The essence of insanity in Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die

This thesis concerns about the analysis of the portrayal of hegemony of the concept of insanity and how it affects character’s life in society in Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die. Marxism specifically on Hegemony theory by Antonio Gramsci is applied as the theory of this study. The methodology used is descriptive qualitative. This study aims to portray the hegemony in society in the novel. It also describes hegemony effect towards characters’ life in the novel. They are Veronika, Eduard, Mari and Zedka. The result of this thesis shows that there are four kinds of hegemony in the novel. Hegemony in the novel is in the form of ideology. First, society must do the acceptable behavior. Second, doing routine is considered as normality. Third, Villete is a place used to isolate people who have unacceptable behavior from society. Fourth, financial interest is more important than one’s desire. These four kinds of hegemony make the characters in the novel have the uncomfortable experience in their life.