I was just as shocked as Hazel when I discovered that Van Houten had returned to the United States and was at Gus’s funeral. What a twist! Much like Hazel, my impression of that man was quite negative, but his presence at the funeral changed things. He seemed to be trying to make amends for his rude behavior in Amsterdam while also trying to find peace with another huge obstacle in his life, which we find out is the death of his daughter. Hazel realizes that An Imperial Affliction is about Van Houten’s daughter.
When I found this out, everything made sense, how Van Houten treated them in Amsterdam, why he never wrote a sequel, why he was a drunkard… Van Houten was a parent who lost a child to cancer, and this fact is what finally made Hazel understand why Van Houten hated the world. Hazel can empathize with Van Houten because she knows that she’s putting her parents through the same thing and so did Gus.
It’s interesting that the only reason Hazel woke up from her rage toward Van Houten was when she realized that he lost a child to cancer, which says something about her own thoughts about dying. Hazel has expressed her guilt about leaving her parents behind multiple times, and upon finding out Van Houten’s situation, I think she realizes that she can help a parent heal from the loss of their child, because she tells Van Houten to write a sequel to An Imperial Affliction.
When I found this out, everything made sense, how Van Houten treated them in Amsterdam, why he never wrote a sequel, why he was a drunkard… Van Houten was a parent who lost a child to cancer, and this fact is what finally made Hazel understand why Van Houten hated the world. Hazel can empathize with Van Houten because she knows that she’s putting her parents through the same thing and so did Gus.
It’s interesting that the only reason Hazel woke up from her rage toward Van Houten was when she realized that he lost a child to cancer, which says something about her own thoughts about dying. Hazel has expressed her guilt about leaving her parents behind multiple times, and upon finding out Van Houten’s situation, I think she realizes that she can help a parent heal from the loss of their child, because she tells Van Houten to write a sequel to An Imperial Affliction.