1. Santiago becomes a shepherd, rather than a priest as his parents desired. Why is this choice significant to the novel?
Without the decision of Santiago pursuing his dream of traveling and later becoming a peasant, he would have never achieved his “personal legend.” Through his “personal legend” of finding his destiny, Santiago encounters many situations where his occupation as a shepherd benefits him. For example, when Santiago met the King of Salem, Melchizedek, he trade him six of his sheep in return for knowledge that helped him throughout his whole entire journey to the Pyramids. If Santiago followed his parents desires and became a priest, this whole journey of finding his destiny would have never taken place because it started
…show more content…
in the first place with a dream of traveling, not being a priest. 2. Santiago must commit to two separate payments in order for his journey to start. What are they? What does each payment represent? Each payment that Santiago makes for a knowledgeable and safe journey represents a sacrifice that may put himself in danger in the future.
Two main payments are his sheep and money. Melchizedek, the King of Salem, tells about omens, and gives him Urim and Thummin (black and white stones). In exchange, Santiago provided Melchizedek with 1/10 of his cattle, amounting to six dearest sheep that he sacrificed in order to reach his dream. Another payment is the money he paid when caught by other tribes in the desert. For example, he gave up his gold coins in order to receive three days of preparation and the option to stay alive after running into some enemies. When Santiago was about to give up the things he cherished, it was important for him to sit and take time to think about his decision before doing something he would regret later …show more content…
on. 3. How does the idea of “alchemy” work as a metaphor in the novel? 4. What lessons does Santiago learn from the Crystal Merchant? Which is the most crucial? The Crystal Merchant, a resident in Tangier, employs Santiago to work in his crystal shop where he sorts out and cleans the products. Due to an increase in sales, bonds form between the Crystal Merchant and Santiago, and he receives a lot of knowledge regarding the rest of his journey like how to speak without words and work with others in difficult situations. One of the most important lessons the Crystal Merchant teaches Santiago is to gather a dream and use it to motivate yourself to keep pursuing life. In relation to this important lesson, the Crystal Merchant thinks that Santiago is joking, and isn’t actually going to go forward with his wild dream. Even though Santiago actually pursues his destiny in the end, this lesson is still very important because it presents motivation, an important factor in someone’s life that makes them determined to keep living for a purpose. 5. What is the “greatest lie”? How does this relate to the novel? According to the novel, the "world's greatest lie" is when "we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate.” This definition of the "world's greatest lie" describes how people without goals tend to depend on their fate to get them through life.
The novel relates to this phrase because it tells the story of a boy who works toward his goals and achieves them, but when he takes a break or gives up and depends on his fate he does not get any further. Just like in daily life, we wouldn’t get anywhere by solely depending on our destiny without taking any action toward it, and this novel exemplifies this “greatest lie” by incorporating it in someone else’s daily
life. 6. At the very end of Santiago’s journey, The Alchemist leaves him alone to complete it. Why is this necessary? 7. In your opinion, what is more important, the journey or the destination? Why? Use details from this novel to defend your answer. In my opinion, the destination is more important than the journey to there because while on the journey, a person doesn't stop to think about anything; he or she keeps going one step at a time subconsciously. However, when reaching the destination a person then looks back and realizes that they have learned so much along the way and ponders all the steps and sacrifices they undergoed to reach this profound place. For example, Santiago was so persistent on getting to the pyramids that he gave up anything and everything that he cared about just to get there, and without thinking about the consequences. At the end, he actually looks back, and that is when he experiences his self-realization.
Suffering and sacrifice is never easy, but it is necessary for Santiago go through both in order to make his dreams come true. In The Alchemist, Santiago has to sacrifice his sheep so he can travel in search of the Pyramids. Santiago is hesitant to give up his sheep because he is afraid of leaving behind something he knows so well. “He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have” (Coelho 30). He is
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
After Santiago has had his dream interpreted, he sets out on a journey with the guidance of many people such as a king and a new friend. Firstly, Santiago meets a king who tells him that he can help him find his treasure if he gives him a tenth of his sheep. Santiago then sold all but one tenth of his sheep, which left him with a lot of money and a treasure he sought (Coelho 31). Now that he has no sheep left, he has nothing left to go back to, and has to start his journey. During the crossing of the first threshold stage, Santiago has to decide to take a step in which he gives everything up to pursue his personal legend. Now that Santiago has a lot of money, he is able to make the voyage to his treasure, but first he must get guidance. A boy he meets in a bar serves as a guide who holds his money for him, until when Santiago is not looking, the boy runs off with all of his money (Coelho 41). Santiago now has no money left and no sheep left. During the belly of the whale stage, Santiago faces a very impactful hindrance in which he is left with nothing but hope for finding. Lastly, Santiago faces many external struggles while on his journey across the desert towards the treasure in his dream. After traveling with a caravan during the hot days and very cold nights, Santiago learns that it is unsafe because there are tribal wars
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 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.
“Even if he never got to the Pyramids, he had already traveled farther than any shepherd he knew. Oh, if they only knew how different things are just two hours by ship from where they are, he thought. Although his new world at the moment was just an empty marketplace, he had already seen it when it was teeming with life, and he would never forget it. He remembered the sword. It hurt him a bit to think about it, but he had never seen one like it before. As he mused about these things, he realized that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure. "I'm an adventurer, looking for treasure," he said to himself.” Santiago believes that he is an adventurer, looking for treasure, but he may not believe in himself still. Santiago is stuck between looking for the treasure or staying home thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief. It does not matter how many people believe in him if Santiago does not believe in
Santiago had it hard while he was growing up, his parents wanted him to be a preacher but he knew he was destined to be more as he could not implement his lively and traveling nature in a sacristy of a church. His way to the treasure which was bound to be his happy ever after was harder to get to as he had to give up many things. He had to promise The Gypsy Woman a tenth of his treasure he did not even have yet, give up a tenth of his flock of sheep to The King Of Salem for the knowledge he had already but was provided in a more explanatory way, getting robbed, leaving behind loved ones, working harder for something he had lost but, arguably the hardest part was to be patient, hardworking and strong which he had to implement time after time and that is what made the achievement of the treasure worth it for Santiago.
Santiago is a heroic figure because he was always kind to others. He was always helping someone with something. For example: when Santiago was working at the Crystal shop, he helped the Crystal Merchant, improve his business. When Santiago was leaving the Crystal Shop, the merchant stated “You brought a new feeling into my Crystal Shop”(61). The Crystal Merchant is talking about how much Santiago has changed his business. Santiago has helped the merchant’s business by making a display case to put outside the store, cleaning all the crystal and adding new things, such as the tea. Santiago also helped an Englishman by helping him find the Alchemist. The Englishman wanted to speak to an alchemist. The Englishman stated “I need you to help me find out where the alchemist lives”(90). Because the Englishman requested for help, Santiago helped him. It took over half a day to find the alchemist, but fi...
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 Final Exam Review The Crucible: Act I 1. The irony in that sentence would have to be the fact that 100% back in those days they believed that anything fun was consider a witch trait and they had to be killed. They denied the pleasure of dancing and if you happened to be a women/female and someone blamed you for witchcraft, there is no proof to help you. 2.
And I’m going to hold on to what little I have, because I’m too insignificant to conquer the world.” Santiago thought that he needed treasure or wealth to be considered significant or happy with his life. Santiago’s want for treasure affected his journey immensely. Without his desire, he would’ve never gone through his journey. Santiago's journey was key for his growth. Without it, he would’ve never been content with his life because he would constantly think about the wealth he missed out on and never realize that the journey was the part he actually missed out on. Luckily, he did go on his journey. And towards the end of it, he realized he didn’t need the treasure to be happy in his life. He shows this after he meets Fatima,“I’ve found Fatima, and, as far as I’m concerned, she’s worth more than treasure.” This is the first point in the book in which Santiago is willing to give up the treasure because he found someone in life that makes him happy and content. Compared to Odysseus and Edmond,
On his journey to learn more about the soul of the world, Santiago met the old King of Salem, Melchizedek. He introduces several of the key concepts that we see repeated throughout the novel, The Alchemist. For example, he tells Santiago about Personal Legends, the Soul of the World, and Beginner’s Luck. The King also gives him Urim and Thummin, which represent “yes” and “no” to help guide him on his journey. Melchizedek is the first character to display magical powers that convince Santiago to pursue his dream of finding a treasure. The King once said, “Never stop dreaming, and follow the omens,” (Coelho 64). Two years later, these words helped him continue on his journey to fulfilling his destiny.
... the character of Santiago. He is not as determined as Ahab when it comes to his own nature. He is able to accept that humility and love do not take away his pride and in fact they are life sustaining. Ahab cannot give up the only thing he knows, his passions. Knowledge does not come in the face of a world that remains as mysterious and evil when we leave it as it was when we entered it. For Santiago, there is some measure of relief from the indifferent universe through the interdependence of human beings. Ahab never finds this measure of relief. Yet, they both retain some measure of dignity because they know they cannot conquer the universe but they do not let it conquer them either.
This may be because of the very fact that their parents told them the same thing. When Santiago tells his father that he'll be a shepherd, he is breaking social norms like most people have to do to live out their dreams. Throughout the entire text Santiago has almost always been accompanied by a book. When he shows the king of Salem his book, when he exchanges his book when he enters the city that had the merchant's daughter, and when he was on his trip to the oasis, he has had a book with him. Santiago himself