'Veronika Decides To Die' - A Psychological Analysis of The Book

 



Life and death are two deep concepts that are beyond the human understanding of persistence. We spend our lives in realizing what actually life is and when the end arrives, we fear what might death will hold for us. In a nutshell, we are completely clueless about either of them. 


Now we must have read a lot of things related to life, but how often do we dive into the topics of death? Let us analyse what Paulo Coelho, a well known Brazilian novelist has to offer about the philosophy of death through a fictional story line.


Introduction


Book’s Name- Veronika Decides to Die

Author’s Name- Paulo Coelho

Genre- Drama, romance

Language- Originally: Portuguese, Adapted: English


About the Book


In this book, a twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything a girl could ever wish for. Youth, beauty, attractive boyfriends, a fulfilling job, and an amazingly loving family. Yet, she always feels a lack in her life. She feels a void so deeply that nothing is ever enough to fill it. 


So, on one fine morning of November 11, 1997, Veronika decides to die. She takes a handful of sleeping pills in order to never wake up again. But instead, she shockingly wakes up at Villete, a local mental hospital nearby. The hospital staff informs her that she, in fact, has partially succeeded in achieving what she began. 


But, the overdose didn’t kill Veronika instantly, but that medication has damaged her heart instead so severely; now she has to live with the fact that she’s only left with a few days to live. Her death won’t be immediate, rather a slow, painful one. 


The whole story revolves around Veronika in the path of her intense week of self-discovery all over. Living with the other patients in hospital, and getting to know their life reflections, Veronica realizes in her state of  final moments, that she never really allowed herself to feel emotions like, hatred, fear, curiosity, love, and sexual awakening, before. 


She understands that every bit of her existence is a choice between life and death, and as the eleventh hour resides, she becomes more open to life than ever, but then she could never really use her understanding to live a better life then.


Psychological Analysis


The book is full of the variation of cognitive analysis through life and pre-death. Let’s discuss some of them. 

  1. Element of psychological depression- Psychological depression, basically involves symptoms like loss of interest, fatigue, depressed mood. During this state, it becomes difficult for the sufferer to continue an ordinary work and social life with the same normal pace as before. 


The protagonist of the book, Veronika, suffers through the same mentioned symptoms. She finds her life rather incomplete and boring, and doesn’t share love or affection with her family and friends. Veronika is written as a complex personality, displaying a trait of not having a single set of  thoughts on a particular agenda, and so her mind works in all directions, making her unable to be decisive. 


For displaying the element of psychological depression, Coelho brings out the feelings of Veronika, highlighting how much she struggles even in making small decisions. The character is described to feel despair, anxiety, and a sense of pessimism.


  1. Element of feminism- Women characters in literature has historically been written and indicated as ideal gender. They have always been specified as a more passive, authentic, accepting and tender character. But in Coelho’s book, it is portrayed as the total opposite. 


The depiction of women by Coelho is rather more unorthodox and unconventional. The story revolves around Veronica, who is not a caricature. But also, Coelho brings light into the feminist aspect of binding with each other through common pain.


  1. Element of self-realization- Among all the other themes, the theme of self-realization is analyzed at last, at its best. ‘Veronika Decides To Die’ is an interesting attempt of Coelho to guide readers about psychological and mental enlightenment. The protagonist of the story is written as a character to be developed from a depression patient as a symbol of what it means to be alive. 


The author doesn’t represent these ideas explicitly, but howsoever, he brings it out through the journey of lives of his characters. He was even successful in bringing out the aspect of self-realization for creating a more optimistic and aware human, even in an atmosphere like that of a mental hospital. 


Veronika during her stay in the hospital, also discovers her need to strive for success. She starts reviving her life through her interest in playing piano once again. It used to be her biggest dream, after facing a rejection from her mother. 


The part of playing piano is represented by Coelho as a growth of self-realization of the confidence that resided inside Veronika. At last, she was able to address her desire and work along with it for a few days, without even fearing people’s judgment towards her.


The Bottom Line


Everyone who is born, has to die someday. Taking birth was never in our hands, and in the same way, death isn't in our control. What we can control is the time present between these two stages. Live to the fullest, address all our desires, never fear judgement, don’t back off from opening up, and at least try loving your life. It will be over before you know it!


You can buy a copy of this enlightening book from amazon- Veronika Decides To Die


Written By - Pavas Shrigyan