Champagne

Champagne functions in The Fault in Our Stars as a potent symbol of the rare, luminous experiences that punctuate the lives of its terminally ill protagonists. It is not merely a beverage but a marker of celebration, intimacy, and the conscious choice to savor beauty in the face of oblivion. From its first appearance at a canal-side dinner in Amsterdam to its final use at a sculpture park in Indianapolis, champagne becomes a recurring motif for the fragile, starry moments that Hazel and Augustus carve out of their limited time together.

Introduction and First Appearance at Oranjee

The most significant appearance of champagne occurs during Hazel and Augustus's dinner at Oranjee, a restaurant in Amsterdam arranged by Peter Van Houten's assistant. The hostess greets them with two flutes of champagne as a gift, and the waiter, upon serving it, recounts the story of Dom Pérignon, who after inventing champagne called out to his fellow monks, 'Come quickly: I am tasting the stars.' This description immediately elevates the drink from a simple luxury to a metaphor for the sublime, otherworldly quality of the evening. Hazel, who has never drunk champagne before, finds it 'sweet, crisp, delicious,' and the experience of tasting it, combined with the falling elm seeds that the locals call 'confetti,' creates a scene of almost unbearable perfection. The champagne here is not just a drink; it is a central prop in Augustus's meticulously orchestrated romantic gesture, a symbol of the 'Wish' he has used to bring her there, and a taste of a life that is both real and impossibly ideal.

Champagne as a Cancer Perk and a Symbol of Fleeting Joy

Champagne also appears as a 'Cancer Perk,' a small privilege granted to young people with life-threatening illnesses. On the flight home from Amsterdam, Augustus asks a flight attendant for champagne, and she serves it to them despite their age, after noticing Hazel's oxygen cannula. This moment underscores how their illness grants them access to experiences denied to healthy teenagers, but it also highlights the bittersweet nature of such perks. The champagne on the plane is a dimmer version of the stars they tasted at Oranjee, a reminder that the magic of Amsterdam is already receding. Later, after Augustus's cancer has returned and he is in a wheelchair, Hazel wheels him to the Funky Bones sculpture park with 'one entire bottle of very expensive champagne' donated by one of his doctors. They drink it from paper Winnie-the-Pooh cups, a stark contrast to the elegant flutes of their Amsterdam dinner. This scene powerfully illustrates the novel's central tension: the attempt to hold onto beauty and celebration even as the physical and emotional circumstances become increasingly degraded. The champagne, once a symbol of a perfect future, now becomes a symbol of a present that is being mourned even as it is lived.

Thematic Significance: Tasting the Stars in the Shadow of Oblivion

Champagne's thematic role is deeply intertwined with the novel's exploration of meaning, memory, and oblivion. Augustus, who famously fears oblivion and desires to leave a mark on the world, uses champagne to create a moment of such intense, shared beauty that it feels like a defiance of the void. The act of toasting—'To you,' he says, and she replies, 'To you'—is a ritual of mutual recognition and love, a way of saying that this moment, however fleeting, matters. The drink's association with 'tasting the stars' directly counters the novel's recurring motif of the universe as a cold, indifferent place. It suggests that even within a world that is 'not a wish-granting factory,' humans can create their own constellations of meaning. For Hazel, who often sees herself as a 'grenade' destined to hurt those she loves, the champagne represents a rare instance of uncomplicated joy, a permission to be happy without guilt. The final shared bottle at Funky Bones, drunk from childish cups, is a poignant echo of their Amsterdam romance, proving that the ability to find wonder and connection does not end when the future does. It is a testament to the novel's core belief that some infinities are bigger than others, and that a single, perfect evening can contain a forever.