Santiago's experience by Paulo Coelho reflects a coming of age story in the following ways: the main character learns that mistakes are possible, he also learns about love, he meets many new people that influence his coming of age, and he learns to accept and learn others’ views. After reading the alchemist by Paulo Coelho it is clear that Santiago comes of age in important ways/aspects of his personality. These include: His growth in intelligence, his emotions towards others, and his faith. A coming of age story focuses on the protagonist of the story becoming an adult from usually a teenager. In a coming of age story you see the main character face many problems and resolutions in their journey. Similar to how in the alchemist our main …show more content…
In the beginning of the story santiago is merely just a shepard that can read but, throughout the book he learns how to understand the language of the world. “‘I didn't know shepherds knew how to read,’... ‘How did you learn to read?’ the girl asked at one point. ‘Like everybody learns,’ he said. ‘In school.’” “‘I am learning the Language of the World, and everything in the world is beginning to make sense to me… even the flight of the hawks,’ he said to himself” In the first piece of evidence the reader can only see that he is relatively smart because he knows how to read and is a shepard. But as the story continues santiago also grows and comes of age to a point at which he starts to learn and understand the language of the world. Which is a huge addition in his overall knowledge, as seen in the second piece of …show more content…
The coming of age component of the story is dispersed throughout the story in many ways, this is shown by the author because through santiago’s life journey he learns lots that he otherwise would not have known. In real life we make many decisions that affect how we learn and the information that we end up learning. Some decisions turn out for the good and benefit us, but some put us in a bad state and end up wrecking us but still teaching an important lesson. Being human comes with having good times and bad time both of which we learn from, the good times ca lead to great success, and bad times to extreme failures, but alas we still learn and improve upon our actions. And that is what coming of age is
After miles of trekking across the desert for many weeks, Santiago eventually meets the Alchemist. They continue their journey through the desert until one day when three soldiers capture them. The alchemist makes a deal with the soldiers; if Santiago can turn himself into the wind in three days, they will be set free, forcing Santiago to face two more challenges. First, he must quickly learn the Language of the World. To do so, he thoroughly examines himself and the world around him.
He finds hope by learning that the Soul of the World has a spiritual force that meshes everyone together. Santiago must communicate with nature in what the novel considers the common language of the world, love. Santiago must seek out the help of the desert, wind, sun, and God in order to turn himself into the wind. His epiphany makes him recognize nature as a single, unified whole. Now
He is a stronger and smarter man because of what happened to him. Santiago hit a lot of adversity at the beginning of his journey and it prepared him for the worst of his journey. “Now he understood why the owner of the bar had been so upset: he was trying to tell him not to trust that man.” (Coelho 43). He lost it all and he was prepared for anything for the rest of his journey.
By continuing he finds his true inner strength. In the story, the author shows the importance of perseverance, and how to face the many obstacles that people are presented in their lives to complete their goal. In Coelho's novel, Santiago faces many difficult challenges, but because of his courage and perseverance, he is able to face them head on. While in the town of Tarifa, Santiago meets
What is the definition of "coming of age". According to the Oxford dictionary, "coming of age refers to the process of growing up or entering into adulthood". Now the other hand, Why does it happen? and finally, how does it affect ones health or mindset? These questions will all be answered from a specific perspective of a character and the main protagonist, in the book, "House On Mango Street".
Maturity is the feeling of needing to prove that one is sophisticated and old enough to do certain things. In the short story “Growing Up,” Maria’s family went on a vacation while she stayed at home, but when she heard there was a car crash that happened near where her family was staying, she gets worried and thinks it is all her fault for trying to act mature and angering her father. Society wants to prove how mature they are and they do so by trying to do things that older people do and the symbols, conflict, and metaphors in the text support this theme. First and foremost, in “Growing Up,” Gary Soto’s theme is how society acts older than they are and that they just want to prove they are mature. Maria wants to stay home instead of going
Paulo Coehlo’s, The Alchemist, explores the Hero’s Journey through the story of a shepherd, Santiago. Throughout the novel, Santiago becomes more aware of his potential as he pursues his Personal Legend. He faces temptations and obstacles as he develops as a character. The hero crosses the threshold when they leave their old reality in search for a new one. Santiago crosses the threshold by selling his sheep and taking a boat to Africa.
Santiago felt very pressured but he didn’t fear to die this time because he knew that the universe was going to help him. Santiago overcame the fear of dying and turned himself into the
Santiago realizes that he finally has a place and that he is supposed to be following his Personal
Decision-making through the theory of Existentialism Existentialism is a philosophy which means finding self or finding meaning of life. It is theory which talks about freedom. Paulo Coelho in the novel The Alchemist talks about Santiago’s dilemmas and how he takes decision.
During his journey, Santiago receives knowledge that he treasures and uses on his behalf when he hopes to achieve his personal legend. During his time with the Crystal merchant Santiago learned the five sacred obligations of all Muslims, and he learned that the Pyramids were not nearly as close as he thought when he arrived in Africa. During his time with the Alchemist he learned how to find life in the desert, and how to
Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. As this anonymous quote elucidates, fear acts as a barrier that essentially traps us in our comfort zone, limiting our experiences and holds one back from achieving his or her potential. In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the protagonist must overcome his own fear through obstacles that he comes across as fear diverts one from their purpose. To begin with, Santiago displays his fears throughout the book, and these fears are what hinders him from achieving his Personal Legend. Santiago displays an immense terror of failure.
Santiago has an epiphany when he realizes that if you never change and take risks you will never move forward. He wants to find his “personal legend,” or true desire, and to obtain this he needs to change his own nature. He must be willing to give up whatever is necessary to achieve this goal, including freedom. On Santiago’s journey he becomes employed by a crystal merchant that never achieved his personal legend. The merchant resisted change and never accomplished his dreams.
During the whole story Santiago is trying to find his personal legend, he is trying to find his purpose in life. Therefore in the Alchemist, the most important thing is personal legend. Everything is based off Santiago’s personal legend, if he wouldn’t of became a shepherd the book wouldn’t be all about him following his personal legend and trying to figure out what his was. Santiago has to figure out a bunch of new things that lend his to his personal
In Part one Santiago could be described as weak character. He is easily manipulated and persuaded by others such as the gypsy and the tour guide he met at the bar when he first arrived in Africa. His hunger for money blinds him from seeing his