36 can be seen from her reason of committing suicide. Veronika thought that she would
gain nothing by continuing to live and everything is wrong in this world p. 7.
4.1.5 Veronika is a sympathetic person
Besides Veronika is a logical and critical person, she is a very sympathetic person. During her life in Villete Veronika showed that she could be a very
sympathetic person. She showed her concern when Zedka was getting a treatment, even though Zedka was a new person in Veronika’s life. Veronika screamed and
shouted uncontrollably when she saw Zedka’s treatment. Veronika knew that the treatment hurt Zedka and so she did all she could to stop the treatment.
“Veronika started calling to Zedka, shouting, threatening that she would go to the police, the press, and the human rights organizations. “Calm down. You
may be in a mental hospital, but you still have to abide by certain rules.” She saw that the man was utterly serious, and she was afraid. But since she had
nothing to lose, she went on shouting.” p. 49. Veronika was shouted to get the attention from the nurse, to make the nurse
stop the treatment. Although that Veronika was threatened by the nurse and for a while Veronika felt scare, but she still kept shouting because she knew that the nurse
would not harm her anyway, even if she would not lose anything since she is already dying. Veronika’s effort to stop the treatment proves that Veronika is a sympathetic
person who cares about others’ suffering. On another occasion, Veronika also gave her sympathy to Eduard. Veronika
tried to save Eduard from electroconvulsive therapy ECT. Veronika shouted when
37 she saw Eduard having ECT treatment. Veronika was shouted to stop it even though
it was useless since Eduard had already been unconscious p. 159. Moreover, Veronika gave her attention to Mari.
“Veronika stopped playing for a moment and looked out at Mari in the garden. She was wearing only a light jacket against the cold night air. Did she
want to die? p. 113. Veronika’s action to stop playing piano proves that she cared about Mari’s
condition. All that Veronika did to Zedka, Mari and Eduard shows that she cares about
those people even though they are new people in her life. Even though that Veronika gave only a little attention to Mari, it still proved that Veronika cared about her.
Veronika’s characteristic as a sympathetic person can also be seen in her second reason of her decision to commit suicide.
The second reason was more philosophical: Veronika read newspapers, watch TV, and she was aware of what was going on in the world. Everything was
wrong, and she had no way of putting things right-that gave her a sense of complete powerlessness. p. 7
The quotation above shows that Veronika was very concerned with the social
situation but she could not do anything to fix all the wrong things happened in her society. Veronika’s characteristic as a sympathetic person had given her guilty feeling
because she had no power to express her sympathy by struggling against those wrong things as she did to Zedka, Mari, and Eduard.
38
4.1.6 Veronika lacks of belongingness and love needs, the self-esteem needs and
the self-actualization needs
Maslow defines that to fulfill the belongingness and love needs one will try various ways. They might join with certain groups which can share them their
interests, having lovers, having friends, and many others as cited in Hjelle and Ziegler, 1981, p. 372. Comparing to the definition above, it can be concluded that
Veronika was lack of belongingness and love needs since she had never joined a certain group during her life. Veronika chose to live in a convent that limited her
interaction with others. Veronika had some friends and boyfriends, but she never had a best friend and a true lover. Veronika had never felt the sense of belonging since
she never joined a certain group. Veronika built a relationship with some boyfriends, it was based on sexual desire that gave her the feeling of emptiness.
I’ll make love with them in their houses or in the woods, I’ll feel a certain degree of pleasure, but the moment I reach orgasm, the feeling of emptiness
will return p. 21 The citation above shows that Veronika made love with some boyfriends was
not because she loved them or she felt of being loved by those boyfriends. Veronika was lack of belongingness and love needs since she had never felt true love.
Furthermore, Hjelle and Ziegler 1981 explain that according to Maslow, the self-esteem needs cover self-respect and esteem from others para.372. Based on that
explanation, the writer can conclude that Veronika’s suicide attempt is an action of self disrespect. By attempting suicide, Veronika does not respect herself. Veronika’s
