REVIVING THE PASSION OF LIFE THROUGH SUICIDE OF VERONIKA’S CHARACTER IN PAULO COELHO’S VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE.

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REVIVING THE PASSION OF LIFE THROUGH SUICIDE OF VERONIKA’S CHARACTER IN PAULO COELHO’S

VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE

A THESIS

Submitted as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Sarjana Degree of English Department Faculty of Adab and Humanities UIN SunanAmpel

Surabaya.

By:

FikaAlfiantiAljannah

Reg. number: A73211108

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF ADAB AND HUMANITIES

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REVIVING THE PASSION OF LIFE THROUGH SUICIDE OF VERONIKA’S CHARACTER IN PAULO COELHO’S

VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE

A THESIS

Submitted as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Sarjana Degree of English Department Faculty of Adab and Humanities UIN SunanAmpel

Surabaya.

The Advisor

ItsnaSyahadatudDinurriyah, M.A. NIP: 197604122011012003

By:

FikaAlfiantiAljannah

Reg. Number: A73211108

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF ADAB AND HUMANITIES

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ABSTRACT

Aljannah, FikaAlfianti. 2015. Reviving the Passion of Life through Suicide of Veronika’s Character in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to

Die.Thesis.English Department.Faculty of Adab and Humanities. State Islamic University SunanAmpel Surabaya.

Advisor : ItsnaSyahadatudDinurriyah, M.A

Keyword: revival, passion of life, suicide, individual psychology

This thesis deals with psychological approach which concerns the analysis of reviving the passion of life through suicide ofVeronika’s character in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die.The study elaborates Alfred Adler’s individual psychology to analyze the process of reviving life’s passion happened in Veronika’s character. As addition, the formalist criticism involves in this thesis with some limitation to describe the Veronika’s character and to analyze her experiences in dealing with the suicide. The study aims to find out that the passion of life can be revived through the attempt of suicide.

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INTISARI

Aljannah, FikaAlfianti. 2015. Reviving the Passion of Life through Suicide of Veronika’s Character in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die.Skripsi. Program Studi Sastra Inggris. Fakultas Adab dan Humaniora. Universitas Islam Negeri SunanAmpel Surabaya.

Dosen Pembimbing : Itsna Syahadatud Dinurriyah, M.A

Kata kunci: kebangkitankembali, gairahhidup, bunuhdiri, psikologiindividu

Skripsi ini mengacu pada pendekatan psikologi yang dikonsentrasikan untuk menganalisa kebangkitan kembali gairah hidup melalui bunuh diri pada karakter Veronika di novel yang berjudul Veronika Decides to Die karya Paulo Coelho. Kajian ini menguraikan teori psikologi individual oleh Alfred Adler untuk meneliti proses bangkitnya kembali gairah hidup yang terjadi padaVeronika. Sebagai tambahan, kajian ini melibatkan pendekatan formalism untuk menggambarkan karakter dan meneliti pengalaman-pengalaman Veronika yang berhubungan dengan kasus bunuh dirinya. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menemukan adanya gairah hidup yang kembali bangkit setelah terjadi percobaan bunuh diri.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

According to Grace in his book Response to Literature, literature gives

special knowledge of life that is not identical with that of real intellectual or

critical values. It is actually possible for a well-read person to make mature of life

without having great deal of experience (7). It means that every literary work is a

result of original thought among humans to represent their existence. It could be

formed as the ideas in human life, views, or their experiences. Therefore,

literature is human’s tool to learn life that also contains of the existence of human

experience. Love, hate, emotions, and ambitions are human’s feels that can create

the experiences.

Fathali M. Moghaddam, through his journal entitled From Psychology in

Literature to Psychology is Literature also says that psychology and literature

selectively examine particular parts of the whole of human experience. More

specifically, both psychology and literature adopt as one of their goals the better

understanding of overt behavior and the mental life of individuals, and how these

are related (505). It means that there is a close relationship between them. If

psychology deals with the study of observable patterns of human’s behavior, then

literature exhibits how human beings behave in dealing with problems and

environment. It provides that both of literature and psychology cannot be

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Talking about the problem in the life, hence, literature, then, has wide

range of knowledge in the life, including psychology. Reber mentions that

psychology is a science had created to understand the minds and behaviors of

various organisms from the most primitiveto the most complex (617).It means that

psychology has a great deal to study of human being. Meanwhile, literature relates

with imagery of human being. In addition, Abrams notes that psychological

criticism deals with a work of literature primarily as an expression, in fictional

form, of the state of mind and the structure of personality of the individual author

(247). It concludes that psychology is the one of consider discipline science that

develops in human character and personality. Moreover, psychology also can use

as a tool to raise the value and explore the literary works. Psychology is the

endlessly fascinating science of human mind and behavior and it can be a

rewarding tool for enhancing our understanding and appreciation of literature

(Gillespie 43). Clearly, it shows that literature can be explored by using

psychological approach.

Psychological literary criticism can be broadly divided into four kinds,

depending on what it takes as its object of attention. It can attend to the author of

the work; to the work’s contents; to its formal construction; or to the reader

(Eagleton 179). Eagleton also add that the most psychoanalytic criticism has been

of the first two kinds, which are in fact the most limited and problematical.

Rather, in psychoanalyzing the author just run into the same kind of problems

about the relevance of authorial intention to works of literature, than

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characters. It commits to a lot of elements in the literary work itself, which is

build the story. That is why this research choose to analyze the work’s contents

which in this case is formed a novel.

Novel is a part of literary work. Novel is a kind of story that whose author

tries to create the sense while we are reading and experience actual life (Kennedy

180). In other words, novel can give many experiences, suggestion, and

motivation that can use to make a better life. Lawrence quotes that among many

kinds of literary works, a novel is seen as a literary work that can represent life in

all its fullness (16). Somehow, some characters – although it is part of author’s

imagination – in the novels reflect to real human in reality. Then, toward reading a

novel, people can learn about human.

Human nature has the conscious processing to always develop themselves.

Donald also states that human nature has been characterized by its flexibility not

its rigidity (3). It means that by blessing not only beauty of physic but also

miraculous brain and instinct, so that human can develop their existence of every

kind aspect in the life through experience. Furthermore, the experience becomes a

well-part of human life to learn and develop themselves. This individual

development will lead human into achieve their goal in the life. Automatically, the

ways to search the goal of life is primarily important since it becomes a passion of

people to stay alive and strive.

The issue of search the goal of life is raised in one of Paulo Coelho’s work

Veronika Decides to Die.Therefore, it material is chosen of the research. The

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reality and identity; and love. Veronika Decides to Die is the novel written by

Brazilian author, Paulo Coelho. The novel was published by Harper Collins in

1999. In addition, Veronika Decides to Die is the result from Coelho’s promise.

Paulo Coelho had once promised himself not only to write his experiences in

mental hospital but also promised that he would not do his work until his parents

passed away. He just does not want to make any suffer again to his parents

because of her son had been a patient in a mental hospital. As being known that he

was confined to a mental hospital in Rio de Janeiro three times during teenager.

Coelho is also the author of The Alchemist that was published in 1988 and it

launched him as an international bestseller authors.

The novel Veronika Decides to Die has Veronika as the main character.

Veronika appears in the novel as young girl, 24 years old, who has everything in

her life but commits to suicide. She decides by herself the day on November 11,

1997 to kill herself by taking too many sleeping pills. Then, instead of dying,

Veronika finds herself awakes in Villete, a mental hospital. She feels increasingly

uncertain, when a young doctor told her that the rest of her life leaving one week

more. Knowing that her attempt to suicide fail and tell that she was about dying

less of a week, the fear comes to Veronika, and she is hopeless.

During the night, however, she began to feel afraid. It was one thing to die quickly after taking some pills, it was quite another to wait five days or a week for death to come, when she had already been through so much (Coelho 30).

In the Villete, she meets many people that make her to think deeply.

Therefore, she develops the personality by herself. Moreover, Veronika’s social

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her inferiority feelings. Until stage on stage, she starts to revive the motivation of

her life and begins to build the goal in her life. Finally, she strives to survive and

respects by the meaning of her life. The case that happens through Veronika in the

novel seems has agreement with Adler’s individual psychology. Adler saw people

as being motivated mostly by social influences and by their striving for superiority

or success (Feist 65).

Surely, every novel has the elements, such as theme, character, and plot.

Character is one of the elements that interesting to explore. It is because character

is the imaginary people that author’s creates. Moreover, one of Paulo Coelho’s

work Veronika Decides to Die excites to analyze because there are many issues

and lessons in this novel that can be explore through the development character of

human mind that influenced by society and the future. Furthermore, the study will

be dealing by using psychological approach. The psychological analytic theory

that will be applying in the study is individual psychology by Alfred Adler.

By choosing a novel of Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die and

Adler’s theory, this research deals to make something fresh to analyze. Veronika

Decides to Die is a novel that tells more about the ways of Veronika search the

meaning of life than the case of her suicide or death. Coelho as the author clearly

describes the way of thinking of Veronika’s character until she develops herself to

achieve the meaning of life. So, it is interesting to analyze this novel through the

individual psychology, to deeply know what would happen if someone is forced to

face a precarious situation. It seems like Adler’s statement in his book The

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closely, we shall find the following law holding in the development of all psychic

happenings: “we cannot think, feel, will, or act without the perception of some

goal” (3). Moreover, though there are some theses that talking about Paulo

Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die but none of the thesis uses individual

psychology by Alfred Adler as a tool to analyze this novel. Therefore, the thesis

will discuss about reviving the passion of life through suicide of Veronika’s

character in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika decides to die.

B. Statement of the Problems

Based on the background stated above, the problems of the study will be

formulated to answer the following questions:

1. What does Veronika experience in dealing with her suicidein Paulo

Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die?

2. How are the revival life’s passion processes on Veronika’s character

explained through the mechanism of Adler’s individual psychology?

C. Objective of the Study

Observing the statement of problem stated in the previous, the study is

aimed to:

1. To know Veronika’s experiences in dealing with her suicide in Paulo

Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die.

2. Second objects of this study is to know the process of life’s passion

reviving experienced by Veronika’s character through the mechanism

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D. Scope and Limitation of the Study

The scope of this study focuses on Veronika as main character in the Paulo

Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die. The limitation of this study is to know the

process of Veronika’s revival passion in her life. This study will discuss by using

the theory of individual psychology by Alfred Adler.

E. Significance of the Study

Regarding to the background and the objectives of the research is expected

to contribute a great significance both theoretically and practically. Theoretically,

the study findings will give additional information to literature researchers dealing

with psychoanalytic of individual psychology. Through the analysis chapter, the

research hopes to broad the readers’ concept of individual psychology. Moreover,

the research findings are supposed to answers the social issues, that how the

passion of life can revive through suicide in one of Paulo Coelho’s work Veronika

Decides to Die. Furthermore, this research expects to provide the relationship

between literature and psychology.

Practically, this study may be useful as references for other researchers to

conduct psychoanalytic research and as part of extending reading by the

researchers who might interested to observe or to expert in psychoanalytic,

especially in individual psychology. In addition, this research practically

contributes to moral and attitudes study of Islamic University of Sunan Ampel

Surabaya through the literary study that gives reflection of how to respect life and

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F. Method of the Study

1. Research Design

The study will employ qualitative method. Creswell says that qualitative

research is descriptive in which process, meaning and understanding gained

through the words (145). It means that qualitative data can be defined as

empirical information about the words, not in the form of numbers. A

qualitative research also allows the researcher to gain access the motives,

meanings, actions and reactions of people in the context of their daily life.

Laurence Neuman says that qualitative method refers to subjective meaning,

definitions, metaphors, symbols, and descriptions of specific cases (70).In

essence, qualitative research is oriented toward the search for meanings, that is,

the interpretation and meanings people give to events, objects, other people,

and situations in their environment and its focus in the nature of phenomena of

human beings, which in this case is conducted on the one Coelho’s novel

entitled Veronika Decides to Die.

2. Source of Data and Data Collection

Because the research design is qualitative, therefore the only technique

uses to collect the data is library based, which contains of printed book, pdf

file, and journals. The main source of data for this research is the novel itself,

Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die. Meanwhile, the supporting data takes

both from digital and non digital sources. The supporting data here involves

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file, and online journals such as the form of digital sources. Both of them form

are the secondary data that relates to this study.

3. Data Collection

The study applies the method of data collection by having close reading

to the novel. From this main source, some relevant quotations are used as the

evidence in order to strengthen of the problems’ statement. The quotations are

form of phrases, sentences, and dialogue that reveals the issue of this study.

Yet of it, the related references from the supporting data also has to select. In

order to support the main data to analyze, it uses to collect some information,

theory, and discourse that relevant with this study.

4. Procedure of Data Analysis

The data which have been collected will be analyzed using the theory of

individual psychology by Alfred Adler. It is because this research uses

qualitative method, therefore in presenting the analysis, this research mainly

uses descriptive-analytical method. In analyzing the data, this research uses the

way as follow:

1. Reading the novel many times to get the best understanding of the

whole story.

2. Rereading the novel is to find out some relevant quotation that

related to the study.

3. Making data classification and determining the data. The data that

will be determined here is based on the Veronika’s experience in

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4. Then the data will be analyzed using individual psychology theory

by Alfred Adler. It uses to know how the life’s passion revive in

Veronika’s character through the mechanism of Adler’s individual

psychology.

G. Definition of Key Terms

1. Asylum : the word ‘asylum’ comes from the middle ages,

from a person’s right to seek refuge in

churches and other holy places. The right to asylum

is something any civilized person can understand

(Coelho 17)

a safe refuge or haven offering protection; in

the United States, became a term used to describe

institutions for the mentally ill (Videbeck 498)

2. Revival : the restoration of something to its true nature and

purpose. Revival can also be to return or to

restore to consciousness of life (Kaiser 14-15)

3. Suicide : a symptomatic act connected most frequently ‘to the

frameworkof depression and melancholy.

Suicide interpreted as a substitute for psychosis,

seems linked both to an inability to tolerate reality

and to autoerotic regression. Suicide may appear to

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projection of this guilt onto objects as well as a

liberation from their control through the death the

subject has chosen for himself (international

dictionary of psychoanalysis 1687).

4. Villete : the name of the famous and much-feared lunatic

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CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Theoretical Framework

This chapter aims to explain specifically about the theories applied as tool

to analyze the novel Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho. Concerning the

background of study and statement of problem stated in previous chapter, this

study uses psychological approach. Many psychological approaches can use to

analyze the literary works, but this study chooses to use individual theory suggest

by Alfred Adler. In analyzing Veronika Decides to Die, individual psychology is a

main tool to analyze this study. As addition, reminding that this study observes the

character in the novel, so the formalism theory of character and characterization

encloses in this study. In order to support the main theory, this theory also uses as

a tool to explore the analysis itself.

A. Individual Psychology

Although Alfred Adler has had a profound effect on such later theorists as

Harry Stack Sullivan, Karen Horney, Julian Rotter, Abraham H. Maslow, Carl

Rogers, Albert Ellis, Rollo May, and others (Mosak & Maniacci, 1999), his name

is less well known than that of either Freud or Carl Jung. At least three reasons

account for this. First, Adler did not establish a tightly run organization to

perpetuate his theories. Second, he was not a particularly gifted writer, and most

of his books were compiled by a series of editors using Adler’s scattered lectures.

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as Maslow, Rogers, and Ellis and thus are no longer associated with Adler’s name

(Feist 69). From the explanation above, it has clearly knows that the theory of

individual psychology by Alfred Adler is difficult to find exclusifely in one books.

Sometimes, this theory categorizes in psychodynamic psychologies, but in other

times lists among humanistic, or behavioralities. Thus, it is why this theoretical

framework takes from several books.

According to Adler, individual psychology is a science that attempts to

understand the experiences and behavior of each person as an organized the entity

(Ryckman 78). Through his theory, Adler argues that an understanding of human

personality has possible only in light of an understanding of the person’s goals. In

contrast to Freud, who has a strict determinist, Adler adopts the teleological

position that current behavior is directing by future goals.

Toward the book of Psychodynamic Theories, Feist notices that teleology

is an explanation of behavior in terms of its final purpose or aim. Teleology is

usually concerned with future goals or ends, whereas Freud’s statement of

causality is ordinarily deals with past experiences that produce some present effect

(73). People have a purpose in life – to attain perfection – and are motivated to

strive toward attainment of this ideal. Adler proposes this movement toward

perfection or completion, because of inferiority feelings – a continual struggle

from minus to plus. Otherwise, people will try to escape themselves from the

worst to better condition.

Adler’s studies led him to believe that people are motivated more by social

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concede. Adler coined the phrase inferiority complex. In order words, if Freud

believes that human’s behavior shapes from the past, then Adler sees that human’s

behavior leads from their goal in the future life. It equally such of what was write

in the book Personal Awareness that Adler seems to look ahead toward an

individual’s betterment, instead of considering everyone a prisoner of the past or

biology (Warga 44). Individual psychology deals with everyone is born with

feelings of inferiority that may be increased by experiences such as parental

rejection or over protection. Thus, everyone struggles constantly to overcome real

or imagined deficiencies. More specifically, the final statement of individual

psychology according to Adler’s theory is outlined. The follows is summarizing

from Adler’s statement based on the related book which content of individual

psychology:

1. Inferiority Feelings: The Source of Human Striving

Individual psychology holds that everyone begins life with physical

deficiencies that activate feelings of inferiority – feelings that motivate a

person to strive for either superiority or success. To Adler, people are born

with weak, inferior bodies—a condition that leads to feelings of inferiority and

a consequent dependence on other people (Schultz 132). It means that

inferiority is a normal condition to each person, and it is the source of human

to strive. Human continually developing themselves from minus to plus. As

many people with physical disabilities strive to compensate for their weakness

in order to being able to work normally as if normal people do. Individual

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traditionally feminine behaviors such as passivity, submissiveness, and

dependence.

On the contrary, few people feel difficult of how to compensate their

inferiority feelings. Schultz adds that people with an inability to overcome

inferiority feelings intensives’ them, leading to the development of an

inferiority complex. People with an inferiority complex have a poor opinion of

themselves and feel helpless and unable to cope with the demands of life. An

inferiority complex can arise from three sources in childhood: organic

inferiority, spoiling, and neglect (133). For instance, people with inferiority

complex have never learn to wait for what they want, nor have they learn to

overcome difficulties or adjust to others’ needs. They will overcompensate the

feelings of inferiority. This feelings of inferiority complex naturally develop

because the bad treatment such as spoiling or neglecting ever done by their

circumstance before.

2. Striving for Success or Superiority

Feist writes, in his book of Psychodynamic Theories, that Adler calls

the single dynamic force striving for superiority. He limits the striving for

superiority to those people who strive for personal superiority over others and

introduces the term striving for success to describe actions of people who are

motivated by highly developed social interest (70). It means that from Adler’s

theories, each individual is guided by a final goal. This striving for success or

superiority may be frustrated by feelings of inferiority, inadequacy, or

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neglect during childhood, or other causes encountered in the natural course of

life.

The theory describes his notion of striving for success or superiority as

the fundamental fact of life. Striving for success or superiority is not an

attempt to be better than everyone else, nor it is an arrogant or domineering

tendency or an inflate opinion of our abilities and accomplishments. Thus,

Adler suggests that people strive for success or superiority in an effort to

perfect ourselves, to make ourselves complete or whole. Each people develop

their personality and strive for perfection in their own particular way.

There are two additional points about striving for success or

superiority. J. Feist and G. J. Feist writes that according to this theory,

psychologically unhealthy individuals strive for personal superiority, whereas

psychologically healthy people seek success for all humanity (70). It

concludes that individual psychology emphasizes the nature of human being

as social beings. Therefore, the greatest achieve of individual psychology is

when people’s strive necessarily not only for their individual goals but also for

their social interest.

Not only inferiority complex, but individual psychology also recognize

the term of superiority complex. As of what explained in the previous part

before, that inferiority complex is the condition when people overcompensate

the feelings of inferiority. Some people strive for personal superiority without

any concern for others. Feist adds in his book that their – people with

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largely by exaggerated feelings of personal inferiority, or the presence of an

inferiority complex (72). It has psychologically unhealthy whereas people

strive by personal gain to be superiority. People with inferiority complex lead

them to set the high but unrealistically future goals. These condition named by

superiority complex. It seems like of what explained in the book of

Psychodynamic Theories thatpeople who see themselves as having more than

their share of physical deficiencies or who experience a pampered or neglected

style of life overcompensate for these deficiencies and are likely to have

exaggerated feelings of inferiority, strive for personal gain, and set

unrealistically high goals (Feist 96).

From the explanation above, it clearly knows that individual

psychology has distinguish between strive for personal superiority and strive

for success to attain completion of all humankind. People who strive for

success are motivated by the social interest, whereas people who strive for

their personal superiority are motivated by their personal achievement. The

importance is both of them are need not only inferiority’s feeling but also the

final goals to motivate people for strive.

3. Fictional Finalism

Individual psychology formalizes this concept as fictional finalism,

the notion that fictional ideas guide humans’ behavior as they strive toward a

complete or whole state of being. Toward the book, Schultz quotes that Adler

preferred the terms “subjective final goal” or “guiding self-ideal” to describe

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Based on his book, Feist also conclude that people strive for personal

superiority or success to compensate for feelings of inferiority, but the manner

in which they strive is not shaped by reality but by their subjective perceptions

of reality, that is, by their fictions, or expectations of the future (73). It means

that according to the theory of individual psychology, people who strive for

personal superiority or success to attain completion always driven by their

future goals. Their expectation to the future has shape by subjective

perception. This subjective perception will guide people to their style of life.

Individual psychology leads the ideas on fictionalism that originates

with Hans Vaihinger’s book The Philosophy of “As-If”. Vaihinger believes

that fictions are ideas that have no real existence, yet they influence people as

if they really existed. Yet, Feist also clompetely gives it with an example of a

fiction that “Men are superior to women.” Although this notion is a fiction,

many people, both men and women, act as if it were a reality (73). It means

that people believe of what their perception, whether this notion is true or not.

Indeed, this fiction seems to have influence people to life with this subjective

perception’s view.

From adopting this view, individual psychology believes that there is

fictional goals which people go to achieve it. This fictional or imaginational

goals will make them strive and consciously give a direction onto their

behavior. As of what explained in Theories of Personality that the related

concept of fictional finalism is based on the writings of the philosopher Hans

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ideas that guide their behavior. Adopting this view, Adler believed that people

strive for perceived or imagined goals that give direction to their behavior.

These goals are not tangible, they are imagined ideals (Ryckman 79).

Therefore, the direction which drives behavior become of what Adler’s calls

guiding self-ideal (fictional finalism). Thus, toward in fictional finalism, the

human’s style of life will be driven by.

4. Social Interest

Adler proposes the concept of social interest, which he defines as the

individual’s innate potential to cooperate with other people to achieve

personal and societal goals. Social interest is Adler’s somewhat misleading

translation of his original German term, Gemeinschaftsgefühl. A better

translation might be “social feeling” or “community feeling”. Roughly, it

means a feeling of oneness with all humanity; it implies membership in the

social community of all people (Feist 75). It was noticed before that this

theory sees people of the nature of human beings. Therefore, social interest is

innate for all people and it must be potentially developed in everyone.

Individual psychology emphasizes that people born with the weakness,

which is have the origins into giving a sense of social interest. It likes an

infant, who depends on some people around him or her. It such as their

parents. Infants intensively depend on their parents to could do anything of

what they need. The parents’ character to contribute social interest of child is

much needed. Mother is the first important person in giving the biggest

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based on the theory comprehension that ideally, mother should have a genuine

and deeprooted love for her child—a love that is centered on the child’s

well-being, not on her own needs or wants. If mother favors the child over the

father, her child may become pampered and spoiled. Conversely, if she favors

her husband or society, the child will feel neglected and unloved (76). It

means that mother should give the healthy love relationship of their child

without any compulsion of what her want. Moreover, the healthy love

relationship should be learned of the balance by true caring of the family and

other people.

According to Adler’s standards, a successful father avoids the dual

errors of emotional detachment and paternal authoritarianism. A father’s

emotional detachment may influence the child to develop a warped sense of

social interest, a feeling of neglect, and possibly a parasitic attachment to the

mother. A child who experiences paternal detachment creates a goal of

personal superiority rather than one based on social interest. Meanwhile,

paternal authoritarianism may also lead to an unhealthy style of life. A child

who sees the father as a tyrant learns to strive for power and personal

superiority (Feist 77). In other words, father is the second person in order to

influence a child’s social environment. He must show to the child first of how

to treat his wife as well as to other people. He must demonstrates the good

attitude of how to caring should be or how to act would be in the family.

As addition, people actively struggle to solve what Adler regarded as

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occupation—and they do so through cooperation, personal courage, and a

willingness to make a contribution to the welfare of another (Feist 78). It

means that Adler believes the three major problems of life—neighborly love,

work,and sexual love—can only be solved through social interest. Thus,

healthy people will express their social interest through the useful style of life.

5. The Style of Life and the Creative Self

In his theory, Adler believes that people are forward moving,

motivated by future goals rather than by innate instincts or causal forces.

These future goals are often rigid and unrealistic, but people’s personal

freedom allows them to reshape their goals and thereby change their lives. It is

because they want to change their lives, so they will learn new attitude. This

attitude create what Adler’s call as style of life. Richard M. Ryckman – based

on Adler’s definition – writes in Theories of Personality that the style of life,

originally called the life plan or guiding image, refers to the unique ways in

which people pursue their goals (82). It concludes that person develops a

unique pattern of characteristics, behaviors, and habits, which Adler calls a

distinctive character, or style of life. Basic style of life includes the dominant,

getting, avoiding, and socially useful types.

This theory believes that psychologically healthy people express their

style of life through action. They will continually try to create new options for

themselves in effort to carry out the style of life, which lead them to achieve

the goals. The options will continually changes, so that they can choose

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based on this theory that, psychologically unhealthy individuals often lead

rather inflexible lives that are marked by an inability to choose new ways of

reacting to their environment. In contrast, psychologically healthy people

behave in diverse and flexible ways with styles of life that are complex,

enriched, and changing (78).

Exaggerated feelings of inferiority lead to a neurotic style of life,

whereas normal feelings of incompletion result in a healthy style of life.

Whether a person forms a useless style of life or a socially useful one depends

on how that person views these inevitable feelings of inferiority (Feist 77). In

other words, each of person expresses the striving differently in their effort to

achieve the goals. It just depends on how person sees and overcomes their

feelings of inferiority. Basically, both person who strive for success or

superiority has have their own particular way to achieve the goals toward style

of their life. These different express of striving is create the term by Adler’s

calls creative power of the self.

The concept of the creative self is an outgrowth of Adler’s concern

with the mechanistic implications of his style-of-life construct. He conclude

that the concept of the creative self implies that people create their own

personalities, by actively constructing them out of their experiences and

heredities (Ryckman 82). It means that creative power of the self is the ability

to create an appropriate style of life. This theory believed that the individual

creates the style of life. Each person creates themselves, their personality, their

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argues for the existence of individual free will that allows each of people to

create an appropriate style of life from the abilities and experiences given

people by both their genetic endowment and their social environment.

This theory believes that ultimately people are responsible for their

own personalities. People’s creative power is capable of transforming feelings

of inadequacy into either social interest or into the self-centered goal of

personal superiority. This capacity means that people remain free to choose

between psychological health and neuroticism. From this view, Adler

emphasizes that each people have fully contribution of what they choose to

accept or reject some points in their life, and to become what they want to be.

Therefore, individual psychology by Alfred Adler chooses as a tool to

analyze the novel. Veronika as the main character in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika

Decides to Die portrays much of her future instead of her past of life. Coelho as

the author does not tell too much about the past whole life of Veronika in the

novel. It appropriates with individual psychology by Alfred Adler, which focuses

on how human builds and raises the goal of life not only from their past of life.

Secondly, though there are some theses that observed Veronika Decides to Die but

none of the theses use individual psychology and analyze the revival passion of

life process of Veronika as the main character.

B. Formalism

Regarding that this study analyzes the experiences through the character in

Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die, therefore the supporting theory needs in order

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the data that will be analyzed. As mentioned in the first chapter, this study is

qualitative-descriptive analytical method, which absolutely uses the way of

reading the novel itself as the primarily data source. So, it means that this study

sees the literary work as the literary itself, which has its own internal values.

Furthermore, the study uses theory of character and characterization as the

supporting theory.

The theory of character and characterization is a part of the formalism.

Formalism, sometimes called new criticism (even though it has been around a

long time), involves the careful analysis of a literary text’s craft (Gillespie 172). It

means that formalism is one of the critical approaches and mainly concern in

analyze of the literatures’ text. According to Newton, new criticism advocates

intrinsic elements – an impersonal concern for the literary work as an independent

object – and opposes the extrinsic critical approaches, which concerned

themselves with such matters as authorical intension, historical, moral or political

considerations, and audience responses (39). For instance, it means that new

criticism or sometimes-called formalism recognizes the way to interpret literary

work by ignoring the extrinsic influence. In other words, formalism tries to

elaborate the analysis based on text of the literary work itself. As of what Tyson

says in his book Critical Theory Today that “the text itself” become the battle cry

of the New Critical effort to focus our attention on the literary work as the sole

source of evidence for interpreting it (136).

As of what has written above, it has clearly explain that formalism deals to

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Meanwhile, because this theory attends to see literary work as an objectivity, so

attempts to understand the literary work itself is needed. Then, carefully reading

the text itself is the one to solve it. This strategy often called close reading. This

study explores the analysis without any worries about the relation between the

literary work and the extrinsic values that influence them by doing close reading.

Gillespie states that formalist strategy for answering that question is a careful

scanning of the text, a detailed analysis often called close reading. In close

reading, one examines a piece of literature closely, seeking to understand its

structure, looking for patterns that shape the work and connect its parts to the

whole, and searching for uses of language that contribute to the effect (172).

Moreover, formalism requires that interpretations must be validate with specific

quotation from the text. Some of its most important concepts concerning the

nature and importance of textual evidence—the use of concrete, specific examples

from the text itself to validate our interpretations—have been incorporated into the

way most literary critics today, regardless of their theoretical persuasion, support

their readings of literature (Tyson 135).

In fact, formalism is one of literary critical approaches that contributes to

interpret a literary work from the intrinsic values. Formalists see the literary work

as an object in its own right. Thus, they tend to devote their attention to its

intrinsic nature, concentrating their analyses on the interplay and relationships

between the text’s essential verbal elements (virtuaLit: Critical Approaches

through bcs.bedfordstmartins.com, adapted from The Bedford Glossary of Critical

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focuses the analysis on the form aspect and intrinsic values that shapes a literary

work. The intrinsic values means as seem as the elements of literature text, like

characters, plot, or theme. In one hand, Klarer also states that, formalism tries to

analyze structurally elements of a text, such as characters in a plot, which older

schools traditionally explain on a merely thematic level (84). It shows that

character and characterization is a part of formalism theory. As remind that this

study analyze the character of Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die, therefore,

the explanation of character and characterization is outlined below.

1. Character

Characters are the life of literature: they are the objects of our curiosity

and fascination, affection and dislike, admiration and condemnation. Indeed,

so intense is our relationship with literary characters that they often cease to be

simply ‘objects’. Through the power of identification, through sympathy and

antipathy, they can become part of how we conceive ourselves, a part of who

we are (Bennett and Royle 60). In other words, characters have an important

role in a literary work. They are constructed by the author to fulfil a certain

function in a certain context.

Thus, a character, then, is an imagined person who inhabits a story.

Characters make the story alive. As the definition of M. H. Abrams writes in A

Glossary and Literary Term, that characters are the persons represented in a

dramatic or narrative work , who are interpreted by the reader as being

endowed with particular moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities by

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the dialogue — and from what they do — the action (Abrams 32-33).

Furthermore, it is important to have a good understanding of a character

because of the personality of character contributes greatly to the conflict in a

story. There are three of couple in categorizing characters that uses in this

study:

a. Main character / minor character.

Every story must have main characters. Main character is an

important character in a story that is appeared continually so that the main

character dominates the story (Nurgiyantoro 176). It means that a main

character which also known as major character is an important figure at the

center of the story’s action or theme. These are the characters that will have

the greatest affect on the plot or are the most affected by what happens in

the story (study in literature toward

study.com/academy/lesson/character-in-literature-definition-types-development.html). It concludes that this

character usually be the viewpoint for significant progress of the story, who

have a large amount of chapter or screen time or scene in drama. This

character usually become a central character that receives most attention.

Supporting the major character is minor characters. It was writes

that minor character is person of less importance than the major character,

but who is necessary for the story to develop (character toward

www.holmdel.k12.nj.us/schools/satz/eng_dept/Elements-of-literatue/character.html). It means that minor characters are the exact

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with or help the main characters. They use to enhance and help reveal the

main characters' personae, often by contrast. They are unlikely to be used

as a viewpoint. Minor characters have functions as partly to illuminate the

major characters.

b. Flat / round character

A flat character usually has only one out-standing trait or feature, or

at most a few distinguishing marks: for example, the familiar stock

character of the mad scientist, with his lust for absolute power and his

crazily gleaming eyes. Flat characters, however, need not be stock

characters: in all of literature there is probably only one Tiny Tim, though

his function in “A Christmas Carol” are mainly to invoke blessings and to

remain others of their Christian duties (Kennedy 46). On the other words,

flat character is relatively simple with few traits and predictable behavior or

responses. Forster stated that a flat character (also called a type, or

"two-dimensional"), is built around "a single idea or quality" an dispresented

without much individualizing detail, and therefore can be fairly adequately

described in a single phrase or sentence (Abrams 33).

A round character is complex in temperament and motivation and is

represented with subtle particularity; such a character therefore is as

difficult to describe with any adequacy as a person in real life, and like real

persons, is capable of surprising us (Abrams 33). It means that round

character is complex, multifaceted character capable of surprising in the

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facets – that is, their authors portray them in greater depth and in more

generous detail. Such a round character may appear to us only as he appears

to the other characters in the story. If their views of him differ, we will see

him from more than one side (46).

c. Static / dynamic character.

According to Dr. Hallet says that static character can be either round

or flat characters, but they do not change during the story. Folktales,

fairytales, and other types use static and flat characters whose actions are

predictable, so the reader is free to concentrate on the action and theme as

each moves toward an often times universal discovery (7). For instance, a

static character does not change in the course of story. A character whose

remains unchanged by his/her experiences, is referring as a static character.

Dynamic character is a developing character, usually at the center of

the action, who changes or grows to a new awareness of life (the human

condition) (Hallet 7). It means that dynamic character grows or progresses

to a higher level of understanding in the course of the story. They exhibit

some kind of change – of attitude, purpose, behavior, as the story

progresses. Francis Bacon writes in his article that dynamic character is

when a character undergoes a change in values, beliefs, or behaviors as a

result of his / her experiences (3). He says that protagonist in a story is

usually a dynamic character. Meanwhile, often the minor characters and the

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sometimes, the protagonist will be static if the story is more driven by plot

(events) than by character.

2. Characterization

If characters are the people in stories, then characterization is the

author's presentation and development of characters. According to Francis

Bacon, characterization is a process for the methods a writer uses to reveal a

characters values, feelings, goal, etc. to readers (1). When revealing a

character’s traits, a writer can do so using direct characterization or indirect

characterization. Bacon also states that direct characterization is when a writer

conveys information about a character by telling the information directly to

the reader. This is done through narration when the author comes right out and

tells the reader things about the character. Direct characterization makes it

easy for readers to come to clear understandings about the character.

Meanwhile, indirect characterization occurs when the author shows

the character in action, and lets the reader interpret what these actions reveal

about the character (Bacon 1). There are number of tools that a writer will use

to impart personality traits to their characters. In relation with Bacon’s writing

that there are five methods of how indirect characterization revealing with:

speech (from what character sayand how they say it should be considered in

literary work), thoughts (from what character think in the story), effects on

others character (what other characters say or think about him/her), actions

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It seems like of Abram’s writes that abroad distinction is frequently

made between alternative methods for characterizing the persons in a

narrative: showing and telling. In showing (also called "the dramatic

method"), the authors imply presents the characters talking and acting and

leaves the reader to infer the motives and dispositions that lie behind what

they say and do. The author may show not only external speech and actions,

but also a character's inner thoughts, feelings, and responsiveness to events;

for a highly developed mode of such inner showing, see stream of

consciousness. In telling, the author intervenes authoritatively in order to

describe, and often to evaluate, the motives and dispositional qualities of the

characters (34).

From both statements of Francis Bacon and M. H. Abrams above, it

basically knows that there are two manners in identifying the characterization

that occurs in a literary work. In the one hand is direct characterization, or

sometimes called by telling. This method elaborates from of what author’s

writes in their literary work. Through this method, authors try to reveal the

characters trait from their clearly explanation from sentence to sentence. And

the other hand, another methods that use to reveal the characters is indirect

characterization or often called showing. This method tries to reveal a

character through character’s act, speech, thought, and the impact of a

character to the other characters. In the common way, the author indirectly

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character, from how characters think about something, or even how characters

act or do to solve the problem.

C. Related Studies

Many literature researchers have already conducted researches about

psychology in novels, dramas, and movies. Actually, the research about Coelho’s

work Veronika Decides to Die is founded, but no research that analyzes this novel

nor describes the process of the revival Veronika’s passion of life through suicide

or uses the theory of individual psychology. Moreover, this study also evaluates

previous studies that are relevant to the study. Recently, there are some

researchers have conduct to analyze the novel of Paulo Coelho’s Veronika

Decides to Die.

The first one is Dany Sukma Adi Saputra (2009), a student of

Soegijapranata Catholic University, Semarang. He has observes “Veronika’s

Suicide in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die” on his thesis. His thesis

focuses to find the reasons of Veronika’s suicide and Veronika’s opinion about

her life. To analyze the Coelho’s work Veronika Decides to Die, Dany uses the

psychology and philosophical approach. Psychological approach uses to know

how the main character runs her life and learning how the main character faces

her problems. Philosophical approach uses to analyze thought of the main

character and to understand her life’s opinion. According to Dany’s thesis, the

research finds that Veronika decides to die because she feels that her life is

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Secondly is Machmud Yunus (2014), a student of University of Jember.

He has observes “A Study of Life and Death Instincts in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika

Decides to Die”. He also uses psychological analysis to observe Coelho’s work

Veronika Decides to Die. Machmud’s research is concerning to the analysis of

eros and thanatos depicted in the main character of Veronika Decides to Die. His

thesis is a descriptive study, which elaborates Freudian psychology theory of id,

ego, and superego and their relation to the production of eros and thanatos, which

derives solely from id. The result of Machmud’s thesis indicates that there is a

connection between the balance of eros and thanatos to the meaning and

motivation of life.

Another researcher is Yuviani Rosida Widyasura (2009), a student of State

University of Surabaya. Her thesis is entitled “Revealing the Theme through Irony

in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die”. Difference from the two researchers

above, Yuviani’s objectives of her study is describing the kinds of irony in Paulo

Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die. Another object of her study is analyzing the

significance of the irony to reveal the theme in Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die.

In the end of her study, she concludes that Coelho uses three kinds of irony in

Veronika Decides to Die, they are: situational, dramatic, and verbal irony.

According to the study of Yuviani, she finds that the significant of irony is

effectively uses to bring out all idea of Coelho’s vision about insanity of the

characters in the story that is ironical. Her study also success in giving proof that

there is a correlation between the irony and the theme in the story that is

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Toward the explanation of related study above, it finds that Paulo Coelho’s

Veronika Decides to Die has been analyzed by some literary students through

kinds of aspects. However, none of those previous studies that analyzes this novel

by uses theory of individual psychology or describes the process of revival life’s

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CHAPTER III

ANALYSIS

This chapter aims to answer the issue on the statement of problems stated

in the first chapter. This chapter divides the discussion into two subchapters. The

first subchapter discusses about the experiences of Veronika in dealing with her

suicide. This subchapter also contains the analysis about how is Veronika as the

main character portrayed in the novel. The second subchapter discusses about the

Veronika’s process in reviving her passion of life seen from individual

psychology.

A. The Experiences of Veronika in Dealing with Her Suicide

This subchapter divides into five points, which explains the experiences of

Veronika in dealing with her suicide. The first point discusses about the failure of

Veronika’s suicide. Because of her failure, Veronika has been rescued and

hospitalized to the Villete. In the Villete, she forces to face that her heart has

irreversibly damage and her life is counted by five or a week left. Those

explanations become the second point in this subchapter. Then, the third point

contains of Veronika’s feelings toward her comes to the Villete. The fourth point

is about the experience of Veronika in meeting with the other patients and makes

good relationship with them. Later, the next point is about Veronika’s experiences

of heart attack.

This subchapter describes the experiences of Veronika which in some

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experiences of Veronika are implied her inferiority’s feelings that further signifies

her strive for success or superiority. Moreover, the explanation of Veronika as the

main character involves in this subchapter.

Reminding that every literary works especially drama and prose must have

the characters to makes it alive. As what Bennett and Royle stated that characters

are the life of literature: they are the objects of our curiosity and fascination,

affection and dislike, admiration and condemnation (60). Therefore, the novel of

Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho also has the characters to role the story.

As seems as the title, this novel has a character named Veronika, as the main

character. Main character is an important character in a story that is appeared

continually so that the main character dominates the story (Nurgiyantoro 176). In

Coelho’s work, Veronika appears as the viewpoint for significant progress of the

story. She dominates a large amount of chapter and receives the most attention

from other characters.

In the story, Veronika is depicted as a young beautiful girl, 24 years old,

who has everything in her life such as healthy, occupation, and beloved parents.

Veronika is an easy going person who always looking for the easy option to solve

whatever problem in her life. It happens such to read an article that she does not

like in order to wait the tranquilizers dissolved in her stomach.

While she was waiting for death, Veronika started reading about

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Veronika is tenacious for anything she was chosen in her life. She

considers everything before make a decision, but it just happen to unimportant

things or small things only. However, she tries to handle anything by herself.

I must get a grip on myself. I’m the kind of person who sticks to any decision she makes, who always sees things through (Coelho 66).

It’s true that in her life she had seen many things through to their ultimate consequences, but only unimportant things, like prolonging a quarrel that could easily have been resolved with an apology, or not phoning a man she was in love with simply because she thought the relationship would lead nowhere. She was intransigent about the easy things, as if trying to prove to herself how strong and indifferent she was, when in fact she was just a fragile woman who had never been an

outstanding student, never excelled at school sports, and had never succeeded in keeping the peace at home (Coelho 66).

The quotation shows that Veronika pretends to be independent person as if

to prove herself that she is strong. She succeeds to overcome her small problem

but perceives nothing in solving the big problem. It is such as when she does not

contact her boyfriend just because she thinks that their relationship does not have

future. She acts to be stronger than just she was. She has perceive that she was

being observed. Meanwhile, she is just a fragile woman who never has been

grades in the school or create a situational peace at home. She tries to prove that

she is different to the other person.

In the novel, Veronika is described that she makes an aggression by herself.

She acts to everyone that she can handle everything, determinate, and hard to

defeat. It is no matter how much she expended the energy of pretending not to be

the real she is. Perfectly, she does everything with the dignity.

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room everyone would turn to look at her, but she almost always ended the night alone, in the convent, watching a TV that she hadn’t even bothered to have properly tuned. She gave all her friends the impression that she was a woman to be envied, and she expended most of her energy in trying to behave in accordance with the image she had created of herself (Coelho 67).

Once again, the quotation depicts personality of Veronika. She sets herself

to be a person to everyone admired and envied. She holds the dignity to be

propriety person whom never more and never less. She expends the time to be

more of what other people will say for being a good person than just being herself

to be the real Veronika. Nevertheless, in Veronika’s case, no one thinks of her to

be, it just causes of the image that she has created by herself. Veronika has

succeeded to become a person that she imagines, but in the other side, she

becomes desperate person when she is back to her rented room. She has through

the night alone and watch the TV that never really been for her to watch.

Continually, Veronika’s effort to be independent and strong person just

send her to be a lonely person. She has no more energy to be the real she is. She is

not able to be what she wants. She has better choose to be of what herself had

imagined than her capability to be. It makes her feel powerless.

She might have impressed a lot of people with her strength and determination, but where had it left her? In the void. Utterly alone. In Villete. In the anteroom of death (Coelho 67).

Veronika feels that her attempt to build defensive walls of herself just

makes her in the void only. Veronika’s pretending to be does not care about

anything just make her gain to nothing. Obviously, she needs other people to share

and feel happy. She neglects her deepest heart in need of some other people to

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She went to work every day, always keeping to the same timetable, always making sure she wasn’t perceived as a threat by her superiors; she was content; she didn’t struggle, and so she didn’t grow (Coelho 44).

She had taught herself to give men a precise amount of pleasure; never more never less, only what was necessary. She didn’t get angry with anyone, because that would mean having to react, having to do battle with the enemy and then having to face unforeseen consequences, such as vengeance (Coelho 44).

Besides, as the main character, Veronika is a round and dynamic character.

Kennedy said that round characters, present us with more facets – that is, their

authors portray them in greater depth and in more generous detail. Such a round

character may appear to us only as he appears to the other characters in the story.

If their views of him differ, we will see him from more than one side (46). For

instance, it means that round characters are complex, have more than one side

capability to think or react. It is like a real person in the real life. Moreover,

Veronika, then, seems appeared to be round character in the novel.

And she was shocked by how quickly she could change her mind, since only moments before she had thought exactly the opposite (Coelho 6).

She had sometimes thought: If I had a choice, if I had understood earlier that the reason my days were all the same was because I wanted them like that, perhaps…

But the reply was always the same: There is no perhaps, because there is no choice. And her inner peace returned, because everything had already been decided (Coelho 46).

It shows that Veronika is representing as a round character in the Coelho’s

novel Veronika Decides to Die. Both of the quotations describe how fast Veronika

changes her mind as well as real person in the real life could be. She has

complexity and multifaceted character.

As addition, Paulo Coelho as the author of Veronika Decides to Die also

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his article that dynamic character is when a character undergoes a change in

values, beliefs, or behaviors as a result of his/her experiences (3). It means that

dynamic character grows and progresses to a higher level of understanding in the

course of the story. Moreover, Veronika, then, exhibits some kinds of change – of

attitude, purpose, behavior, as the story progresses. Veronika is a developing

character who changes and grows to a new awareness of her life as the re

REVIVING THE PASSION OF LIFE THROUGH SUICIDE OF VERONIKA’S CHARACTER IN PAULO COELHO’S VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE.