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The alchemist by paulo coelho meaning
The themes in alchemist
The themes in alchemist
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Armand Garcia Amini
Mrs. Kaa
English 9 (4)
18 December 2015
Discovery and Success of The Alchemist
In the story The Alchemist, about a boy who goes on an adventure finding his personal legend. The Alchemist is about a young teenage boy who finds his personal legend and overcomes many challenges to get to Egypt. He dreams about Egypt but doesn’t know what his dreams mean until he meets an old man to follow his personal legend and see the marvels of the world. In Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist, he presents the topics of Discovery and Success.
In the novel, discovery is seeing the marvels of the world and the adventure of observing and finding many places. Discovery reflects the quote because it shows how he observes the old man’s house
and finds interesting things. It would not be an adventure unless you discover some amazing things and learn new things from people. The wisest old man told the boy to “go back and observe the marvels of his world”(32). After the boy, Santiago learns from the old man he decides to follow his dreams or his personal legend and goes on an adventure to the dreams he had and discover what it means. Success determines whether people accomplish their personal legend. Success is reflecting how Santiago needs to understand the language of the world in order to accomplish his personal legend and that gets him where he needs to be. “ When he wants something, all the universe conspires in helping him achieve” his dream to be successful(22). Although he is showing success in many ways and that’s what gets him to accomplish his personal legend or dream. In conclusion, Coelho describes many topics and themes throughout the story of Santiago finding the right path for him and perfect theme and topic about him. These are two good topics about Santiago throughout his journey.
In society, there is a thing called a hero’s journey. It is when our destiny is before us, and with the choices we make, depict our course for the rest of our lives. In the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and Cinderella Man directed by Ron Howard show how the hero’s journey affects Santiago and Jim Braddock lives.
In The Alchemist Paulo Coelho presents a character, Santiago, torn between following tradition and his Personal Legend. Santiago tries to live true to his Personal Legend, which is a path pursued by those who strive to fulfill their purpose in life. Yet throughout the novel tradition, a motif, presents itself as a roadblock holding Santiago back from reaching his dreams. Coelho juxtaposes tradition against Personal Legend to illustrate its purely individual nature and the necessity of the acceptance of change to reach one’s dreams and goals.
In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho an Andalusian boy named Santiago leaves Spain to travel to Egypt in order to achieve his Personal Legend. During his journey he meets four people, a Gypsy, a King named Melchizedek, an Englishman and an Alchemist, all of whom help Santiago along his journey towards his Personal Legend. However, only the King and the Alchemist teach Santiago lessons that he can learn from and use along his journey. The King teaches Santiago two lessons, to follow omens and that it is not always about the destination but that it is also about the journey. The Alchemist teaches Santiago to listen to his heart for guidance, what the Language of the World is and what the Soul of the World is. He eventually arrives in Egypt after
"If someone isn’t what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear ideals of how other people should lead their lives, but none about their own.” That is one of many deep quotes that makes the reader truly think about life in The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho. The book is about a young boy named Santiago, who loves travel and adventure, but he does not have the money to do so. He was raised to be a priest, but decides that he would rather be a shepherd, so that he can travel. Santiago’s father gives him two spanish coins, and tells him that he will learn one day that no place is as beautiful as the one he lives in. It seems like Santiago’s father believes in him, but not the way Santiago wants him to.
Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a story about a young shepherd who goes on a journey to the Great pyramids in Egypt in search of treasure to fulfil his personal legend. The boy meets people along the way who either help or hinder his ability to achieve his dreams. Through the contrasting views of The Crystal Merchant and the Englishman Santiago learns that many people pursue their personal legends only in their minds and that they all influenced Santiago’s personal legend; as a result of the characters’ outlook on life, Coelho conveys that everyone pursues their dreams either in life, or in their imagination, or through books.
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” (Coelho 23), these are the words an old king spoke to Santiago. This phrase constantly runs through Santiago’s mind while on his search for his treasure. Santiago, the novel’s protagonist, begins as a quiet sheep herder who has a recurring dream about being transported to the pyramids in Egypt by a child. Once Santiago met the old king, he decides to pursue his dream, find his treasure, and realize his destiny. Throughout The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago embodies curiosity, determination, and a naive nature through events that occur while on his search for his treasure.
An alchemist is someone who transforms common earth materials like metal into more valuable materials like emeralds and Santiago met one who accompanied him on his journey. When Santiago’s life was at risk for not being able to turn into the wind the alchemist motivated him by saying ”There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure”(Coelho 80). The alchemist’s statement meant that Santiago was scared of losing everything that he had even his life if he couldn’t turn into the wind. After acknowledging what the alchemist said he managed to do the unimaginable and turned himself into the wind continuing on his journey. As can be noted, the alchemist taught Santiago a valuable lesson to attempt and overcome dreadful moments because they might not be as impossible as he
“The closer one gets to realizing his Personal Legend, the more that Personal Legend becomes his true reason for being” ~ Paolo Coelho, The Alchemist (75)
Have you ever encountered problems while trying to fulfill a goal in your life? In the book The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, a shepherd boy named Santiago overcomes obstacles to reach his personal legend. Throughout the book Santiago encounters many friends to help him fulfill his destiny. Santiago encounters many problems throughout the story. He overcomes them with the help of his friends and his wife-to-be. These problems shape Santiago into a dignified man of many traits.
There are many obstacles in everyday life, but none as detrimental to ones future as fear. Fear can cause people to not only avoid achieving their goals in life but it also forces them to think about it throughout every day. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist shows that those who wallow in fear will never achieve their personal legend, and those who conquer fear will achieve anything they strive for. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a commonly analyzed and criticized piece of literature. One of these articles is Rejendra Kumar Dash’s “Alchemy of the Soul: A Comparative Study of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist”. Dash’s article is a literary criticism of the different parts of the character’s journey in The Alchemist. He talks about, in his article, how the theme in The Alchemist is found through analyzing the different parts of Santiago’s journey and what those parts mean. Another one of these articles is Lily Hasanah’s “Decision Making in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist”. Hasanah’s article is a literary criticism of the main character in The Alchemist, Santiago. She searches for the theme in The Alchemist through analyzing the decisions, and the outcomes of those decisions, made by Santiago. Paulo Coelho provides access to his theme, for the most part, though the actions and adventures of the main character, Santiago. Although this is the method of delivery he had in mind, Dash and Hasanah view the delivery of his theme differently.
In Coelho's The Alchemist it discusses the importance of the journey of finding your personal legend and what this shows about our lives. Santiago’s way of living by taking care of the sheep made him realize that he wanted to change his life, and achieve something way beyond his lifestyle that he was living. Santiago kept having a recurring dream about a hidden treasure at the Egyptian Pyramids. In the process of trying to find out what the hidden treasure was Santiago meets a man named King Of Salem. King Of Salem teaches Santiago about finding his personal legend and the soul of the world “And, when you want something, all the
A Book Report on: The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho Biography of Author - Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janiero in 1947 and before his career as a best-selling author, he was a playwright, theatre director, hippie, and popular songwriter for some of Brazil's leading pop artists. In 1986 he took a pilgrimage along that Road of Santiago and this would be the center of the plot of the book, The Pilgrimage, which was published in 1987. His second book was named The Alchemist and was published in 1988. This book has gone to number one in 29 countries and Coelho has been regarded as the most widely read contemporary writers. The Alchemist was one of the top ten international best sellers of 1998. His work has been published in more than 100 countries and is translated into 42 different languages. He has been awarded a variety of prestigious awards from many different countries. He today lives in South America with his family. Main Characters - The Shepherd - This was the boy through whose eyes the story was told. He followed his personal legend to the fullest and never let up with his dream. He went all over the land and was able to realize the treasure that he had been so close to in the beginning of the novel. The King - He was the one that gave the shepherd the two stones that would supposedly help him whenever he had a rough time deciding about what to do. He made the boy give him ten percent of his flock, because you should never promise something that you don't have. The Englishmen - This was the man that the boy met on his trip to the pyramids. He was the one who turned the boy onto the idea of the alchemist and the masterwork. Before this he had never known of the alchemist and the great things that he could do in the world. The ...
Identity and the development of identity is a prominent theme in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. In the Alchemist Paulo Coelho shows identity being malleable through experience. Santiago is shown to develop in his thoughts throughout the book. It can be confirmed that Santiago’s identity is developed through his thoughts, “Here I am between my flock and my treasure…he had to choose between something he had been accustomed to and something he wanted to”(Coelho 30). “…his courage is having given up his sheep and in trying to live out his Personal Legend”(Coelho 139). As Santiago lives life and takes on more knowledge his thoughts turn towards the betterment of the world, and not only himself. Realization is drawn upon and the world becomes more
Despite various differences, both Away and The Alchemist explore this concept through compelling allegorical representations of life and self discovery, narrating the course of two physical journeys which culminated into cathartic inner discoveries. Discovery is a complex journey which sometimes can be obstructed by both internal and external forces and, as exemplified in both texts, overcoming critical obstacles is vital in completing the quest of discovery. By exploring the importance of overstepping psychological limitations and fear during the course of our lives, Away and The Alchemist exemplify how discoveries can radically change us and the way in which we view life and ourselves, ultimately leading to new perceptions and
A boy named Santiago, who was a shepherd and travels around with his flock. He had met many people along with his travels, people included older woman who could interpret dreams, the old king, crystal merchant, the Englishman, and the alchemist. These people who help the boy pursuit his dream and given him tremendous courages.