The Spiritual Quest amid Loneliness, Depression, and Disability: Reflections on The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Abstract

John Green's best-selling The Fault in Our Stars (2012) recounts two teenagers' quest for meaning in the face of loneliness, depression, disability, and loss, all intensified by a cancer diagnosis. Green uses secondary characters to present three common worldviews: existentialism, Christianity, and Buddhist mindfulness. The author analyzes these three characters (and the ideas they embody), arguing that Green misrepresents Christianity as a flat unreflective, domesticated “Christianity Lite.” Four insights (with resources) are provided to foster deeper spirituality, especially from an authentic Christian perspective: intimate relationships; varied approaches to prayer when coping with heartache; respectful discussion of the purpose of human life; and access to the wisdom of the past.

About the author

Trudelle Thomas is a Professor Emerita in the English Department at Xavier University, a Jesuit, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Notes

1 John Tinsley's very insightful essay, “Tell It Slant” argues for an indirect, narrative approach to truth, rather than a didactic one. He draws heavily on the Christian existentialist, Søren Kierkegaard. Tinsley's title alludes to a poem by Emily Dickinson.

2 Green might, for example, have included a minor positive character to represent a more authentic Christian faith, like the pastor-pilot grandfather in A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle (1980). Gus's sincere belief in heaven is not enough to counterbalance the simplistic views of “nut-less Patrick” and others.

3 I suspect that many religious educators do not introduce young people to little known approaches to prayer (like walking the labyrinth or chanting) because they associate them with Roman Catholicism. Anti-Catholic prejudice cuts them off from fifteen centuries of spiritual wisdom.