Have you ever wondered if there was a greater purpose for you in the world, or have you ever felt as if what you were doing, isn’t what you were meant to? In Paulo Coelho’s enchanting novel about adventure, dreams, symbols, and signs, The Alchemist’s protagonist, Santiago, asks these questions, and might just find the answer for them. The novel starts off where a young Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago has a recurring dream and decides to follow it and to figure out what it means, his father’s advice being to “Travel the world until you see that our castle is the greatest, and our women the most beautiful.” Santiago’s dream tells him that he is to go from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian deserts in order to find a treasure buried in the Pyramids. During Santiago’s journey, he meets a man who calls himself king, a crystal merchant, an old Englishman, and an alchemist. …show more content…
Melchizedek tells Santiago the same advice as the Gypsy fortune teller, convinces him to sell him to sell his flock, and tells Santiago to leave off to the town of Tangier, which Santiago
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.
Next, Santiago has a vision that will help the tribesmen. Finally, Santiago talks to the forces of nature leaving two people smiling. To begin, King Melchizedek tries to become better, and in return Santiago becomes better. For example, when Santiago was talking to Melchizedek in
Santiago understands that everything from a grain of sand to God himself shares the same physical and spiritual essence. In coming to this understanding, Santiago also believes he can “conquer the world.” (Coelho,157). He realizes the importance of hope on his journey and that he can and will persevere to the end.
Santiago, Melchizedek, the Englishman, and the Alchemist himself play a very big role in the novel, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. Santiago begins to have a reoccurring dream about going after his personal legend and going to the pyramids to find treasure. He goes to a gypsy to help interpret his dream more in depth. As she convinces him to follow his personal legend he meets an old man by the name of Melchizedek who is the king of Salem and pushes him to go after his dream and also gives him two stones that help him read omens. After he begins his journey to find his personal legend he gets robbed and works for a crystal merchant for a year.
While at the Oasis of Al-Fayoum, the elder chieftain of the oasis tells Santiago the story of Joseph of Egypt. Joseph was enslaved for being a dreamer, but he persevered and managed to become an important counselor to the Pharaoh of Egypt. This Personal Legend could have suited Santiago because of his connection to the Soul of the World. The Soul of the World is a spiritual unity that binds all forms of nature together. Santiago knew he wanted to follow his dreams; it was helpful when he learned that “When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it” because he knew he was now destined to complete his goal, and not somebody else’s (Coelho 64).
Section #8: Theme(s) In the Alchemist, the theme of the journey being just as valuable as the destination is demonstrated throughout the story as Santiago learns about himself and others, which is recognized as the real treasure. When Santiago goes on his journey to find a valuable treasure hidden in the Pyramids, he learns many things from his experiences. When Santiago was asked to follow the omens he was reminded that “the secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it.
Thinks Santiago “I am learning the Language of the World, and everything in the world is beginning to make sense to me” (Coelho 103). Temporarily residing in the desert, the young shepard becomes aware of the environment around him, and the deeper meanings in the world. Located in the desert for a long time allows Santigo to learn of the connections between the world of souls and his present through his journey to the treasure. Wisely states Santiago, “‘I learned the alchemist’s secrets in my travels.
Throughout his journey, he unearths the truths of life, discovers his meaning of living, and what connects life all together. In the grand scheme of things, psychological changes are much more valuable than physical changes, and Santiago went from a shepherd boy with no view of the future to a man knowledgeable of the hidden truths all around us. Nevertheless, our three heroes are different men now than from when they began their
The Alchemist is a famous book written by Paulo Coelho. It’s about a shepherd named Santiago who travels from his homeland Spain to the Pyramids in Egypt. He does this to find a treasure he was told about. Along his hard journey, he meets some people along the way like a gypsy woman and a king in disguise who all direct him towards his quest. He doesn’t let the obstacles stop him toward his goal and eventually he finds his treasure.
In his novel The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho uses fable-like storytelling, figurative language, metaphors, and allegory to effectively convey the central idea of the book: that everyone has a personal legend, or a calling in life, and that it's important to pursue it with passion and purpose. Coelho's use of fable-like storytelling is evident throughout the book. The story follows Santiago, a shepherd boy who dreams of discovering a treasure at the base of the Egyptian pyramids. Through Santiago's journey, Coelho conveys the idea that everyone has a personal legend that they must pursue, even if it means leaving behind the comfort and security of the familiar.
Ultimately Santiago has developed his identity through the soul of the world and alchemy and has achieved his personal legend
Santiago, an educated but naive boy believes that his purpose in life is to be a shepherd until a strange recurring dream that sparked his interest to fufill his personal legend, after talking to a gypsy who encouraged him to follow the path of his dream and make it real followed by a meeting with Melchizedek, an old man claiming to be the king of salem, who offered to help him find his personal destiny he explains further that everyone has a personal destiny no matter how small and later mkaes the boy realize that he couldn’t find love if he was a shepherd because shepherds can not settle, they always need to follow their flock. he shows the boy omens At the start of his journey when he resides in africa he is soon confused because the
In response to Santiago’s endless questioning as to why the old man wouldn’t travel to Mecca, the crystal merchant reveals this ideology that prevents him from pursuing his Personal Legend. The significance held by this quotation is the representation of why people may not want to fulfill their dreams, even though they are capable. Santiago is surrounded by people who share this belief -- that dreams are not worth pursuing -- and must prove to himself that they are wrong. Dreams give the greatest power to those who believe in
ONCE UPON A TIME……………... As children, when those magical words are spoken to us, we begin to REMEMBER and unknowingly reconnect with the truth about ourselves deep within our souls * (For a summary of Coelho’s The Alchemist, go to the appendix at the end of this book.) This truth is that here on Earth each of us is a dream; a dream waiting to become a reality.
Zanele Nxamagele Book review The Alchemist Paulo Coelho Summary Santiago, a shepherd from Andalusia, keeps having the same recurring dream about a child who tells him to go find the hidden treasure which is situated at the base of the Pyramids in Egypt. Santiago goes and enquires to an old woman, who is actually a Gypsy, about this dream, and she tells him to go to Egypt, but in return would like a tenth of his treasure. Santiago feels dubious about this information since he quite enjoys the life of being a shepherd.