Time and space are two variables that are capable of changing a story in its entirety. The Alchemist takes place in a pre-modern period, somewhere in the 1800’s in various locations like Tangier, Spain and the pyramids of Egypt. There weren’t any automobiles, airplanes and telephones around to assist Santiago on his travels as a shepherd and communication. If Paulo Coelho, the author had chosen to change the settings of the book to a modern time period such as the 20th or the 21st century, the Alchemist could have been a completely different story. Santiago wouldn’t have struggled as much with getting to Egypt if he had lived in a modern era. He could have actually taken a plane to Egypt by earning money while working for the crystal merchant
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
'Suddenly, [a] child took me by both hands and transported me to the Egyptian pyramids' (page 13, Alchemist) Santiago explains, thus exposing the second aspect and giving our quester somewhere to go. Number three, 'a stated reason to go there' (page 3, HTRLLAP), is exposed along with aspect two. Santiago continues telling his dream, the child telling him that 'if you come [to the pyramids], you will find a hidden treasure' (page 13/14, Alchemist). Money and treasure are big motivators in literature, helping Santiago in making his decision to quest or not. That's only half the battle. The biggest reason stated is our quester being 'jealous of the freedom of the wind' and that with this quest he 'could have the same freedom' (page 28,
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
Throughout Santiago’s journey, he had several setbacks. As Santiago begins his journey to his treasure, he enters the continent of Africa and stops at a bar. Santiago then meets a man he thinks he can trust. After entrusting the entrusting the man with his money, Santiago gets robbed and never sees the man or his money again. After that experience, Santiago learns it is difficult to trust people. This was a the first of a few major setbacks for him. In Africa with no money, Santiago has to find a job. I think of that as a set back, it took Santiago an extra year to get to his treasure. Santiago worked for one year and when he gained enough money to continue his journey towards his treasure he moves on. Not too long after Santiago’s first
In the same way, Santiago faces numerous obstacles along his journey as well. On his journey when Santiago arrives in tangier, he meets a boy who is his age who speaks Spanish and offered to help him get to the pyramids. When they were about to leave the bar owner grabs Santiago and tells him something. “The boy push the owner aside and pulls Santiago outside with him” and tells him that “the owner wanted Santiago’s money” (Coelho, 37). But the owner of the bar was
This may have lead to The Alchemist included a war in an oasis in Egypt. This includes the threats both military forces dish out. In real life Coelho was tortured by the military, in the book, Santiago was threatened to be killed. Also Brazil’s majority is Roman Catholic; this is important because he met a strange man who guided Coelho back to his original faith. In the book, an alchemist was Santiago’s mentor.
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.
Only God was able to give him this power. This showed him how powerful God is, and how insignificant him and all of nature actually were in retrospect. So by facing death in the rebel prison, Santiago learned to trust himself, the world, God and to read the omens life gave
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
Throughout The Alchemist there were many twists and turns as well as changes to the main character Santiago. He had to adapt to the different ways of life in each place he visited, and had the tenacity to never give up on his journey even when times became tough, i.e. when he was robbed. Santiago started out as a shepherd, happy with how life was, maybe a sense of wanting more; later he encountered a king, gypsies, and others along the way who literally wanted him to follow his dreams because they could change a person’s life. He had to take risks and leave everything he had known behind to follow something he knew little to none about. When Santiago wanted to stay within his boundaries, he was pushed by the people he met which enabled him
The Gypsy women tell Santiago to follow his dream and go to Egypt. Santiago, still not confident about going to Egypt, meets a man claiming to be the king of Salam. This man echoes the dream interpreter’s opinion and tells Santiago that it is his personal legend to journey to the pyramids and that he should sell his flock of sheep and set off to Tangier. This man said, “…people are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.” (23) This shows that you just have to have confidence and you can do what you dream of. Santiago takes the man’s advice and sells his flock of sheep and goes to Tangier.
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.
The englishmen for example knew his destiny and tried to help Santiago follow his
The value of the treasure is unknown but it is inferred to be one of a magnificent worth. Over the next years, Santiago ventures from his home to Egypt, meeting a plethora of people
The reason Santiago moving from Spain to North Africa and changing the landscape fit with the story’s running theme of change and transformation is because of how he had to adapt. In Part II of The Alchemist, the change of setting reflected change and transformation because of how the crystal shop merchant headed the words of the boy and changed the setting of his crystal shop to attract more customers. This is similar to how Santiago was pushed by his recurring dream to leave his normal environment in search of treasure in a strange and new one.