"That's the principle that governs all things. In alchemy, it's called the Soul of the World. When you want something with all your heart, that's when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It's always a positive force" (80). Anything I've ever wanted to happen bad enough, there has always been a way for me to achieve that goal. Or an alternative that could be more beneficial appears. Except, I wouldn't quite call it the Soul of the World. I'd call it the will of God. Both Santiago in "The Alchemist" and the priest's son in "The Water's of Babylon" worked with the Soul of the World or the will of God. Whatever one calls it, the Soul of the World or the will of God, it is an unstoppable force. If there is a will there is a way.
	Santiago's goal was to reach the treasure at the pyramids in Egypt. From the moment he had the dream about the treasure, the world worked with him so he could realize that goal. Here, Santiago discovers some good omens for his journey:
" 'In order to find the treasure, you will have to follow the omens. God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you.' Before the boy could reply, a butterfly appeared between him and the old man. He remembered something his grandfather had once told him: that butterflies were a good omen. Like crickets, and like expectations; like lizards and four-leaf clovers."
	Even when Santiago had almost given up his j...
Santiago is a shepherd trying to pursue his personal legend. His personal legend is the recurring dream about the hidden treasure at the foot of the Egyptian pyramids. In his dream he starts playing in a field with his sheep, when a child appeared and began to play with the animals. This was strange to him because sheep are afraid of strangers, but the sheep and children play along just fine. Then a child grabbed his hands and took him to the foot of the Egyptian pyramids. He begins his journey locally trying to find answers from a gypsy and a man named
Santiago had been rewarded with the treasure earned when completing his journey, “In my dream there was a sycamore growing out the ruin of the sacristy… there were precious stones, gold masks adorned with red and white feathers.” (Coelho 170). Santiago was able to accomplish his personal legend, which he had to go through many stages in the journey that got him closer to completing his goal. In this final stage of his journey was a good thing to accomplish, because he’s gone through all of the stages that had been placed there to challenge and see if he actually wants to accomplish it, so he did not give up and gained trust in himself to keep going. This is an important part of the journey because this had taught him to not give up and trust in his heart to accomplish his personal legend, such as when others believe that it is hard to accomplish what they want to complete and do in their life.
First of all, the author shows that through persevering through adversity anyone can achieve their dreams. During the book Santiago continuously faces problems that he will have to overcome to achieve his Personal Legend. In this scenario, Santiago is in the city of Tangier when he is suddenly robbed of all of his money, by a thief who promised to take him to Egypt. However instead of thinking of himself as a victim of a thief he decides that “I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure” (34). Santiago was able to persevere through a situation that many people would not have been able to overcome and not able to continue their journey. Being able to persevere through
Santiago is a young boy who fits into the flawed hero archetype. His story tells of his journey to find his Personal Legend and the many new people and experiences he encounters. Santiago is flawed in the way that he does not have enough confidence in himself to complete the task set out in front of him. He is constantly putting himself off track and avoiding what he has to do. In the beginning of his journey, he faces a setback and his money gets stolen. While finding a solution and a job, he gets distracted loses sight of his dreams. A couple months into the job, he thinks, “...Egypt was now just as distant a dream as was Mecca for the merchant…” (Coelho 58) and he glorifies his new plan to “disembark at Tarifa as a winner” (Coelho 58) with his improved flock of sheep. However, he continues his journey two years later, despite his break in confidence. When Santiago reaches the Oasis during his journey across the desert, he gets sidetracked once more by a woman. This woman’s name is Fatima. The second time they meet Santiago speaks without thinking and says, “‘I came to tell you just one thing...I want you to be my wife. I love you.’” (Coelho 98). This alone demonstrates his rash actions of an inexperienced hero who causes his dreams to be postponed. However, Santiago is also a successful hero despite his flaws. He still continues his journey, no matter what, and eventually reaches his goal. Even through
The quest that every hero begins, starts with a mission; be it through a dream, people, an object of some sort, or animals. Santiago’s quest was triggered by the former, a dream. Followed by the meeting of two people, a romani woman and a king. It is at a point after, that Santiago endures a dream of the vast Egyptian desert. Due to the recurring nature of the dream, he pursues a clairvoyant amidst the romani people. Upon discovery of the woman, she asks Santiago of what had ensued during the course of his dream. He inturn he told of how “[a] child took [him] by both hands and transported [him] to the Egyptian pyramids”(13). The romani told him that, in order for her to interpret his dream, as he had gone to her for, he must give her a portion of the treasure.The rationalization that follows with this, is the idea that since a child was the one who had shown Santiago the treasure, that it must exist. Without much time passing, Santiago had came across an old man, who through claim, was allegedly the King of Salem. ...
Santiago understands himself as he discovers on his journey, his purpose of life, which is achieving his personal legend, while Pi discovers his evil side, a side, which he never thought he would ever release. In The Alchemi...
"They come in search of new things, but when they leave they are basically the same people they were when they arrived. They climb the mountain to see the castle, and they wind up thinking that the past was better than what we have now. They have blond hair, or dark skin, but basically they're the same as the people who live right here." Santiago’s father is saying that no matter how much Santiago travels, or how much of the world he sees he will come back the same person. Santiago’s father is an important person in his life. Without his father believing in him Santiago might not believe in himself either. Santiago seems to know what he wants in life, but with his father practically telling him it is wrong he might not succeed. Santiago needs others believing in him or he will not have the motivation to succeed in finding the treasure. Not only does Santiago need others believing in him, but he needs to believe in himself as
In the time he spent with the Crystal Merchant he realized that it is important to continue moving forward. He learned all that he could from his sheep, so he sold them and through the continuation of his journey he met new people and was taught new things. With his newly found understanding of the world, Santiago realizes that achieving one’s Personal Legend does not necessarily guarantee a treasure of material wealth, however, one will almost certainly acquire treasure in the form of personal
At the beginning of his journey when he first set foot in the continent of Africa, he meets another man, who ends up robbing Santiago of all his money, which left him discouraged and he began doubting his decision. He ends up using the two stones given to him by a king, and he regains his inspiration and decides to continue on in search of his "Personal Legend". Another example of a time Santiago began abandoning his dreams was when he began working at the crystal shop in Tangier. He began building a comforting life with a routine. For about a year, Santiago put off ideas of achieving his goals, and he succumbed to the temptation to give
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” (Coelho 23), these are the words an old king spoke to Santiago. This phrase constantly runs through Santiago’s mind while on his search for his treasure. Santiago, the novel’s protagonist, begins as a quiet sheep herder who has a recurring dream about being transported to the pyramids in Egypt by a child. Once Santiago met the old king, he decides to pursue his dream, find his treasure, and realize his destiny. Throughout The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago embodies curiosity, determination, and a naive nature through events that occur while on his search for his treasure.
The first two obstacles that Santiago faces are that his father tells him he can not do something that he wants to do and that he wants to pursue his personal legend, but he does not want to hurt those that he loves. For example, Santiago’s father said, “The people who come here have a lot of money to spend, so they can afford to travel. Amongst us the only ones who can travel are shepherds.” Everyone is told by their parents and friends that everything we want to do is impossible. Since Santiago did not have money to spend to travel his only choice was then to become a shepherd to fulfill his desire. T...
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.
In the book the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago’s call to adventure was to travel the world , experience life, and find his hidden treasure. This meant he would stop at nothing until he achieved so. This troublesome stage is a period where santiago is tested to grab his dream before it leaves without him.“I’m not going to charge anything now, but I want one tenth of the treasure if you find it.”This stage was very confusing for Santiago because he didn’t know why or how foreign people knew about his personal legend. Santiago chooses to pursue his legend due to a fortune-seer’s knowledge. This significance of this stage so prominently prone to santiago’s view from the inside, he finally chose to go because he knows that everything happens
Kind of like a test to see if Santiago can handle what is in store for him. The first obstacle is when were being told from birth/childhood that we cannot do what we plan to do. The second obstacle is us having to give up what we love and cherish in order to pursue our personal legend. In this case, Santiago chooses to gives up his sheep in order to go and find his treasure. The third obstacle is Santiago having the fear of defeat stuck in his head and his failure along the journey. He fears that point of not to making it across the desert so Santiago decides to head back home. He eventually overcomes his fear and chooses to keep his composer and go across. The last obstacle is us feeling that our personal legend, we do not deserve it. Santiago is then feeling like he has already everything he as ever wanted and needed with Fatima. He also feels that the treasure is really not that important anymore. Even though that's what he has been searching for this whole time he has realized his true treasure. The Alchemist helps him to overcome all of this and tells him that he can return to his loved ones that really miss him. So he moves on and finds his treasure, and returns to actually receive his treasure inside the the old abandoned
While The Alchemist might appear as though it is a play chastising both tricksters, Face, Subtle, and Doll Common, and their naïve victims, Abel Drugger, Sir Epicure Mammon, and the like, Jonson mainly critiques those who scoff at the duped. During the prologue of the play, Jonson criticizes those who, “are esteemed the more learned and sufficient for this by the many, through their excellent vice of judgment” (1.To the Reader.13-14). Surly, the skeptic of the play, demonstrates this type of person most clearly. However, in order to fully “better, men,” (1.Proluge. 12), Jonson must create a character that his readers will empathize with. What better character to accomplish this goal with than Mammon, of whom Subtle once remarked, that, “If