As Santiago and The Alchemist continued their journey, they were suddenly surrounded by tribesmen, captured to the nearby military camp, and then accused of being spies. I was bewildered when The Alchemist gave the chief all of Santiago’s money and tells him Santiago is able to turn into the wind, and that they would show him his power in three days. However, I felt like this was some sort of test he had to exceed to be able to obtain infinite knowledge and power. When the third day came, Santiago was able to communicate with the desert, the wind, and the sun. He also recognized the “Soul of God,” within him, and successfully turned into the wind. At first I was confused by what this all meant, and I still am because the lesson is so empowering,
A spiritual journey is not all about the discovery, more importantly it is about uncovering the inner nature of one’s being. In the light of, a spiritual growth which is seen in Santiago's character due to the fact, he was not centered on the journey itself. Instead, he was engaged with the meaning of the atmospheric elements along the way which directed his path with a sense of purpose. During Santiago's journey he will learn about the interconnectedness of the surrounding world through the omens of nature that will reveal a hidden message about of the soul of the world. Additionally, Santiago learns along his travels that his personal legend is the essence of his life as well as, the purpose of his existence to fulfill his individual legend
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.
In my opinion Santiago, a shepherd boy from Andalusian town, changed the most in this novel. In the beginning of the story he was scared to trust in himself and follow his dreams. Santiago goes to the extent of searching for help from a gypsy. She tells him his meaning of his own dream and instead of trusting her he seeks another opinion. He goes on a journey across the Sahara to reach the Alchemist. When he asked The Alchemist how to turn himself into wind and he doesn’t get step by step instructions he is forced to trust his own judgement and intuition and believe in himself to figure it out. At the end of the story, he encounters a robber who talks to Santiago about his dream and why he would go on a journey across the Sahara. Santiago realizes
What makes a hero be a hero? A hero has to have certain characteristics, such as; bravery, wisdom, etc. No matter what characteristics are pointed out, every story has a hero, or an archetypal hero. From a short stories to really long novels, you will have some type of hero. In the novel The Alchemist, the main character Santiago is a hero. The book is about how everyone should live their dreams and never give up on them. It follows a young man named Santiago who is following his own dream, or his own “Personal Legend”. It follows him and his struggles to achieve said Personal Legend. Santiago is a hero because he is wise, kind, and brave; He is also a hero because he displays characteristics of an archetypal hero..
In The Alchemist by Paul Coelho the obstacle that is most significant to Santiago's growth is the fear of defeat because he is able to become more successful after being left with nothing in Morocco, able to prove himself to the Oasis after convincing the chieftains of and oncoming attack, and able to transform himself into wind after being forced to do so for his life.
The book The Alchemist was about a young man named Santiago who followed his dream to discover a hidden treasure. As Santiago progressed throughout his journey, his character changed a lot. Santiago, a man who has great instincts, is afraid to trust his dream at the beginning of the book but over time becomes more and more confident with his choices in in this aspect he changes from the beginning of the book to the end.
At one point, weather becomes vital to Santiago's survival. Santiago and the Alchemist were traveling through the desert to get to the pyramids when they came across tribesman. The tribesman believe that Santiago and the Alchemist are spies. The Alchemist explains that he is “A guide to his friend” (Coelho 139). The tribesman are still curious and proceed to ask about Santiago. The Alchemist says Santiago is an “Alchemist and he understands the forces of nature and wants to show them his extraordinary powers” (Coelho 139). The Alchemist continues explaining that “If he wanted to, he could destroy this camp just with the forces of the wind” (Coelho 140). Santiago spends the next three days trying to control the wind, on the third day the chief came to him wanting to see him turn himself into the wind. Finally, when Santiago and the wind start to talk, Foster's point of
As Santiago continues his journey, the author places the theme of love and unity of nature. He alludes to the liveliness and hope the heart naturally creates to empower this encouraging tone. He shares that, “your heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say” (147). The idea that the heart can speak conveys hope not only to Santiago, but also to the readers reading The Alchemist. Once again creating this peaceful, hopeful tone in the novel. Paulo also uses personification in the story to embody a lively, hopeful tone. He phrases his sentences like “the wind’s curiosity arouse”(147) to spark ideas and obtain an optimistic tone. Not only does the description of the wind, as if it was 3 year old seeing snow for the first time, connect with readers, it also uses word choice that intrigues readers and brings in reader’s focus. Paulo Coelho does a marvelous job at perfectly describing scenes that allow readers to connect but also read in this hopeful
Santiago changes in many ways. He changes from worrying about the future, to not worrying. He learns that
They had to figure out whether or not to follow the dreams that they have been given or to just keep living their lives the way they have been living. Also, on pg. 158 it says, “It’s a man who understands nature and the world. If he wanted to, he could destroy this camp just with the force of the wind.” He is representing mankind in that way because he obviously is a man, but he has to turn himself into the wind which is impossible. At first he feels this way too, but then was able to talk to the desert, the sirocco or wind, and sun who were able to give him the power of turning into the wind and saved his life. He was able to defeat all odds by listening to the alchemist and amazed the soldiers at the camp. Mankind faces many problems daily about facing the odds, for example it could be like an incurable disease that someone endures and goes through life each day hoping for the possibility that there will be a way to live. The same thing happened to Santiago, but without the disease. He had to do the impossible, turn into the wind and hope that if he does he will be able to live because if he can’t he will be killed by soldiers. Someone with a disease has to go through each day hoping for the possibility of a cure. Some people aren’t always as lucky as he was, but they could still have hope and pray that God will give them the gift of a full
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.
Santiago’s growth was inspiring to me. He has learned a great deal from action. He learns quite a lot about the land and his sheep by being a shepherd and paying attention to the world around him. His grandfather had mentioned to him a while back of an omen. “By traveling, watching and paying attention, the world will speak to Santiago to help him find is Personal Legend.” Through action, Santiago learns how easy it is to search for one’s Personal Legend. Everyone has their own way of learning things. For example when Santiago decides to try reading the Englishman’s book and he would try and read the signs of the desert. The boy does not learn a thing from the book and the Englishman learns nothing from watching the caravan. Just as Santiago
The Choral Poem called The Alchemist, have a comparable theme as the book The Alchemist, as a whole because they both reflect the importance of taking something and make it not better but the best version of itself. Turning lead into gold. Transforming something useless into something indispensable.
“People are capable at anytime in their lives, of doing what they dream of.” In the novel The Alchemist, Santiago goes on a journey to find and fulfill his “Personal Legend”. Santiago displays admirable traits throughout the book. Throughout the novel, Santiago faces obstacles that he could have never imagined happening to him but he pushes through them with determination and persistence. This most beneficial trait allows him to find the best way to handle situations and overcome his problems.
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.