Personal Legends: A Study in Paulo Coelho's 'The Alchemist'

In the world today, a vast diversity of individuals strive towards their “Personal Legend”: the largest accomplishment of one individual’s lifetime. This phrase appeared in Paulo Coelho’s best-selling novel, The Alchemist, where he concretely defines a person’s “Personal Legend”. Throughout this novel, Santiago, a youthful shepherd, strived to follow his Personal Legend of finding treasure at the Egyptian Pyramids; he encountered numerous hindrances as well as met numerous people that guided him closer to his optimum goal. Near the beginning of the book, Coelho elaborated that “[A Personal Legend is] what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. ‘At that point in their lives,

everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend.’” (Coelho 21). In this case, the author portrayed one’s Personal Legend as the ultimate strive towards their prime goal; one must accomplish this goal at a youthful age before pessimism dominates their mental capacities. Nevertheless, Coelho explicated that an individual will not achieve their Personal Legend without one aspect: obstacles. Depicted in the introduction of The Alchemist, Coelho elaborated that “we are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible...[we] are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream...[we] fear of the defeats we will meet on the path...[we] fear of realizing the dream for which we fought our lives.” (Coelho X-XII). From this quote, it became apparent how people elucidate that others’ ambitious strides are impossible starting from childhood, and individuals became pessimistic that their Personal Legends will negatively affect their loved ones through abandonment. Moreover, people developed apprehension towards the negative repercussions of their goals; furthermore, people may feel undeserved of their aspiring goals.

Coelho vividly portrayed these varying aspects from his innumerable experiences. Before becoming a writer, Coelho was an ardent activist in Brazil before transitioning his mindset towards Catholicism; additionally, this man resisted his parents’ agonizing attempts to pacify his goal to become a writer. Eventually, Coelho accomplished his own, Personal Legend: portraying the philosophy of Personal Legends starting with one meager boy, Santiago.
Throughout Santiago’s fluctuating adventure in The Alchemist, he encountered numerous obstacles. Foremostly, he confronted a hindrance even before becoming a shepherd. Santiago’s father was reluctant to allow his son to travel around Spain; instead, his parents desired for their child to become a priest. Santiago’s father stated that “‘[p]eople from all over the world have passed through this village...They come in search of new things, but when they leave they are basically the same people they were when they arrived.’” (Coelho 9). The statement from Santiago’s father demonstrated how one’s desires are assumed improbable from childhood; his father explicated that trekking the arid deserts, exotic villages, and other landscapes would not

affect Santiago at all. Nonetheless, his father conceded his allowed Santiago to travel, and his adventure lured him towards the romantic interest of his life, Fatima. At the Al-Fayoum Oasis, Santiago was instantaneously lovestruck with Fatima; however, this sudden attraction crucially hindered his diligent efforts towards his Personal Legend. Moreover, Santiago endured a dilemma whether to settle with Fatima indefinitely or to temporarily abandon Fatima in search for the irresistible treasure. He even expressed to the Alchemist that he wanted “to stay at the oasis...I’ve found Fatima, and, as far as I’m concerned, she’s worth more than treasure.” (Coelho 118). Nonetheless, as a result of the Alchemist’s mystical prognostications and wisdom and Fatima’s persuasion, Santiago resumed his journey into the desert with the Alchemist. Their journey, however, abruptly halted when soldiers seized Santiago and the Alchemist into a military camp and accused the two individuals of espionage against their faction. The Alchemist, in an attempt to rescue their lives, claimed that Santiago could transform into the wind in three days. As soon as the chief of the camp agreed to the Alchemist’s claim, Santiago collapsed in terror and defeat. He “was too frightened to listen to words of wisdom. He had no idea how he was going to transform himself into the wind. He wasn’t an alchemist!” (Coelho 141). It became evident that Santiago was petrified of failing to transform himself into the wind, and, in turn, he feared for his life diced to shreds as a repercussion. In this scenario, he needed to trust his integral heart in order to accomplish this seemingly unfeasible task. After accomplishing this endeavor, Santiago and the Alchemist ventured back into the desert for one final time. Eventually, Santiago would be lonesome in his strides towards the Egyptian Pyramids. As he intensely climbed up a sand dune, he confronted the last obstacle: the fear of comprehending one’s Personal Legend and feeling rather underwhelmed by the reality of it. Essentially, Santiago feared that he ventured across an entire desert to find nothing that his recurrent dream portrayed. Nonetheless, his perseverance propelled Santiago onwards as he “dug at the place he had chosen, but found nothing. He felt weighted down by the centuries of time since the Pyramids had been built. But he didn’t stop. He struggled to continue digging as he fought the wind, which often blew the sand back into the excavation. His hands were abraded and exhausted, but he listened to his heart. It had told him to dig where his tears fell.” (Coelho 161). Eventually, two refugees from the Tribal Wars forced Santiago to resume digging until it became apparent that there was no treasure; subsequently, the refugees brutally assaulted Santiago to the point of near death, but Santiago’s “unorthodox” exclamation of his dream and the treasure caused the refugees to depart. However, before leaving, one of the refugees hinted at treasure under a sycamore tree in an abandoned church in Spain in his recurring dream. As a result, Santiago’s resistance resulted in recompense; now, he knew the location of the treasure and “his heart burst[ed] with joy.” (Coelho 163). In order to achieve this knowledge of the treasures, Santiago dominated his fear of reality and exerted determination over acceptance; otherwise, he would endure defeat and obliterate his strenuous endeavors towards his Personal Legend. From his exhilarating journey, it was unambiguous that Santiago’s Personal Legend was to obtain physical and mental treasure. Of course, he discovered genuine golds and silvers at the end of his journey; nevertheless, Santiago absorbed numerous aspects of wisdom from the individuals he met. He comprehended that fears are the downfall of one’s endeavor, that one’s heart is an element to trust consistently and faithfully, that omens are the forecasts of the future and many more lessons that apply outside of mere pages and into real, daily life.
Despite only gracing this planet for solely fifteen years, I already encountered various hindrances in my expedition towards my Personal Legend. Since I was a toddler, I was boisterous about becoming the proceeding American president; I profoundly glorified the idea of administering the entire nation forward towards prosperity. Unsurprisingly, my parents assumed that my outlandish desire was the nature of children: high ambitions and complete nonsense. My parents clarified that becoming the president is a substantially difficult accomplishment that requires profound charisma and persuasion; one must travel relentlessly to give compelling speeches and convince the nation that you have to ability to influence a country. Of course, at the time, I remained oblivious to the difficulties; therefore, I continued to pursue this unorthodox stride until I began to comprehend the implications. Besides the apparent skills necessary for the job, I understood that this occupation requires me to abandon my entire family for the majority of the time. This abandonment would substantially affect my parents as I am their only child; subsequently, when I become older, they would have no child who would present consistent, profound love. Furthermore, my pessimism revealed innumerable obstacles that I might endure through my journey towards becoming president. Time was a primary issue as this occupation requires severe dedication to travel domestically for advertisement; additionally, money is needed to cover various expenses like airplane travelling, rallies, merchandise, and innumerable other deficits. Furthermore, without any experience, I would be utterly indecisive with the countless decisions I must mandate for the future of the nation. Moreover, in the substantially unfavorable scenario where I capture the presidency, I honestly can not anticipate the reality of this occupation. I might relish this occasion with a jovial attitude, or I may regret undertaking a position with such acclaim on the outside but complications on the inside. Consequently, I developed the realization that the presidency is not the position I desire. My Personal Legend perhaps is pinpointed somewhere else in this world. Evidently, being solely fifteen years old, my mind can fluctuate around in various fields; nevertheless, my adamant heart directs my path towards two aspects: public speaking and a strive for change. Conceivably, my Personal Legend might be to innovate a profound impact in this country; on the other hand, my occupation has a minuscule effect on what I endeavor to perform. I might become an analyst, an actuary, or whatever position I seem fascinated by; however, I can accomplish my Personal Legend beyond the limitations of my occupation, which is similar to a profound adult who brought me into existence.
In order to progress in this analysis, I decided to interview an individual who remained next to me throughout my entire life while ardently encouraging me through periods of excel and stagnation: my mother. Before commencing this discussion, I anticipated that she would explicate numerous astounding facts about her Personal Legend; my mother rarely talked about her years in Vietnam due to the Vietnam War and its chaotic nature. Subsequently, when I interviewed my mother, I assimilated some rather peculiar information that disclosed fragments of her life. My mother supposedly strived to become a schoolteacher or an architect; however, due to the war, she could not expand her education as her father became a prisoner of war under the Communist government. Therefore, her subsequent endeavor became quite intriguing: she desired to escape Vietnam by sea. Predictably, my mother began to encounter numerous, substantial issues. Her mother elucidated that the family had no money to purchase a ticket to the United States, and, in the improbable scenario that my mother did reach the United States, she would be instantaneously poverty-stricken. Additionally, escaping Vietnam would result in abandoning her entire family. For my mother, she was utterly intimidated by becoming independent in a different country; nonetheless, my mother was also unnerved about the repercussions her family might endure. She comprehended that if she escaped Vietnam illicitly, the Communist government would classify her as a traitor to the Communist Government, and her family would be persistently interrogated about her whereabouts to the point where they might endure imprisonment. Furthermore, my mother apprehended the physical obstacles, which made her skeptical about this stride. Foremostly, there would be other strangers who also covet to flee Vietnam; my mother was pessimistic whether these strangers would do anything to harm her. Besides this conflict, my mother feared that pirates roaming the South China Sea would seize their boat; additionally, she dreaded that the boat might sink from hazardous weather or from the pirates. These aspects represented the trepidations my mother developed about the defeats to death. Therefore, my mother was not astonished when her first escape attempt failed: the sailors on the boat seized all of the desperate people’s money and called the authorities to imprison them. Despite her dream being shattered, her perseverance resulted in boisterous rejoice. Two years later, the government released her father from prison early due to his severe illness. With the family united, the family found a sponsorship family in the state of Louisiana in the United States. “It was unsurprising that the entire family was very enthusiastic to go to America” my mother stated, “but I did feel bad that other families couldn’t escape Vietnam.” This aspect correlates into another obstacle in my mother’s Personal Legend; she had a mild melancholy for other individuals who did not have the opportunity to emigrate to the United States. Nevertheless, it became apparent, twenty years on, that she became indifferent to all these elements, and, most vitally, she accomplished her dream. She jeopardized her life, sanity, and patience to escape Vietnam and commence a new life in America, and a new generation.
From this engrossing study, it was quite evident that every individual involved, Santiago, my mother, and myself, ventured towards their Personal Legend: the largest achievement in a human’s lifespan. There were two crucial similarities that respective individual displayed in order to accomplish their Personal Legends: resilience and tolerance. Each person resisted each assault of encumbrance with ambition and patience; eventually, this tolerance resulted in genuine delight. All these obstacles originated around each respective goal, and each Personal Legend had one principle resemblance: change in lifestyle. Each individual strived to utterly restructure their lives to develop a thoroughly fulfilled life structured to each person’s desire. Ultimately, Paulo Coelho allowed me to comprehend my Personal Legend by evocatively portraying his central message in a captivating manner. The Alchemist truly demonstrated the elements of one’s Personal Legend by utilizing mystical fantasies to develop a consistently fascinating and influential story; this fictional approach resulted in myself imagining the innumerable possibilities that could be my Personal Legend. Inevitably, I located my primary Personal Legend with one pivotal message: every individual on Earth has their distinct Personal Legend somewhere in the world; the actions of each individual to decide their fate on this very planet.