IMPACT OF ILLNESS ON HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS: ILLNESS NARRATIVE IN THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

Abstract

Abstract

Mental and physical health of a person has a key role in the maintenance of his relationships. Illness narrative, as a genre, addresses how illness, both physical and mental, and its subsequent trauma affect people and their relationships. Cancer which is considered to be a chronic disease continues to be people’s nightmare and once a person is diagnosed with cancer, their life changes. The patients’ difficulty to cope up with the situation, the attitude of people around them and the pain associated with the disease, all contributes to their trauma. The present study analyses the novel The Fault in our Stars both as a novel and a film and its Bollywood adaptation ‘Dil Bachare’ to see how these three texts have depicted the effect of illness on human relationships. The importance of support groups for such diseases is also discussed in the paper.