How To Interpret The Alchemist

Admittedly, another way Dahl’s writing is successful is his use of utilization to develop the characters in the story. In the exposition, Dahl introduces us to the narrator Timber, Harry’s friend.As the author states, “'Don't move and don't talk any more unless you have to, you know it won't bite unless it's frightened. We'll fix it in no time.' I went softly out of the room in my stocking feet and fetched a small sharp knife from the kitchen. I put it in my trouser pocket ready to use instantly in case something went wrong while we were still thinking out a plan. If Harry coughed or moved or did something to frighten the krait and got bitten, I was going to be ready to cut the bitten place and try to suck the venom out”(Dahl, 3). This claim illustrates

Dreams are the base of The Alchemist action as its meaning. In my opinion the author is trying to describe the journey of Santiago and compares it to the journey of life in general. The message of The Alchemist is to always have a goal, a dream, something that you can focus on, but always trusting yourself. In this novel, probably it has a moral, but been honest I did not know which is it. It can have more than one but this is just an opinion.

Social isolation is a social issue where people avoid contact with one society. They are commonly seen nowadays preventing people from interacting with another as well as creating reliable relations, abating any chances for one to realize their destiny. This negative spiral immensely affects the opportunity for people holding a feeling of love and community toward others.

“You can always turn a bad kisser into a good one,” Laura Prepon. Santiago, the main character of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist leads a modest and ordinary life as a shepherd. Santiago travelled constantly, exploring the Andalusian terrain. In his travels, Santiago met a woman who interpreted his dreams, and told him his treasure would lie in Egypt at the pyramids. However, Santiago believed that the dream interpreter was a phony, and he continued to herd his sheep. Soon after, he exchanged words with the King of Salem, and Santiago was once again told to venture to Egypt in order to find his treasure. After careful consideration, Santiago sells his precious sheep and begins his journey. An alchemist, somebody who turns lead

We all have read many books throughout our lives, and we all have our different ways of thinking as well as different approaches to certain books. It all depends on the person’s background because we all arrived from different places in which we experienced many things that can cause us to think differently from others. Now does the authors background matter is the question, and my answer is that it is helpful to know about the authors background since it helps understand the story better especially for challenging readings. Knowing an author’s background can help the reader understand why the author decided to make certain decisions in the story that her or she might have made. Also it helps the reader

Some may refer to The Alchemist as a best-selling novel written by Paulo Coelho which explains the ideas of having a dream, or Personal Legend, and going through obstacles to conquer it. The book starts off like any other, introducing and describing the main characters, in this case Santiago is the first to share the interest of peers reading the story. He is said to be a small town shepherd boy who will do anything for his flock of sheep. In the opening scene of the story, Santiago takes his flock to an abandoned church and lies down under a sycamore tree hoping to get some rest. He is soon woken up from a disturbing dream which foreshadows further into the story of his own Personal Legend. Later in the book, Santiago is faced with multiple tests to be successful in finding his treasure. “Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure” (Coelho 15). Paulo continues to add characters in the book that help Santiago throughout his journey.

The alchemist is a well written book that accurately describes every concept about life and explains it through a story. The Alchemist is a book about a shepherd named Santiago, who discovers his personal legend and receives help from others to help achieve his Personal Legend and learns many major life lessons along the way. Santiago gets advice that when life puts him down, keep getting back up and to focus on the task at hand, which is Santiago’s own personal legend. Along the the journey, Santiago receives help from many different characters but only three characters who helped him the most throughout his quest for his Personal legend is the alchemist, the Old King and the Englishman. The best advice a reader is able to gain from this story is the advice the the Old King taught Santiago, which is” there is only one thing that makes achieving a dream impossible to achieve, the fear of failure” which means is to never be afraid of failures and to follow your own path God has laid out for you because if you are too afraid to pursue your personal legend, meaning if people are too afraid to take risks to make their own life better than it already is now, then they will not have the opportunity to accomplish their own goals. In Coelho's The Alchemist, Santiago learns the Soul of the World through experience, patience, time and help from the Old King, the Englishman and the alchemist.

Readers are positioned to sympathize and reflect on his experiences, encouraging them to connect the moral lessons of the novel to their own personal

Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist tells the story of Santiago, a young shepherd living in an abandoned church in a small Andalusian town, who is stripped of his comfortable and safe lifestyle after an encounter with Melchizedek, an Islamic king who tells him of his “Personal Legend” (21). Melchizedek points Santiago in the direction of his treasure only after taking one-tenth of his money, giving him two stones, and a lesson on reading omens. Throughout his journey, Santiago meets new friends, has everything stolen from him three times, and travels the vast and unknown Sahara Desert all while achieving personal growth and an understanding of his life’s meaning. His journey leads him to an Oasis

The Alchemist is a journey of exploration and self-discovery as we follow the main character, Santiago, a young shepherd who lives in Spain, on a journey to fulfill his personal legend. The novel shows us wisdoms and gentle reminders of how to change our lives from what they may be today into the life we have always dreamed of.

The Alchemist, a novel written by Paulo Coelho teaches us about the importance of self-discovery and exploration by taking us through the journey of a young Andalusian shepherd, Santiago. Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 24th 1947, to Pedro Quiema Coelho de Souza, an engineer, and his wife, Lygia, a homemaker. Paulo early on had dreamed of an artistic career and then after his surroundings in Jesuit school, he discovered his true vocation was to be a writer (Coelho 195). Upon telling his mom, she told him that his father was an engineer, a reasonable and logical man and had a clear view of the world. At the age of 16, Paulo’s opposition against following a traditional path led to his parents committing him into a mental institution (Paulo Coelho). To satisfy his parents, he enrolled in law school. However, it led him to mental illness and failing his career. After many years, he gave a shot at his dream profession and started to write. Paulo wrote The Pilgrimage: Diary of Magus which described his experiences and his discovery that the extraordinary occurs in the lives of ordinary people. He was the recipient of numerous international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum. The Pilgrimage was published in 1987 and The Alchemist was published in 1988, a year after. Both novels appeared on the best sellers list but The Alchemist continued to sell more copies than any other book in Brazilian literary history. The Alchemist,

The themes in The Alchemist form it into a successful novel. This requires the reader to interpret the purpose and meaning of the book. The three main themes in the book are Personal Legend, Soul of the World, and fear. Personal Legend's are the idea that if one wants something so bad “that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission Earth” (Coelho 24). If someone decides to live out their Personal Legend then everything in the universe will conspire with them, so they can achieve it. This is called the Soul of the World. In order to achieve one’s dream then they have to understand the Soul of the World. A person can pierce the Soul of the World by following and listening to the heart which is the foundation of someone’s Personal Legend. “If you know about love, you must know about the Soul of

A journey is a composition of music. Different instruments come together to play different strings of notes that harmoniously combine to create a symphony. Santiago, the main protagonist from The Alchemist, experiences many symphonies on his road to realize his Personal Legend. His experiences guided him to his goal and when he had finally achieved it, the story came to a close. The ending of the novel was obvious and satisfying. Paulo Coelho left his audience with a satiating end to a long story. The ending of the story fitted perfectly with the book because it enhanced the idea of the Soul of the World, the cycles of life, and overall these ideas all came with realizing his Personal Legend.

People grow both mentally and physically in their lifetimes; however, the unique ways in which people grow and develop create the wonder of diverse human life. Paulo Coelho contradicts this idea in his novel The Alchemist when he states, “And my heart and soul is your heart and soul” (IX). This underlines Coelho’s whole idea all of humanity’s stories are the same. Coelho shares this idea as he attempts to describe what he believes this shared story is through a boy named Santiago. However, while the humanity and Santiago may share the same goals, the way that Santiago achieves them is unrealistic compared to most of society. Santiago begins innocent and unknowledgeable of the world, and goes out on a mission to find his Personal Legend.

Allegory: A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.