An exixtentialist study of human exixtence as revealed by the main characters in paulo coelho`s veronika decides to die - USD Repository
AN EXISTENTIALIST STUDY OF
HUMAN EXISTENCE AS REVEALED BY THE MAIN CHARACTERS
IN PAULO COELHO’S
VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
CAHYANI TRI UTAMI
Student Number: 004214024
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2007
I trust that everything happens for a
reason, even when we’re not wise enough
to see it.
-Oprah Winfrey-
T his thesis is dedicated to M y beloved parents, M y dearest soulmate and son
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I praise the Lord as I have accomplished my undergraduate thesis. I thank Him for His endless blessing and for all that I have in my life. I thank Him for any help and support of others, which I believe God has sent to show his love to me.
I would like to express my profound gratitude for my advisor, Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M.A, for her patient guidance, advice and assistance, in completing this thesis. I would also thank to Mrs. Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S, M. Hum., my co-advisor, for her thorough reading and advice.
I would like to dedicate my sincerest thankfulness to my beloved family, my father and mother for their unconditional love and support. I also thank to my sister Dwi and brother Ardi who have been a good partner in sharing things in this family, for fixing the mess together.
My deepest gratitude is also addressed to my beloved Agus Dwi Saputro, a wonderful soulmate, who has given a great contribution in writing this thesis. You have given a different color in my life; from you I learn so many new things. It is from you that I learn to understand instead of to judge; to look inside myself in everything I face so I will not blame others. Thank you for sharing me a complete set of emotion; in ups and downs, that I can appreciate everything in this life. I also give my sincere thank to my beloved son, Krishna Putra, for cherishing my days and giving me meaning in this world.
Last but not least, I address my gratitude to my best friend, Widianingtyas Yuniati, for sharing fresh jokes since elementary school until right now; for every single laughter to seize the day. Finally, I am grateful to all my lectures and staff of Letters Faculty for their patience and help during my study.
Cahyani Tri Utami
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………….. i
APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………………….. ii
ACCEPTABLE PAGE ………………………………………………………… iii
MOTTO PAGE ………………………………………………………………… iv
DEDICATION PAGE ………………………………………………………..... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……………………………………………………... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………… viii
ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………….. x
ABSTRAK ………………………………………………………………………. xi
CHAPTER I INTRODCUTION ……….…………………………………….. 1
A. Background of the Study ……………………………………………. 1 B. Problem Formulation ………………………………………………... 4 C. Objective of the Study ………………………………………………. 5 D. Definition of Terms …………………………………………………. 5CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW …………………………………… 7
A. Review of Related Studies …………………………………………... 7 B. Review of Related Theories …………………………………………. 91. Theory of Character ……………………………………………….. 9
2. Theory of Characterization ………………………………………... 11
3. Theory of Symbol ………………………………………………. 12
4. The Relation between Literature and Philosophy …………………. 14
5. View of Existentialism and Existentialist Literature ………………. 14
6. Kierkegaard’s Philosophy ………………………………………….. 17
a. The Subjective Individual ……………………………………….. 17
b. Choice and Commitment ……………………………………….... 19
C. Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………….. 21
CHAPTER III METODOLOGY ………………………………………………. 23
A. Object of the Study …………………………………………………... 23 B. Approach of the Study ……………………………………………….. 24 C. Method of the Study ………………………………………………….. 25CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS …………………………………………………… 27
A. The Description of the Main Characters ……………………………… 271. Veronika ……………………………………………………………. 27
2. Zedka Mendel ………………………………………………………. 33
3. Mari …………………………………………………………………. 36
4. Eduard ………………………………………………………………. 39
B. Human Existence Represented by the Main Characters from the Existentialist Perspective ………………………………………………. 43
1. Subjective Individual ………………………………………………... 44
2. Choice and Commitment ……………………………………………. 52
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ………………………………………………... 56
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………. 59APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………….. 61
ABSTRACT
CAHYANI TRI UTAMI (2007). An Existentialist Study of Human Existence
as Revealed by the Main Characters in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to
Die. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata
Dharma University.The study of human existence as revealed by the main characters in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die is worth a concern. It contains a description on how a human being perceives himself as a subjective individual who is continually confronted to the crowd. Described as mentally sick persons, the main characters in the novel try to make sense of their existence. The awareness of their true condition gives them the noble value of human life; that every individual is unique with their own characteristic to make what their life would be. Further, the awareness of subjective individual bears the awareness of choice and commitment, where every action done in this life entails inevitable responsibility.
The objectives of this study are to identify the characterization of the main characters in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die and to find out the existentialist concepts of human existence from Kierkegaard’s point of view that is depicted in the main characters.
The method applied in this study is the library research. The data are Paulo Coelho’s novel entitled Veronika Decides to Die and other sources which are closely related to this study. In order to have a profound analysis, a moral philosophical approach is employed in this study. The writer applied theory of characterization, theories of characters and Kierkegaard’s views on existentialism to do the analysis of the problem formulations.
The study reveals that Paulo Coelho’s main characters, Veronika, Zedka, Maria and Eduard who first see the asylum as a place to escape from the society finally realize the importance of living their life authentically. It means that they are fully aware of their true condition and existence entirely belongs to the individual alone, and it is the individual who makes his essence by his own free choices. Veronika realizes that the boredom in her life which eventually leads her to end her life is her own choice. Further, the fact that she only has several days remaining in her life as the result of the heart damage is the consequence she has to face. Therefore, she wants to fully live it. Other inhabitants in Villete, Zedka, Mari and Eduard share a common motive in staying in Villete where they regard it as a total escape from the outside world. However, they finally decide to get out from Villete and lead a real life in the society. They are truly aware with their condition and the consequence they have to face concerning with it. The only normal character in the novel, Dr. Igor strengthens the importance of living one’s life authentically. Every human being is unique; therefore, they do not have to force themselves to be the same as others.
ABSTRAK
CAHYANI TRI UTAMI. An Existentialist Study of Human Existence as
Revealed by the Main Characters in Paulo Coleho’s Veronika Decides to Die.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2007.Studi mengenai eksistensi manusia seperti yang diutarakan oleh tokoh utama dalam novel karangan Paulo Coleho, Veronika Decides to Die, patut mendapat perhatian. Studi ini mencakup deskripsi mengenai manusia yang melihat dirinya sebagai seorang individu subyektif, yang secara terus- menerus dihadapkan dengan kebanyakan orang. Digambarkan sebagai orang yang sakit jiwa, tokoh utama dalam novel ini berusaha membuat keberadaan mereka berarti. Kesadaran akan kondisi yang sebenarnya memberi nilai yang unggul mengenai kehidupan manusia; bahwa setiap manusia adalah individu yang unik dengan ciri khas yang mereka miliki untuk membuat hidup mereka menjadi seperti apa. Lebih jauh lagi, kesadaran mengenai individu yang subyektif melahirkan kesdaran akan pilihan dan konsekeunsi, dimana setiap tindakan yang dilakukan dalam hidup ini menghasilkan tanggung jawab yang tidak dapat dihindari.
Tujuan studi ini adalah untuk mengidentifikasi karakterisasi tokoh utama dalam novel Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die dan untuk menemukan konsep eksistensialime mengenai keberadaan manusia dari sudut pandang Kierkegaard yang dikemukakan oleh tokoh utama dalam novel.
Metode yang dipakai dalam studi ini adalah studi pustaka. Data yang diigunakan berupa novel karangan Paulo Coelho yang berjudul Veronika Decides serta sumber lain yang berkaitan erat dengan studi ini. Untuk mendapatkan
to Die analisis yang mendalam, digunakan pendekatan moral filosofi.dalam studi ini.
Penulis menggunakan teori karakterisasai, teori karakter, serta pandangan Kierkegaard mengenai esistensialisme untuk membuat analisis berdasarkan rumusan masalah.
Studi ini menunjukkan bahwa tokoh utama Paulo Coelho, Veronika, Zedka, Mari, dan Eduard yang pertama-tama melihat rumah sakit jiwa sebagai sebuah tempat untuk melarikan diri dari mayarakat akhirnya menyadari pentingnya menjalani hidup mereka secara otentik. Hal ini berarti bahwa mereka benar-benar sadar akan kondisi mereka dan eksistneis manusia sepenuhnya milik individu, dan individu sendirilah yang menjadikan diri mereka bermakna melalui kebebasan memilih. Veronika sadar bahwa kebosanan hidupnya yang membuatnya bunuh diri adalah pilihannya sendiri. Dan kenyataan bahwa ia hanya memiliki waktu beberapa hari lagi dalam hidupnya sebagai buah dari kerusakan hati yang dideritanya adalah konsekuensi yang harus ia hadapi. Penghuni lain di Villete, Zedka, Mari dan Eduard, mempunyai motif yang sama dimana mereka menganggap Villete sebagai pelarian diri total dari dunia luar. Namun, mereka akhirnya memutuskan untuk keluar dari Villete dan menjalani kehidupan yang nyata di masayarakat. Mereka sadar kondisi mereka serta konsekuensi yang mereka hadapi. Satu-satunya tokoh normal dalam novel, Dr. Igor, juga menekankan pentingnya menjalani hidup secara otentik. Setiap manusia unik, oleh
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature describes the reality of the world. Literature and reality have
relationships, as Abrams says, “Literary works as an imitation or reflection of the world and human life, and a primary criterion applied to a work is that of the truth of its representation to the object it represents or should represent” (1981: 36). Literature has a significant relationship with philosophy in portraying the reality of life as Magee in his book entitled Men of Ideas stated that literature is often a short of practical demonstration of the principles of philosophy (1978: 150). The basic position of such critics is that the larger function of literature is to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues. People would interpret literature within a context of the philosophical thought of a period or group. In other words, behind every art there is also a philosophy of life which can be expressed and viewed in moral terms.
The relation between literature and ideas can be conceived of in diverse ways. Frequently literature is thought as a form of philosophy, as ideas wrapped in form. Philosophy is an intellectual activity; moral philosophy should include an account of the conditions which allow for the responsibility of moral life as well as an explanation of the structure of moral thought and action and of moral value and moral understanding. Individuals can put this account to use in their lives (Barrett, 1958: 89). It means that literature can contain philosophical traits. The author conceives story. In accordance with it, Rudolf Unger argues that literature is not philosophical knowledge translated into imagery and verse, but that literature expresses a general attitude towards life, that poets usually answer, unsystematically, questions which are also themes of philosophy but that the poetic mode of answering differs in different ages and situations (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 115). During his lifetime a person faces many moral problems. One faces problems concerning his parents, siblings, sex, economics, race, the nature of honesty, promise-keeping, divorce and likewise. No one can escape from all of them. In attempting to deal with these problems, one decides on the basis of principles or one decides on the basis of consequence (Gauld, 1973: 7).
In accordance with that, existentialism is concerned with attitudes rather than principles. Existentialism is more strongly concerned with attitude toward life, and especially an attitude upon which people are to act. Its basic position is that the
individual should all times realize he is free. Man should always see himself as free
and act in light of that. James Collins in his book entitled The Existentialists: a
Critical Study says that man is the one being endowed with conscious freedom and
hence with possibilities of existing at various levels of adequacy. He can propose his own leading principles, organize his life around them and thus transform the given reality into a freely oriented self (1952: 6). On the other hand, there is often a problem of character in dealing with the society where he lives. In such condition, there will be a conflict between the society’s expectation and the individual’s one.
“Veronika Decides to Die was published in 1998, in which it gained some
praises for the extraordinary novel. In his brilliant novel about the aftermath of a young woman’s suicide attempt, Paulo Coelho explores three perennial themes: conformity, madness, and death” (www.literaryagenc y.com). Twenty- four-year-old Veronika lives in Slovenia, one of the republics created by the dissolutions of Yugoslavia. She works as a librarian day by day, and by night carries on like many single women –dating men, occasionally sleeping with them, and returning to a single room she rent at a convent. It is a life, but not a very compelling one. So one day, she decides to end it. Her failed attempt and her inexplicable reasons for wanting to die, land her in as asylum, Vilette.
Villete is an asylum in the purest sense of a word: a place of protection, where one is shielded from danger. In this case, the danger is society. Those who refuse to accept the society’s rules have two choices: succumb to the majority’s perception that they are mad, or struggle against that majority and try to find their own way in the world.
“The novel Veronika Decides to Die is about the interplay between despair and hope, death and life. It is interesting that the word “guilt” is not to be found in the novel. Guilt is not the problem nor is fate the problem. The real anxiety explored in the novel is the anxiety of despair and meaninglessness in life. A novel that starts out as contemplation on the expression of conformity and madness turns into a dazzling exploration of the unconscious choices we make each day between living and dying, despair and liberation” (www.http//paulocoelho.com).
I am interested in analyzing Veronika Decides to Die from the existentialist point of view because it depicts a condition in which everyone seems to be unique in society’s opinion, which label them as abnormal person since they share different conditions as well as point of views. Everyone plays his or her own role in this world.
As Kierkegaard says that people are all “lonely in the crowd,” they make a choice for himself what he wishes to make out of his life. Veronika and other Villete inhabitants realize such way of thinking. By presenting his mentally ill characters, Coelho actually wants to criticize people who are not daring to speak up their opinion or do something different from others just because they are afraid if the society will label them as mentally-sick persons. Coelho speaks to those who seek their own comfort and safety by being common majority or people in a common sense, in which the existentialists label it as the unauthentic.
B. Problem formulations There are two problems that the writer wants to deal with in this research.
They can be stated as follows.
1. How are the main characters described in Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die? 2.
What sort of human existence do the characters represent from the existentialist perspective?
B. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are to answer the two questions above by analyzing human existence in the sense of moral philosophical values in the main characters. The objectives can be formulated as follows.
2. To find out the human existence represented by the main characters from the existentialist perspective.
C. Definition of Terms
In order to make it clear for the writer to analyze the topic, the writer wants to explain term in relation with the discussion in this research.
Existentialism
Mifflin in The Heritage Dictionary of English Language defines existentialism as “a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile and indifferent universe, regards human as existence is unexplainable and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequence of one’s act” (1996; 543).
Luther J. Binkley in his book entitled Conflict of Ideals, Changing Values in
Western Society states that “existentialists maintain that there is no such thing as
basic human nature or essence; each individual is unique and must choose for himself what he wishes to make out of his life. The existentialists agree on the importance of inwardness and on of individual freedom” (1969: 127).
St. Elmo Nauman Jr in his book entitled The New Dictionary of Existentialism states that “existentialists commonly emphasize human freedom and creative choice in the light of pronounced subjectivity, because of their doctrine that the fact human existence is prior to any called “human nature” or rational scheme of reality” (1972: 46).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies In this research, the writer uses some criticism on the works as the references. Those criticisms will help the writer in analyzing the novel. There are already some
researches conducted about Veronika Decides to Die, although most of them are in the form of essays. Pastor Neal MacPherson in his essay entitled “Church of the Crossroads –Made for Shining” stated that every moment in one’s life is to be fully lived. All things are made shining. Yet, without special moments of brightness and clarity, someone can easily lose her or his sense of wonder. People can easily drift into sameness and conformity. In the case of her expected dying, Veronika discovers those moments of brightness and clarity which then shape the way she sees the world and the way she will approach life. People may call them moments of transfiguration, when everything is made new (http://criticism.com/article.asp?id=271).
He then related it to verses in the Bible especially in Matthew 17:1-9, where Moses, the great law giver, and Elijah, the first of the prophets, appear with Jesus.
Peter foolishly wants to preserve the moment. He wants to make three dwellings, one for each of them, so that the moment can be enshrined. But it is impossible. One cannot sustain such moment of transfiguration. The important thing will be to carry the experiences of transfiguration into the rest of life, with all of its capacity for both joy and suffering. After the moment of brightness and clarity, after Moses and Elijah down from the moment of transfiguration, and make His way to the cross. That is just the way it is. Veronika in Coelho’s novel, having had her own moments of transfiguration, brought in the face of death, must make her way back to life. She is fearful, just as were the disciples, but this time she decides to live rather than die. She will re-enter life with a sense of wonder. Every moment will be a moment worth living (http://criticism.com/article.asp?id=271).
Other research conducted about Veronika Decides to Die is discussing about Coelho’s biography which is represented by his character Veronika. Rainer Traub in her essay entitled ”Veronika’s Second life” stated that like all books by Paulo Coelho, this novel also deals with his own personal experiences: in the 1960s, Coelho had been entered three times in a psychiatric asylum in Rio. His parents considered him mentally unbalanced because he preferred to hang out with artists and hippies and insisted on becoming a writer rather than comply with bourgeois normality and pursue the lawyer’s career his father had mapped out for him. For Paulo Coelho, born in 1947 to a Brazilian engineer and raised in a Jesuit college, his psychiatric internment induced by his parents is only one among several traumas of his youth. Coelho writes about basic experiences in which his readers recognize themselves along with their own weaknesses, fears, longings and dreams. His new book, Coelho says, deals with the right to be different. “I wanted to talk to my readers –and to myself- about how important it is to fight a few battles, and that they should see these battles rather as adventures than as sacrifices” (http://www.literaryagency.com/archives/Paulo_coelho.html). from the existentialist point of view. The writer is trying to offer something different from researches stated above by presenting philosophical values in discussing Coelho’s main characters. Therefore in this research the writer wants to emphasize philosophical traits according to the existentialists in the relation with human existence.
B. Review of Related Theories.
1. Theory of Character
A character is very important to contribute to the content of the literary works. Characters are persons who are involved in the stories and who act out in a particular time and place some kind of conflict in a pattern of events. Characters have particular personalities and physical attributes that distinguish them from other characters. They must be credible, that is, readers must accept them as believable people (Rohrberger, 1971: 20).
Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms (1981: 20) defined that characters are “persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say –the dialogue- and what they do –the action”.
From the point of view, Milligan defines the character based on performance. He says, “Major characters appear more often than others. They perform important role in clarifying the theme of the novel, so the reader’s expectation depends on their idea.” The secondary characters, according to him, appear in certain setting, only
According to Henkle, character can be divided into two, major and secondary characters. Major characters are the most important characters in the novel while the second characters are less sophisticated and their responses to the experiences in the story are also less complex.
A character can be stable or unchanged in his outlook and dispositions from the beginning to the end of a work, or he may experience a big change through the story. In Aspects of the Novel and Related Writing, E.M Forster divided character into flat and round character based on the character’s internal complexity. Flat character is created in a single idea or quality and the presentation is without many individualizing detail so it can be fairly adequate described in a single phase or sentence. A round character is complex in temperament and motivation and is presented with subtle particularity. Thus, he is rather difficult to describe and he is capable of surprising us.
Besides flat and round character as divided by Forster above, based on the development or change of the character, a character can also be either static or dynamic (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 83). A static character is one who changes a little if not at all. The pattern of action reveals the character rather than showing the character changing in response to the action. These kinds of character remain the same sort of person up to the end of the story (Perrine, 1974: 71). A dynamic character is one who is modified by actions and experiences and one objective of the work in which the character appearance is to reveal the consequences of the actions.
This character undergoes a permanent change in some aspects of his character,
From that statement, readers know that a character is called static if he experiences very little change or sometimes he does not change at all. It means that the character still remain the same from the beginning until the end of the story. The action that is arranged in the story only make the character known or allow to be seen rather than showing its changing as the answer to the action. The dynamic character is a character that is changing slightly by events and experiences or activities. It also becomes the purpose of the work or the story where the existence is to make known the result or effect of the actions.
2. Theory of Characterization
Characterization refers to the presentation of persons in narrative or dramatic works by means of characters’ actions, speech, or physical appearance (Baldick, 1990: 34). A character can be differentiated from others because they have their own personality and attributes.
An author may present his character either directly or indirectly (Perrine, 1974: 68-69). In direct presentation, or also called telling method, he tells the readers straight out, by exposition or analysis, what a character is like. The author describes the character directly by telling the readers what people look like. In indirect presentation, or showing method, the author shows the readers the characters in action. The author only simply presents his character talking, acting, and the author leaves the readers to find out what motives and disposition lie behind what they say and do. be seen through personal description that is from the description of his physical appearance and attributes, which may refer to the clothing or the way he dresses. The author can also give us direct knowledge of what a character is thinking about. Besides of describing the characters directly, the author can describe the character through the eyes and opinions of other characters. It can be through the conversations and the things they say about him. The character’s past life can also help us to figure out the motives of his present action, and the author can give us a clue of his character by letting the readers know how he reacts to various situations and events (1972; 161-173). Those are the ways in which the author makes his readers aware of the characteristics of the characters that he writes about in his book.
3. Theory of Symbol
According to Holman and Harmon (1968: 44) symbol is an image that evokes an objective, concrete reality and suggests another level of meaning. It is a trope that combines a literal and sensuous reality with an abstract or suggestive aspect. While according to Guth (1997: 189), symbols are image that have a meaning beyond themselves. Symbol is a detail, a character, or an incident that has a meaning beyond its literal role in the narrative. In order to fully respond to the story, it is necessary to become sensitive to symbolic overtones and implications. Meanwhile Abrams (1975: 195) defines symbol as a word a phrase that signifies an object or event, which in turn signifies something or a range of reference beyond itself.
In his book, Literature, Structure, Sound and Sense, Perrine (1974: 20) states the light. Furthermore, the area of symbols’ possible meaning is always controlled by the context. Therefore it can be said that the meaning of literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of literary work which means that a particular symbol has its meaning within the story. According to Rohrberger and Woods (1971: 17), the presence of symbol in literary works is inevitable. Some people think that many great works of art use literary symbols because they suggest complexity, intricacy, and richness. If symbol are present in literary works, whether through emphasis, repetition, implication or recurring patterns, it means that the author wants to say something in term of another. Therefore, such a hint should not be neglected in order to get the actual understanding of the literary work itself.
4. The Relation between Literature and Philosophy
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy explains that philosophy and
literature both produce understanding. Philosophy produces understanding of fact while literature produces understanding of feeling. Philosophy and literature may also be taken in the sense attempt to discover matters of philosophical interests and values in literary texts. The philosopher may try to identify, examine, and evaluate the philosophical message of literary texts that contains expression of philosophical ideas and discussion of philosophical problems. However it should be noticed by the reader that the differences between literature and philosophy mostly take place in the physical forms, but essentially they have the same contents and references. What philosophy expresses in the form of argument is expressed by literature in lyric,
Furthermore, literature can be considered as an artistic product. It is said that certain form of writing are universally regarded as a part of literature. It is said that what philosophy does for actuality, critics do for art.
Art gropes. It stalks lie a hunter lost in the woods listening to itself and to everything around it, unsure of itself, waiting to pounce. This is not to deny that art and philosophy are related. Art is not philosophy but, as R.G Collingwood said, “The cutting edge of philosophy” (Gardner, 1978: 9-10).
For the person who considers fiction mainly from the point of view of the readers or critics, it is easy to get the idea that fiction is serious, thoughtful, or philosophical merely because some writers of fictions are intelligent thinkers who express their profound ideas throughout the stories. This way of thinking can be found in Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die since it explores the yearning message about human existence.
5. View of Existentialism and Existentialist Literature
Existentialism first appeared in 1941, in which it was the branch of philosophy based on the situation of the individual in an absurd or meaningless universe where human have free will. According to David E. Robert in his book entitled Existentialism and Religious Belief there are four general characteristics in defining existentialism. The first characteristic is that it protects “against all forms of rationalism which find it easy to assume that reality can be grasped primarily or exclusively by intellectual means” (1959: 6). The second characteristic is that it protects “against all views which tend to regard man as if he were a thing, that is, only an assortment of functions and reactions”. It can be said that it protests against existentialism regards man as fundamentally ambiguous, regarding to the human situation as filled with contradictions and tensions which cannot be resolved by means of exact or consistent thinking (1959: 7-8).
It arouses the reader to a spiritual struggle in self-examination of the things that belong only to human, such as motives, feelings, and hopes (1959: 5). Therefore, instead of increasing their knowledge, human tries to understand how he deals with those things that actually cannot be understood solely by reason or objective truth. It requires the struggle to find the truth about human that he can experience subjectively.
Barret in Irrational Man mentions that themes of both romantic and existentialism work as follows: “(1) the alienation and strangeness of man in this world; (2) the contradictories, feebleness and contingency of human existence; (3) the central and overwhelming reality of time for man who has lost his anchorage in the eternal” (1962: 64). It is also explained that existential literature stresses “the fact that men are not determined a priory, but ‘exist’. They are in a state of ‘becoming’ within the framework of a certain given situation, and are in the long run, what they make themselves. In this way they escape from a mechanical determination and are free” (Steinberg and Buchman, 1973: 224).
Stanton in Introduction to Fiction mentions that the work of existential fiction tends to “stress the isolation of the individual, his lack of identity, his inability to establish satisfactory relationship with others and the opacity and absurdity of his work” (1965: 66). In similar fashion, Drabble and Jenny in The Concise Oxford at the center of their pictures of the world and is suspicious of philosophical or psychological doctrines this essential individuality by speaking as it were some abstract ‘human nature’. Some set of general laws or principles, to which men are determined or required by their common humanity, to conform each man in what he chooses to be or makes himself (1990: 190).
In this research, the writer refers to Kierkegaard’s philosophy because it is the most appropriate reference to analyze Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decide to Die from the existentialist point of view. Kierkegaard puts emphasis on the inner private values and experiences of the individual as the ultimate reality of human experience (Binkley, 1969: 127). In other words, Kierkegaard stresses the importance of subjectivity. A human being is an individual who continually makes free choices as well as confronts to the “crowd” (Gauld, 1973: 67). By presenting his characters as individual with their unique point of view in seeing the world, Coelho seems to propose the importance of subjectivity. Coelho depicts his characters as persons who try to overcome problems with their own ways. Each characters on the story judges the problem they face from their own perspective. Their way of thinking, therefore, yields one major theme that individual is unique whose free choice bears responsibility on the very personal point of view.
6. Kierkegaard’s philosophy a. The Subjective Individual
Among the most important of existentialists’ ideas is those proposed by the criticism of the accepted institutions and philosophies of our time. Among those ideas is that a human being is an individual, one who continually makes free choices.
Kierkegaard chooses for his own epitaph the words, “That individual,” thus showing his emphasis upon the existential subjects. He opposes the “single one” (the true individual) to “the Crowd” (which he equates with the untruth).
The crowd, in fact, is composed of individuals; it must therefore be in every man’s power to become what he is, an individual. From becoming individual no one, no one at all, is excluded, except he who exc ludes himself by becoming the crowd (Gauld and Truitt, 1973: 71).
From the quotation above we can see that as human being is seen as a true individual with the full authority of making his/life to be what he/she really want. The individual does not need to force himself/herself to be the same as others, since it signifies untruth. Existence entirely belongs to the individual alone, and it is the individual who makes his essence by his own free choices. The man who freely chooses his own life and destiny, who make himself, is distinguished from the man who drifts with the crowd and from the man who tries to evade any responsibility he has.
Kierkegaard stated that the reflection of inwardness gives to the subjective thinker a double reflection. In thinking, he thinks the universal; but as existing in his thought and as assimilating it in his inwardness, he becomes more and more subjectively isolated. An existing individual is constantly in process of becoming; the actual existing subjective thinker constantly reproduces this existential situation in his thought, and translates all his thinking into terms of process. “Being an individual man is a thing that has been abolished, and every speculative philosopher confuses purely and simply a human being is more significant thing than playing the society game in this fashion. To be a particular individual is world-historically absolutely nothing –and yet, this is the only true and highest significant of a human being, so much higher as to make every other significant illusory” (Gauld and Truitt, 1973: 73).
In a similar fashion, David E Roberts in his book Existentialism and Religious
Belief defines existentialism as a protest “against those intellectual and social forces
which are destroying freedom. It calls men away from stifling abstractions and autonomic conformity (1959: 4). “Existentialism takes us to the most basic human problems such as the problems to be a self, the use of freedom and how we can deal with death. It arouses the reader to a spiritual struggle in self examination of the things that belongs only to human, such as motives, feelings and hopes” (1959: 5). Therefore, instead of increasing his knowledge, human tries to understand how he deals with those things that actually cannot be understood solely by reason or objective truth. It requires the struggle to find the truth about human that can experience subjectively. It means that by experiencing everything happens in life, an individual can realize his/her true nature, with its own strength and weakness. The individual does not need to be the same as others since other people have their own characteristic, which in any circumstances, are different from his/hers.
b. Choice and commitment Perhaps the most prominent theme in existentialist writing is that of choice.
Humanity’s primary distinction is the freedom to choose. Human beings make choice entails commitment and responsibility. Because individuals are free to choose their own path, existentialists have argued, they must accept the risk and responsibility of following their commitment wherever it leads.
To live one’s life, one must exercise the freedom to create a life. Just going along with conventional values and forgetting about the absurdity of the world is not authentic. Authenticity is to exercise one’s free will and to choose the activities and goals that will be meaningful for one’s self. A responsible person is a conscientious person, which means someone who is trying to do the right thing. However, in existentialism there is no “right” thing. Therefore conscientious means that one means to do something and accept it. One accepts and acknowledges the consequences of one’s action and accepts responsibility because one really intends to do the action.