The Alchemist

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho portrays a young boy pursuing his Personal Legend. Everyone has a Personal Legend which is what a person has always wanted to accomplish but as time goes on people start to believe that their dreams are impossible. This novel describes the journey that the boy, Santiago, goes on to realize his Personal Legend. Paulo Coelho uses characters such as the miner, the thief, Fatima, and the alchemist to demonstrate the theme that pursuing one’s Personal Legend isn’t about the treasure found at the end, but the journey made and the obstacles that were overcome.

In the first half of the novel, the author uses a story about a miner and Santiago’s encounter with a thief to reveal the theme. For example, before Santiago gives

The miner was about to give it all up, right at the point when, if he were to examine just one more stone- just one more- he would find his emerald… The miner, with all the anger and frustration of his five fruitless years, picked up a stone and threw it aside. But he had thrown it with such force that it broke the stone it fell upon, and there, embedded in the broken stone was the most beautiful emerald in the world” (26). This story supports the theme because the miner learned to not give up. The miner not only found a precious emerald, but he also had the lessons he had learned along the way one of which the reader knows was to never give up. This emerald was not the end of his journey, it was just the beginning. Furthermore, when Santiago begins his pursuit of his Personal Legend in a land of an unknown language, he meets someone who speaks both his language and the unknown one. While conversing, the translator casually gains possession of Santiago’s money. While shopping, Santiago, “… never took his eye off of his new friend. After all, he had all his money. He thought about asking him to give it back, but decided that it would be unfriendly… Suddenly, there in the mist of all of that confusion, he saw the

Namely, the alchemist and Santiago begin to trek across the desert to the Pyramids. Along the way, they are both held up by a military camp and the only way they will get away with their lives is if Santiago turns himself into the wind. He is given three days and minimal advice from the alchemist who can already become the wind. On the third day, Santiago asks the desert to help turn Santiago into the wind. Santiago is referred to the wind by the desert who then refers Santiago to ask the sun for help. Finally, the boy asked the hand that wrote all to help turn himself into the wind. It was then that, “The boy reached through to the Soul of the World, and saw that it was a part of the Soul of God. And he saw that Soul of God was his own soul. And that he, a boy, could perform miracles. The [wind] blew that day as it had never blown before. For generations thereafter, the Arabs recounted the legend of a boy who had turned himself into the wind, almost destroying a military camp, in defiance of the most powerful chief of the desert” (157). Readers can look at the alchemist as Santiago’s mentor because he teaches Santiago how to be an alchemist, how to understand omens, and how to turn himself into the wind. This is great feat that Santiago is able to accomplish, and it was only a part of his expedition. Santiago turning himself into the wind establishes the theme