More handpicked essays just for you.
Difficulties that happened in the book the alchemist
Theme and subject matter of the alchemist
Santiago's character in the alchemist
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Paulo Coelho shows that Santiago is determined in The Alchemist. No matter what he does, he always has his mind set towards achieving his personal legend. "I'm an adventurer, looking for treasure"(162). Along his journey, Santiago encounters 4 emotionally obstacles. Santiago was told at a very young age that its impossible to achieve your personal legend. He meets the King and Santiago is told that once you learn what your personal legend is, you will not be afraid to go out and dream. Santiago and the Alchemist run into a tribe of Arab soldiers, who hold them captive and the Alchemist tells them that Santiago can turn himself into wind and destroy everything. Santiago doesn't believe he can do it and the Alchemist tells him the only thing
that makes a dream impossible to achieve is the fear of failure. Santiago was determined to tackle all his fears and achieve his goal. "If its still in your mind, its worth taking the risk" (16). All his life, Santiago's parents wanted him to be a priest. When he started to follow his personal calling, he feared hurting the ones he loves by leaving. When he met the love of his life, Fatima, his personal legend was still in his mind, so he left her to find it. As Santiago neared the end of his journey, he feared realizing his dream. When he finally reaches the pyramids, Santiago is stopped by a thief who asks him what he is doing. He tells him that he is looking for treasure, the thief attacks Santiago and goes to find the treasure himself. The thief returns unsuccessful, laughs at Santiago and tells him not to believe in dreams. As the thief told his story about looking for treasure in an old church and failing, Santiago realized where his true treasure was. Paulo Coelho wrote The Alchemist to teach us the importance of determination through Santiago as he pushed through all his fears and obstacles to achieve his personal legend.
Olympics Games Rio 2016 is on in full swing and the name Michael Phelps has cropped up several times during the past few days. Just recently he won his 19th Olympic gold medal. But getting there was not easy for him. I read an article recently about his journey so far and could find similarities in his journey to those of Santiago in The Alchemist.
Will Santiago go after his dream? In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago has had the same dream twice. He takes it upon himself to discover what this dream means and where the treasure in the dream is located. The people and challenges he faces along the way all present him with a sacrifice. When trying to achieve his goal, Santiago sacrifices his sheep, Fatima temporarily, gold, and time.
In the beginning of the book, Santiago travels to visit a Gypsy who is said to be able interpret his recurring dream. As a child he had always heard stories about Gypsies capturing children, taking them to their camps and making them their slaves. These stories translated into one of his largest fears for Santiago as a child and that fear returned when he visited the Gypsy, “As a child, the boy had always been frightened to death that he would be captured by Gypsies, and this childhood fear returned when the old woman took his hand” (17). The Gypsy eventually tells Santiago that there is treasure located at the Egyptian Pyramids. Without being able to overcome his fears of Gypsies, Santiago may have never went on a journey to Egypt in order to achieve his personal legend. Another example in the book that shows Santiago overcoming his fears is while Santiago and the Alchemist are travelling towards the Pyramids. They are suddenly captured by a desert tribe at war, who mistakes them for spies. In order to save his life Santiago has to turn himself into the wind. Coelho states, “But the boy was too frightened to listen to words of wisdom. He had no idea how he was going to transform himself into the wind” (83). Two days later Santiago is standing in front of the tribal chieftains trying to turn himself into the wind. He is able to stay calm while his life is on the line and
When an author uses imagery, it can have a positive effect not only on the story, but also the reader. Such effects make the reader feel more involved and keeps them interested, wondering what will happen next. In “The Alchemist”, the author uses imagery to guide the reader through Santiago’s journey. Santiago meets many people while exploring the sites ahead of him and searching for his treasure. Imagery allows a story to be shown instead of told. In the story, the author uses an abundance of imagery to create a more personal experience by extensively describing what characters look like, and allow the reader to become a character in the text.
People often do not realize their differences, but the differences in people are what set them apart from all others. In Paul Coelho’s “The Alchemist” two characters do such actions. The main character, Santiago, and the arguably secondary character, the Englishman, do such aforementioned actions. The two characters meet in a caravan that is traveling across the Saharan Desert. Although they do have some pretty interesting similarities, their differences are what intrigue the reader more.
“ Where your treasure is, there also will be your heart”(159). This is what the alchemist said to the main character. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, tells a story of a boy named Santiago, who goes on a long journey to discover his personal legend. As Santiago goes on his journey to pursue his personal legend, he is faced with many challenges, as well as left to make difficult decisions that change him forever. As Santiago travels the world, he becomes a hero. In The Alchemist, Santiago shows characteristics, as well as archetypal characteristics that make him a hero. Santiago displays kindness, bravery and wisdom; also he is considered a hero because he displays many characteristics of an archetypal hero. He displays archetypal characteristics such as: receiving supernatural help, proving himself many times and receiving an apotheosis.
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.
To begin with, the fear of losing beloved things or people presents people with dilemmas that influence the continuation of their journey and they can only bypass these dilemmas by getting rid of the fear altogether. To begin, Santiago’s fear of losing everything he already earned makes him second guess his plans and therefore discourages him to continue his journey. Santiago expresses his doubts by stating that his “‘heart is a traitor…it does [not] want [him] to go on.’ ‘That makes sense,’ the alchemist answered. ‘Naturally it [is] afraid that, in pursuing [a] dream, [a person] might lose everything [they] [have] won’” (Coelho 145). Throughout the novel, Santiago learns to always listen to his heart, but in this situation if he did, it would result in abandoning his journey. The alchemist encourages Santiago to move on from this fear by stating that it is normal to feel scared, but not normal to give up on a dream because of a feeling. Santiago’s best solution in this situation is to conquer his fear of loss altogether and erase the doubts in his mind for a smoother journey. Next, the fear of losing life in the midst of the journey makes Santiago wonder if it is appropriate to risk his life to pursue a dream. Santiago learns how to handle this situation as “the camel driver had [once] said, to die tomorrow [is] no worse than dying on any other ...
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...
Discovering and learning was written all throughout the book, The Alchemist. A young boy who was once sought out to be a priest went on to fulfil his dream of traveling. Along his journey, he meets many important people who lend him their knowledge to help him make it through his long trip.
The Alchemist conveyed the up-most truthful meaning of santiago’s personal legend by teaching him the soul of the earth. This stage helped santiago and the Alchemist are talking doing what your personal legend is and also doing exactly what your personal legend desires are when they speak in terms of listening to one’s heart. “Whenever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure. Santiago takes initiative on his dreams and pursue them regardless of love affairs and the hurt that comes along with it. The stage encouraged and also motivated santiago to find his treasure and make a better life for fatima and
The entire book was about him going on a journey and finding his treasure. This required a great amount of courage. To get to his treasure, he had to face many emotions, and it takes a great amount of courage to do that, because if we don’t pay attention to our emotions to certain things than it becomes slightly scary to find out how you react to the emotions when you are paying close attention. Also, an obvious example of courage is when Santiago becomes the wind to escape the desert warriors. Not only does he have the pressure of having his life taken away, but he also tries to do something he has never done before, under pressure.
However, one who does not always act upon bringing it into reality, does not always become into success. In the novel, Santiago becomes frustrated with the Alchemist, due to him thinking that he would teach Santiago how to turn into the wind but does not. The Alchemist states "It's through action. Everything you must know you have learned from your journey" (Coelho 125). The boy assumes that everything he hopes to learn, will be taught to him. Although, this isn't the case, Santiago doesn't realize that everything the world does during his journey will help him. Therefore, when he does not recognize something that is happening to him, he ends up depending on other people. Furthermore, a personal legend that is possible to achieve comes easier when actions are being taken towards your goal, not only by others but by one
“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”. In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the author describes the difficult but rewarding journey of Santiago toward the realization of his own Personal Legend. The quote, “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it”, challenges, drives, and energizes Santiago’s journey throughout the novel to find his Personal Legend at every stop he makes along the way.