...In The Alchemist, a narrative by Paulo Coelho, we follow the journey of a young shepherd named Santiago. Santiago refuses to follow his expected path to priesthood, and instead, he embarks on a voyage to find a treasure he dreamed about. Along the way, he meets many important individuals, faces many obstacles and trials, and learns important lessons. This narrative is told in third person and shows us the thoughts and maturation of each character. Though this story has many themes, one theme that is constantly reinforced by the characters in this story is that, by listening to our omens, we can unlock our personal legend. We are first introduced to omens by Santiago’s mentors. Though Santiago gets many omens from beginning to end in The Alchemist,...
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...Characters: Santiago Shepherd boy, the protagonist of The Alchemist. He travels from Andalusia in southern Spain to the Egyptian pyramids in search of hidden treasure, learning life lessons along the way. Santiago is a dreamer and a seeker, and he stands for the dreamer and seeker in all of us. Old Woman A fortune teller, and possibly a gypsy, she interprets Santiago's recurring dream, but in a manner so straightforward that he finds it suspect and disappointing. Melchizedek/King of Salem An anonymous old man who is in fact a powerful figure from the Old Testament, he explains to Santiago what a Personal Legend is and urges the shepherd boy to follow his dream. Aside from Santiago himself, Melchizedek is the most important character in The Alchemist. Crystal Merchant A middle-aged resident of Tangier, he hires Santiago to work in his shop. The crystal merchant's Personal Legend is to make a pilgrimage (or haj) to Mecca, but he knows he will never fulfill this dream. He is Santiago's foil, a character who characterizes another by contrast. Englishman A bookish pedant obsessed with alchemy who hopes to learn the fabled craft from a famous alchemist rumored to live at the Al-Fayoum oasis that lies between Tangier and the pyramids. In The Alchemist, the Englishman stands for the limits of book learning. Camel Herder Once a prosperous farmer, his valuable orchards were wiped out by a flood, forcing him into a new line of work. He teaches Santiago the importance of living in the...
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...In Paul Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist, following ones dreams and being able to recognize signs and omens that come across ones path dominated the main purpose of the story. In the novel, a young shepherd named Santiago goes on a journey to find a treasure beyond his craziest dream. Along his way, Santiago learns to listen to his heart and defeat his fears. Through character, conflict, and form, the author suggests that when one really wants something, the entire universe conspires in helping them achieve it. To begin with, on his journey to pursuing his dreams, Santiago meets many characters that help him. Santiago is a shepherd from a small Andalusia town. He chose to work as a shepherd so he can travel the country. Santiago goes to a woman...
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...In The Alchemist, Santiago constantly finds himself at a crossroads, contemplating returning to his easy, predictable old life as a shepherd. Throughout the novel, at times such as when a thief steals Santiago’s money, when Santiago has to make the decision on how to move forward after making sufficient money at the crystal shop, and when Santiago has to leave Fatima, the love of his life at the oasis, Santiago is faced with the constant reminder of his old, simplistic life and has to persevere through his comforting thoughts and aching soul in order to pursue his personal legend. When Santiago first arrives at the port in Tangier, he meets a fellow Spaniard. While the two are in the restaurant, the owner begins to shout and try to warn Santiago...
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...1. Main Characters: Santiago the shepherd (is the protagonist and demonstrates the seeker and dreamer in everyone), Melchizedek, the king of Salem (the person that explained a personal legend to Santiago and tells him to follow his own legend), the crystal merchant (hires Santiago to work for him and talks about how he could never make a pilgrimage to Mecca and is a character who characterizes another by contrast), the Englishman (hopes to become an alchemist and he stands for the limits of knowledge from books), camel driver (represents living in the moment and obtaining wisdom from unlikely sources), the alchemist ( assists Santiago get to the pyramids), and Fatima (represents true love, selflessness and unconditional.) 2. In the novel the...
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...Plot The Alchemist follows the journey of an Andalusian (southern Spanish) shepherd boy named Santiago. Believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, Santiago decides to travel to a Romani fortune-teller in a nearby town to discover its meaning. The gypsy woman interprets the dream as a prophecy telling the boy that there is a treasure in the pyramids in Egypt. Early into his journey, he meets an old king, whose name was Melchizedek, who tells him to sell his sheep to travel to Egypt and introduces the idea of a Personal Legend (which is always capitalized in the book). Your Personal Legend "is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is."[3] He adds that "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." This is the core theme of the book. Along the way, Santiago meets an Englishman who has come in search of an Alchemist and continues his travels with him. They travel through the Sahara desert and during his journey, Santiago meets and falls in love with a beautiful Arabian woman named Fatima, who resides with her clan near around the desert Oasis. He asks Fatima to marry him, but she says she will only marry him after he completes his journey and finds his treasures. He is perplexed by this, but later learns that true love will not stop nor plead to sacrifice one's Personal Legend, and if it does, it is not true love. Santiago then encounters a lone alchemist who also teaches...
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...The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a story of a boy, Santiago who gains insight and knowledge in different settings on how to find his Personal Legend. The boy’s journey begins in Andalusian, Spain, then takes him to Tarifa, the crystal shop in Tangier, the Saharan desert and oasis, then the pyramids before returning to where he began. The theme of this story is that a person must persevere through good and bad to fulfill their dream. The beginning of the story finds Santiago leaving his home to travel as the life of a shepherd. He goes to the town of Tarifa and meets the King of Salem who describes to Santiago what Santiago is truly searching for. “It’s what you always wanted to accomplish. Everyone when they are young knows what their...
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...An Exchange of Dreams A book review of “The Alchemist” Czarina Nadine M. Sanchez Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” -Melchizedek Have you experienced holding on to a dream, a dream that serves as your passageway to achieving your Personal Legend? Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist focused on the concatenation of a boy’s journey in life that began as an unfinished dream which led shepherd Santiago, the boy, to his own Personal Legend. However in the first part of the story, it somehow did not correlate with the novel’s title. For it was only focused on the boys travel together with his flock of sheep. But then on the latter part of the novel, the essence of the title was revealed, for it introduced an important character in the novel who is the Alchemist. Aside from the title the author also used several instruments to abdicate the boy’s personal legend. And the most important instrument that he used is the boy’s dream. The boy’s dream inside an abandoned church where there was an enormous sycamore that grew where the sacristy was. The boy’s revelation of his dream to the interpreter goes like this: “I had the same dream twice; I was in the field with my sheep, when a child appeared and began to play with the animals. I don’t like people to do that, because the sheep are afraid of strangers. But children always seem to be able to play without frightening them. The child continued...
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...In Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, a young shepherd boy goes on a journey after having a recurring dream about treasure at the Egyptian Pyramids. He comes across many hardships along the way, but he follows through with his goal and finds his treasure in the end. In the novel The Alchemist, Coelho conveys the importance of not only having dreams, but also actually pursuing them. Santiago’s trust in his mentors gives him the knowledge and ability to chase after his aspirations and fulfill his Personal Legend. King Melchizedek tells Santiago that the world’s greatest lie is “that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate” (18). Santiago could have disagreed with the king and believed in the ideas of his book, but instead he trusts King Melchizedek. By doing so, Santiago learns that he must struggle to meet his goals instead of sitting back and allowing fate to control his life. He realizes that he can’t stay in his comfort zone of books and sheep, and must go out and explore the world. When the stranger in Tangier asks him if he has enough money to cross the Sahara desert, Santiago thinks that this is a strange question, but “he trusted in [King Melchizedek], who had said that, when you really want something, the universe always conspires in your favor” (36). Despite the fact that he lost all his money to the thief, Santiago’s trust in King Melchizedek taught him to be smarter and to view the world in terms...
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...Character Development In The Alchemist The novel The Alchemist written by Paulo Coelho is about a boy that is on a journey to find his personal legend. Throughout his journey he is helped by many people he meets, but he also has to overcome many obstacles that try to prevent him from finding his personal legend. In The Alchemist the main character Santiago shows a lot of character development through the ongoing knowledge he gains throughout his journey. At the start of the book Santiago shows immaturity with having a careless job as a shepherd and when he gives up on his journey to find his personal legend. Santiago begins to develop when he is given a job as a crystal merchant's assistant and he learns a lot of knowledge to help him through his journey. Santiago really shows a lot of development when the Alchemist teaches him that he needs to listen to his heart and when Santiago learns how to turn himself into the wind. At the beginning of the novel the character Santiago is a shepherd boy who is still young and immature. Santiago makes this impression when he is talking about his job as a shepherd, and how there are many "joys of carefree wandering." (pg 7) His job is fairly relaxed, he does not have to worry about much and he gets to travel to different places which he likes to do. The job does not have many responsibilities which is not good for Santiago because he is not learning much and it is the same repetitive tasks he does every day. Santiago also shows immaturity...
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...Coelho states, “...There is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth" (Coelho 22). Amid the introduction, of the novel, the author progresses to tell us that we all need to be aware of our personal calling, like Santiago. Coelho refers to our personal calling as God’s gift; he believes that it is the path that God has chosen for us. Throughout the novel, we read of Santiago’s strive on reaching his destiny. Without the hope and willpower needed to accomplish our dreams, we could never persevere in following our fate. This is why our pure hope, our dreams, and the path to enduring our true fate, are key themes in unveiling the plot....
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...Introduction The Alchemist written by Paulo Coelho is a striking novel that exceeded my expectations. This essay will begin with a summary of the novel so that the reader may caption a clear philosophical vision it offers. Moreover, the purpose of this paper is to outline the main objective the novel portrays as well as its themes and connections within the text Interviewing In Action In A Multicultural Word by Bianca Cody Murphy and Carolyn Dillon. Also, philosophical views or opinions gained from reading the novel that I deemed to be contradictory to the text will be mentioned and discussed due to the importance of differential views and beliefs. As well, I will consider the options the material this book offers in regards to the influence...
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...Even a short story taking place during the Great Depression and a novel about a young man's journey across a vast desert can have similarities. In the short story, “Marigolds”, by Eugenia Collier, the marigolds represent hope and all positive aspects. In the novel, The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, there are profuse amounts of symbolism, yet the most noteworthy being that of alchemy which represents Santiago's, or the protagonists, need to rid himself of impurities. These symbols are similar seeing as the marigolds are too perfect amongst the destruction surrounding them, making them an impurity which Lizabeth, the primary character in “Marigolds,” destroys as her right of passage; equivalent to Santiago having to rid himself of impurities to...
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...In the Alchemist, after Santiago warned, the caravan about the attack on the oasis, Santiago felt a change in the air: “The boy noted that there was a sense of fear in the air, even though no one said anything.” (Pg. 156). The diction implied that the primary obstacle to Santiago during his quest to accomplish his Personal Legend, fear. During his journey he experiences several forms of fear such as the spiritual fear that he was not able to become the wind, the physical fear of dying in Al-Fayoum during the battle, material fear of losing everything he owns by leaving for Africa and joining to caravan to Al-Fayoum and the childhood fear of the gypsy reading his dream. After Santiago’s vision of the hawks he told the tribal chieftain who took...
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...The Alchemist “He had no idea how he was going to transform himself into the wind. He wasn’t an alchemist.” (pg.146). Santiago, at this point in his journey, is faced with something perceived to be impossible. He has someone saying that he can do it but the obstacle is so great, everything seems impossible. “...You told me you loved me… because of that, I have become a part of you.” (pg.100). No one lives without the fear of disappointing someone you love. When you love someone, you feel as if they are a part of you, similar to how Santiago and Fatima feel towards each other. Santiago was on the verge of letting love get in the way of his person ledgend. He was too blind to realise at the time that finding Fatima was not his legend, she...
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