The Alchemist Mood

Santiago changes in many ways. He changes from worrying about the future, to not worrying. He learns that

“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

The quote I will analyze and relate to me is “We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or possessions and property. ”(page 76). This quote applies to Santiago’s journey, as he had to give up most of his possessions to continue his adventure. The specific events I will be analyzing are Santiago selling his sheep and the thief who stole his money. At the beginning of the book, Santiago always wanted to travel.

Dreams are the base of The Alchemist action as its meaning. In my opinion the author is trying to describe the journey of Santiago and compares it to the journey of life in general. The message of The Alchemist is to always have a goal, a dream, something that you can focus on, but always trusting yourself. In this novel, probably it has a moral, but been honest I did not know which is it. It can have more than one but this is just an opinion.

The foreshadowing in this novel prepares readers for decisions Santiago will make later on. This idea is evident when Santiago is explaining to the king why he is shepherd. "They wanted me to be a priest, but I decided to become a shepherd." "Because you really like to travel."" (Coelho 18). When the King completes Santiago's claim by saying that he loves to travel, an inference can be that he will make decisions that will keep him traveling. For example, he decides to keep going on his personal legend instead of staying with Fatima. Nonconformity is seen when Santiago tells the King that even though his parents want him to be a priest, he decides to become a shepherd. In using foreshadowing, Coelho also manages to implant symbolism in the same idea.

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 portrays a shepherd boy named Santiago who starts a new life in a foreign country to find the treasure he dreams of. The author demonstrates how the Hero’s Journey Archetypes are used to encourage people to follow their personal legends, so they become stronger and nourish the soul of the world. Santiago went from being a shepherd who longed for the day he would find his treasure, to a strong man who found his treasure and learned the language of the

So far The Alchemist has presented itself as a narrative that is constructed around a protagonist following his dreams. Though, the pattern has seemed to take a dark twist by highlighting every human flaw, at least up until this point, that holds back the human spirit from achieving it’s “personal journey”. After entering a strange new world, with a population consisting of “infidels”, Santiago quickly finds himself robbed of all of his money. It seems that his weakness lies in his inability to adapt to a change in environment. Santiago has many prejudices against Tangier, such as a different language, religion, and different social norms that end up backfiring on him. It was the false comfort of a man who spoke his language that ended up leaving

The Narrator explains that people can’t always do things they would like to do. In the novel, Santiago runs into dilemmas, but improvised to still continue his

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,

Throughout The Alchemist there were many twists and turns as well as changes to the main character Santiago. He had to adapt to the different ways of life in each place he visited, and had the tenacity to never give up on his journey even when times became tough, i.e. when he was robbed. Santiago started out as a shepherd, happy with how life was, maybe a sense of wanting more; later he encountered a king, gypsies, and others along the way who literally wanted him to follow his dreams because they could change a person’s life. He had to take risks and leave everything he had known behind to follow something he knew little to none about. When Santiago wanted to stay within his boundaries, he was pushed by the people he met which enabled him

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.

Paulo Coelho employs stylistic techniques such as the structure of the novel, narrative perspective and characterisation in order to effectively convey the intended didactic themes. Written in third person omniscient, The Alchemist objectively observes Santiago’s journey and his interaction with numerous characters along the way. The characters Santiago encounters are utilised to portray certain messages and thus,

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

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.