Santiago As A Theme In The Alchemist

During his journey, Santiago faces the obstacle of overcoming his fear of defeat. This challenge of his fear of defeat is what is significant to Santiago’s growth. As Santiago arrives in Morocco, he was robbed by a stranger and left with nothing in a strange place. Yet, over time Santiago found a job with a Crystal merchant and, “…he had been working incessantly, thinking only

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 poor adventurer boy, seeks the treasure in his dreams. Despite having a family that wanted him to become a priest. But as Santiago made way towards his journey, he was faced with the unlucky fate of being robbed of all he had. While he had nothing, he could only go up. He learned to find omens which that will lead him towards a better future. As a result he managed to land a job within a crystal merchant’s shop. Another instance is when Santiago is confronted by the love of his life. He wanted to stay with her forever, however doing so would force him to abandon his journey. Fatima,

Have you ever spent years of your life hoping to achieve a personal dream? Or did you have to give it up because it was “unrealistic”? In The Alchemist, a novel by Paulo Coelho, the protagonist is a shepherd named Santiago and he dreams of finding treasure and will do anything to find it. Santiago embarks on a new journey and travels to Egypt, and he meets characters like the Gypsy, the King of Salem, and the Alchemist. They all push him to follow his personal legend.

At the start, he seemed to be pretty skeptical about trying to go through his journey, but as he moved further and further, he started gaining confidence and a sense of purpose. Santiago learned the importance of following their personal legend and how it plays a role in bettering the world as a whole. “Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him,’ he said. ‘We, people’s hearts, seldom say much about those treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children.

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.

Despite this knowledge he knows that the outcome is worth the risk. After taking this journey he soon reaches the oasis. After traveling through the desert for many days and nights, this place is a paradise for Santiago. He fits in well with the society at the oasis and begins to create a life for himself there. He meets a girl, gets a job interpreting omens, and becomes a wealthy man. When it comes time to leave he experiences a new kind of fear. Not a fear of danger or death, but a fear of loss. He fears that if he leaves he may not return to his life that he loves so much and holds so dearly. When he gets the option to leave he confronts the difficult decision with something his tour guide told him. The guide said, “Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man” (88). This allowed Santiago to continue with his journey knowing that he is responsible for fulfilling his personal legend and not staying out of fear of loss. The Arab tribal camp is Santiago’s next stop in his journey. He is captured along with the alchemist, who promises them that in three days Santiago will become the wind and destroy the camp. This causes him to panic out of fear for another time, even with all he has learned. He is now experiencing the most crippling fear yet, the fear of failure. This type of fear is so bad because it causes people to not

Abstract: This study was carried out in order to investigate whether black tea has antimicrobial properties as stated in Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map. If tea does have antimicrobial properties, then it could aid in warding off waterborne diseases. We believed that if black tea is steeped in boiled water, then the amount of bacteria exposed to this solution would decrease. We expected to see no difference in the amount of bacteria exposed to the black tea solution. Tannic acid, black tea, boiled water, and a tetracycline antibiotic were tested for their zones of inhibition in order

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.

To guide my research, a variety of methods was implored. A few years ago, I was afforded the opportunity to study the development of Intercultural Education policies in communities of African descent in Ecuador. At the time, the country had started to make the plight of Afro-Ecuadorians more a part of the national discourse, and many new initiatives addressing the economic and social development of Afro-Ecuadorians had been erected. During the research study, I spent time visiting schools and community organizations aimed at fomenting educational opportunities for Afro-Ecuadorians in Chota Valley, Guayaquil, and Esmeraldas- regions that have the highest population of Afro-Ecuadorians. Although I was overwhelmed by the veracity of organizers, government officials, and school personnel committed to educational advancement for students of African descent, it was the efforts of leaders in Esmeraldas that

14) Earlier in the story, the alchemist told Santiago "when you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed." At the end of the story, how does this simple lesson change Santiago’s life? How does it lead him back to the treasure he was looking for?

Santiago plays a huge role in the theme is developed throughout the story. This is mostly due to how much the reader sees how Santiago changes as the novel progresses and as he gets closer to completing his Personal Legend. In the beginning of the story it is revealed that Santiago decided to abandon becoming a priest in favor of traveling, which can be interpreted as the earliest sign of change and transformation from the main character before his real journey begins. "I found these one day in the fields. I wanted them to be a part of your inheritance. But use them to buy your flock. Take to the fields, and someday you'll learn that our countryside is the best, and our women the most beautiful" (Coelho 18). Digging into the story more only leads to more examples of how Santiago changes. One major example that

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.

Blemish of Individual Character: Based on a real story, A Beautiful Mind narrates the life of John Nash, a man who experiences a mental disorder that he finds hard to recognize as his own. At the beginning of the film, John is completely clueless that he has schizophrenia. After winning a scholarship from Princeton University in 1947, he begins to imagine a roommate by the name of Charles. However, he does not realize that he is already having hallucinations until years later. One of John’s peers calls him the “mysterious West Virginian genius,” but no one ever believes he is schizophrenic until he is diagnosed by a psychiatrist.