Santiago's Journey In The Alchemist

Santiago's Journey

An individual's purpose in life is explored by taking risks and accepting the help of those around them in order to achieve what one believes is impossible. In Paulo Coelhos novel, The Alchemist, Santiago convinces his father to fund his dream of becoming a shepherd. As he tends to his sheep, he begins to desire more knowledge of both himself and the world that surrounds him. He becomes infatuated with the concept of omens and personal legends after an encounter with a wise old man who claimed to be the king of Priam. Utilizing the guidance he received from the old man, Santiago ventures off to the pyramids in Egypt meeting a plethora of people who mold him and his perception of the universe along the way. Throughout the

Along Santiago's path to discover his personal legend, he allows himself to free his mind of all doubt or skepticism he feels surrounding himself and the universe. At his lowest point, Santiago was left contemplating his life choices when an old man approached him in Tarifa. The old man, who claimed to be the king of Salem, began a productive discussion with Santiago where he detailed various topics such as omens and one's personal legend. Finding the teachings to be of some value, Santiago decides to not give up on his personal legend and go on a journey to find his treasure. The teachings of the wise old man transformed Santiago into a determined and persistent character who eventually adopts the language of the world in order to discover his treasure. However, when faced with adversity later on in his journey, he finds it difficult to continue displaying this self trust. A great example of

Since the beginning of the novel, it was Santiago's belief that the attainment of material gain or money would be immediately followed by happiness. Therefore, he maintained the belief that his goal in life was to become wealthy and gain social prestige. However, after his interaction with the wise old man, he learned that his life was so much more than just how much money he had or how well known he was. This idea of strife for personal superiority is thoroughly examined by Archana Kumari in her article Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist- An Exploration of Individual Physiological Dimension. kumari states that “striving for superiority is one of the fundamental laws of human life, without it someone's life would be unthinkable” (3). Although Santiago initially believes that happiness comes from having a great number of material assets, he is able to understand through the help of various people, such as the old man and the Crystal Merchant. During his journey, Santiago is reminded that money is rendered useless if he is not wise. For example, upon his arrival in Tangier, Santiago is robbed in the marketplace and left in a foreign country with nothing. This loss of everything came as a consequence of him trusting someone he did not know because he was eager to get to his treasure. As the novel progresses, Santiago learns to be more