Let us not ask who Augustus Waters is, but what he is to the story; perhaps this is a tad bit dehumanizing to a character beloved by so many, including myself, but to really uncover the motives of a character, we must ask such questions. What is Augustus Waters? And, more in context to this blog and to the book, what is a cigarette? [First, allow me to make clear that Augustus is known to have an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.] Answering the question of Augustus, he is defined medically as horribly debilitated. Answering the next question, a cigarette is a glorified roll of poison that promises death. Now that we've cleared these questions, let's get personal and go ahead and ask who Augustus is. Augustus (or shall I say Gus?) is a man obsessed with living for the greater good and consumed with the hopes of leaving behind a legacy.
Now that we've made some base connections, let us proceed to one of the most profound connections in the novel. Why does Gus seem so attached to dangling unlit cigarettes out of his mouth? It's actually a metaphor. In fact, it's a metaphor best explained by Gus himself, "You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing" (Green 20). Gus links his control over cigarettes to control over his health, an illusion that he continues to uphold throughout the novel, even in a near-death scene at a gas station where he had planned to get more cigarettes. The fact that he never actually gets the cigarettes at the gas stations symbolizes that Gus has finally lost control of his health and foreshadows Gus's death.
The scene of Augustus's funeral is probably one of the most heartbreaking things in the world (to me, at least), but there is something significant that happens: Hazel puts a pack of cigarettes in Augustus's casket. Putting the cigarettes in his casket seems fruitless, because Augustus had lost to death, as all humans do. Having an unlit cigarette to prove his power over death was a thing of his past. What does it all mean? It is Augustus's final blow to cancer and death. Augustus gets the last word, because with him is the cigarettes that he, not death, has power over; he proves that just as he had control in his life, he will continue uphold his dignity in his death. And with the last punch delivered (thanks to Hazel!), Augustus rests in peace.
Now that we've made some base connections, let us proceed to one of the most profound connections in the novel. Why does Gus seem so attached to dangling unlit cigarettes out of his mouth? It's actually a metaphor. In fact, it's a metaphor best explained by Gus himself, "You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing" (Green 20). Gus links his control over cigarettes to control over his health, an illusion that he continues to uphold throughout the novel, even in a near-death scene at a gas station where he had planned to get more cigarettes. The fact that he never actually gets the cigarettes at the gas stations symbolizes that Gus has finally lost control of his health and foreshadows Gus's death.
The scene of Augustus's funeral is probably one of the most heartbreaking things in the world (to me, at least), but there is something significant that happens: Hazel puts a pack of cigarettes in Augustus's casket. Putting the cigarettes in his casket seems fruitless, because Augustus had lost to death, as all humans do. Having an unlit cigarette to prove his power over death was a thing of his past. What does it all mean? It is Augustus's final blow to cancer and death. Augustus gets the last word, because with him is the cigarettes that he, not death, has power over; he proves that just as he had control in his life, he will continue uphold his dignity in his death. And with the last punch delivered (thanks to Hazel!), Augustus rests in peace.