support Group recite each day before the meeting is over, but i think that it resonates within the members and has meaning, regardless if they acknowledge it or not. 'Living our best life today' has meaning because it is a general statement and doesn't differentiate between levels of sickness, and implies that each Support Group member should try their hardest to make the best of their disease and take advantage of their opportunities.
The 'Literal Heart of Jesus'
The place where Support Group is held is what Hazel refers to as 'The literal Heart of Jesus'. They refer to the Support Group as being in the heart of Jesus not only because the group is held in the basement of a church (that is shaped like a cross) but also because the group sits in a circle where the arms of the cross meet. The 'Heart of Jesus' serves a purpose to each member of the Support Group, where for most members it provides solace and comfort in knowing there are other people going through similar struggles as themselves, and also by being in the presence of Jesus. For Hazel and Augustus, the Heart of Jesus is genuinely depressing and feel as if they are defined by their illnesses.