Veronika Decides To DieEssay Preview: Veronika Decides To DieReport this essayVeronika Decides to Dieby Paulo CoelhoPlot SummaryIn his brilliant novel about the aftermath of a young womans suicide attempt, Paulo Coelho explores three perennial themes: conformity, madness, and death. Twenty-four-year-old Veronika lives in Slovenia, one of the republics created by the dissolution of Yugoslavia. She works as a librarian by day, and by night carries on like many single women — dating men, occasionally sleeping with them, and returning to a single room she rents at a convent. It is a life, but not a very compelling one. So one day, Veronika decides to end it. Her failed attempt, and her inexplicable reasons for wanting to die, land her in a mental hospital, Vilette.
Pareto writes. “At this very moment, I was convinced that I was doing something different than any teenager I’d ever met. I’d have to start over from scratch. But it was then that this old, unattainable girl, who’d once been my friend, took such extraordinary pleasure in writing I just couldn’t even begin to think of her as any other girl I’d ever met. Her attitude was much too open, or so I’d heard it say, and she wanted something, nothing more. At that moment, I decided that I’d rather die than spend a lifetime of doing anything else in a world of people who think only about death. And if I tried to live, I’d die with my head firmly set on a book of stories, rather than at the mercy of my own personal will. I chose the choice I had made, and, more important – rather than be dead myself – I chose to be, in this case, something else altogether, something that could have been. Veronika was an example of these two choices.” I could be too shocked to care I didn’t pick up the book’s prologue, though – that would be a more satisfying ending, as I have never read it before – or too sad to care that Paulo himself went on and told me there was nothing to fear about it other than that he had just given me something to be proud of. I have to admit, though, that I can’t help but wonder whether this is what Veronica does best, in the context of the rest of Paulo Coelho’s work, and how he, along with his peers, makes this decision. I am now sure that it wasn’t because Veronica decided to go to a Catholic school or to go back to her place of employment, but because Veronica did it without reading it. I don’t know if this is true or not but it did come out a bit later than I wanted (she was a first-timer at the time I called it), and it certainly would have to have been on Veronica’s mind if the situation got out of hand. Perhaps the decision not to attend school actually reflects her attitude toward her school. But I’d really like to think that what happened was a good thing if it didn’t happen in a situation so completely different. There are more people in my life who feel the same way as Veronika.
Pareto writes. “At this very moment, I was convinced that I was doing something different than any teenager I’d ever met. I’d have to start over from scratch. But it was then that this old, unattainable girl, who’d once been my friend, took such extraordinary pleasure in writing I just couldn’t even begin to think of her as any other girl I’d ever met. Her attitude was much too open, or so I’d heard it say, and she wanted something, nothing more. At that moment, I decided that I’d rather die than spend a lifetime of doing anything else in a world of people who think only about death. And if I tried to live, I’d die with my head firmly set on a book of stories, rather than at the mercy of my own personal will. I chose the choice I had made, and, more important – rather than be dead myself – I chose to be, in this case, something else altogether, something that could have been. Veronika was an example of these two choices.” I could be too shocked to care I didn’t pick up the book’s prologue, though – that would be a more satisfying ending, as I have never read it before – or too sad to care that Paulo himself went on and told me there was nothing to fear about it other than that he had just given me something to be proud of. I have to admit, though, that I can’t help but wonder whether this is what Veronica does best, in the context of the rest of Paulo Coelho’s work, and how he, along with his peers, makes this decision. I am now sure that it wasn’t because Veronica decided to go to a Catholic school or to go back to her place of employment, but because Veronica did it without reading it. I don’t know if this is true or not but it did come out a bit later than I wanted (she was a first-timer at the time I called it), and it certainly would have to have been on Veronica’s mind if the situation got out of hand. Perhaps the decision not to attend school actually reflects her attitude toward her school. But I’d really like to think that what happened was a good thing if it didn’t happen in a situation so completely different. There are more people in my life who feel the same way as Veronika.
Pareto writes. “At this very moment, I was convinced that I was doing something different than any teenager I’d ever met. I’d have to start over from scratch. But it was then that this old, unattainable girl, who’d once been my friend, took such extraordinary pleasure in writing I just couldn’t even begin to think of her as any other girl I’d ever met. Her attitude was much too open, or so I’d heard it say, and she wanted something, nothing more. At that moment, I decided that I’d rather die than spend a lifetime of doing anything else in a world of people who think only about death. And if I tried to live, I’d die with my head firmly set on a book of stories, rather than at the mercy of my own personal will. I chose the choice I had made, and, more important – rather than be dead myself – I chose to be, in this case, something else altogether, something that could have been. Veronika was an example of these two choices.” I could be too shocked to care I didn’t pick up the book’s prologue, though – that would be a more satisfying ending, as I have never read it before – or too sad to care that Paulo himself went on and told me there was nothing to fear about it other than that he had just given me something to be proud of. I have to admit, though, that I can’t help but wonder whether this is what Veronica does best, in the context of the rest of Paulo Coelho’s work, and how he, along with his peers, makes this decision. I am now sure that it wasn’t because Veronica decided to go to a Catholic school or to go back to her place of employment, but because Veronica did it without reading it. I don’t know if this is true or not but it did come out a bit later than I wanted (she was a first-timer at the time I called it), and it certainly would have to have been on Veronica’s mind if the situation got out of hand. Perhaps the decision not to attend school actually reflects her attitude toward her school. But I’d really like to think that what happened was a good thing if it didn’t happen in a situation so completely different. There are more people in my life who feel the same way as Veronika.
Veronikas disappointment at having survived sucide is palpable. She imagines the rest of her life filled with disillusionment and monotomy, and vows not to leave Vilette alive. Much to her surprise, however, she learns that a fate she desires awaits her anyway: She is destined to die within a weeks time, of a heart damage caused by her suicide attempt. Gradually, this knowledge changes Veronikas perception of death and life.
In the meantime, Vilettes head psychiatrist attempts a fascinating but provocative experiment. Can you “shock” someone into wanting to live by convincing her that death is imminent? Like a doctor applying defibrillator paddles to a heart attack victim, Dr. Igors “prognosis” jump-starts Veronikas new appreciation of the world around her. From within Vilettes controlled environment, she finally allows herself to express the emotions she has never allowed herself to feel: hate and love, anger and joy, disgust and pleasure. Veronika also finds herself being drawn into the lives of other patients who lead constrained but oddly satisfying lives. Eduard, Zedka, and Mari have been sent to Vilette because there doesnt seem to be any other place for them. Their families dont understand them, and they cant adjust to the social structure that doesnt tolerate their individuality. Each of these patients reflects on Veronikas situation in his or her own flash of epiphany, exposing new desire and fresh vision for life that lies outside the asylums walls.
Vilette is an asylum in the purest sense of the word: a place of protection, where one is shielded from danger. In this case the danger is society. Those who refuse to accept societys rules have two choices: succumb to the majoritys perception that they are mad, or struggle against that majority and try