social power Essay

Submitted By Dreu-Boo
Words: 432
Pages: 2

SOCIAL POWER IN THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
The Fault in Our Stars
, written by John Green, is about Hazel Lancaster, a cancer patient, who falls in love with Augustus Waters, another cancer patient, who later on dies due to his illness. Throughout the novel, both characters face issues concerning social power; individuals are said to have social power when they can control the outcomes of another person, influencing their person’s state, providing them with rewards, inflicting punishments on them or governing the flow of their resources. These effects of social power leave negative impacts on both Hazel and Augustus as they are looked down on because they suffer from their respective illnesses.
As Hazel begins to realize her affection for Augustus, she contemplates confiding in her friend Kaitlyn. Instead, she refrains from doing so because most likely “it would surprise…her that anyone as dishelved and awkward” [43] as Hazel could win the affections of a boy. This is a key demonstration of social power over Hazel, because her worrying about what Kaitlyn may think influenced her change of mind. She seems to think that because she has an illness, her friends will think she is unable to find true love or have someone attracted to her.
Hazel experiences another similar aspect of social power concerning Kaitlyn, where she feels as though “it [would] never again feel natural to talk to her” [47]. She finds social interactions to be “depressing”, because “it was so…obvious that everyone [she] spoke to…would feel awkward.” [47]. This instance of social power takes a negative effect on her
because