Character Sketch Of The Alchemist

Santiago made a reasonable sum of money working for the crystal merchant, and decided it was time to abandon his job to continue his search for his treasure. Along the way, he was halted by a tribal war in the desert and forced to stay in an oasis. During his visit he met a young woman named Fatima. After only a few interactions, Santiago decides he wants to marry this woman, “‘I came to tell you just one thing,’ the boy said. ‘I want you to be my wife. I love you’(Coelho, 95). What once was negative became positive. Santiago’s journey had been paused multiple times, and he was stuck in an oasis instead of venturing to the

14) Earlier in the story, the alchemist told Santiago "when you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed." At the end of the story, how does this simple lesson change Santiago’s life? How does it lead him back to the treasure he was looking for?

In the book there are a lot of characters, but the main characters are Santiago, The Alchemist, Fatima, Englishman and the Crystal Merchant. I am choosing to write the Analysis on Santiago, he is the protagonist. Santiago is a shepherd from Spain, he kept on having a recurring dream about a treasure in the Egypt. He was determined to find his treasure and learn about the world. His parents wanted him to become a priest, but instead became a Shepherd because of his desire to travel throughout the country. Santiago was hesitant at first, but it all changed when he met a king from Salem, he explained about omens and powers of nature. This quote was the inspiration “And dreams are the language of God. When he speaks in our language,

Throughout the book, Coelho addresses the attractive quality and the sense of security that wealth and acceptable social status bring. Nevertheless, he also illustrates that one must reject the lure of riches and reputation in order to attain one’s highest potential. At first, Santiago ignores his dream to travel to Egypt because of his strong desire to earn back the money that he has lost due to the robbery. As such, Santiago becomes employed at a crystal shop and works “incessantly, thinking only of putting aside enough money so that he could return to Spain with pride” (62). Instead of saving his money for a trip across the Sahara desert to pursue his dream, at this time, Santiago wishes to return to Spain to become a shepherd once again. Here, Santiago is tempted to permanently settle down and live among people. Furthermore, Santiago also encounters a group of tribesmen and becomes a prisoner along with the alchemist. When the alchemist gives up all of Santiago’s gold, Santiago gets upset and says “You gave them everything I had! Everything I’ve saved in my entire life!” (141). Santiago is frustrated because he has saved up enough to live a life luxurious back home. Although Santiago’s sacrifice of wealth is unwillingly done by another individual, it allows him to continue his path of becoming his Personal Legend as it spares his life. By sacrificing his earthly desire and obsession with fortune, Santiago’s

When Santiago arrives in Tangier he is robbed by a thief and is forced to find work from the locals. He meets a crystal merchant and gets hired to work for him. Santiago convinces the merchant to take some risks in his business. This advice pays off and Santiago becomes a rich man in just a year. Santiago stars to gain confidence in his decisions and decides to use his earning to pursue his personal legend. Santiago soon joins a caravan crossing the Sahara desert and meets an Englishman who is studying to become an Alchemist. On the trip Santiago and the Englishman don’t converse much but Santiago still ends up learning a lot

Santiago lives in Spain and has always wanted to go and travel to see his country, he also understood the countryside and the language of the sheep. This was able to help him make his way to Egypt. His status quo was

To begin his long journey, Santiago meets a wise old king name King Melchizedek. He is in a local market when the king walks up and asks Santiago what he is reading. The king continues to say that the book he is reading is important but irritating because it describes the characters inability to choose their own Personal Legend. When Santiago asks where this mysterious stranger is from, King Melchizedek replies with “I am from many places, but I was born in Salem as I am the king there” (Coelho 64). Accepting his statement as true, Santiago continues the conversation allowing them to eventually talk about his dream of the Pyramids. The king wants to help Santiago, but for a price of six sheep. Before leaving with Santiago’s sheep he shares, “’The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon’” (Coelho 32). His message to Santiago reminds him that by following his dream he will witness beautiful sights and people, but that he should always remember the purpose of his travels. Leaving it at that, the king pointed Santiago in the direction to follow his dream.

Paulo Coelho uses allusions throughout The Alchemist to relate the story to biblical figures. What is currently occurring in The alchemist is, that a strange man named Melchizedek is asking Santiago to give him one tenth of his heard and he will tell him how he has to get to the pyramids. Melchizedek told Santiago many ideals of following your dream in life, and he guided him and explained to him why it is always so important to follow your dream in life. Santiago gives him the sheep and Melchizedek tells him how to get to the treasure and then the book reads “Melchizedek… He would never again see the boy, just as he had never seen Abraham again after having charged him his one-tenth fee…That was his work” (Coelho 21). This alludes to the biblical story the biblical figure Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the King of Salem, and it is said that when Abraham was returning after a battle Melchizedek met him, blessed him, and brought him bread and wine. In return,

Santiago also demonstrates exceptional resilience throughout the book. One example of this is when he sells his flock and travels to Egypt. Once arriving in Tangier he is immediately robbed by a thief, leaving him with no money. Rather than sulking and giving up, his resilient attitude guides him to looking for an opportunity to better his situation, which leads him to finding the crystal shop. Hear he puts all his effort into doing his work as best as he could, eventually leading to great financial success.

Santiago starts his journey relying on his good luck, but when he arrives in Tangier, he is stolen from. The alchemist tells him

Santiago,the boy who was born in a priest’s family and was put up to become a priest.But ever since he had been a child,he had wanted to know the world ,and this was much more important than knowing about God and learning about mans’ sins.He summed up courage and told his father that he want travel all over the world and learn.He is a humble shepherd whose desires are few–he wants to be free to roam with his sheep, to have some wine in his wineskin and a book in his bag. Fate intervenes, however, in the form of the recurring dream of a great treasure hidden thousands of miles away at the base of the Egyptian Pyramids. When Santiago meets melchizedek, a strange wise man who claims he is a king from a far-off land, he decides to seek his treasure. The next day, Santiago sells his sheep and embarks to Africa to pursue his dream.

Soon after, Santiago is forced to work for a crystal merchant in the hopes of replacing his lost money and continuing on his quest. He works for the merchant for eleven months and during this time, continues to think less and less of his Personal Legend. He becomes skilled in this practice and begins to work towards instead, replacing his flock of sheep and returning to his past lifestyle. During this time, Santiago perceived reaching the pyramids as an impossible feat claiming “Egypt was now just a distant dream for him” and that, like a mirage, it would always be just out of his reach (56). In this way, Coelho shows that Santiago’s morale is lessening. The more that he stays at the crystal shop, the more he sees his treasure as a mirage instead of a physical object.

Young boy Santiago is a shepherd because he knows what he wants. In “The Alchemist” Santiago changes in many ways and learns many things from the start to the end of the book. Santiago is going to a village as a shepherd and in the meantime, he is staying in an abandoned church. When he is sleeping he keeps having a reoccurring dream, so he explains it to a gypsy woman. The woman says that he will find a treasure in the pyramids in Egypt. Later, he meets an old man that tells him that to he has to listen to omens to find his treasure. He also gives Santiago stones that will tell him what to do. Santiago sells his sheep to find his hidden treasure, however, when he is going he gets robbed, and he has to work at a glass shop to get money again. When he gets enough money to cross the desert and go to the pyramids, he meets a caravan about to cross the desert. On their way to the other side of the desert, they figure out that war is going on in the middle of the desert, so they have to stop for a long time until the war is over. Since Santiago

The book tells a story of a shepherd boy, who owns a herd of sheep. His name is Santiago. In his sleep, he has dreamt a dream at two occasions that he needs to go to the pyramids of Egypt to find treasures.

In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago is a young Andalusian shepherd who is told he must go to Egypt by a gypsy after he keeps having the same dream about a child telling him to go to the Pyramids and find the treasure. This is the start of his journey of self discovery. The first person to tell him about his Personal Legend, which is what keeps him going