The Hectic Glow

metatfios:

“He played me a couple songs he liked by a band called The Hectic Glow…” (Green 36)

“Decay and disease are often beatutiful, like the pearly tear of the shellfish  and the hectic glow of consumption” (Thoreau Journal).

Thoreau writes of Consumption (now known as Tuberculosis, or, TB) with a poetic register of diction, highlighting the beauty in disease. TB in the 1800s parallels the way we view cancer today, an ailment that does not discriminate between ages (nor does death, really), with painful and socially isolating treatment. Hazel’s parallel to the primarily lung-based disease lies with the mets in her lungs, but throughout TFIOS she argues against Thoreau’s idea that disease is beautiful. As Hazel would (and did) say, “You’re arguing that the fragile, rare thing is beautiful simply because it is fragile and rare. But that’s a lie and you know it” (Green 145). TB gives its victim reddened cheeks, resulting in a hectic glow and thus making them physically more attractive, but what Hazel asserts is that disease does not make the diseased stronger, wiser, or more beautiful. The caliber of correctness in Hazel and Thoreau’s respective ideas is for the reader to decide.

Aside from being a Thoreauvian journal entry, The Hectic Glow is an actual band inspired by TFIOS.

[Image Source]

Can I just say, that I love this?