Analysis on Purpose in the Works of Paulo Coelho Every person has pondered or will at one time ponder the question of their purpose in life. This is simply because purpose is the sole reason for existence, so a person must contemplate the question in order to go about their days. And everybody that has gone looking for the answer, has come back empty handed. The universe allows for life but it doesn’t leave the slightest clue as to why it was provided. It’s true that if a person looks to the universe, they won’t find any answer, but what they will find is endless amount of interpretations. And in this way the universe can take a person on an introspective journey to find their own interpretation. Once a person can find their own interpretation …show more content…
Realizing one’s purpose can be a journey in itself. In two of Coelho's novels: “The Alchemist” and “The Pilgrimage,” he writes of miraculous journeys. In “The Alchemist,” a boy named Santiago is faced with fork in his life and must decide how he interprets his own purpose. In “The Pilgrimage,” A man named Paulo is very clear on his purpose, but faces many tribulations to realize it. Coelho's writings not only shows the importance of finding one’s own interpretation, but also give uplifting messages about the hope and perseverance necessary in accomplishing the purpose. In the beginning of “The Alchemist,” a very interesting perspective is given on how to interpret one’s purpose. Santiago was happy being shepard and even had the rest of his life mapped out. After years of roaming with his herd he was beginning to become ready to settle down, and perhaps go to the down of a girl he loved with the inclination to stay there. But, he had always had a confusing, recurring dream that there was treasure far away in Egypt. And not only that, after telling this dream to a gypsy, she had told him that he must go seek out this treasure. Santiago found himself looking at two different paths he could take. One path was extremely easy and led him only to the next town over, but also promised him
The book The Alchemist unfolds a story involving a hero's journey, encouraging people to avoid an uneventful life and pursue their dreams. In the hero's journey, supernatural aid, the road of the trial, and the return to the ordinary world, Santiago overcoming challenges and achieving a meaningful life. Santiago has met many people and faced obstacles, but these events offer him opportunities to grow personally and learn about himself. In a hero's journey, supernatural aid is when people around the main character help them along their way. In The Alchemist, Santiago discovers his personal legend and hidden treasure.
The book I read is called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist is about a boy from Spain, whose name is Santiago and is a shepherd. The book tells how he gets around countries, and how he deals with his problems and how he solves them. It shows how he follows his dreams, and who helps him along the way.
Do you know your personal destiny? This is the question which Santiago the protagonist of The Alchemist tries to answer on a search for a treasure. The question which will be attempted to answer is, What literary element does Paulo Coelho us to develop the theme that in life everyone has a personal destiny which they all have to pursue when they get the chance, in the novel The Alchemist. Paulo Coelho conveys the central theme of pursuing your own destiny through the use of allusions, in how they affect the protagonist Santiago with his encounters in the desert on the search for his treasure.
Along their journeys, heroes have to sacrifice life changing opportunities, in order to follow their objective. For example, in the novel , The Alchemist, the literature states “... he didn’t want to become a priest. That he wanted to travel.” (Coelho, pg11) As you can see, the character Santiago, like other heroes, sacrifices this amazing opportunity in order to reach his Personal Legend. Furthermore, not
“People are capable at anytime in their lives, of doing what they dream of.” In the novel The Alchemist, Santiago goes on a journey to find and fulfill his “Personal Legend”. Santiago displays admirable traits throughout the book. Throughout the novel, Santiago faces obstacles that he could have never imagined happening to him but he pushes through them with determination and persistence. This most beneficial trait allows him to find the best way to handle situations and overcome his problems.
- Melchizedek applies Expectancy Theory to motivate Santiago to pursue his dreams by reminding him of the treasure. - The Englishman in motivated to undertake the journey driven by the need to achieve the Soul of the World and the elixir of life. The same is illustrated as per McClelland’s Theory of Needs. - Santiago hesitates briefly to pursue his dream because he feels satisfied with the wealth he has. The Alchemist, however, pushes him forward.
The esteemed and wise author Paulo Coelho once made the inspiring statement, “All battles in life serve to teach us something.” This is an idea that is echoed throughout his novel The Alchemist, in which Coelho details the travels and challenges of a young boy named Santiago as he journeys across Africa to find his hidden treasure. His expedition teaches him as well as the reader many lessons along the way in regards to fate, love, and the meaning of life; he learns this information through his interactions with people, such as the friends he makes and the woman he falls in love with, and the lessons are easily translated to real life and other settings as Coelho alludes to many within the story. Coelho’s allusions to ancient texts such as
In the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the protagonist is a young shepherd named Santiago who longs to travel the world. He has a recurring dream about treasure in Egypt and goes on a prolonged journey in search of it. His treasure ends up being right where he begins, but it is evident that his voyage is essential to finding it because he learns crucial lessons about the world along his adventures. People that Santiago meets along his adventure help him and teach him about love and the Soul of the World. They encourage him to follow his Personal Legend and to never give up on it. Spain, the desert, the oasis, and other locations that Santiago must travel through produce complications that he has never dealt with before. Santiago must conquer his fear and overcome obstacles that are thrown at him. Coelho uses plot devices such as characters and settings to enhance the themes of love, fear, and Personal Legend and make The Alchemist a successful novel.
Although a hero seems like a faraway distant character who possesses a unique ability that saves humanity, an everyday citizen in society holds the ability to impact the lives of others can become a hero. In the novel, The Alchemist, the protagonist, Santiago, travels as a shepherd but ultimately, follows The Hero’s Journey Archetype. As Santiago pursues a journey for treasure and self-knowledge, Santiago faces several difficult challenges and character-defining moments that assess his ability to succeed. Coelho depicts Santiago as following the stages of the Hero’s Journey Archetype such as The Mentor, The Abyss, and the Return to the World. Thus, Coelho employs The Hero’s Journey Archetype to demonstrate the
The alchemist is a well written book that accurately describes every concept about life and explains it through a story. The Alchemist is a book about a shepherd named Santiago, who discovers his personal legend and receives help from others to help achieve his Personal Legend and learns many major life lessons along the way. Santiago gets advice that when life puts him down, keep getting back up and to focus on the task at hand, which is Santiago’s own personal legend. Along the the journey, Santiago receives help from many different characters but only three characters who helped him the most throughout his quest for his Personal legend is the alchemist, the Old King and the Englishman. The best advice a reader is able to gain from this story is the advice the the Old King taught Santiago, which is” there is only one thing that makes achieving a dream impossible to achieve, the fear of failure” which means is to never be afraid of failures and to follow your own path God has laid out for you because if you are too afraid to pursue your personal legend, meaning if people are too afraid to take risks to make their own life better than it already is now, then they will not have the opportunity to accomplish their own goals. In Coelho's The Alchemist, Santiago learns the Soul of the World through experience, patience, time and help from the Old King, the Englishman and the alchemist.
But also in the book it discusses how people do not agree with creating one’s own purpose. They think that if they create their own purpose, then that means that their life meaning is not as meaningful. I do agree with this to some extent but I also think that we know ourselves the best and if we create our own life meaning it can be the most fulfilling. A quote from this chapter is, “What matters is not necessarily what the inventor had in mind, but the uses or purposes the innovation actually has” (p.12). This quote is saying that for example the predetermined meaning of humans is not really important at all. It is what purposes a human can bring about in this world.
Many say that every single person on the planet has his/her own destiny, but they always leave out details on how to find it, making it difficult to explore one’s destiny. Movie and book heros demonstrates that it is hard exploring one’s destiny. Take the book The Alchemist for example, which is amazingly written by Paulo Coelho. The main character is Santiago, an ordinary shepherd who lives in Andalusia. He has a recurring dream about a hidden treasure in the Pyramids of Egypt. In order to find out what his dream means, he meets many mentors and good people along the way that help him interpret his dream, including the Alchemist. They tell Santiago that there is an actual treasure that is waiting for him and that he should go after it. He then decides to leave Andalusia and go after his dream in Africa. Along the way he faces many difficult obstacles that almost cost him his life. For example, he leaves Tarifa, Africa so that he could leave with a caravan that was going to Egypt. As the caravan is moving along the desert, the large caravan has to stop at an oasis because there are many tribal wars. He sees the love of his life here, Fatima. But at the end, he is able to experience a difficult journey that leads him to his treasure, which is his true Personal Legend or true meaning in life. Another good example is the movie The Matrix, which is produced by Joel Silver. In the movie the main character, Thomas Anderson otherwise known as “Neo,” is firstly known as a hacker, but he primarily works at a software company. Neo receives many calls telling him to go learn about the truth, but many times he refuses. Finally, Neo accepts to learn about the truth, which is that he's been living in a program world, the Matrix. His crew members Morpheus, Trinity, and many more, explain to him that Neo is the one to save them all. He too faces many life-threatening obstacles along the way. In the end, Neo discovers that he is the “one.” The Alchemist and The Matrix buttress the theme of finding one’s Personal Legend as both main characters, Santiago and Neo, go on a quest with lots of obstacles to find and explore their true destinies and discover who they really are.
In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago is a young Andalusian shepherd who is told he must go to Egypt by a gypsy after he keeps having the same dream about a child telling him to go to the Pyramids and find the treasure. This is the start of his journey of self discovery. The first person to tell him about his Personal Legend, which is what keeps him going
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.
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.