Caroline Mathers Character Analysis in The Fault in Our Stars

Augustus’s former girlfriend, Caroline Mathers died from brain cancer. Although Caroline does not appear in the novel, Augustus tells Hazel about Caroline’s decline and eventual passing. The details of her death shows the realities of cancer, working against the misrepresentation of those who are diagnosed with cancer as more heroic, spiritual, and noble than normal people. As she died, Caroline became selfish, impulsive, and cruel, showing the true and horrific nature of cancer.

Caroline Mathers Quotes in The Fault in Our Stars

The The Fault in Our Stars quotes below are all either spoken by Caroline Mathers or refer to Caroline Mathers. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

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“Oh,” he said. “Caroline is no longer suffering from personhood.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Yeah,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. I’d known plenty of dead people, of course. But I’d never dated one. I couldn't even imagine it, really.
“Not your fault, Hazel Grace. We’re all just side effects, right?”
“Barnacles on the container ship of consciousness,” I said, quoting AIA.

Related Characters: Hazel Grace Lancaster (speaker), Augustus Waters (speaker), Caroline Mathers

Page Number and Citation: 72

Explanation and Analysis:

Caroline Mathers Character Timeline in The Fault in Our Stars

The timeline below shows where the character Caroline Mathers appears in The Fault in Our Stars. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...was pre-diagnosis, and had felt juvenile and sloppy. Augustus shares that his last kiss with Caroline Mathers , his ex-girlfriend who’d died of cancer. Hazel can’t imagine losing someone you were in... (full context)

After hanging up with Kaitlyn, she goes online and looks up Caroline Mathers . She realizes that Caroline looks like her. Thousands of people had left condolences for... (full context)

...him”. She puts on some music to block out her parents and goes back to Caroline Mathers ’ tribute page. The comments on the page make Hazel worry that after she dies... (full context)

Hazel asks Augustus about Caroline Mathers . Augustus puts a cigarette in his mouth and tells her he met her at... (full context)