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The Crystal Merchant In The Alchemist

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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 …show more content…
To begin, the crystal merchant gets stopped by all obstacles ahead of him; he would rather stay a merchant and dream of Mecca instead of the slight chance of disappointment. When talking to Santiago he states, “I’m afraid that if my dream is realized I’ll have no reason to go on living...I’m afraid that it would all be a disappointment, so I prefer just to dream about it,” (Coelho, 55). Having these fears shows that the merchant must have had struggles in the past to become who he is. The merchant is still motivated, but scared of what is going to happen. Unlike the merchant, Santiago as a determined, optimistic boy, believes he should continue on his journey for the treasure instead of staying at the oasis for the job he was offered. Santiago shows this cheerful and confident self when he thinks, “[I] could always go back to being a shepherd…[I] could always become a crystal salesman again. Maybe the world had other treasures, but [I] ha[ve] a dream,” ( 65). Gaining that Santiago think this way proves the difference between the merchant and Santiago through the contrasting views on life. In the end, the crystal merchant and Santiago have vast differences with their opinions of obstacles of

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