The Alchemist Agreements

In “The Alchemist” Paulo Coelho asserts, “The closer one gets to realizing his destiny, the more that destiny becomes his true reason for being.” Throughout Santiago's allegorical journey he focuses on the centrality of fulfilling his personal legend by undertaking difficult tasks that will question his tenacity to preserve in the face of adversity. For instance, in order to embark on his quest to the treasure he must relinquish all of his sheep to travel a great distance to reach the pyramids in Egypt. As a result, once Santiago sacrifices materialistic possessions the window of opportunity broadens by casting a series of small serendipities that reveal the purpose behind his creation. Through his encounters with Melchizedek he unveils that Santiago’s youthful dreams will later be discarded as he ages if he does not actualize his current propelling desires to travel to the pyramids. Later on, as one becomes older their personal legend will delude them from their young wholehearted hopes of bringing their life’s work into completion. Thus, the soul of the world is comprised of the common people who had the sheer everyman heroism to realize their written destiny which feds the universe with happiness from having achieved the plan that originated from the creator himself. Additionally, Melchizedek serves as an emblem when a

Have you ever encountered problems while trying to fulfill a goal in your life? In the book The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, a shepherd boy named Santiago overcomes obstacles to reach his personal legend. Throughout the book Santiago encounters many friends to help him fulfill his destiny. Santiago encounters many problems throughout the story. He overcomes them with the help of his friends and his wife-to-be. These problems shape Santiago into a dignified man of many traits.

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

1)Why does Coelho open with the modified myth of Narcissus? How does the new version differ from the original one? How does it change the myth’s meaning? What might the author be suggesting about how we perceive ourselves and the world?

1. In the Alchemist, it says that our lives are incomplete without love. What do you think

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.

Furthermore, Coelho demonstrates the theme of balance through the Hero’s Journey Archetype to employ that one must oftentimes persevere through hardship and a deadly encounter utilizing the knowledge one received throughout a self-pursuit of knowledge and defy a seemingly impossible event. While in the desert learning from the Alchemist, Santiago and the Alchemist are captured, and Santiago must turn himself into the wind in order to survive. Eventually, Santiago’s new knowledge about alchemy guide him to overcome the greatest obstacle Santiago faced throughout his entire life. Santiago faces a hero-like transformation into the wind,

In the beginning, when I was reading the Alchemist, I wondered on how this novel could translate into fifty-six languages and sold over sixty-five millions of copies because the story was not appearing to me. The story begins about a shepherd, whose name is Santiago, talking to himself and his sheep all the time, and having a recurrent dream about there is a treasure at the Pyramid. It was a boring beginning. As the story continues to be dull until the old man, the king of Salem, tells the boy a that “..the world’s greatest lie [is] that at a certain point of our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate” (Coelho, page 18). His conversation with the boy catches my attention, and makes me want

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.

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 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.

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 is a novel written by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, originally written in Portuguese in 1988 and later translated to English in 1993, which follows the journey of Santiago on his quest to not only follow his Personal Legend, but also to discover a world full of changes and transformations. Looking at this story at first glance might give you the feel that it will be about a boy on a quest filled with the expected trials that test his heart, strength, and character. Elements like this are present, however, the story makes the reader think deeply about the motif dealing with following the signs the universe gives. This is due to various symbols and motifs, one having to do with omens, that Santiago and many characters

Alchemist is already explained in the story as it is the ability to purify your soul, listen to your heart and speak the language of the world. The title is, then, to show us, the readers, that anyone can achieve his/her dream by possessing the characteristics of alchemist as exactly as the shepherd boy, Santiago.

Both novels, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, can be viewed as journeys of discovery to the reader. Both journeys in both novels are a very significant part of the development of the story itself. The Alchemist is a journey of self discovery for Santiago, the young Andalusian protagonist, which is all about him fulfilling his Personal Legend which would strip him of all of his impurities. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is also journey of self discovery for Christopher, the young British protagonist. Christopher’s journey of discovering himself is about him finding out that his mother has not died and she is still alive, which he learns through his journey, he discovers a lot of new things about himself that he did not previously know or knew he had in him.