THE MUSLIM INTERPRETIVE COMMUNITY ON DEATH IN VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE BY PAULO COELHO

Abstract

The paucity of research on the interpretation of death by Muslim readers in “Veronica Decides to Die” (2018) by Paulo Coelho, a novel imbued with existential symbolism, constitutes the primary issue addressed in this study. While this interpretive community holds a profound religious understanding of life, death, and the afterlife, there has been scant scholarly attention on how Muslim readers engage with the theme. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to explore how Muslim readers interpret the theme of death in the novel, with a particular focus on the relationship between the novel’s depiction of death and Islamic conceptualizations of mortality. The study employs Stanley Fish’s interpretive community theory (variorum), which facilitates a nuanced analysis of how Islamic values shape readers' interpretations of the text. The findings reveal that the portrayal of death in the novel is at odds with Islamic doctrine. In Islam, death is conceived as a natural transition within a larger cycle of life, rather than as a nihilistic endpoint. Moreover, suffering is regarded as a test that draws the individual closer to God, whereas Veronika, the novel’s protagonist, perceives death as a form of liberation and a means of escaping the futility of life, thereby disregarding the spiritual principles central to Islamic life.