The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

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.

There was a time in my life when I rejoiced this subtle, innocent concept from an international bestselling book - “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” I read the book twice and also listened to its audio book. Many students in the class might have also read this simple, inspiring book. It is “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.

Not only does Coelho use symbolism and setting to further prove his theme, he uses his characters to manifest his notion. Santiago is the ideal individual who listens to omens in order to understand the language of the soul of the world and achieve his personal legend. Santiago

The Alchemist was a story of a boy named Santiago. He was on a journey or personal legend of finding love and his dream. His dream was about a treasure by a pyramid that he will end up going to. He won’t realise that that was the pyramid in his dream until he his lead to it to find the treasure.“It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

One day a young Buddhist on his journey home, came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him , he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a great teacher on the other side of the river. The young Buddhist yells over to the teacher "Oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river"?

"But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision" (Coelho 70). This quote from Paul Coelho's The Alchemist reflects on that idea that when someone decides to take risks and persevere, they will discover so many opportunities and uncover their own character. Just like the protagonist, Santiago, from The Alchemist, I have experienced my own journey to find myself and who I am, and it all starts with a friend, a river, and a canoe.

I believe that we all have a dream and everyone’s dream is different, dreams change with the time just like we do, we had a different dream when we were kids and we have other dreams when we grow up, but there’s only few people who actually have the same dream since childhood. Having the dream it’s easy, following it, it’s really hard! There 's always a lot of obstacles that make people quit from their dream, or in simple way they don 't have enough courage to continue. A very few of them who decide to continue no matter what, they usually get what they want!

Reading has allowed me to become more communicative and understanding of others’ feelings. In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, there is an emphasis on the personal legend of humans. Essentially, the author is conveying that humans should be what they truly want to be, whether it’s pertaining one’s occupancy or personality. I have learned how important this message since in the book it explains that those who don’t learn this will regret it the rest of their lives. Furthermore, I have developed better communicative skills from this as I have learned more about how humans are and whereby I can empathize more easily. This has not only taught me to take this into consideration in my life, but has also taught me about the vulnerability of human nature.

The alchemist is a novel based off of connecting with earth, overcoming fears, and fulfilling our own “ Personal legends” with its various universal themes. In Coelho’s literary piece, Santiago or as referred to “the boy” is on a quest to fulfill his destiny whilst making several stops along the way of his journey which allows him to meet multiple colorful people, such as a gypsy, a king, a maiden,etc. No matter how difficult his path may have gotten the inspirational people that he met along the way including himself and nature push him forward to accomplish his goal in life and find himself. With that being said the theme of this story is to never forget that the darkest hour of the night comes right before dawn as the alchemist once said.

The alchemist is a super awesome force of nature with these awesome powers that allow him to manipulate the universe… I'm kidding, but the Alchemist’s teachings has been connecting the books biggest most dominate metaphor of alchemy—The transformation of one element into a more precious and valuable element—and intergrading it into Santiago’s quest. The alchemist’s wisdom allows him to be connected to the Soul of the World, or Gaia. The Alchemist is able to provide this connection to his supernatural abilities, in turn it allows him to Guide Santiago through his quest to find his personal legend and to better understand the Soul of the World. Santiago, with the provided assistance of his teacher the Alchemist, learned how to raced and communicate

In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, universal language is on the main themes. It is first known when the boy was leading his sheep, “It was if some mysterious energy bound his life to that of the sheep…” (Coelho 2). This theme continues to grow and expand as the boy goes on his journey to find his treasure and follow his destiny.

In Paulo Coehlo’s The Alchemist, the alchemist is asked, “Why are you an alchemist?” His response is simply, “I’m an alchemist because I’m an alchemist.” It is as straightforward as that. I am a theatre artist. There is not a cute story about how I saw a show when I was younger and was inspired; it is simply who I am to the core of my being. I am fortunate that my time in theatre has brought me to places like Cincinnati Music Hall’s stage, the mainstage at Playhouse in the Park, the Guignol Theatre at the University of Kentucky, and other theatres that lend themselves to being name-dropped. However, the theatre that I have done that has most shaped my worldview and molded who I am as a person has happened in the most unlikely of places: dormitory

1 Santiago, for his entire life, devotedly attended the seminar every day in order to become a Catholic priest. However, Santiago was not liked by any student in the seminar at all; fellow students perceived him as a brainwashed, Catholic dweeb.

In Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, the primary theme of the novel is the notion that everyone should find and pursue their life’s dreams and ambitions; to follow one’s heart. This main theme is emphasized and made apparent to the reader throughout the novel. Paulo develops this theme by focusing on the journey of a young shepherd named Santiago. Santiago makes a journey across a continent to go to the Egyptian desert in search for a treasure buried near the Pyramids; this was made know to him in a dream. However, what originally started out as a journey to find tangible treasures turns into a journey of finding his “Personal Legend.”

To achieve one's Personal Legend, one must work hard to accomplish it. This is not an easy task to do, especially when you are a young shepherd boy. “The Alchemist” is a novel written by Paulo Coehlo. The main character is a boy, Santiago, which seeks out his Personal Legend and the alchemist helps him discover himself along the way. In the novel, Coelho uses symbols, character development, and setting to create a deeper meaning. Santiago does not use his own motivation to pursue his Personal Legend, but it is through the efforts of others that his Personal Legend is fulfilled.