The Alchemist

The Author and His Times:

“When you want something, the whole universe conspires to help you” is the saying the author of the novel The Alchemist has lived by. Paulo Coelho, his childhood to coming of age an be best compared to the fantasy of magical world of his character whom he brought to life, the shepherd, Santiago. Forty-one and desperate, Coelho was coming to realization that his novel The Alchemist wasn’t working, with his original publisher decided to cut him loose and cancelled their contract. And sure enough, the one and only thing that kept him from moving forward was all of him, heart and soul. “I was living my own metaphor. A man sets out on a journey, dreaming of a beautiful or magical place, in a pursuit of some unknown

In the usage of this format, Coelho is able to freely tell the story of his character, Santiago, and his search for his Personal Legend through simple and easy to follow journey of human life and his nature. There are no chapters within the novel. Instead, there are sections divided up to show changes and transitions of time and places within which the third-person omniscient author is telling the story from; these sections vary in length. The novel is told through chronological order combined with foreshadowing for readers to better understand the actions and thoughts of Santiago, a clueless shepard going to find a treasure he has seen in his dream. The plot is generally very simple such as that it tells Santiago’s road from point A to point B and how he deals with the; omens play a huge role when he started to realize them and they meant. The time that is covered during his road to find his treasure somewhere near the pyramids in Egypt by crossing the Sahara desert is at pre-modern time with no sight of any advanced technologies.With lack of guidance, Santiago had set out to find the treasure he has seen in his dream. Young and ambitious, he knew he would not be like his father who was afraid to follow his dreams and has lived with regrets. No matter of how many people he disappointed, he knew nothing would stop him and that was probably the wisest choice he has ever decided on. Hardships follow one to another throughout his path. However, instead of giving up as people he as witnessed along the way with similar goals, he was amazed by the process. In this Sahara desert, he was able to meet so many people from different walks of life, sharing the same road. Maybe that he was young, Santiago represents the mindset of young adults trying to find their Personal Legend and only to find struggles and challenges ahead; from there, survivor of the fittest will be very obvious. Santiago at the end of