The Fault in Our Stars: Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

Hazel and her mother are only able to bring one suitcase to Amsterdam, so they pack their clothes together in one. Hazel’s parents had received the suitcase as a wedding present, and Hazel notes that it was supposed to be used to carry their things to exotic locales, but it mostly went to Daytona where Mr. Lancaster’s company had a satellite office.

Mrs. Lancaster wakes Hazel up five thirty, even though the plane does not leave until noon. She spends all morning making sure that Hazel has everything she will need to make the trip. They eat dinner with Mr. Lancaster, even though Hazel is opposed to eating before dawn on the grounds that she is not a Russian peasant preparing for a long day in the fields. She argues that breakfast foods are unfairly labeled so, stating that they should be food to be eaten anytime of the day. Mrs. Lancaster tells her she has to pick her battles.

Before they drive to the airport, Mr. Lancaster begins crying and tells Hazel that he loves her and is proud of her. Hazel wonders what he is proud of. As they leave, Hazel sees that he is still crying and realizes that he must be thinking he might never see her again, which is a though he must have every morning.

When Hazel and her mother arrive at Augustus’ house, they get out of the car and go to the front door. Before they can knock, they hear someone crying inside. Hazel realizes it is Augustus, and Mrs. Lancaster immediately turns her back toward the car. Hazel texts Augustus, who texts back that he just can’t figure out what to wear.

At the airport they go through security. Hazel chooses to go through the metal detector, as opposed to getting searched by hand, and takes her nubbins out and pushes her air tank to the side. She notes that walking through the metal detector was the first time in months she’d gone without her oxygen, and it feels good. She feels a freedom she hasn’t felt in a long time. After walking through, however, she feels pain in her lungs and must sit down.

At the gate, Augustus notes that Mrs. Lancaster is a particularly punctual person. She tells Augustus that she isn’t very busy, so that helps. Hazel chimes in saying that she is busy, and quickly realizes that most of her mother’s time is spent taking care of her, and the rest of her time was spent helping her father who was clueless when it came to many things.

Augustus leaves to grab a burger. Before he leaves, Hazel notes that she is glad that he does not want scrambled eggs, which are the stereotypical breakfast food. While he is gone an airline attendant shows up with a fresh tank of oxygen for Hazel. She feels embarrassed as the attendant attaches the new tank, feeling like people are watching her. She texts Augustus, but he does not reply. She begins to worry that some “Amsterdam-ruining fate” like arrest, injury or mental breakdown has struck Augustus.

Just then the attendant announces that they will be boarding passengers who need “a little bit of extra help.” Augustus returns just in time, rushing toward her with a McDonalds bag in his hand, saying that the line was super long. As they enter the plane, Hazel can feel everyone looking at them. She feels like they are wondering what is wrong with her, and if it will kill her. She notes that the evidence of her disease—the tank, the nubbins, Augustus’ limp—separate them from healthy people.

Augustus takes the window seat, while hazel sits in the middle with Mrs. Lancaster in the isle. Augustus says that eggs are in some way sacred because they have a special time for their consumption. Hazel thinks it is ludicrous, telling Augustus that he is calling a fragile and rare thing beautiful just because it is fragile and rare. He admits that she is correct, and then admits that the line wasn't that long, he just didn't want to sit in a space where people were staring at them. Augustus says that he was not embarrassed, just mad that people stare, and he doesn't want to be mad in Amsterdam.

As the plane takes off, Augustus grabs the armrest and clenches his jaw. Hazel asks if he is scared to fly. Augustus tells her that he will let her know in a moment. She puts her hand on his while they take off. When they are in flight, Augustus excitedly looks out the window and says that nothing has ever looked like that before. Hazel finds his enthusiasm endearing and kisses him on the cheek, telling him that it was just friendly. In his moment of youthful joy, Hazel could not resist kissing him.

Hazel and Augustus stay awake while Mrs. Lancaster falls asleep. They admire the beauty of the sky as the sun sets. Augustus quotes a line from An Imperial Affliction, “The risen sun too bright in her losing eyes.” Hazel notes that the sun is setting, but Augustus assures her that it is rising somewhere. He says that it would awesome to fly in a plane so fast it could chase the sun around the earth. Hazel says she would live longer because of relativity.

They decide to watch 300, but the movie on Augustus’ screen starts before Hazel’s. She leans her head on his shoulder and watches the movie on her screen. Hazel is not interested in the movie, but enjoys the fact that Augustus gets such a kick out of it. When she tries to talk to him, he tells her to be quiet, later apologizing, stating that he was “awash in the nobility of sacrifice.”

Hazel asks Augustus how many dead people he thinks there are. He happens to know the answer: there are 7 billion living people and 98 billion dead people. He reveals that he did some research on it a few years ago because he was wondering if everyone could be remembered. He says that if everyone remembered 14 dead people, everyone could be remembered, but humans are disorganized mourners, so they remember Shakespeare, but not the person who Sonnet fifty-five was about.

Hazel asks if Augustus wants to read. Hazel is reading Allen Ginsburg’s Howl for school, and Augustus asks her to read some of it out loud. Hazel says its not the kind of poem to read next to your sleeping mother since Allen Ginsburg did more drugs than she has, and the poem contains sodomy and angel dust. Finally she decides to recite The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock from memory instead. When she finishes, Augustus tells her that he is in love with her. Hazel gets uncomfortable afterward, but Augustus says that he understands “love is a shout into the void” and that “oblivion is inevitable”, but he is not going to deny the truth. Hazel feels something rising up inside of her, but she is unable to say it back.