The Alchemist Reflection

“I want to stay at the oasis,” the boy answered. “I’ve found Fatima and as far as I am concerned, she’s worth more than treasure.” Everyone knows what they want to do, but they are afraid of hurting those around them by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream. Some do not realize that love is something to impel us, not something that will prevent us to go further. Those that genuinely wish us well want us to be happy and are prepared to accompany us on that journey. After hearing the Alchemist’s predictions and Fatima saying that he should go, Santiago decided to accompany the Alchemist and pursue his personal legend. Santiago overcame his problem when his father told him he can not travel, and he also perused his personal legend and did not hurt Fatima.

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

-Santiago is the main character in The Alchemist. He has been working as a shepherd for the past two years. He is in the Andalusia region of Spain at the beginning of the novel.

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?

Along the way to the Pyramid, Santiago meets Fatima and instantly falls in love with her. He spends days with her and confesses his love by saying “ I want you to be my wife” (95). Entranced by Fatima’s beauty, Santiago conveys his willingness to adjust his plan and settle with his love in a small oasis in the Sahara. He says “I want to stay at the oasis… I’ve found Fatima, and, as far as I’m concerned, she’s worth more than treasure” (118). Despite Santiago’s unconditional love and its ability to change his mindset, Coelho implies that love acts as a distraction that interferes one’s journey and that one must sacrifice such fascinations to become entirely fulfilled in the future. For instance, the alchemist suggests Santiago that he “must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny. If he abandons that pursuit, it’s because it wasn’t true love” (120). Moreover, Santiago learns to accept the idea that the omens will help him reunite with Fatima after he finds the treasure if she is “a part of his dream” (97). Accordingly, Santiago sacrifices his time his love in order to stay on the path for his Personal

The women he uses are the gypsy woman, his mother, and his soul mate, Fatima. The first woman he comes across is his own mother. His mother is much like his father, who wants him to just to grow up and become a priest. Regardless of that however, she is very supportive and wishes him the best when Santiago tells his parents he wants to be a shepherd. The next woman he encounters is the gypsy woman. Santiago went to visit a gypsy to see if she had could figure out anything about the dream he kept on having. She tells him that he should follow these dreams to the pyramids, but once he finds this treasure, he must give her one tenth of it. ‘“And this is my interpretation: you must go to the Pyramids in Egypt. I have never heard of them, but, if it was a child who showed them to you, they exist. There you will find a treasure that will make you a rich man’” (Coelho 14). The final woman he meets is his soul mate, Fatima. When he first meets Fatima he falls straight in love with her. He had wanted to stay behind and leave his Personal Legend, but it was Fatima and the Alchemist who had told him not to abandon it. Fatima told him to come back for her

He writes not only about Santiago’s journey to discover his personal legend, but Coelho also brings up themes of love. Santiago falls in love with an oasis woman named Fatima. To fill the atmosphere with a positive tone, the alchemist teaches, “ ‘So, we, their hearts, speak more and more softly. We never stop speaking out, but we begin to hope that our words won’t be heard: we don’t want people to suffer because they don’t follow their hearts.’ ‘Why don’t people’s hearts tell them to continue to follow their dreams?’ the boy asked the alchemist. ‘Because that’s what makes the heart suffer most, and hearts don’t like to suffer’ ”(129-131). Paulo demonstrates emotional diction using the words, “softly”, “suffer”, and “hope”.With these words and much more throughout the novel, he embodies a powerful tone yet maintain positivity. Coelho also conveys romantic diction to display the positive atmosphere. As Santiago falls in love with Fatima, readers she Fatima’s love for him as “She would look to it everyday and would try to guess which star the boy was following in search of his treasure. She would have to send her kisses on the wind”(123). This type of diction using the phrase “send her kisses on the wind” and content empowers a hopeful tone the girl lives with the hope of the return of Santiago. Throughout this novel, Coelho simulates not only his

In conclusion, the book the Alchemist illustrates the hardships and decisions we all must go through in life. It emphasizes that listening to your heart and going on your Personal Journey can be a hard and relentless road to embark on. However, the lessons learned and experiences gains can lead you to immeasurable rewards and

Santiago starts his journey relying on his good luck, but when he arrives in Tangier, he is stolen from. The alchemist tells him

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,

He gets robbed a couple times, he is delayed by a tribal war taking place in the desert, and he gets captured in said tribal war. After the first time he gets robbed, Santiago has to work at a small crystal shop. This delays his voyage but he ends up making a sum of money for himself and the owner of the shop with his ideas on how to sell the glasses. When he finally starts to get to Egypt he is stopped in a desert oasis due to a war going on in the desert, this delays him again from getting to his treasure, but there is where he meets Fatima, his true love, and is also named counselor of the oasis after he saves it from an attack. Almost to his destination, Santiago and the Alchemist both get captured by one side of the war.

Fatima is the girl that almost distracts Santiago from his dream of reaching the pyramids and his treasure. She’s so pretty, and he’s so in love with her that he almost decides to just stay at the oasis and take her instead of his treasure. This is a challenge that Santiago has to persevere through to get to his treasure. Santiago said “So, i love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” He also said that “It was difficult to not think about what he had left behind.

Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist tells the story of Santiago, a young shepherd living in an abandoned church in a small Andalusian town, who is stripped of his comfortable and safe lifestyle after an encounter with Melchizedek, an Islamic king who tells him of his “Personal Legend” (21). Melchizedek points Santiago in the direction of his treasure only after taking one-tenth of his money, giving him two stones, and a lesson on reading omens. Throughout his journey, Santiago meets new friends, has everything stolen from him three times, and travels the vast and unknown Sahara Desert all while achieving personal growth and an understanding of his life’s meaning. His journey leads him to an Oasis

One of those desires was love. Through his experiences he learned that one of the universal languages was love. When he met Fatima, he was ready to give up his search for his Personal Legend and stay with Fatima in the desert, but through the persuasion of the Alchemist, he left her. He learned the true meaning of love and after setting it aside to realize his dreams he could return to it. “Instead, it brought the scent of a perfume he knew well, and the touch of a kiss – a kiss that came from far away, slowly, slowly, until it rested on his lips” (167). The concept of the wind has changed for him, from the start of the journey he believed that the levanter came from Africa that brought the threat of Moorish invasions. However, he has learned that the wind was free and that it carried many messages, such as the love from Fatima. And now that he has completed his journey he can go in search of Fatima. The strong desire that he had put off to realize his Personal Legend can now be called to attention. This is another reason why the ending of the book fits well, because it ends with love. Many stories use love as a strong motive for their characters. In The Alchemist, Santiago had to forget that desire to achieve his Personal Legend, but has made it a goal to return to the oasis to live with Fatima after his journey was over. He has made many realizations about love. “’Yes, that’s what love is. It’s what makes the game become the falcon, the falcon become man, and man, in his turn, the desert. It’s what turns lead into gold, and makes the gold return to the earth’” (145). He learned that the spiritual unification of everything is connected to this idea of love. The fact that everything is trying to purify themselves in order to reach their Personal Legend, and that they help others realize

“I also have Fatima. She is a treasure greater than anything else I have won. She wasn’t found at the pyramids, either.” (Coelho 119) An important lesson that Santiago learns on his journey is that things that occur en route to the end destination can’t be ignored, as they can end up being more important than the destination. Had Santiago just rushed through his journey, and only focused on getting to the pyramids, he would have missed a great treasure. Santiago was patient with his journey, and he remained in the oasis for a substantial amount of time, rather than rushing through. In staying at the oasis, he meets Fatima, the love of his life. In the end, Fatima