The 'prefuneral'

The prefuneral is a self-staged memorial service that Augustus Waters organizes for himself eight days before his death, held in the same church basement where he first met Hazel Grace Lancaster. It is a deliberate, darkly comic act of defiance against oblivion, allowing him to hear his own eulogies and to assert control over the narrative of his life and death.

Origins and Purpose

The idea for the prefuneral emerges from Augustus's long-standing fear of oblivion, which he first articulated at Support Group by saying, "I fear oblivion," and from his desire to leave a mark on the world. He tells Hazel, "I want to attend my funeral," framing the event as a way to ensure he experiences the memorial he craves, rather than leaving it to others after he is gone. The prefuneral is also a response to his worsening condition: after his cancer recurrence is revealed in Amsterdam, he becomes increasingly preoccupied with the meaning of his life and death, and the prefuneral becomes a final, theatrical assertion of agency.

The Event

The prefuneral takes place in the Literal Heart of Jesus, the Support Group room, on an evening eight days before Augustus dies. He arrives in a wheelchair, ghoulishly thin, and waits for Hazel at the center of the circle. Isaac, who is now blind, stands behind a small wooden lectern and delivers the first eulogy. He calls Augustus a "self-aggrandizing bastard" but also says, "When the scientists of the future show up at my house with robot eyes and they tell me to try them on, I will tell the scientists to screw off, because I do not want to see a world without him." Hazel then delivers her eulogy, which she has written on a piece of paper. She begins by correcting the minister's introduction—"I was his girlfriend"—and then speaks about mathematics, explaining that "there are infinite numbers between 0 and 1" and that "some infinities are bigger than other infinities." She tells Augustus, "You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful." Augustus listens, nods, and offers feedback, telling Isaac to cut the bit about seeing through girls' shirts.

Thematic Significance

The prefuneral is a direct challenge to the novel's central themes of oblivion, legacy, and the search for meaning in the face of death. Augustus, who once said he feared oblivion "like the proverbial blind man who's afraid of the dark," uses the prefuneral to ensure he is remembered on his own terms. It also echoes Hazel's earlier declaration that she is "a grenade" who wants to minimize casualties, and Augustus's own belief that "all salvation is temporary." The prefuneral is a temporary, self-aware act of salvation, a moment of control in a life that has been defined by loss. It is also a final, intimate gift to Hazel, allowing her to speak her love for him while he can still hear it. The event is a poignant inversion of the conventional funeral: instead of being mourned after death, Augustus experiences his own memorial while still alive, turning the ritual into a celebration of his life and his love for Hazel. The prefuneral is also a response to Peter Van Houten's nihilistic philosophy, which Augustus rejects by creating meaning through his own actions and relationships. The event is a testament to Augustus's belief that "the real heroes are the people NOTICING things, paying attention," and that a life lived with love and attention is a life well-lived, even if it is short.