Language

Youth and colloquial language

The novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is narrated by the 16-year-old first-person narrator Hazel. Despite Hazel’s young age, at times she uses a more academic language, quoting philosophical ideas or metaphorical turns of phrase, which prove her wisdom and college education. At other times, , she uses modern, every-day, and youthful language.

There are a lot of colloquial and juvenile turns of phrase scattered throughout the novel. A few examples are given here. Hazel metaphorically states that she thinks she has to "outlast four of these bastards." (Chapter 1, 11%). She describes Augustus like this: "He was hot" (p. 16). She describes his voice as "sexy" (Chapter 1, 33%). When Augustus flirts with Hazel, she says "Honestly, he kind of turned me on" (Chapter 1, 74%). Hazel and Augustus watch Isaac and his girlfriend Monica "kissing (…) rather aggressively" (Chapter 1, 89%), implying that they were kissing fiercely.

Youthful language is predominant in the dialogue between the young cancer patients, as in this conversation between Augustus and Isaac: " 'Sucks,' Isaac said after a second" (Chapter 14, 40%); " 'Awesome, yeah,' Gus said. 'Not to one-up you or anything, but my body is made out of cancer.' " (Chapter 14, 60%).

Youth language in the novel consists not only of the use of such words and expressions as are frequently used by young people, but also of various stylistic devices, such as hyperboles (Strong exaggeration), similes, and metaphors (see "Stylistic Devices"). Right at the beginning of the narrative, for example, Hazel explains that she is told at the support group th...