Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist: Synthesis Essay

1287 Words3 Pages

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 The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho continuously shows how Santiago conquers fear and is greatly rewarded for it. In order to get his treasure and achieve his personal legend he must first travel through the well-known dangers of the desert. It is an extremely expensive trip that many do...

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...for the most part where the theme is derived from in The Alchemist, they have minor differences in view points. These differences are for the most part in the impact of the theme and not in where the theme is seen. The analysis of The Alchemist and these articles really opens the eyes of the reader to what the true theme of the novel is. It will also help the reader realize the impact that this theme has on Santiago and even in his or her own life. They can apply this theme to their own journey and be one step closer to finding their personal legend.

Works Cited

Coelho, Paulo. The Alchemist. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. Print.
Hasanah, Lily. "DECISION MAKING IN PAULO COELHO’S “THE ALCHEMIST”."
Dash, Rajendra Kumar. "ALCHEMY OF THE SOUL: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HERMANN HESSE’S SIDDHARTHA AND PAULO COELHO’S THE ALCHEMIST." From The Editor’s Desk...: 17.

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