Who Are The Main Characters In The Alchemist

Have you ever encountered problems while trying to fulfill a goal in your life? In the book The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, a shepherd boy named Santiago overcomes obstacles to reach his personal legend. Throughout the book Santiago encounters many friends to help him fulfill his destiny. Santiago encounters many problems throughout the story. He overcomes them with the help of his friends and his wife-to-be. These problems shape Santiago into a dignified man of many traits.

“… Dreams are the language of God. When he speaks our language, I can interpret what he has said. But if he speaks in the language of the soul, it is only you who can understand,” wrote Paulo Coelho. Omens are events that hold great prophetic power, and in the case of Santiago, can change one’s life. Fatima, Santiago’s sheep, and Urim and Thummim are symbols that project the story of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho forward by shaping a theme of “some risks are worth taking”.

In the book there are a lot of characters, but the main characters are Santiago, The Alchemist, Fatima, Englishman and the Crystal Merchant. I am choosing to write the Analysis on Santiago, he is the protagonist. Santiago is a shepherd from Spain, he kept on having a recurring dream about a treasure in the Egypt. He was determined to find his treasure and learn about the world. His parents wanted him to become a priest, but instead became a Shepherd because of his desire to travel throughout the country. Santiago was hesitant at first, but it all changed when he met a king from Salem, he explained about omens and powers of nature. This quote was the inspiration “And dreams are the language of God. When he speaks in our language,

As Santiago continues his journey, the author places the theme of love and unity of nature. He alludes to the liveliness and hope the heart naturally creates to empower this encouraging tone. He shares that, “your heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say” (147). The idea that the heart can speak conveys hope not only to Santiago, but also to the readers reading The Alchemist. Once again creating this peaceful, hopeful tone in the novel. Paulo also uses personification in the story to embody a lively, hopeful tone. He phrases his sentences like “the wind’s curiosity arouse”(147) to spark ideas and obtain an optimistic tone. Not only does the description of the wind, as if it was 3 year old seeing snow for the first time, connect with readers, it also uses word choice that intrigues readers and brings in reader’s focus. Paulo Coelho does a marvelous job at perfectly describing scenes that allow readers to connect but also read in this hopeful

Throughout the book “The Alchemist”, Santiago faces many trials on his journey to Egypt to find the treasure. He is able to follow all the steps of the Hero’s Journey, starting with the call to adventure and finishing with the status quo. Santiago may have started his journey in Spain and made his way to Egypt but key points through this book include the status quo, threshold, and the abyss.

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.

Paulo Coelho uses allusions throughout The Alchemist to relate the story to biblical figures. What is currently occurring in The alchemist is, that a strange man named Melchizedek is asking Santiago to give him one tenth of his heard and he will tell him how he has to get to the pyramids. Melchizedek told Santiago many ideals of following your dream in life, and he guided him and explained to him why it is always so important to follow your dream in life. Santiago gives him the sheep and Melchizedek tells him how to get to the treasure and then the book reads “Melchizedek… He would never again see the boy, just as he had never seen Abraham again after having charged him his one-tenth fee…That was his work” (Coelho 21). This alludes to the biblical story the biblical figure Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the King of Salem, and it is said that when Abraham was returning after a battle Melchizedek met him, blessed him, and brought him bread and wine. In return,

Santiago also demonstrates exceptional resilience throughout the book. One example of this is when he sells his flock and travels to Egypt. Once arriving in Tangier he is immediately robbed by a thief, leaving him with no money. Rather than sulking and giving up, his resilient attitude guides him to looking for an opportunity to better his situation, which leads him to finding the crystal shop. Hear he puts all his effort into doing his work as best as he could, eventually leading to great financial success.

Santiago’s growth was inspiring to me. He has learned a great deal from action. He learns quite a lot about the land and his sheep by being a shepherd and paying attention to the world around him. His grandfather had mentioned to him a while back of an omen. “By traveling, watching and paying attention, the world will speak to Santiago to help him find is Personal Legend.” Through action, Santiago learns how easy it is to search for one’s Personal Legend. Everyone has their own way of learning things. For example when Santiago decides to try reading the Englishman’s book and he would try and read the signs of the desert. The boy does not learn a thing from the book and the Englishman learns nothing from watching the caravan. Just as Santiago

“The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.” This quote is very important since at this point, Santiago now trusts his soul and can make decisions based on his heart, not other things. His heart gave him strength and spoke to him when he was weak. The author’s point is that we should trust ourselves to make the right choices, by listening to our hearts and working to achieve our deepest desires.

The most interesting thing I found about the novel was the way Paulo build up Santiago’s hopes and then destroyed them. Paulo not only did this several times but he also chose to do it right after Santiago thought he had learned a lesson about life. Most books I have read don’t build up and destroy the main characters hopes so perniciously.

Every individual’s life is a journey. There are different stages in life that one goes through and by experiencing these different stages of life one becomes wiser. In the novel, Siddhartha and The Alchemist the protagonist Siddhartha and Santiago both go through man different stages in life which made them grow, learn and transform into wiser people. Both protagonists go on a journey which is eventually the same but the purpose of journey is different. Similarly, both protagonist struggles through their journey to become a wiser people. However, the end result for both protagonists was the same which is

Everyone that is, except for Manolin. Santiago is Manolin’s idol and he sticks by him through thick and through thin. I loved how the book ended with Santiago being respected by everyone for catching the biggest marlin anyone had ever seen but still keeping to himself and spending time with the boy. This shows that the old man remembers who stood by his side when times were rough and not just when the village accepted him and that is an attest to the type of person he is.

Santiago finds his treasure at the place where he first dreamt of. The ending, then, can be interpreted as Santiago needs to go in a difficult situation and time to gain the knowledge or wisdom.

People grow both mentally and physically in their lifetimes; however, the unique ways in which people grow and develop create the wonder of diverse human life. Paulo Coelho contradicts this idea in his novel The Alchemist when he states, “And my heart and soul is your heart and soul” (IX). This underlines Coelho’s whole idea all of humanity’s stories are the same. Coelho shares this idea as he attempts to describe what he believes this shared story is through a boy named Santiago. However, while the humanity and Santiago may share the same goals, the way that Santiago achieves them is unrealistic compared to most of society. Santiago begins innocent and unknowledgeable of the world, and goes out on a mission to find his Personal Legend.