Discuss How Veronica Is Portrayed and to What Extent the...

Veronica is a young but unique character who is carefully crafted in this story by Adewale - Maja Pearce who evokes emotions of sympathy towards her in a distinctive way; Veronica is not a woman who fits in with the stereotypical idea of a woman from the village, she does not seem to care that there is no hope for a better life or the future. This is perhaps the main reason why we as readers feel more sympathy towards Veronica as opposed to Mathilde in The Necklace; her almost inhuman ability to simply accept everything that is thrown at her. Mathilde is directly opposite to Veronica in the way that she behaves: Veronica accepts her unlucky situations and Mathilde complains and makes her life worse. Initially, the writer introduces†¦show more content†¦The writer creates an overwhelming sense of shock in Okeke as he discovers the ‘squalor’ of the village. ‘The place was crawling with disease and everybody was living - surviving rather- in acute poverty’. The use of the metaphor, ‘crawling with disease’ provides an image of bacteria literally crawling and creeping through the village infecting people, resulting in sympathy from the reader. The use of the subordinate clause puts an emphasis on and further describes the state in which people were barely living in. Maja Pearce creates sympathy for Veronica by describing the surroundings that Veronica had to endure to survive. People like us, living in Africa can relate to these conditions because Malawi is a poor country and we understand the way these people have to live. Veronica is depicted as a woman who accepts any situation, downfall or calamity that comes her way. She speaks ‘without bitterness’ at the things she does not have. ‘They are my family, that is enough’ even after her family treated her badly and left her. Veronica exceeds all stereotypes of selfless people. Instead of being ashamed or unhappy with her situation like Mathilde, she embraces her fate. Speaking without bitterness implies that Veronica is not affected by what people do or say to her creating sympathy for her. The reader also feels respectful towards Veronica as she keeps her dignity throughout the whole story and her life.