A journey is the act of traveling from one place to another. In the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and the film The Color Purple, journeys are about learning and growth. The journeys teach Santiago, the protagonist of the book, and Celie, the protagonist of the film, about themselves and the society in which they live in. It was easily shown that both works have similarities and differences. Both protagonists embark on a journey giving them obstacles they have to conquer in pursuit of their personal legend. Celie hopes to one day be free and live a life in which she can be happy. In her life she faces abuse from her husband and father. On the other hand, Santiago goes out to achieve his personal legend hoping that one day he will see the …show more content…
The book and the film both talk about how one pursues their personal legend, however each work takes a different viewpoint on it. To start with, the book by Coelho focuses on a shepherd named Santiago who goes out to pursue his personal legend. He had a dream about finding treasure but it was until he met Melchizedek, the King of Salem, he decided to pursue it. The King of Salem told him “…whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth" (Coelho 24). When Melchizedek said this, it sets Santiago on a journey of spiritual discovery. The king teaches Santiago that his dream about the pyramids is a calling. He should go out and visit them. Likewise, Celie has a goal in life too. She hopes to one day be free and reunite with her sister and children. She is unhappy in the environment she lives in but she is hopeful that the future would lead her to happiness. To add on, a common conflict both the protagonists in the book and the film …show more content…
Celie has Shug Avery to help overcome fear. Shug Avery teaches Celie to be confident and love herself for who she is. Throughout the film Celie tends to cover her mouth while smiling or laughing because she finds her smile and teeth unpleasant. One day, both women sat and talked for a while. Shug Avery told Celie to look in the mirror and smile without covering her mouth. For once, Celie was satisfied with what she saw in the mirror. Furthermore, Santiago has many mentors along the way such as the crystal merchant, the Englishman, the King of Salem and the alchemist. All of these characters taught Santiago many lessons telling him to not be afraid of fear but to take risks. For example the alchemist told Santiago, “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself” (Coelho 134). The alchemist teaches Santiago to take risks and to not waste his time having regrets. He teaches Santiago that it’s better to fail than to wonder how it feels to fail. Live in the moment rather than worry about what happened in the past or what’s going to happen in the future. Just live in the present. Additionally, as a result of all of Celie’s hard work, she attains happiness. Because of Shug Avery, Celie slowly gains confidence and stands up to her husband. In fact, she left him. She is now an independent woman
How to Read Literature like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster, is like painting a picture; with painting the first step is to paint inside the lines, but an advanced artist understands that a picture is made up of not just color, texture, and shapes, but also considers the purpose behind each stroke. Foster brings a different meaning to reading a book and draws attention to the author and his or her intention. While applying Fosters teaching's to Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, the main character, Santiago's journey becomes more than a journey- it turns into a quest. Simple drinks and foods turn symbolic into acts of communion and while
First, the plots of both works need to be discussed and explained how they are different. The stories of both works have basically the same
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.
As Nettie receives opportunities Celie could never fathom, their relationship comes to a halt. Celie stops receiving letters from her sister and is left to take care of her husband’s obnoxious children from a previous marriage, and is verbally/physically abused on a daily basis by both her husband and his children. Celie’s husband has a torrent affair with Shug Avery, a blues singer with a practical mentality who does not endure any mistreatment from anyone, regardless of their gender. When Shug Avery falls into Celie’s care, Shug Avery teaches Celie a thing or two about self-confidence and the strength she must find within herself to stand up to her husband. Towards the end of the novel, Shug Avery encourages Celie to leave her husband and move with her to Memphis, where she can escape the pain of her past and for once in her life be happy.
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.
But the Englishman only relied on books and thought he would receive information only from books. He also believed that searching for the 200 year old Alchemist and talking with him would let him achieve his Personal Legend of becoming an alchemist himself. They both agreed to try what the other did and they did not see the significance of the other’s ways. The Englishman did not see the importance of the desert and the boy did not see anything that the book could help him out with. That is where Santiago was different and understood more than the Englishman.
In other environments she must play a role. With Celie, she is able to be herself. Celie, too, benefits from her nurturing relationship with Celie. Shug is used to a living a life that had about as much nurturing and love in it as Celie's. She says of her mother, "Mama never love to do nothing had to do with touching anybody, she say. I try to kiss her, she turn her mouth away. Say, cut that out, Lillie" (Walker 125-26).
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.
My mindfulness practice plan will consist of the four areas physical, emotional, spiritual, and vital/rhythmic. The mindfulness practice plan which I have developed, provide activities which I currently enjoy doing, as well as ones that I have not experienced but have always been interested in trying. I am a very spiritual person, and therefore the spiritual area for me is one aspect that I feel is extremely important when dealing with healing one’s self. Also, being an emotionally driven individual, the emotional aspect I believe has to be in balance in order for the physical aspect to be done successfully.
Early in the book, Celie states how Shug Avery was “like a queen” (pg.22) to her. Already the indication of her influence shows up strong. Celie admires her and would follow her behavior and so when she comes to visit, that's exactly what starts happening. Shug Avery also makes her husband weak. When they learn of her coming to town, he actually asks Celie, after she told him he looks nice, “You think so?” (pg. 25). Celie mentions how it's the first time he has asked her anything and it leaves her stunned. Sofia is the first
Shug Avery is Mr. Albert’s long lost love and she comes in to move in with Mr. Albert’s family since she had gotten very sick and needed the support. The minute Celie saw a picture of Shug she had fallen for her, finding her very beautiful. Shug has supported Celie in every possible way after she realized that when Celie puts her full effort in helping her even though she was rude to her when they had first met. Shug helps Celie with self-identity, which help builds her confidence. “She say my name again. She say this song I’m bout to sing is call Miss Celie’s song. Cause she scratched it out of my head when I was sick.” (Walker, 73). In this quote Celie recognizes that someone has done something for her, they have valued her enough to do something sweet as this. Celie realizes that she has one more person who cares and loves for her. This leads Celie to believe in herself be able to take control, since she is aware that she has someone next to her. Shug also has the effect on Celie to take control when Celie confronts Mr. Albert telling him that she is leaving him, “You bitch, he say. What will people say, you running off to Memphis like you don’t have a house to look after?” said by Mr. Albert who was referring to Celie. This is a big step for Celie because she is going to be living the life she wants with the person she loves, Shug Avery. Celie has wanted for so long to get out of the
"All fiction is autobiographical, no matter how obscure from the author's experience it may be, marks of their life can be detected in any of their tales"(Bell, 17). A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway is based largely on Hemingway's own personal experiences. The main character of the novel, Frederic Henry, experiences many of the same situations that Hemingway lived. Some of these similarities are exact, while some are less similar, and some events have a completely different outcome.
Shug is a woman who does whatever she wants whenever she wants. She is a free spirit but she does have values and is a major contributor in the transformation of Celie. Shug enjoys her life and tries to spread the happiness to those around her. She is aware of her own physical beauty and uses it to control men. For women like Celie, it isn't that easy. Celie's father tells Albert, 'She ugly. She ain't smart either.'; (9). This is where Celie develops her low self esteem. Shug tries to make Celie realize that she is a beautiful person by getting to know her and loving her.
A journey is a composition of music. Different instruments come together to play different strings of notes that harmoniously combine to create a symphony. Santiago, the main protagonist from The Alchemist, experiences many symphonies on his road to realize his Personal Legend. His experiences guided him to his goal and when he had finally achieved it, the story came to a close. The ending of the novel was obvious and satisfying. Paulo Coelho left his audience with a satiating end to a long story. The ending of the story fitted perfectly with the book because it enhanced the idea of the Soul of the World, the cycles of life, and overall these ideas all came with realizing his Personal Legend.
Shug Avery is someone Celie admired from a young age. Shug’s exuberance and charm with people are qualities Celie never dreamed of having herself until Shug walks into her life and Celie does more with her life by actually overcoming the abuse and becomes someone more. “I ast her to give me the picture. An all night long I stare at it. An now when I dream, I dream of Shug Avery.” (Walker 7). Shug comes into Celie’s life as her husband’s mistress who was very ill but not lacking in character. She treats Celie with disrespect at first, but after living with her for some time and being nursed back to health by her Shug gains a respect for her. She teaches Celie how to speak for herself and to defend herself against Mr. Shug is the one who helps Celie escape by taking her on her tour where Celie learns how to expertly sew pants. This is another major step towards independence because Celie is no longer financially dependent on anyone but herself because she creates a successful business by making pants. Upon her return to her home, she inherits her father’s home thereby completely separating her from the men who held control over her. She can now receive her sister’s letters and make her own money. The people who love her surround her and her personality develops unhindered by abuse. Celie’s idol came through to set her free and now idolizes her to an extent.