Maria’s Struggle for Existence in Coelho's Eleven Minutes

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the existential issue especially existence, struggle and survival. The existential theory is related to the human being taking example from the character Maria in the novel. Existence is the state of fact of being real or living a life style. It stresses on the existence of the human beings in the world. Struggle is a laborious activity that tries very hard to do something even in the difficult situation. Likewise survival is something that continues or exists in spite of difficult circumstances. to survival people make a lot of effort. The thesis also seeks the situation when human beings have to fight for the existence. Kierkegaard's perspective on existential issue has been highly focused on the thesis. The Struggle for existence for Maria has presented in this thesis. Eleven Minutes deals with the experiences of Maria, a young Brazilian prostitute, who is struggling for her better future and existence. In her course of struggle, she realizes that she does not get true love from anyone, as she is betrayed by Rio in Geneva. She moves from one place to another for her happiness. Maria encounters with love failures at an early adolescent stage and hatred for love goes to seek her fortune in Switzerland. In the course of her struggle with the life she befriends Nyah who gives her advice on her new profession. Then she becomes quite successful and famous and her colleagues begin to envy her. Her world happy world, thus, turns upside down after meeting Ralf, a young Swiss painter as she falls in love with him immediately and begins to experience what true love is. Now, she is torn between her sexual fantasies and true love for Ralf. Eventually she decides that it is time for her to leave Geneva with her memory of Ralf.