...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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...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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...Mitch Albom and Paulo Coelho A Research Paper Presented to the Faculty Of St. Michael The Archangel School Taytay Rizal In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in the Subject English (Research) Miguel Carreon March 2014 Dedication The Researcher would like to dedicate this research paper to the teachers and friends that has helped the researcher. To his family and love ones who supported him. And to the God Almighty who has guided the him. - Miguel Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION This research paper would like to discuss about Mitch Albom and Paulo Coelho’s works and who they are. The researcher would like to talk about Mitch Albom and Paulo Coelho in terms of how their works influence the readers. The essentials of reading Mitch Albom and Paulo Coelho’s books. The inspiration for them to make their books. And the researcher would also like to talk about Mitch Albom and Paulo Coelo’s differences and similarities between each other in terms of their works and in terms of who they are. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Mitch Albom was born in New Jersey in 1958, the second of three children. He grew up loving music and taught himself to play piano.1 Mitch Albom graduated from Brandeis University with a Sociology major and earned Masters Degrees in Journalism and Business Administration from Columbia University in New York City.2 His background includes stints as an amateur boxer...
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...Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist Page 1 / 94 The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho Translated by Alan R. Clarke. Published 1992. ISBN 0-7225-3293-8. = CONTENTS = Part One Part Two Epilogue PART ONE The boy's name was Santiago. Dusk was falling as the boy arrived with his herd at an abandoned church. The roof had fallen in long ago, and an enormous sycamore had grown on the spot where the sacristy had once stood. He decided to spend the night there. He saw to it that all the sheep entered through the ruined gate, and then laid some planks across it to prevent the flock from wandering away during the night. There were no wolves in the region, but once an animal had strayed during the night, and the boy had had to spend the entire next day searching for it. He swept the floor with his jacket and lay down, using the book he had just finished reading as a pillow. He told himself that he would have to start reading thicker books: they lasted longer, and made more comfortable pillows. It was still dark when he awoke, and, looking up, he could see the stars through the half-destroyed roof. Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist Page 2 / 94 I wanted to sleep a little longer, he thought. He had had the same dream that night as a week ago, and once again he had awakened before it ended. He arose and, taking up his crook, began to awaken the sheep that still slept. He had noticed that, as soon as he awoke, most of his animals also began to stir. It was as if some mysterious...
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...There is no doubt that it won’t be an easy process, there will be obstacles, and there will be challenges, how you overcome these things are up to you. Your reaction to these hardships could in fact make it or break it. This process of achieving your dreams is shown in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. Coelho’s novel was written to show the importance of dreams and having something to live for. In an interview with a magazine, Coelho explained, “The Alchemist is about -- well, it is a fable about the necessity we have to follow our dreams.” Coelho also added, “They will lose their jobs, they will start having problems, but it is the only choice because in any case, you have to pay a price for your dreams,” when he was asked about the problems that may evoke when people would start chasing their dreams. To Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist was written to show the self sacrifice that needed to be made to follow your dreams. The Alchemist outlines the adventures of Santiago, as young shepherd, as he travels from his homeland in Spain to Egypt in search of a treasure that appears in his dreams. During this journey he meets many people such as a wise king, a merchant in fear to live out his dreams, his true love and the Alchemist. On the way to the pyramids, he comes across numerous difficulties and temptations but moves on undeterred to fulfill his dreams. Santiago must go on a journey alone, sacrificing his sheep, his love, and comfort of his...
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...Brazil. Understanding the cultures of other people is an important aspect of everyone’s lives, as a country of immigrants, the United states has an amazing opportunity to learn from the experiences of the people who are different from us that isn’t taken advantage of enough. Learning about aspects of other people’s mother land is interesting, and can even help change someone’s views on their own society. Brazil is a very important country with and exciting, and rich history that when studied carefully can have an impact on many people’s opinions of the country today. From artwork, literature, music and much more, it is apparent the Brazilian people had more impact on our culture than their bikini lines. “Culture makes people understand each...
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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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...In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a boy named Santiago travels through the desert in search of treasure. Along the way he meets many people who help him, like the crystal merchant and the Alchemist. He also learns many things about himself and the world. Some of these things would be the Soul and Language of the World, Language of God, and how to read omens, but the most important thing he learned on his journey was how personal legends play into people's everyday lives. Through the contrasting views of the crystal merchant and the Alchemist, Coelho introduces two characters who present Santiago with opposite ways of handling the obstacles that come along with personal legend. The merchant believes dreams should motivate and push people, while...
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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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...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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...THE ALCHEMIST By Paulo Coelho New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993 ISBN # 0-06-250218-2 (paper) 174 pages Comments by Bob Corbett November 2009 This is a lovely book, tender but profound. It is about the importance of seeking one’s own meaning of life and spending one’s life fulfilling it. Coelho calls it seeking one’s “Personal Legend.” It reminds me very much of what the Existentialists would have called “authenticity.” However, unlike the Existentialists who write rather darkly about this process of seeking one’s own meaning system, Coelho’s young shepherd boy is seeking his Personal Legend in something much like a fairly tale. However, Coelho at least gives us a process and set of obstacles we might well expect, and his hero fulfills all four: First one must discover that our lives are dictated by custom, family, law and tradition and we must be willing to overcome these in order to seek our own unique Personal Legend. If we get to this first stage we may well run up against love as an obstacle, particularly in believing that in order to have the love of some other we must give up our own Personal Legend and live in a way that the other needs for us. On the author’s view this is a mistaken notion of love. “You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons that pursuit its because it wasn’t true love .. the love that speaks the Language of the World.” Supposing one gets past that second stage and realizes love...
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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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...Assignment #3 Analysis of “The Alchemist” Final draft The Alchemist is a brilliant novel by the great Brazilian author “Paulo Coelho’. This novel tells the story of a young shepherd called Santiago who lives alone with his herd of sheep. He travels from one place to the other, meeting new people and exploring new things. In one of his journeys, he meets an old woman who has the ability of foretelling the future. This woman tells him that there is a treasure that is waiting for him. After this, the young shepherd keeps looking for this treasure by travelling through different countries and learning about various traditions. During his journey for the treasure, he falls in love with an Arabian girl called Fatima and she also taught him a lot of new things. Finally, he arrives at the place where the treasure is supposed to be, in Egypt. Surprisingly, he does not find any treasure! Taking a closer look at this novel, naturally the reader would question the reason behind going through all of these obstacles in the novel, when the shepherd ends up without the treasure. Is the author’s intention to provide the reader with entertainment and suspense? Or is it just an open end for this book, with the aim that the young shepherd finds the treasure in part two of the book? The answer to these questions is that the author’s intention is neither to develop suspense for the reader so he could be entertained, nor to make the reader himself searches for the treasure in another part...
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...PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT Book Review: Alchemist By Paulo Coelho About the Author: Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He is one of the most widely read authors of the world. He is a recipient of numerous international awards. The Alchemist is one best-selling book in the history and it is translated into 71 different languages. Story of the book: The story revolves around a shepherd boy named Santiago. Santiago’s parents wanted him to be a priest but he says that he wants to travel so his father gives three Spanish gold coins which he uses to buy a flock of sheep as in those days shepherds used to travel from place to place and he leaves home. On his journey the boy travels many places and meets different kinds of people, once he meets a merchant’s daughter when he goes for selling wool and talks to his daughter for long time as the merchant asks him to wait after selling wool the merchant asks him to return next year to sell wool and the boy waits 1 whole year to meet that girl and he has a weird dream in which he sees a small boy who plays with his sheep and after playing with sheep he tells to Santiago that there’s treasure in Egypt pyramids and when that small boy is about to show the place he wakes up. So the boy meets an old lady who asks 1/10th of the treasure...
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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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