Decision-making through the theory of Existentialism Existentialism is a philosophy which means finding self or finding meaning of life. It is theory which talks about freedom. Paulo Coelho in the novel The Alchemist talks about Santiago’s dilemmas and how he takes decision. Santiago takes decision based on his subjectivity, he considers crowds choice but takes decision which is correct for him. His decision-making can be seen through the theory of Existentialism. Santiago’s dilemmas signify that he has the freedom of choosing. He understands the fact that he has freedom to take decisions and his decision-making shows that he takes responsibility of his decision. He faces many difficulties but he never looked back, he faced them …show more content…
The decision was difficult as both options don’t provide him a steady choice. As being a shepherd does not promise him to be with the merchant daughter and for finding a treasure he need to give up his well settled life. But at the end he chose to find treasure as it allows him to purse his personal legend or dram of travelling throughout the world. He always considers his choice before taking a decision this can be seen through this conversation of Santiago with himself, “Here, I am between my flock and my treasure, the boy thought. He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have. There was also the merchant’s daughter, she wasn’t important as his flock, because she didn’t depend on him. Maybe she didn’t remember him. He was sure that it made no difference to her on which day he appeared: for her, every day was the same, and when each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises (27).” This shows that his decisions are based on his subjectivity and he look for practical reasons in the process of decision-making. He also associates his dream of ravelling freely with wind, as wind is not restricted. This also shows that when he decides something he follows that and lives with it