. When the author opened “The Alchemist” he introduced the story of Narcissus, but changed the ending. The new ending has the lake weeping for the death of Narcissus, because he won’t be able to see his reflection in Narcissus’ eyes. The opening passage introduces us to two themes that are important to the story. The first is personification of inanimate objects; throughout the story inanimate objects speak and communicate with people. An example would be Santiago’s heart which begins to speak with him later in the book. The second theme introduced is the feeling of narcissism while pursuing one's Personal Legend. In the story, Narcissus becomes so interested in his own reflection that he stopped paying attention to what was around him …show more content…
and only cared about himself. That also happens in real-life when people forget to look around and only see what is ahead of them. The author tried and succeeded in opening the story because he was able to immediately throw us into some of the main points of the story. 2. 3.
While in Tangier Santiago is robbed and loses all of his money; Santiago then finds a job with the crystal merchant. Santiago learned many lessons from the merchant, but the most important one is that change is necessary for success. This was the most important lesson because without learning this Santiago would never have left the oasis. While in the desert Santiago met Fatima, who is the love of his life, and he didn’t want to leave her, but Santiago remembered the lesson he learnt and continued his adventure by venturing through the desert to find the success he desired. 4. The Englishman meets Santiago during the caravan ride to the oasis. The Englishman tries to teach Santiago about “a universal language, understood by everybody.” When Santiago meets Fatima he learn the universal language; love. The Englishman also like to speak of the parallels between objects. One parallel he talks about is alchemy and reading. The Englishman believes the best way to learn about alchemy is by reading. To the Englishman understanding the Master Work and the Emerald Tablet is hard work that people must dedicate their life to by reading about such topics. However; Santiago believes that observing is the best way to learn, but the Englishman doesn't believe
him. The Englishman’s search for the alchemist and Santiago’s search for his treasure are similar in a few ways. One way is that they both met the king to help them start their journey. Another way is they both rely on the omens. Both the Englishman and Santiago believe in the omens which have helped them get to this point. The final way is they both try to understand the soul of world. The englishman reads his books and Santiago observes everything around them. The Englishman and Santiago have mixed feelings about each other. The Englishman believes that Santiago has a primitive soul and thinks Santiago is below him; however, the Englishman likes Santiago because he keeps his company. Santiago believes that the Englishman is wrong by learning through reading; however, Santiago has a respect for the Englishman because the Englishman is also following his Personal Legend.
(Coelho 141, 143). The Alchemist embodies the eccentric mentor – the heroism, staying one step ahead
Upon arriving they said they would stay at the oasis until it was safe to cross the desert. A camel driver tells Santiago that, “There are rumors of tribal wars” (The Alchemist 80). When entering the oasis they had to hand over their arms and stay in tents with locals and fellow travelers. During his short time at the oasis Santiago experiences love at first sight with a girl named Fatima. As the war drags on Santiago tells Fatima about his personal legend and she encourages him to continue on to Egypt. Although she has been waiting for him her entire life she still insisted that he achieve his personal legend. She said if they are meant to be together they will meet again one day. Then Santiago left the oasis with the Alchemist towards the pyramids. Through this he realizes that each challenge he faces on the way to his destination forms part of God's
The heart of a child is one free of fear. It is brave and courageous; uncontaminated by any sources of doubt. Therefore, during the tender age of childhood, one is able to form ideas that those older are unable to even entertain. It is only when one comes of age, that he faces predicaments which cause him to question whether his dream should be pursued. In such circumstances, the individual either comes to consider his dreams too impractical to achieve and chooses to submit to that uncertainty, or chooses to overcome his fears and pursue his dream. Such is apparent in various events throughout Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. In several circumstances, individuals are faced with the option of conformity as it is depicted as the result of fearing
The knowledge and universal understanding derivative from a journey can leave the traveller positively enlightened. In Coelho’s story, Santiago is faced with recurring dreams which lead him to ‘’traverse the unknown’’ in search of a treasure buried in Egypt, the metaphor for universal connection, and in doing so, comes to the unrelenting realisation of spiritual transcendence. After arriving at the assumed geographical location of the treasure ‘’several figures approached him’’. They demand the boy keep searching for this treasure as they are poor refugees and in need of money, but as Santiago does, he finds nothing. Then, after relentless digging through the night ‘’as the sun rose, the men began to beat the boy’’ , finally relenting with the truth, Santiago reveals his dreams to the travellers. In doing so, Santiago finds out that these men had also been faced with recurring dreams measured around the place where the boy had undergone his own, both relative to hidden treasure. However the leader was ‘’not so stupid as to cross an entire desert just because of a recurrent dream’’. It is with this fact, tha...
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
Santiago thinks about his discussion with the old man. He is annoyed that the old man was right about his being on the verge of giving up just as he finds his destiny. Wandering around the city, he approaches a ticket seller, but he does not buy a ticket to Africa, where he knows the Egyptian pyramids are. He knows that he could buy a ticket with the money he could make from selling only one of his sheep. As he stands at the ticket window, he decides to go back to shepherding his flock. He muses that neither the old gypsy woman nor the old man understand what it means to have a flock of sheep depend on them.
"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.
Throughout the years, certain writers were able to set off a deep sympathetic resonance within readers by their usage of archetypal patterns. One of those patterns is known as the hero's journey, which Joseph Campbell gave an understandable idea of in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. According to his book, while comparing world's mythology, he found that no matter how far cultures are from each other, they will still have the same structure of hero's journey in their legends (Voytilla vii).
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.
The Theme of “The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho is, always follow your dreams and listen to your heart. At the start of the novel Santiago does not know what he should do when he is confronted by his dream. But by the end of the novel Santiago completely trusts his heart to guide him though life. Santiago’s story shows him learning and living out the theme of the novel.
... like all desert women, knows that just because Santiago must leave, it does not mean that he does not love her. Fatima is not resigning herself to stay behind and play the role of dutiful wife or girlfriend; she is merely prepared to wait for her treasure to return to her after he has found his.
In The Alchemist the unity of the self is provisional, dependant upon continuous social reinforcement. The characters who are successfully gulled are the ones who lose sight of their socially reinforced identities as they play out their fantasy ideal selves.
Working for the merchant is not very pleasant. The man is grouchy and always complains, but he is fair to Santiago. Santiago wants to build a cabinet to display crystal for customers who pass by to see. The merchant is insecure about change. Santiago learns that change is necessary for success and if one never changes, one never moves forward. The second thing that he learns is not to put off something one intends to do. The merchant tells how he is a devout Muslim but he has never made the pilgrimage to Mecca, because he was always afraid to trust his shop with anyone. Santiago also comes to realize that he has to listen to and identify the clues and omens around him. The Crystal Merchant impacts Santiagos journey and life because he learns many things. He learns how to deal with crystals, the language without words, omens, learned the Arabic language and he learned to take chances even thought the odds are against his favor. This character impacts my life because he also teaches me that omens are all around us and also to take chances when your the lowest and the odds are not in your
The vendor sees that Santiago's presence had brogue blessings to his business overall and gave Santiago a raise. As Santiago gains enough money he sets his journey once again to Egypt, with the experience of being a Shepard, crystal maker, and could now speak the language in Africa. Once the boy reached the pyramids he realizes his personal legend and sets out another journey for his lover, Fatima. Tradition plays a major role in Santiago's personal life and in the life of the people he meets in his travels that influence his life. Example of what how tradition influenced Santiago's life is the form of religion, how Santiago adapts to new tradition, the way Santiago makes a living, and language.
Santiago used his money to get a ride through the desert and towards the pyramid. They had to stop on an oasis in the middle of the desert; he would fall in love towards a desert woman which is Fatima and made him rethink about his goals and finding the treasure close to the pyramid. This event is testing him to see if he is still concentrated towards reaching his goal. Santiago was confronted by the Alchemist using interrogation if he sincere and concentrated about his goals. The final event would be him and the alchemist almost dying to a tribe, the only way of them living would be Santiago becoming the wind and destroying the tribe’s home base.