Reaction Paper On The Alchemist

Foreshadowing or first obstacle helps to identify, or gives a hint (idea) of what the problem of the story is. Paolo Coelho has several foreshadowing events in the Alchemist; for example, the scene in which Santiago relates his dream to the gypsy, regarding the Egyptian pyramids. The dream itself is an indication of a foreshadowing event. It indicates the events that eventually will occur through the book, ‘’gives a taste of the problem ‘’.

The Shepherd, the protagonist in The Alchemist meets Fatima, a woman of the desert when pursuing his Personal Legend. They fall in love, but can’t stay together for long, as the Shepherd has to move on to reach his dream – but only if the Shepherd chooses to act as planned, prior to the stay at the desert. He fears he would lose Fatima if he chooses to carry out the plan, but finally decides to depend on her so

“… Dreams are the language of God. When he speaks our language, I can interpret what he has said. But if he speaks in the language of the soul, it is only you who can understand,” wrote Paulo Coelho. Omens are events that hold great prophetic power, and in the case of Santiago, can change one’s life. Fatima, Santiago’s sheep, and Urim and Thummim are symbols that project the story of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho forward by shaping a theme of “some risks are worth taking”.

“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

     After teaching the boy a lot about the journey he will go through, the king gave him omens to follow. Santiago sells his sheep, and travels to a town on his way to Egypt. He finds a man that could take him past the desert to Egypt. So the boy gives him the money that he got for the sheep. When the man shows Santiago the town for a little Santiago loses him in a crowd of hundreds shopping in the markets, and loses all his money. The boy learns not to trust anyone, and is told that there are many thieves in that town.

The book, The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, conveys many messages relating to life and society. The book outlines the story of a boy named Santiago who goes on a journey to the pyramids of Egypt, to find treasure. Along his way he learns about the concept of predetermined destiny, and the soul of the universe. One major moral shown within the book, is the idea that you should always pursue your dreams, despite minor obstacles, as you never know where it may take you.

Throughout the book “The Alchemist”, Santiago faces many trials on his journey to Egypt to find the treasure. He is able to follow all the steps of the Hero’s Journey, starting with the call to adventure and finishing with the status quo. Santiago may have started his journey in Spain and made his way to Egypt but key points through this book include the status quo, threshold, and the abyss.

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.

Paulo Coelho uses allusions throughout The Alchemist to relate the story to biblical figures. What is currently occurring in The alchemist is, that a strange man named Melchizedek is asking Santiago to give him one tenth of his heard and he will tell him how he has to get to the pyramids. Melchizedek told Santiago many ideals of following your dream in life, and he guided him and explained to him why it is always so important to follow your dream in life. Santiago gives him the sheep and Melchizedek tells him how to get to the treasure and then the book reads “Melchizedek… He would never again see the boy, just as he had never seen Abraham again after having charged him his one-tenth fee…That was his work” (Coelho 21). This alludes to the biblical story the biblical figure Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the King of Salem, and it is said that when Abraham was returning after a battle Melchizedek met him, blessed him, and brought him bread and wine. In return,

Paulo Coelho has inspired many people around the world with his novel, The Alchemist. The main focus in the book was about a local shepherd boy named Santiago (who behind some slight encouragement from an old gypsy woman as well as an old man that believes himself to be a king) travels from his home country of Spain, to the pyramids located over in the Egyptian desert attempting to uncover the treasure which is buried in the pyramids. Coelho exercises various sorts of images discovered from the beginning to the end of the book such as a sheep, oil and a spoon, the wind, the desert, and lastly Fatima to convey the theme of a journey that is equally important to the goal.

After asking around in the village about the alchemist tent, he decided to ask one more person before giving up, and then a young girl approaches near a well. When he first sees her he falls deeply in love. The girl introduces herself as Fatima, then Santiago asked about the alchemist."That’s the man who knows all the secrets of the world. He communicates with the Genesis of the desert" said Fatima. He spoke about his feeling he felt when he first saw her he said" I Want you to be my wife. I love you." During this time there is a war going on that is preventing Santiago from leaving Al-Fayoum. Santiago doesn’t want the war to end because if it does, that means he has to continue with his journey. Fatima and Santiago continue to see each other every day the time he was there. Fatima then confesses her love for Santiago. Fatima has been waiting her entire life for him but she wants him to continue his journey to his personal legend. She tells Santiago if they are meant to be together, they will meet again. Fatima was different in his eyes she was beautiful and encouraging. Santiago found some encouragement and support from a woman he loved to continue to follow his personal

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,

Santiago finds his treasure at the place where he first dreamt of. The ending, then, can be interpreted as Santiago needs to go in a difficult situation and time to gain the knowledge or wisdom.

In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago is a young Andalusian shepherd who is told he must go to Egypt by a gypsy after he keeps having the same dream about a child telling him to go to the Pyramids and find the treasure. This is the start of his journey of self discovery. The first person to tell him about his Personal Legend, which is what keeps him going