Literary Analysis: 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

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

The women he uses are the gypsy woman, his mother, and his soul mate, Fatima. The first woman he comes across is his own mother. His mother is much like his father, who wants him to just to grow up and become a priest. Regardless of that however, she is very supportive and wishes him the best when Santiago tells his parents he wants to be a shepherd. The next woman he encounters is the gypsy woman. Santiago went to visit a gypsy to see if she had could figure out anything about the dream he kept on having. She tells him that he should follow these dreams to the pyramids, but once he finds this treasure, he must give her one tenth of it. ‘“And this is my interpretation: you must go to the Pyramids in Egypt. I have never heard of them, but, if it was a child who showed them to you, they exist. There you will find a treasure that will make you a rich man’” (Coelho 14). The final woman he meets is his soul mate, Fatima. When he first meets Fatima he falls straight in love with her. He had wanted to stay behind and leave his Personal Legend, but it was Fatima and the Alchemist who had told him not to abandon it. Fatima told him to come back for her

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.

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.

At the beginning of the novel, Santiago is launched on a quest for his “treasure” through his encounter with an old man named Melchizedek. In the story he says, “that he only appears at critical moments when a person might be giving up on pursuing their Personal Legend.” Melchizedek tells Santiago that all people know what their Personal Legend is when they’re young, but the more they age, the more they forget because they are blinded and blocked by fear and anxiety. Another person who helps Santiago in realizing the theme is The Englishman, whom is a British man who has come to North Africa in search of the alchemist. He has studied the art of alchemy from books, but he wishes to complete the Master Work because he feels that he’ll be able to learn these things from the alchemist.

“The Alchemist” is a novel written by Paulo Coelho in 1988. Regarded as Coelho’s best novel, it captures the elixir of life through the view of a sanguine Spanish Shepard. Set in a forsaken church in Spain at night; the young Shepard Santiago tastes the exquisite sensation of a compelling dream. He dreams that a young lad tells him about a hidden treasure nigh the Egyptian pyramids. After the dream relapses more than once, Santiago opts to confer an old man and an old woman who tell him that his dream is oracular and that he must abide by its directions. Santiago then decides to pursue his vision and sets off on the venture of a lifetime with a set purpose of locating the fortune hidden near the Egyptian pyramids. In the course of his quest, he meets several people who act as figures that succor him and elevate his experience. As well, he comes into contact with the diversity of human emotions, as he experiences sorrow, pain, elation, agitation and love. In addition, he learns about the mechanism of the universe and the earth’s way of sending

While yes, Santiago did face many obstacles and challenges on his way to find the treasure, the main conflict of the story is not an external one, but an internal one. Santiago’s inner turmoil between choosing either to make sacrifices and take risks in order to complete his Personal Legend or settling for the comforts and treasures he already had was the key problem in the story. This also validated Santiago not only as the protagonist, but also as his own antagonist. There were many instances in which the story could have been cut short if Santiago had not taken a leap of faith. From the very beginning, upon meeting Melchizedek, he had been reluctant to make the decision between what he was accustomed to, his flock, and what he wanted, the

A personal legend is a roadmap to a person’s inner most desires and feeling. A personal legend can develop a journey that only the world can conspire. It is a blessing that can not be taken for granted. In the novel “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coehlo a shepherd boy, Santiago, is on a journey to fulfill his destiny; along the way he encounters many people and omens that help point him in the direction of his personal legend. Along his journey Santiago first runs into a very mysterious gypsy woman ,and asks her to tell him his future.

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.

Santiago is confused on what he wants to do because his heart is telling him that he wants to stay with Fatima( the girl from the desert) but he knows that he has to follow the dreams he had and find the treasure at the great pyramids. The alchemist is just trying to advise santiago on what he thinks he should be doing he also gave him a scenario of what would

The Theme of “The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho is, always follow your dreams and listen to your heart. At the start of the novel Santiago does not know what he should do when he is confronted by his dream. But by the end of the novel Santiago completely trusts his heart to guide him though life. Santiago’s story shows him learning and living out the theme of the novel.

“Who am I?” A question we often ask ourselves while trying to discover what we were meant to do here in this world. Who exactly, are you? Well, that is a journey that you must undertake yourself, just as a shepherd on the path to fulfill his Personal Legend once did. In Paulo Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist, a young boy sets out on a journey. It is a journey of adventure, courage, and most importantly, self-discovery. During his quest to achieve his Personal Legend, Santiago encounters many significant people and endures multiple experiences that are not only essential in adding to his knowledge of the Soul of the World, but to his knowledge of his own soul, too.

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.