Veronika Decides To Die

“While she was waiting for death, Veronika started reading about computer science, a subject in which she was not the least bit interested, but then that was in keeping with what she had done all her life, always looking for the easy option, for whatever was nearest at hand.” 

Many of the key plot points of Veronika Decides to Die rely heavily on absurdism. Absurdism is a literary device (and sometimes genre) that exaggerates everyday thoughts, feelings, and scenarios to the point of incongruency with reality. Absurdism is often used for heavy political commentary, such as in Franz Kafka’s The Trial (1925). Veronika’s decision to read a magazine that she has no interest in while waiting to die is an absurd moment. Many of the core plot moments of Veronika rely on absurdity to stress the vacuousness of the characters’ pre-Villete lives; one can do anything while one waits to die, including reading a completely pointless magazine.

“Two very simple reasons lay behind her decision to die, and she was sure that, were she to leave a note explaining, many people would agree. The first reason: Everything in her life was the same and, once her youth was gone, it would be downhill all the way.”

Veronika views life as a downward spiral from her current height, which isn’t all that great. Veronika’s severely pessimistic worldview is a testament to the lack of authenticity in her current life situation: Dying is more feasible than changing how she lives and what she does day to day. Paulo Coelho uses the close third-person point of view to give the reader a glimpse into Veronika’s head.