The author shows Gus’s loss of independence and control over his life. Ideally, the G-tube is supposed to heal him, but poisons and turns against him instead. Gus still believes he can do something heroic about his ending life, despite being unable to purchase a pack of cigarettes at a store. This situation is a way of portraying his inability to control the imminent death that comes faster than he anticipates. Regardless, Gus still wants to avoid any show of pity from others, especially from Hazel.

As they ride to the hospital, Hazel specifically decides to recite a poem from William Carlos Williams. Ideally, Williams was an American poet and doctor working in his hometown of Rutherford, New Jersey. His work is unique considering that he wrote about ordinary things making them extraordinary. This analogy fits Gus’s life since he struggles to be extraordinary from his ordinary self. The act of adding her own lines about Gus to the poem shows that Hazel believes Gus to be extraordinary to her despite not seeing it in himself.