Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, John Green’s, The Fault in Our Stars, and Paulo Coelho’s, Veronika Decides to Die

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“Et tu, Brute! Then fall, Caesar.” Are undoubtedly the infamous last words from Julius Caesar in the Shakespearean tragedy titled, Julius Caesar, where upon betrayal from long time friend, Brutus, Caesar submissively accepts his fate and finds that with death approaching he can only be at peace, therefore resigning himself. Conversely in John Green’s, The Fault in Our Stars, and Paulo Coelho’s, Veronika Decides to Die, the individuals share the same faith as Caesar. Their certain death becomes the result of eventual enlightenment and acceptance. The ideology behind this concept will be discussed on three separate accounts from both novels, these ideas are: pain, realization, and effect.
Pain is multidimensional; it can bring joy as well as fear. However if the pain is passed onto an individual facing death, it will bring relief. Pain is a step towards death. Throughout Paulo Coelho’s, Veronika Decides to Die, pain is experienced heavily by the protagonist, Veronika. Whether it would be mental or physical this pain made Veronika realize her only certainty, death. Veronika after learning of her suicide attempt being moderately successful, lulls around the mental hospital, Villete, in a constant daze. She only understands the effect of her demise when pain is introduced, “…she noticed a sharp pain in her chest, and her arm went numb. Veronika felt her head spinning. A heart attack.” (Coelho 73) She enters a euphoric state and replies to it submissively, “…as if death had freed her from the fear of dying” (Coelho 73) the reasoning behind the thought was decided through the pain, very much like Caesar after learning of Brutus’ betrayal and the pain that quickly followed. John Green also excellently illustrates pain as a tactic for e...

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... drachmas (Currency) to each roman, his gardens and summer-houses, and the place on this of the river Tiber.
Although the story of Julius Caesar was tragic because of his certain death, there was a great amount of enlightenment met. Caesar demonstrated through pain, realization, and effect that he was enlightened. Similarly in both The Fault in our Stars and Veronika decides to Die, the individuals share the same faith with Caesar. They are individuals that because of their definite death find enlightenment and peace through the factors death brings: pain, realization, and effect. In conclusion humans are afraid of many things, and to truly appreciate life we need to let go. This can be summed by a quote from the movie, Fight Club, “And then, something happened. I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.”

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