Who Is Santiago Melchizedenek In The Alchemist

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. Then, he continues to travel to the pyramids and gets directed through the desert where he finds the alchemist and turns himself into the wind. Santiago then returns back to his hometown

Both of them were able to see the world with new eyes and that change is good. “..I know the things I should be able to accomplish, and I don’t want to do so.” They know what they are capable of doing but choose not to do it because they don’t want to deal with all the work they need to put into it. As with Santiago he has enough money to go back home but chooses to not give up and continue his journey despite having to sell his sheep and getting robbed. The “death” Santiago had to experience was when the alchemist had told him that if he cannot turn himself into the wind he will be killed. A “rebirth” was when he came back from turning himself into the wind. “The reached through to the Soul of the World, and saw that it was a part of the Soul of God, And he saw that the Soul of God was his own soul. And that he, a boy, could perform miracles” (pg. 152). Santiago realized that he is capable of doing anything as long as he believes in himself and doesn’t give up. He is able to learn more about himself and have more knowledge about