When comparing and contrasting the novel, My sister's keeper written by Jodi Piccoult and the film The fault in our stars directed by Josh Boone, there are both differences and similarities in the techniques used to explore the theme of purposeful and necessary suffering. Both authors display the impact on cancer sufferers inevitably bound up with the conundrum of why sickness, suffering and grief exist. The theme of purposeful suffering has been displayed through techniques including contrasts in setting, characterization, structure and cinematography. It is also displayed through the growth and development of characterization in understanding and adjusting to pain in all aspects including socially and spiritually. Symbolism and structure assist in the exploration of the common theme and extend the development of the plot and character growth. It is through a variety of techniques in which both authors explore the idea and theme of purposeful and necessary suffering.
Whilst Piccoult focuses much of the setting in her novel My sister's keeper in the small town of Rhode Island during the 1900's, Boones The fault in our stars is set in contemporary times in the urban and fast-paced city of Indianapolis. In Piccoult's My sister's keeper, the setting in the novel occurs in a small town of Upper Darby in the state of Rhodes Island. The author describes the town as a place where "A very small legal system is enforced". Two key settings in the novel are the Providence Hospital and the Fitzgerald's house. Both locations are important in defining the tone and setting- when the main characters are not at the hospital, the novel revolves around their home life. Contrasting scenes often spoken in a third-person context describe the bleak and lifeless hospital in which much suffering is endured. As Anna awaits news regarding her sick sister,