The Alchemist Book Review Of Melchizedek

This start starts off with a young man, Santiago, who is a shepherd traveling through Andalusia. He takes shelter at an abandoned church and tries to sleep under a sycamore tree but a dream troubles him. He has this dream every time he sleeps under a sycamore tree that grows out of the ruins of a church. In this dream, a child tells him to go to the Egyptian pyramids and here he will find treasure. Believing this recurring dream has a message he goes to a Gypsy who can interpret dreams. She tells him to go to Egypt and if he finds treasure she wants one tenth of it.

On his journey he meets Melchizedek, an old man who claims he is the King of Salem. He increases Santiago’s belief in his quest by telling him it’s his “Personal Legend.” Melchizedek

Here he meets Fatima and falls in love with her. While taking a walk he witnesses an omen that foretells an attack on the supposedly neutral oasis. He is able to warn the chieftains in time so that Al-Fayoum can defend itself. The 200-year-old alchemist hears of this and invites Santiago to accompany him on a trip.

On their trip they are held captive by Arab soldiers. In exchange for their lives, Santiago’s life savings are given and the alchemist tells them that Santiago is a powerful alchemist who in three days will turn into the wind. Santiago then speaks to the wind and sun to create a sand storm. Then he prays and when the storm is at its peak he disappears and reappears on the other side of the camp. Awed by his powers the soldiers let him go.

The alchemist travels with Santiago until an Optic monastery where he changes lead into gold by using the Philosopher’s stone. He gives Santiago some gold and sends him off alone. Finally he reaches the pyramids but is met by two men who mock him in his belief of a dream. Before leaving one of the men tell Santiago of his own dream. It concerns a treasure buried in an abandoned church in Spain where a sycamore tree grows. The church is the same one in which Santiago had his original dream, and he finally understands where his treasure is. He returns to Spain to find a chest of jewels and gold buried under the tree, and plans to return with it to Al-Fayoum,

The author made good use of vocabulary and persuasive to create a detailed mental picture of the story. His usage of adjectives makes the story visually appealing, “tradesman came and went, people were conversing, in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world,” from this, one can see that the author states everything he sees but also describes each aspect of it, for example where the people were conversing and what the table was covered with. He also defines how the touch of things feels, “He ran his fingers over the stones, sensing their temperatures and feeling their smooth surfaces,” and he similarly describes how things smell and taste, “the tea being served had a strong intoxicating smell and a bitter dull taste.” One’s hearing was not left hungry as even this sense was enlivened by the book, “The boy listened to her voice, and thought it to be more beautiful than the whistling sound of the wind,” these extracts were not hard to find as imagery was abundant in the book and transported one’s mind into The