Ignorance In Paolo Coelho's Novel 'The Alchemist'

Final Essay
Novelist Paolo Coelho’s wrote in his novel The Alchemist, “It is not until much later that children understand; their stories and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the water of their lives.” In this quote, Paolo conveys many children grow up with a sense of ignorance to their parents care. In the poem “The Rain Coat,” by Ada Limon, the main speaker demonstrates this by saying, “My whole life I’ve been under her raincoat thinking it was somehow a marvel that I never got wet.” (Lines 23-25) We also see this example in the “Paper Menagerie”, written by Ken Liu, a short story that symbolizes a childrens ignorance to culture and his own mother. In Paolo’s quote,

In the “Paper Menagerie,” a young boy named Jack, grows up refusing his culture in his youth, wanting to be the perfect “American boy” that he was bullied into believing was the superior title by the kids in school. For example on page 34, Jack says, “But her accent and broken sentences embarrassed me. I tried to correct her. Eventually, she stopped speaking altogether if I was around.” This encounter summarizes his “embarassment” of a mother he thought he had in the beginning. As the story progresses, Jack’s mother fell horribly ill. Without caring his mother was on her death bed, Jack proceeds with his life and transforms into adulthood. In his transition to adulthood, Jack finds a sentimental memory of his mother; Laohu, the paper tiger she made for him as a young child. As Jack approaches said paper animal, it unfolds to a letter his mother had addressed to future him. Because this letter was written in Chinese, (Jack’s purposely forgotten language), Jack had this letter translated by a native-speaking Chinese woman he met at the train station. In the middle of her translation, Jack’s brain has almost been unclouded by the mist of his own ignorance to his mother’s love. This circles back to Paulo’s quote “It is not until much later that children understand…” Jack felt this sudden awareness that hit him like a train. His mother did everything she could for him and cherished him deeply, going undetected by Jack