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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter consists of three parts to discuss. The first part is object of the study. The object of the study contains brief information of the novel Veronika
Decides to Die . The second part is approach of the study. Approach of the study
explains about the approach used to analyze the novel. The last section is method of the study. Method of the study explains the steps taken to analyze the novel in
order to answer the questions formulated in the problem formulation.
3.1. Object of the Study
The novel used as the object of the study is Paulo Coelho’s novel entitled Veronika Decides to Die.
This novel was firstly published in Portuguese in 1998. The novel was then translated by Margaret Jull Costa. The English translated
version was published in 1999 by HarperCollins Publishers Inc. The story of Veronika is narrated through 210 pages from third person point of view. The
novel consists of twenty nine chapters and they are unique. Some of the chapters only consist of one to five pages. However, the reader would find each chapter
meaningful. Veronika Decides to Die
is one of Paulo Coelho’s Novels that hold human’s value. Through this novel, the Paulo Coelho takes the reader to the world of
insanity. Most scenes in the novel take place in the mental asylum where most of the inhabitants are insane or in need of mental medication. However, not all of the
23 inhabitants are insane. There are people who chose to stay in the asylum because
they perceive the mental asylum as a comfortable place to reside in addition to the freedom it offers.
The novel unfolds the story of twenty-four-years-old Slovenian woman named Veronika who seems to have a perfect life. She is surrounded by
everything a young woman could wish for. She is young and beautiful. She has
many gorgeous boyfriends, a pleasing job, and a family. However, there is a constant emptiness inside of Veronika. Consequently, on the morning of
November 11, 1997, Veronika decides to die. She takes a handful of sleeping pills, expecting to beautifully rest in peace.
Veronika’s suicide attempt fails. As a result, Veronika is considered crazy by her mother. Thus her mother sends Veronika to a local mental asylum. As
Veronika wakes up at Villete, she finds out that she has not succeeded in achieving her goal to die. Although the overdose sleeping pills do not kill her,
those pills bring her an irreversible damage to the heart. Only in the mercy of days, Veronika shall live.
The story goes on with Veronika endures about a week of self-discovery. Surprisingly, each life in Villete reflects the essence of human experience that
Veronika has missed. Veronika reveals many things that she has not allowed to do and even feel. She begins to understand what it means to be alive and to live.
Veronika’s emptiness that becomes the reason of her suicide attempt is filled at last. The true Veronika is finally free and decides to live a meaningful life.
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