What Does The Crystal Merchant Teach Santiago's Dream

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

(Coelho 118). This shows that he learns how to be patient and wait for good things to happen, rather than wrecking havoc. Santiago is also motivated by good, to find his treasure, and along the way he gets all sorts of treasures, like helping to fix the crystal merchant's business and

The crystal merchant spends his life wallowing in fear and anxiety and does not let himself grow or move from the spot he made for himself thirty years ago despite the clear logistical option of going to Mecca and seeing his wife once more. The merchant and Santiago share parallels as the merchant’s reluctancy to leave his spot due to overwhelming anxiety parallels Santiago’s inability to move forward due to one bad experience that left him broken and broke. After living with this merchant and working for him for so long, the boy realizes he needs to move forward despite any negative experiences. Bad things happen sometimes, but he realizes no good comes out of staying in one spot just to ease the pain of one small event over the course of your entire life. Therefore, Santiago’s direct speech and physicality near the merchant had forced him to view and face his fear

To begin his long journey, Santiago meets a wise old king name King Melchizedek. He is in a local market when the king walks up and asks Santiago what he is reading. The king continues to say that the book he is reading is important but irritating because it describes the characters inability to choose their own Personal Legend. When Santiago asks where this mysterious stranger is from, King Melchizedek replies with “I am from many places, but I was born in Salem as I am the king there” (Coelho 64). Accepting his statement as true, Santiago continues the conversation allowing them to eventually talk about his dream of the Pyramids. The king wants to help Santiago, but for a price of six sheep. Before leaving with Santiago’s sheep he shares, “’The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon’” (Coelho 32). His message to Santiago reminds him that by following his dream he will witness beautiful sights and people, but that he should always remember the purpose of his travels. Leaving it at that, the king pointed Santiago in the direction to follow his dream.

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,

The crystal merchant assimilated his ideas into Santiago as an example of a person that required a mentor but did not possess one, revealing the effects of not achieving a Personal Legend, which helped Santiago to succeed. The crystal merchant becomes hopeless because of his own lack of action to ever make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, and assumes that fantasizing triumphs over reality so that it gives purpose to life. Moreover,

As he earns money to continue at a crystal merchant’s shop, Santiago is told his dream is impossible and to settle while he has money to buy a multitude of sheep. Later in the journey, when Santiago meets the alchemist, the alchemist challenges Santiago and pushes him to believe in himself. This will benefit Santiago not only while following

First, the crystal merchant explains to Santiago about his dream of going to Mecca. When Santiago asks if the crystal merchant

While they were there, Santiago falls in love with a girl named Fatima. Next day, when he was going for a walk, he spots the violent tribe and warns the city. The city was successful in bringing the attack to a halt. The Alchemist laters hears the news of Santiago’s warning of the attack and then invites Santiago to a trip over the desert to the pyramids. The Alchemist teaches many lessons to Santiago and also learns the importance of chasing your dreams and not giving up.

Santiago easily gives into his desire to stay with Fatima and live life with her in the oasis, but, through encouraging words from Fatima herself she tells Santiago that she is apart of her personal legend, and that in her life she is used to men coming and going, and she has come to terms with the idea that in order for Santiago to find his personal legend he must stay focused and continue his journey. “That's why I want you to continue toward your goal.”(p100). This is very important because Santiago is hearing from the person he loves to complete his goal and this gives him a push in the right direction to find his personal legend. All the instances and how Santiago overcomes them and learns from them proves that he is learning about himself and is strengthening his character. Throughout Santiago's journey he faces fear countless times and each time he has looked deep within the courage he displayed when speaking to the Alchemist and is able to overcome these fears and achieve heart feats, and learn from these

The Crystal Merchant plays a very important role in Santiago’s journey and also the time spent in Tangier. The Crystal Merchant owns a shop and he doesn’t really believe in “Personal Legends” because he believes after he achieves his dream that he will have nothing else to live for. The Crystal Merchant opens Santiago’s eyes into seeing the result of not fulfilling your dreams.

A setback Santiago faces is getting robbed by a thief, causing him to have to work for money to travel across the desert, which leads him to work for the crystal merchant. When he worked for the crystal merchant, he learned about the crystal merchant’s destiny and dream of visiting Mecca, which he abandoned out of fear. Upon hearing and reflecting on the crystal merchant’s story, Santiago realizes the importance of pursuing one’s destiny without fear, as he knows he would not be happy settling for less than achieving his dream. Another similar challenge that Santiago faces is finding the love of his life, Fatima, and not wanting to leave her to fulfill his destiny. This challenge is similar in the sense he does not want to leave her out of fear of never returning to her.

When Santiago arrives in Tangier he is robbed by a thief and is forced to find work from the locals. He meets a crystal merchant and gets hired to work for him. Santiago convinces the merchant to take some risks in his business. This advice pays off and Santiago becomes a rich man in just a year. Santiago stars to gain confidence in his decisions and decides to use his earning to pursue his personal legend. Santiago soon joins a caravan crossing the Sahara desert and meets an Englishman who is studying to become an Alchemist. On the trip Santiago and the Englishman don’t converse much but Santiago still ends up learning a lot

Throughout Santiago’s journey to fulfil his Personal Legend the boy is rewarded with not only treasure as a physical substance but also in the form of knowledge gained and experiences lived. Santiago is aware of the importance of his treasure in all forms and displays this awareness after finding the chest of Spanish gold coins, “He placed Urim and Thummim in the chest. They were also a part of his new treasure, because they were a reminder of the old king, whom he would never see again” (pg. 88). Thus, Santiago’s character portrays the message that once a destiny is realised and fulfilled, the pursuer will be rewarded in many forms. Contrastingly, the crystal merchant in which temporarily employs Santiago, is a character used in juxtaposition to show the danger of fear and the life of one who will never fulfil

First, the reader pities and empathizes with Santiago as he suffers losses and adversities. After the King of Salem motivates him to find his Personal Legend, he takes a boat to Africa where he is swindled of his money by a older boy. Santiago is “in a different country, a strange land, here he couldn’t even speak the