Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist

Johnathan Livingston Seagull

Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach is a deceptively simple tale. This isn’t done to mislead the reader, but, rather to serve as an analogy for very large and complex aspects of philosophy and humanity. Because beneath the guise about a story of a single seagull wanting to fly, is a beautifully rich, uplifting commentary about religion, philosophy, and the extent of the human spirit. This story resonated with me in the same way that Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist did, a humble story with immeasurable value.

From the beginning, Johnathan is an outcast from his society. He spends day after day learning the art of flying against the behest of his parents, elders, and friends. His passion goes against the grain

of his flock’s culture, who see flying as only a means to an end, with that end being food and survival. We see this a lot in society, most people are merely looking for a paycheck, a place to live, and a mating partner. But, every now and again we see people who break that mold and strive for something greater. Johnathan believes there is much more to flying, and much more to everyone’s existence than simply existing. But, like most people who pursue their aspirations, he is met with strife and riddled with self-doubt. When reaching his perceived limitation, he begins to listen to the cries of the flock telling him to be “normal”, to conform to the standard of living that the seagulls have known for their entire being. This is around the time when most of us “face reality” and give up on our passions for the sake of being “one with the flock”. However, Johnathan Livingston Seagull pushes through these boundaries, just as he broke through his “limitations” of flying. Everything that happens to him, motivates him to climb higher, to soar faster, and to learn as much as possible about flying as he could. This level of dedication to something is rarely seen as “healthy” today.
Johnathan is quickly exiled from the flock for his failure to abide by the societal standards set before him.

He quickly learns to love himself and sees his exile not as a punishment, but as freedom. For he is now able to practice his craft without any gazes of animosity. I feel this tends to happen whenever someone contradicts the societal norm. Jesus did this when he or his followers claimed he was the “King of the Jews”. When Johnathan climbed ever so higher with the help of the two otherworldly birds into “heaven”, I originally viewed it as a sort of cop out.

Personally I feel there is a sort of heaven or salvation in discipline, and loyalty to oneself. Whether it is the tea maker, the baker, the accountant, or the mason, we all have our true passion and heaven for me is the ceaseless pursuit of knowledge and said desire. For Johnathan, this is flying, but, for us it can be anything. We seem to get so wrapped up in trying to get somewhere else (heaven, nirvana, et cetera), or avoiding punishment (hell), that we forget that we are right here, and right

now.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Johnathan had not arrived to heaven, in the traditional sort of the word. He had simply reached a higher level of existence. He did this not by adhering to strict laws or codes, commandments or tenants, but by staying true to himself. There is an infinite amount of knowledge out there and always room for improvement. Furthermore, in this place, you can still fail, as Johnathan did when he was learning from Chiang. This part was of particularly of interest to me because when done right, failure is the ultimate form of improvement. “Heaven” in the book is reaching perfection and perfection comes from practice.
Achieving perfection is no small feat. Johnathan alleviates this by being mentored under Chiang. This is something we can all benefit from, by learning from someone with a better understanding of the craft than ourselves, we expedite the learning process and get ever so closer to heaven. The carpenter or the mason did not just come to be, they were brought up to be.
Once he acquired enough to the point where he wanted to return to his flock to teach them and help them understand what he learned, he left the world of higher existence.

In the “normal” world, he is viewed as someone who understood concepts foreign to other and had abilities like no other bird, like a higher entity. Johnathan is much like the prophets of old who were “divinely inspired”. The prophets of old brought with them great teachings of love, acceptance, and how we can elevate ourselves higher than our basal desires of food, water, and shelter. He develops a following, much like we see with the disciples of Jesus, Gautama Buddha, Muhammad, etc. All of them spent their days practicing, learning, and listening. Johnathan leaves his disciple Fletcher at the end of Part Three, like how the prophets of old eventually left their followers. It is up to Fletcher to carry on the teachings. This is the infant stages of a

religion.
It is my understanding that the fourth part of Johnathan Livingston Seagull was added later. After a near death experience flying, Robert Bach revised part four and sent it in for publishing. It defers a lot from the rest of the story as it shows how Johnathan’s teachings have become misrepresented. The majority of Johnathan’s lessons have been represented as tradition and ritual. I think this says a lot about religion today. Many of the core lessons and value that religion provides us are veiled behind rules and regulations that don’t fully represent the fundamental principles. They are used to give them a sense of nobility or holiness. When this happens, the group tends to wall themselves from the outside world. Others who may have been curious are turned off by the lifestyle and meticulous ceremonies performed by the group.
Throughout the book we seem the enlighten of a bird with a strong passion for something. He pursues this endeavor tirelessly, pushing through his limitation and boundaries until he can no more. Then he is eleveated to a higher state of conscious. He then returns to pass on what he learned. We can all benefit from the life of Johnathan Livingston Seagull by being true to ourselves, breaking any limitations we may perceive, and striving for perfection. We must also be willing to share what we learn, for what is the point of knowledge if not to pass it on for others?