"Veronika Decides to Die," is a novel by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian writer with many inspirational works such as The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist. This novel begins in the city of Ljubljana; capital of Slovenia, its main character is Veronika, a young and beautiful girl of 24 years of age to whom the monotony of her life has led to suicide. Veronika was certain that at her age, she had achieved everything she wanted. She believed that the only thing that could be missing to live was the bad things
(167).” Reality is nothing more than a socially accepted opinion – a perception inherently subjective. This very principle is the driving force behind Paulo Coelho’s introspective novel, Veronica Decides To Die. Veronica Decides to Die is an interesting story about a young woman called "Veronica" who wants to die but her suicide is not successful and she finds herself in "Villet", a place for the both the insane, as well as, the sane. Although she insists on pursuing the end she has chosen, some events
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:
absurdity helps other people live. Living for the sake of others: Isn't this altruism moral? References: Nietzsche, Friedrich. Twilight of the Idols. Accessed on April 18, 2004 http://www.handprint.com/SC/NIE/GotDamer.html Coelho, Paulo. Veronika Decides to Die. London: Harper Collins, 2000 Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. New York: Norton Critical Editions, 2001 Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Penguin Books, 1990
Langland And Voltaire." Metaphor & Symbol 26.2 (2011): 143-151. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Apr. 2012. Putnam, LuElla. "Boredom, Insignificance, And Death In Voltaire's Candide, Charles Baudelaire's The Flowers Of Evil, And Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides To Die." Atenea 30.1-2 (2010): 67- 78. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Apr. 2012 Strickland, Lloyd. "False Optimism? Leibniz, Evil, And The Best Of All Possible Worlds." Forum Philosophicum: International Journal For Philosophy 15.1 (2010):