Free Will In Pail Coelho's Alchemist

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?

Some things that Santiago has learned through action are that Santiago learns how easy it is to give up searching for one's Personal Legend. One time when the soldiers of the desert are about to kill Santiago if he cannot turn himself into the wind, the boy learns to speak to the desert, the wind, and the sun. Another time was when Santiago stopped reading his book and actually paid attention to the caravan and he then understood the desert better.

Santiago’s growth was inspiring to me. He has learned a great deal from action. He learns quite a lot about the land and his sheep by being a shepherd and paying attention to the world around him. His grandfather had mentioned to him a while back of an omen. “By traveling, watching and paying attention, the world will speak to Santiago to help him find is Personal Legend.” Through action, Santiago learns how easy it is to search for one’s Personal Legend. Everyone has their own way of learning things. For example when Santiago decides to try reading the Englishman’s book and he would try and read the signs of the desert. The boy does not learn a thing from the book and the Englishman learns nothing from watching the caravan. Just as Santiago

A. “Every search begins with beginners luck and ends with the victors being severely tested.” The alchemist says this to Santiago at the end of the novel. In the beginning, the king tells him to go achieve his Personal Legend because he had beginner’s luck. “That’s the way it always is.

Furthermore,In the book, Santiago reflects the theme in many different ways. One way in which Santiago reflects the theme is when he meets the crystal merchant and helped him in the shop so much that it became the best crystal shop ever. According to the Merchant on page 54, Santiago has changed this life and himself to the best version of themselves. For instance, in the book, it says, “Crystal Merchant: “I’ve had this shop for thirty years. I know good crystal from bad, and everything else there is to know about crystal. I know its dimensions and how it behaves. If we serve tea in the crystal, the shop is going to expand. And then I’ll have to change my way of life.” / Boy: “Well, isn’t that good?” / Crystal Merchant: “I’m already used to the way things are. Before you came, I was thinking about how much time I had wasted in the same place, while my friends had moved on, and either went bankrupt or did better than they had before. It made me very depressed. Now, I can see that it hasn’t been too bad. The shop is exactly the size I always wanted it to be. I don’t want to change anything, because I don’t know how to deal with change. I’m used to the way I am.” The boy didn’t know what to say. The old man continued, “You have been a real blessing to me. Today, I understand something I didn’t see before: every blessing ignored becomes a curse. I don’t want anything else in life. But you are forcing me to look at wealth and horizons I have never known. Now that I have seen them, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I’m going to feel worse than I

Santiago always believed that his future would involve him being a shepherd until he met the

Sartre proposes an interesting view on free will when he says, "either man is wholly determined or else man is wholly free." This quote shows us that Sartre believes that man is free to do what he wants. For Sartre, freedom is the most basic value, which renders possible all other values the way our fundamental plan precedes and grounds our small choices. In that sense freedom is the source of all values. It is not logically possible to make sense of human responsibility and notions of justice without a conception of free will. This is because it is free will that allows us as humans to choose and make the right decisions in life.

For once, Celie was satisfied with what she saw in the mirror. Furthermore, Santiago has many mentors along the way such as the crystal merchant, the Englishman, the King of Salem and the alchemist. All of these characters taught Santiago many lessons telling him to not be afraid of fear but to take risks. For example the alchemist told Santiago, “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself” (Coelho 134). The alchemist teaches Santiago to take risks and to not waste his time having regrets.

Paul D'holbach was a hard determinist philosopher wrote an article called "The illusion of Free Will". In this article he discussed how all that one does is caused by things that is out of one's control. D'holbach claims that

Another example of Santiago being characterized as seldom for possessing "treasures" of great value is at the Oasis, when the Chieftains and individuals see him as uncanny for interpreting omens of hawks fighting each other, and question in "Why would the desert reveal such things to a stranger...?" (page 105). It is not until after they listen to him that they realize that he possesses great abilities that will aid him in his journey and the people of the Oasis when conducting decisions. During both situations Santiago is also a little bit unaware of the great "treasure" he possesses of interpreting omens and it takes constant reminders from the advice he receives from many individuals for him to appreciate his abilities and take advantage of them to achieve his personal

Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince tells a story about the desire of Pope Alexander VI to provide his son with fame, fortune and royalty. Cesare Borgia, the Pope’s son, also referred to as Duke Valentino took it upon himself to gain control of an army and property however he did not trust the people that surrounded him. The Duke feared that everyone would turn against him so he publically killed the man he assigned to govern the people; this act secured Cesare’s role as leader. Machiavelli could see what was happening around him, in his beloved Italy, so he decided to provide his advice on the way men should live in order to maintain power.

After finding out would have to go to the Pyramids to fulfill his Legend, he knew giving up his sheep would be the first step. Before doing so, he went to buy a ticket for a train ride to Egypt. “While standing at the ticket window, the boy had remembered his flock, and decided he should go back to being a shepherd…a shepherd may like to travel, but he may never forget about his sheep”(26!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Santiago’s love for the flock was always associated with traveling, so when he decided to stay with the sheep because of the memories he had with them he inadvertently halted his Personal Legend. Once he realized the sheep were keeping him from seeing what the world had to offer, he was content with letting them

Throughout this novel there are many different characters that Santiago encounters, some more influential than others. For example, the crystal merchant. The crystal merchant helps Santiago by giving him a job when Santiago is robbed, and in a way Santiago is also helping the crystal merchant because Santiago’s unconventional sales methods bring in lots of business for the merchant. Another way the crystal merchant helped Santiago was by, unintentionally, giving Santiago an example of what happens when you don't follow your personal legend, you become unhappy with your life and are stuck with a boring job. This motivates Santiago to continue in with his journey. But the merchant also pushes Santiago further from his personal legend by saying

As time passes, the question remains of whether or not our lives are predetermined or if we get to choose our own destiny. The question of whether or not God or any other power in the universe has already made plans for us, or if the outcome of our own decisions will shape our lives. Every single person starts off with a certain position in society, and has the opportunity to grow from that place and become the person that they are meant to be. Fate and freewill will be constant no matter what one does. Through my own life, I can relate to Santiago’s experiences, as in the beginning of his journey he questioned whether fate or freewill was enough to fulfill his own destiny.

An instance that demonstrates this is when he meets Melchizedek, who displays his capacity to know about him, his personal history, and his thoughts without ever asking Santiago anything at all. And in turn, Santiago accepts this about the king of Salem, reflecting not too long on where he came from, but the message that Melchizedek bestowed on him instead; lessons on Personal Legends, the Soul of the World, and the Principle of Favorability --- also known as Beginner’s Luck. Even the ability of the mystical stones, named Urim and Thummim, given to him by the king to help make decisions does Santiago not question. Bringing in fantastical elements into a real world setting, all the while authorial reticence is exhibited to heighten a sense of mystery, are all characteristics of magic