ipl-logo

How Does Santiago Overcome Fear In The Alchemist

1409 Words6 Pages

Sosan Musleh Mrs. Witty Latin American Literature 10 May 2023 The Fearful Mind Emotions may have a significant impact on one's ability to achieve their goals. As Santiago propels to reach the treasure, he finds it difficult to overcome his challenges. For example, fear was a primary obstacle that impacted the protagonist as his journey unfolds. When facing challenges and contemplating failure, fear may have a significant influence on oneself. In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, Santiago has a relationship with physiological components as his journey progresses, and overcomes his challenges with fear. Santiago's mindset allowed him to critically think about failure but managed to get over it. To begin, one of the challenges that Santiago …show more content…

Santiago chose to trust the people around him and have them help him take him to his Legend. Trust allowed him to lose all his money and stay with the fear that he will not be able to reach his treasure. The moment of captivation guided his friend to run and take his money with him. Santiago went to the lowest point of his journey where he had nothing and that was what brought his mind to trepidation. His mind drove him straight to failure and he couldn’t go anywhere without no money. According to The Alchemist, the author states “His heart squeezed, as if his chest had suddenly compressed it. He was afraid to look around, because he knew what he would find. He continued to look at the beautiful sword for a bit longer, until he summoned the courage to look around”(). The quote depicts how the distraction of the sword has left Santiago filled with fear because he was afraid to be alone without his money. Santiago loses all his money but decides to drive back to the Stones and believes that he can get money again. He decides to earn back his money by working with the crystal merchant and overcoming the fear of failure. Lastly, the main character comes across the fear that he can’t reach his goal without money but earns it …show more content…

As he was digging for treasure at the Pyramids he could feel the pressure of the men walking down to him. He reaches the endpoint of his dream and now he deals with the fear that he can’t find his treasure. After the pressure of the men beating him, he realizes that his treasure isn’t at the Pyramids. The overall fear of the men and the realization of his treasure brought him down for a moment of his journey. Santiago employs perseverance to conquer the fear of the last step of his journey. According to The Alchemist: A Psychological Approach Aziz states “Even faced by the threat of his own life by men beating him thinking he has more gold than what is in his pockets, he believes in his personal legend and overcomes his fear that he may not find it. Ironically, it is his perseverance that allows him to discover that his actual treasure is located at his home in Andalusia”(Aziz 26). Moreover, Santiago deals with the last obstacle of his dream and handles overcoming the fear of failure. To conclude, fear brought down Santiago at the last stop of his Personal Legend but comes out of his fear

Show More
Related

  • Obstacles In The Alchemist

    597 Words  | 3 Pages

    So Santiago said to himself that all he must do is keep an eye on the man. But then Santiago saw a beautiful sword, so beautiful it

    Read More

  • The Alchemist Critical Lens Quotes

    1217 Words  | 5 Pages

    In The Alchemist, the protagonist, Santiago, goes on a journey to follow his dreams and find hidden treasure. He encounters many problems, including having to face his fears. He eventually finds his treasure

    Read More

  • Book Summary: The Alchemist

    1434 Words  | 6 Pages

    The man who helps Santiago overcome this is the Englishman. He is blindly brave and an eccentric about everything he does. This makes him the perfect person to help Santiago on his path. He meets Santiago and tells him that he is seeking the Alchemist a man who possesses the elixir of life and can turn and metal into gold. As ridiculous as this may sound this is what sparks Santiago’s interest in him.

    Read More

  • The Transformation Of Santiago In The Alchemist

    542 Words  | 3 Pages

    “...he had summoned up the courage to tell his father that he didn’t want to become a priest, that he wanted to travel” (11). This choice created the opportunity for Santiago to understand the fulfillment of his true potential and what the world has to offer. Although at times he doubts his commitment, he finds that his personal legend will keep driving him toward his treasure. Because Santiago makes this decision, he finds that pursuing his personal legend led him to follow his dreams and trust his journey’s process. If Santiago did not

    Read More

  • Examples Of Fear In The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho

    369 Words  | 2 Pages

    While reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho the main character named Santiago faces many things that he is scared of but learns along the way that the only thing to fear, is fear itself. First, the things that scare Santiago may not seem scary to others but everyone is different. Santiago gets scared when he sells all of this sheep to follow something he has only dreamed of. He gets scared when he visits the

    Read More

  • What Is Santiago's Quest

    234 Words  | 1 Pages

    Santiago has many setbacks that occurred during his destination to the pyramids. It can be observed that he was wise and did not rush into danger. He lets himself take breaks to fully grasp all the trouble that he is involved in and with the right motivation he responded wisely and does not let it consume him. Every test that Santiago endured was a threat to grip him away from his quest, beginning his quest he was robbed of all his money instead of turning back to his old life he used his life skills to make back the resources that were stolen. Every challenge that was brought to Santiago was a intimidation that was supposed to crack him and turn back to his old life as a shepherd.

    Read More

  • What Does Santiago Symbolize In The Alchemist

    472 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author leads Santiago to crucial people throughout the story such as a gypsy, a king, a merchant, an Englishman, a beautiful girl, and an alchemist. All these characters point Santiago in the “right” direction

    Read More

  • How Does Santho Setback In The Alchemist

    239 Words  | 1 Pages

    When Santiago meets the Alchemist, he transforms into a new and improved person. With this, he realizes many things and confesses that his love for a woman named Fatima is worth a lot more than the treasure his needs to find. The alchemist

    Read More

  • Who Is The Protagonist In The Alchemist

    1164 Words  | 5 Pages

    He is emphasizing the importance of mastering the lessons learned during the journey toward the dream so that when the dream is finally realized, the person is ready and capable of handling the responsibility that comes with it. The alchemist is referring to the idea that when a person is pursuing their dreams, they will encounter obstacles and setbacks along the way. These challenges are tests from the Soul of the World, which is believed to be the spiritual force that governs the universe. This message is a central theme in the novel, as Santiago learns to trust his intuition and follow his heart, even when faced with challenges and obstacles. Ultimately, it is this trust in himself and his own desires that lead him to discover his personal

    Read More

  • The Significance Of The Hero's Journey In The Alchemist

    731 Words  | 3 Pages

    Santiago gets trapped because if he does not turn himself into the wind by the deadline he will be killed. Santiago’s mentor, the Alchemist, knows how to turn into the wind but would not tell him. Santiago loses his source of guidance and has to figure it out himself. Another part of the hero’s journey in The Alchemist is when Santiago learns his treasure is back where he started. Santiago makes his way back to Spain to collect his treasure.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Fear In The Alchemist

    1108 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the Alchemist a risk that Santiago had taken was leaving everything behind in Spain, all the little things he knew about life to chase a dream that had a high probability of not succeeding. In the novel, Santiago is told “We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it’s our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.” (Coelho 76). Santiago starts to realize that everything in life has already been

    Read More

  • Personal Legend In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist

    1422 Words  | 6 Pages

    Equally important he adds, “Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned … in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned … That’s the point at which most people give up” (136-137). When Santiago gets closer and closer to his treasure the universe will test him to see if the information has been retained in his memory and if he understood everything. The last step of his journey will be the most difficult hurdle and stepping stone he will need to push through to get his treasure. Lastly, The Alchemist teaches Santiago that he should embrace failure and that if he

    Read More

  • The Development Of Santiago In The Alchemist

    808 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Development of Santiago in The Alchemist Most protagonists in a novel go on a transformative journey. They are consistent and motivated, but they also have to evolve over the course of the story. This transformation begins with the modern protagonist in a position of deficit that makes them reluctant and scared, but each task on their journey changes them. In the novel The Alchemist, Santiago fulfills these elements of character development. Santiago suffers at the beginning from the feeling of being unfulfilled by life as a shepherd in Andalusia.

    Read More

  • How Does Santiago Change Throughout The Alchemist

    622 Words  | 3 Pages

    How did Santiago’s experiences change him as a person throughout the novel? If you’ve ever read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, you are probably familiar with the protagonist of the story, Santiago. But some may have been left questioning how his experiences actually relate to his character development. As the protagonist of The Alchemist progressed throughout the story, he encountered many omens while also positively influencing others like when he helps the crystal merchant after being robbed, which gives him a job and helps the merchant with his business.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Alchemist

    1222 Words  | 5 Pages

    Santiago knows that his journey is ending the moment he sees the sycamore tree because he knows that the treasure for which he has been searching is buried under it. The novel starts with Santiago having a recurrent dream under the sycamore tree, and it ends with Santiago arriving back at the same sycamore tree to his reward; the sycamore tree marks the start of his journey and the end of his journey when he finds the treasure and has changed into a different person. Therefore, the sycamore tree symbolises Santiago’s change throughout the novel, showing that one’s ability to change and recreate themself is crucial to completing their goals. The next quote is spoken by the alchemist to Santiago while they cross the desert: “‘There is only one way to learn,’ the alchemist answered.

    Read More

More about How Does Santiago Overcome Fear In The Alchemist

Open Document