In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a young boy named Santiago experiences many lessons from various “teachers” he encounters throughout his journey to find the treasure he dreams of. The old man who turns out to be the King of Salem is one of his first advisors. The king taught Santiago that “the secret to happiness is to see all of the marvels of the world …”, which is why he made the boy take a tricky test with oil in a spoon so he could realize the difference between unnecessary focus that would distract him from the ‘marvels of the world’, and releasing and receiving; giving him the opportunity to experience them. After Santiago shares his original insight, ”If someone isn 't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone …show more content…
Although the sheep had been traveling with the young boy before the beginning of the journey, Santiago begins to truly take notice of the importance in the lessons he learned from his flock. “There had been a time when he thought that his sheep could teach him everything he needed to know about the world. But they could never have taught him Arabic.” He noticed and realized the dependence he had on his sheep and then found how much he could learn with outside involvement and contact.“There are probably other things in the world that the sheep can 't teach me, thought the boy as he regarded the old merchant. All they ever do, really, is look for food and water. And maybe it wasn 't that they were teaching me, but that I was learning from them.” Santiago then learns to live on without his sheep and decides to sell them to truly develop his own independence. Lastly, the boy encountered the alchemist. The alchemist educated Santiago with the development of confidence to be strong to himself and follow his own heart and dreams,"Drink and enjoy yourself," said the alchemist, noticing that the boy was feeling happier. "Rest well tonight, as if you were a warrior preparing for combat. Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You 've got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can
Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist tells the story of Santiago a Shepard whose life changes once he finds out about a treasure from his frequent dreams and meets a strange man who helps him to start his personal legend. On Santiago’s journey he starts to see the hidden meanings behind daily life creating the thesis that through seeing and understanding symbols behind the world people can learn about their own personal legend and live life to the fullest. Santiago’s life starts out all about his sheep, he chose to be a shepherd, so he could travel and meet new people. Santiago’s job is to take care of the sheep, but the sheep have more meaning in the story. The sheep represent how he is comfortable in his life and how he is questioning his frequent dream, to sacrifice his comfortable life to find this treasure or to continue without taking the risk.
The Importance of Perseverance At many times in people’s lives, they consider giving up. This is also true for Santiago, the protagonist in Paulo Coelho's fantasy novel The Alchemist. Santiago is on a journey to find a hidden treasure he saw in a dream. Along this journey he continues to contemplate whether he should just give up, or continue his adventure.
First and foremost,in my perspective,I would say that the main message of the story The Alchemist is that whatever life gives you appreciate it. Life can always lead you to places or objects,but not every human can have them. To face facts life can be hard for some people and not as hard to others,in comparison to the Santiago’s life in the story he knew that he had to give up the only thing he had in order to get enough money to travel to egypt where he thought his treasure would be,and where he would get to know what his personal legend was,so he decided that he would go for his dream if he really wanted to be able to find his treasure. While traveling to the pyramids he came upon thieves,love,and fear,but none of that stop him from getting
Paulo Coehlo’s, The Alchemist, explores the Hero’s Journey through the story of a shepherd, Santiago. Throughout the novel, Santiago becomes more aware of his potential as he pursues his Personal Legend. He faces temptations and obstacles as he develops as a character. The hero crosses the threshold when they leave their old reality in search for a new one. Santiago crosses the threshold by selling his sheep and taking a boat to Africa.
In the novel “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho there is a young shepherd named Santiago who is in search for his personal legend. Santiago’s personal legend is to find the treasure at the pyramids. Throughout his journey, there are a lot of emotions especially the emotion fear. Santiago encountered a lot of challenges like crossing the desert, being in a war and turning himself into the wind. He learned the different levels of fear; fearing fear, being in fear, and overcoming fear.
The Crystal Merchant tells the boy that more customers came into the shop since he started working there. The merchant tells him that this is a good omen and Santiago finally starts to that omens factor into his personal legend. Santiago thinks to himself, “People talk a lot about omens, thought the shepherd. But they really don’t know what they’re saying. Just as I hadn’t realized that for so many years I had been speaking a language without words to my sheep” (46).
Santiago then tells the alchemist: “My heart is a traitor. It doesn’t want me to go on.” The alchemist replied with a smart answer and said “That makes sense. Naturally, it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve won.” A fear of uncertainty is what Santiago is feeling and he worries he’ll lose everything he’s accomplished so far.
… The boy was shaking with fear, but the alchemist helped him out of the tent. … the alchemist continued, “usually the threat of death makes people a lot more aware of their lives.”” (Coelho 140 6 8, Coelho 142 2) Just like before Santiago is afraid and doesn't know what to do in a situation of adversity. But he does not give up he perseveres and developes
In the book the Alchemist (by Paulo Coelho) Santiago learns many things along the way to achieving his personal legend. He gained skills and experience in things across the board, from how to clean crystals, to the 5 obligations of Muslims, to the basics of alchemy. Santiago learns from the wise, and educated, but also learns the meaning of a true friendship. Overall it is true that reaching one 's personal legend is life 's greatest treasure, but often the journey is just as valuable.
This is illuminated when the Alchemist says, “‘There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure’” (141). This particular moment shows that even though Santiago has both the ability and the knowledge to achieve his dream, it is impossible to attain it if he fears even attempting to reach it. Consequently, this fear acts as his enemy and a barrier that stands in the way of the meaningful and happy life he is destined to accomplish. Furthermore, another one of his fears is the fear of losing what he believes he has already earned. ” He reminded himself that he had been a shepherd and that he could be a shepherd again.
In life a single event can dramatically change a person forever but how they survive is what matters the most. In Night by Elie Wiesel and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, two character named Elie and Santiago are placed in life altering situations where they have to figure out how to persevere. Night is a dramatic book that recounts the reprehensible treatment that Elie had to live though during the Holocaust. Elie has to endure deplorable conditions in a Nazi concentration camp and learn to survive. He has to choose to separate himself from his experiences and still have hope. In contrast, The Alchemist is a hopeful book where Santiago goes on a journey and discovers new ideas and hidden treasures.
During the whole story Santiago is trying to find his personal legend, he is trying to find his purpose in life. Therefore in the Alchemist, the most important thing is personal legend. Everything is based off Santiago’s personal legend, if he wouldn’t of became a shepherd the book wouldn’t be all about him following his personal legend and trying to figure out what his was. Santiago has to figure out a bunch of new things that lend his to his personal
He is robbed at the beginning of his journey and must work hard to earn back the money he lost. Then, he is able to travel into the desert, facing more peril along the way. This is where he meets the Alchemist, who tells him, “You must not let up, even after coming so far” (113). The wise man teaches him things unknown to most people. With his instruction, Santiago survives his travels in the desert, even while faced with war and threats of death.
Santiago is a young boy who yearns for adventure and purpose in his life.from a young age he knows he wants to see the world and becomes a shepherd to experience new places. Santiago still struggles to find meaning and purpose throughout his many years of travel though. It's not until he goes on the journey to follow his personal legend that he truly develops as a character. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, challenges readers to acknowledge their self-worth and realize they are strongest when they love themselves.
While he travels through the desert he becomes closer to the desert, listening to what it has to say, and finally listening to what his heart has to say. In relation to Santiago’s development, this scene tells readers he was trying to find his own identity. He didn’t want his parents to make the choice of how he should live his life. He wanted to do what he thought was better for him, which was shepherding instead of being a priest.