Chapters 1 and 2 Summary

As it tells the story of a young woman's transformation from despairing would-be suicide to affirmed, and affirming, survivor, "Veronika Decides to Die" tells an archetypal story of hope, portraying a situation in which joy, freedom, integrity and truth all remain possible under the most challenging and limiting of circumstances. In doing so, the narrative thematically explores the nature of insanity, the importance of living a genuine life, and the threats to individual identity imposed by closed communities and the rules under which they function.

In Chapter 1, in an effort to enact her long-contemplated suicide, mid-twenties Slovenian Veronika takes what she believes to be a fatal dose of sleeping pills. As she waits for them to take effect, she contemplates her choice of method as defined by her reluctance to cause suffering and inconvenience for those she leaves behind. She also...