Santiago's Journey In The Alchemist

In “The Alchemist” by Paul Coelho, the main character, Santiago, set out on a very tedious journey. Many in his position would’ve given up, but Santiago didn’t. That is because he had motivation for it; He was finding treasure. All Santiago wanted was the wealth that he would receive when he completed his journey. After a while of his journey however, he realized that the wealth is not his treasure there. It was the people and experiences he ran into along the way. He found a purpose for his life throughout this journey. Often in life people find themselves being caught up in their relationship between material wealth and spiritual wealth, much like santiago. The Alchemist teaches the importance of both types of wealth, but proves which is

He was told by the interpreter and the king of Salem exactly where the treasure was. Both of them saying the same location convinced him that he needed to take the risk. He traveled with the money that he had, but it wasn’t long before he was robbed, and ended up with nothing. When this happened he checked his possessions and found his rocks urim and thummim. He decided it was a sign for him to keep going and trust the signs he was given, so he did. He didn’t keep thinking about his lost money, but rather moved on to figure out how he could make it back and get to where he wanted to be. He didn’t know it at the time, but this was part of the experience he earned from his hunt. He loved every minute of the job he had, and the man that owned the shop he worked at taught him a lot while he was there too. He learned valuable life lessons without

He learned a lot from the people around him like the Englishman, the Alchemist and the King. But, he learned the most from his love, Fatima. Fatima taught him, accidentally, that love and true happiness aren’t material products. She gave him hope and peace, knowing where he was going back to after his journey. She was going to be a constant in his life. Her treasure to him was spirituality, not money. He now had a purpose in life after finding his treasure. He started to worry about less of the material treasure and more of his surroundings, like taking a scenic route through life.
The story’s ending came when Santiago got to the pyramids. This is where his realization hit. When Santiago got to the top, he started crying. He thanked God for the people and the experience, but not once did he mention the treasure. He then proceeded to think about leaving, and not searching for the treasure. He had all that he needed, and had he not reminded himself that the project isn’t over until the objective is achieved, he most likely would have left before looking for the treasure. He wanted to go back to Fatima and live his life happily, he had no care for the material treasure. However he looked