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Literary Analysis: The Alchemist

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Miranda Hamm Bergdale ENG (11-world literature-period 1) 14 September 2015 Literary Analysis Paulo Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist, is an extraordinary story about a young boy chasing his dreams. When the main character, Santiago, was sleeping by a sycamore tree in an old run down church, he had a dream of a child telling him to travel to the Egyptian pyramids and find the hidden treasure. Santiago was confused and didn’t know what to think of the dream. He decided to go talk to a gypsy woman in town and get a second opinion. Surprisingly, the woman said to go to the pyramids. Santiago then sets off on his journey and meets many new people and learns many new lessons along the way. Although there are many themes presented throughout the Alchemist, …show more content…

The only dreams he ever had were to travel with his flock of sheep or marry the merchant's daughter. When he had that dream about finding the treasure, it was all new to him. He was unsure how to even go about going to the pyramids and wasn't sure that that dream was really what he wanted to do. After talking to the gypsy woman, Santiago ran into a man named Melchizedek who was the King of Salem. Melchizedek also said that Santiago should follow his dreams and go to the Pyramids. He taught him about his personal legend as well. "It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is." (Coelho 23) Santiago had never heard of a Personal Legend before. He didn't understand that everyone had a purpose in life, and had certain dreams to chase. Melchizedek was trying to get him on the right track and make sure he looked at life in a new perspective. Santiago questioned Melchizedek why he was telling him all of this. Melchizedek replied saying, "Because you are trying to realize your personal Legend. And you are at the point where you're about to give it all up." (Coelho 25) At that point, Santiago had made up his mind. He was going to set out on a journey to find the pyramids. Melchizedek had taught him many important lessons and it changed the way Santiago thought about his life. He knew he had to …show more content…

The day after he had talked to Melchizedek, they met up again and he gave him one tenth of his flock of sheep. He wasn't sure that it was the best idea but he knew he had to have faith in the king. Melchizedek then gave him a lesson about finding the treasure and said, “ In order to find the treasure, you will have to follow the omens. God has prepared a path for everyone to follow.” (Coelho 31) He also told him that the treasure was at the pyramids. Santiago was surprised to hear this because the gypsy woman had told him the same thing. This gave him a lot more confidence and hope for the rest of his journey. He knew that if he followed the path that God had paved for him, he would be in good

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