“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) A human cannot face a puzzle and not try to understand it. There is no paradox or conundrum that people ignore completely. The race as a whole has evolved into a species of extremely developed problem solvers, which is the basis of what ties the whole species together. That hunger for understanding is what drives people to consider the biggest “why?” of all: “why am I here? “Humans, throughout time and all the cultures of the world, constantly struggle against the thought that they have no purpose. People search all their lives for something that justifies the space they take up in the universe. Though the search for validation occurs in different ways, it is still what ties every single person that ever has existed, does exist, or will exist together. Why do humans search for this validation? The answer is an innate lack of self-assurance. Our insecurities force us to conjure up some reason for our being. We very often try to gain societal acceptance, or at least societal recognition, as a means of grasping our own self-worth. In Kite Runner, by Afghan author Khaled Hosseini, the main character, Amir spends much of his childhood looking for acceptance, particularly his father’s. Amir is a Pashtun and his servant/childhood friend Hassan is Hazara, and, therefore, is a second class citizen. Amir believed that his father favored Hassan, because he was intrepid and would stand up for himself when Amir was too pusillanimous to do so. In one instance, some Pashtun bullies raped Hassan after a kite fighting competition, and Amir did nothing to stop them. So great is his need fo... ... middle of paper ... ...when one discovers what he/she ought to do with his/her life, it becomes one’s reason for living. The main plot of the book consists of a shepherd, Santiago, searching for a treasure. He does eventually find the treasure; it was right under his nose the entire time. On his quest, he discovers that the act of hunting his fortune was more imperative to his life than actually acquiring the treasure. Nevertheless, he did attain personal justification. His personal legend was to find the treasure, and he found a purpose for himself in that. No matter what someone’s method of finding a validation for their existence is all techniques serve to achieve the same goal. Humans across time and cultures are obviously varied. It would be asinine to argue with that point. Still, we are united in our quest for explanations. We are united in our determination to have a purpose.
Our perception of who we are and our value doesn’t always match what others see in us. Which can lead to us accepting something less than we deserve. In The Cellist, a dog is seen walking across a street by the character Dragan. He sees the dog has a purpose, “This dog has somewhere to to.”, something it’s looking for. He relates it to all of them, the people in the city. They all have a purpose, a goal, they want to survive and live. We all have a purpose and goal in life and we
No one is born without a reason or purpose. While it differs from person to person, there is no greater journey than the quest to fulfill it. From a shepherd searching for the treasure of his dreams, to the son of Indian immigrants who must discover the value in the treasure of accepting in his own identity, following a Personal Legend is a significant part of one’s life. Santiago and Gogol, from the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and the film adaptation The Namesake respectively, encounter obstacles as they embark on the life altering journey to discover and fulfill their destiny. Both protagonists are faced with the challenge of realizing the importance of their Personal Legend and the quest to reach
Kite Runner depicts the story of Amir, a boy living in Afghanistan, and his journey throughout life. He experiences periods of happiness, sorrow, and confusion as he matures. Amir is shocked by atrocities and blessed by beneficial relationships both in his homeland and the United States. Reviewers have chosen sides and waged a war of words against one another over the notoriety of the book. Many critics of Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, argue that the novel would not have reached a lofty level of success if the U.S. had not had recent dealings with the Middle East, yet other critics accurately relate the novel’s success to its internal aspects.
When wanting to accomplish something in life, there will be a decision that will affect the outcome of leading to the right path. It will either help in achieving the goal that was made or take it further away from being able to accomplish it. In the novel “The Alchemist” written by Paulo Coelho, is about a young boy named Santiago. He is a shepherd wanting to travel with his sheep all around in doing so he goes through the experience called "The Hero’s Journey”. The Hero’s Journey are stages taken to accomplish your Personal Legend which is a goal you want to get accomplish in life. He also goes through stages in the journey that help him overcome any challenges he faces. They also bring him closer to the end of completing
"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.
In his first voyage in 1492, when Christopher Columbus set out to search for Asia, he ended up landing in America on a small island in the Caribbean Sea, which he confidently thought was Asia. He then made several other voyages to the New World in search for riches, thinking that he was exploring an already explored land, but he had found the greatest riches of them all, undiscovered land, America. This shows that when one sets out on a mission, they face different challenges on the journey but in the end, achieve more than what they planned on achieving. The novel The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, and the novel Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, both describe two journeys where the characters achieve more when they learn about life, survival and patience, by understanding religion, tackling their fears, associating with nature, and encountering other characters from whom they learn something. The former is about a young shepherd named Santiago, who has a recurring dream of a treasure in Egypt, for which he makes a journey to achieve his “Personal Legend” by the help of a man who claims to be...
It is difficult to face anything in the world when you cannot even face your own reality. In his book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses kites to bring out the major themes of the novel in order to create a truly captivating story of a young boy’s quest to redeem his past mistakes. Amir is the narrator and protagonist of the story and throughout the entire novel, he faces enormous guilt following the horrible incident that happened to his closest friend, Hassan. This incident grows on Amir and fuels his quest for redemption, struggling to do whatever it takes to make up for his mistakes. In Hosseini’s novel, kites highlight aspects of Afghanistan’s ethnic caste system and emphasizes the story’s major themes of guilt, redemption and freedom.
...ave reached a point in human evolution where philosophy needs another make over. For thousands of years philosophers and scientist alike have tried tirelessly in many attempts to figure out who we are, where we came from, and what is our exact purpose on this earth. Maybe we have reached a point in philosophy where these life questions seem “meaningless”, but maybe that is the point. Maybe life is meaningless, but I have found beauty in that. If there is one thing I have learned from this class and the philosophers we have studied it is that life is meaningless… that does not mean we cannot give it meaning.
The fear of failure has been implemented into child-hood, as it is the most influential time in a persons life. Santiago’s society taught people from young ages, that your dreams are impossible to achieve. This thinking habit imposed by society would influence the child’s life by letting them grow up not believing in themselves or their abilities. This thinking habit was passed down to Santiago by his own father, who tried to talk him out of the one thing he truely wanted to do in life; travel. “ ‘People from all over the world have passed through this village, son,’ said his father. ‘They come in search of new things, but when they leave they are basically the same people they were when they arrived.’ ” (pg 9) Your family should support your dreams, but because society imprints false ideologies into people, Santiago’s father convinces him to give up on his dreams. Even though Santiago’s father wanted “to travel the world” (pg 9-10) too, he didn’t have the courage to do so which influenced his life by “having had to bury it, over dozens of years,”. Santiago was young and impressionable at the time, and so when his very own father doubted his ability to be able to achieve his dreams, Santiago too grew up to doubt himself. This then influenced Santiago to try to bury his own life callings when faced with his Personal Legend. He used excused, “But there’s a tribal war”, (pg 115) “I
Writer Ayn Rand once said that, “Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.” This happiness is not what a person feels when common pleasures occur in their lives, such as the purchase of a new car, or a promotion at work and an increase in salary. The feeling of genuine inner well-being and peace is a completely separate state of being that can be witnessed in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner. The two key characters to the story, Amir and Hassan, share a very unique relationship. They achieve the deepest longing of humanity to achieve happiness through the different choices they make and experiences they have. Hassan proves to be on the proper path to happiness early on with a strong moral conscience in his life, sense of purpose to serve others, and the self-confidence to be independent. On the other hand, Amir struggles to achieve these same qualities as Hassan; to do the right thing, to think of others, and to carry his own weight with confidence.
In my view The Kite Runner is an epic story with a personal history of what the people of Afghanistan had and have to endure in an ordinary every day life; a country that is divided between political powers and religiously idealistic views and beliefs which creates poverty, and violence within the people and their terrorist run country. The story line is more personal with the description of Afghanistan's culture and traditions, along with the lives of the people who live in Kabul. The story provides an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political chaos. Of course there are many things that are unsaid and under explained in this tragic novel which, in my observation, is an oversimplification. There is also a heavy use of emotional appeal, and an underlying message. This is a flag for propaganda.
Basic Buddhism states that everyone should live a moral life and everyone has something to live for. This theory is a part of the buddhist path, this gives the idea that everyone should respect life and follow what they were made to do(Basic Buddhism). In the Alchemist this is also known as a “Personal Legend’. A Personal legend is a spiritual guide to your purpose in life. Comparably, in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago sells all of his belongings to earn enough money to travel across the desert in search of his personal legend. Santiago has dreams that cause him to go on an adventure across the desert in order to complete his legend in hopes to live a moral life(8). Both The Alchemist and the buddhist believe that everyone has an ambition in life. To life a happy and fulfilled life, one must finish out their intentions in
A personal legend is the idea that our lives are predestined by the gods and we have a legend we all must follow to live a fulfilling life, Except you don’t. The novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho uses personal legends as a plot device, the main character’s drive to keep going is that he will reach his personal legend and fulfill his life. The problem is that to fulfill your life you do not need to achieve your personal legend. You do not even need a personal legend. Fulfillment is relative from person to person, but one condition remains, happiness. If you want a fulfilling life you don’t need to follow your dreams, you just need to be happy with your stake in life.
The Alchemist conveyed the up-most truthful meaning of santiago’s personal legend by teaching him the soul of the earth. This stage helped santiago and the Alchemist are talking doing what your personal legend is and also doing exactly what your personal legend desires are when they speak in terms of listening to one’s heart. “Whenever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure. Santiago takes initiative on his dreams and pursue them regardless of love affairs and the hurt that comes along with it. The stage encouraged and also motivated santiago to find his treasure and make a better life for fatima and
Human life is not meant merely for eating, drinking and merry-making. Its meaning lies in a quest for something true and meaningful. Paulo Coelho’s philosophy of life as reflected in the novel subscribes to this fact. The protagonist of the novel eschews his hearth and home, wife and domestic strife, and wholeheartedly engages himself in a long abiding search of the sword which symbolizes ancient wisdom and represents his anointment as the Master and Knight of the Order of RAM (R for regnum, A for agnus, and M for mundi). Because of his avidity for the new sword he is deprived by his master of his right over the sword and is asked to seek and find the sword af...