God, Gus, and the Literal Heart of Jesus: Marx & Religion in The Fault in Our Stars

Organised religion is probably the furthest thing from your mind when you read The Fault in Our Stars, and yet its presence is undeniable. John Green’s 2012 novel engages in an interesting conversation about the role of religion in the modern teenager’s life, by centering the novel’s main events in a Church basement, and in doing so ignores the role of the American healthcare system in the treatment of cancer patients. 

It would be remiss not to mention that John Green is notably an Episcopalian Christian and did work as a Chaplain in a children’s hospital. The book is also dedicated to Esther Earl, a 16 year old fan of Green's who died of thyroid cancer in 2010 whom he had a friendship with (Green, 2012, p. 5; Green, 2010). 

What is The Fault in Our Stars?

The Fault in Our Stars follows 16-year old thyroid cancer patient Hazel Grace Lancaster as she meets and falls in love with fellow teen cancer patient, Augustus Waters. They travel to Amsterdam after being granted tickets from a wish charity organisation, to find and meet the reclusive author of Hazel's favourite book. Gus dies soon after.

What did Marx say about organised religion?

Marx famously called organised religion the ‘opium of the people’ in the Introduction of his 1844 book Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, believing it to be a key feature of ‘ideology’ that kept people from revolting against the bourgeoisie (Marx, 1970, p. 131). Although this comment is frequently taken out of context, Marx framed it in an argument against organised religion itself. Although religion, like opium, may alleviate the immediate pain and suffering of a person, it merely creates an illusion that hides the problems of capitalism and the exploitation of the proletariat. It also diverts attention from class struggle to something that is false. By conducting a Marxist reading with respect to religion in a text, we ask how organised religion operates within the text to hide the issues of capitalism.

What does The Fault in Our Stars say about organised religion?

The most poignant aspect of The Fault in Our Stars with respect to organised religion is the ‘Support Group’ which ‘met every Wednesday in the basement of a stone-walled Episcopal church shaped like a cross’. The Support Group sits ‘right in the middle of the cross, where the two boards would have met’ (Green, 2012, p. 9) leading to Hazel to nickname the support group the ‘Literal Heart of Jesus’ (Green, 2012, p. 15).  It is not ironic that the beginning of the love story begins in the ‘Literal Heart of Jesus’, as this is where Hazel meets Augustus for the first time. Although they mock the group and those who attend it, metaphorically, Hazel finds her true love in the ‘literal heart of Jesus’, which is hard to ignore in the context of organised religion. 

This is even more interesting in the context of the cost of healthcare in the United States. The average cancer patient in the United States may pay US$2600 every month for treatment, as access to universal healthcare is limited. The alleged assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson by Luigi Mangione (Wendling, 2025) makes the cost of healthcare even more relevant to a Marxist lens in the 2020s, and although this event occurred twelve years after the publication of The Fault in Our Stars, it makes the issue feel deeply relevant. Unexpectedly, the text completely ignores this cost and money is never mentioned in relation to paying for treatment. 

In the context of both of these competing narratives and how the text forefronts one whilst silencing the other, a very subtle message about organised religion comes through within The Fault in Our Stars. By finding love in a religious setting, Hazel is able to make peace with her life and ignore how capitalism has turned cancer patients like her and Augustus into profits. Love in the ‘literal heart of Jesus’ is Hazel’s opium so she doesn’t feel the economic burden of her illness. 

Reference list:

Green, J 2010, Rest in Awesome, Esther, online video, 28 August, Vlogbrothers, Indianapolis, viewed 4 October 2025, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj96HM9kDTQ>.

Green, J 2012, The Fault in Our Stars, Penguin, London. 

Iragorri N, de Oliveira C, Fitzgerald N, Essue B, 2021, ‘The Out-of-Pocket Cost Burden of Cancer Care-A Systematic Literature Review’, Current Oncology, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 1216-1248. 

Marx, K 1970, Critique of Hegel's 'Philosophy of Right', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 

Wendling, M 2025, ‘Who was Brian Thompson, healthcare CEO gunned down in New York?’, BBC News, 25 April, viewed 28 September, <https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgpl2qn7l5o>