Adversity In The Alchemist

Adversity is a prominent part of life and literature, and it is something that everyone has to face at multiple times in their lives at all different magnitudes. However, what they earn from conquering these trials is worth a lot more than what would have to be sacrificed in order to get there. No one gets to their objective without having to make changes to overcome an obstacle, but all the hard work involved in achieving where you want is really what makes it pay off.

Santiago in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist demonstrates this idea by going through an abundance of problems on his journey to his personal legend. When he takes his first step towards his treasure after getting guidance from the gypsy, Santiago finds himself in North Africa,

No one wants to have to deal with a big problem for a little outcome, but even little things like that can certainly help shape a person. If Santiago were not as ambitious as he is and did not have the support that he got from Melchizedek, he could have easily given up many times like a majority of people would do, and he would be missing so much.

People with the most life experience are wise and usually well respected because they are the ones who have conquered plentiful tasks and went through with their aspirations. An Idea that is discussed in The Alchemist is that the same things that can be taught through life can be learned from books. This could be true to an extent, but everyone is different and two people who make the exact same mistake may take completely different meanings or ideas from it. Every situation is different and every person is different, and it is hard to fully grasp the depth of a situation if it was not your own, and it is a much different experience being a spectator over the actual person who is making the decisions and feeling the