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Realistic reflection on the book the Alchemist
Essay about the book alchemist
Essay about the book alchemist
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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. Santiago and the Englishman have many common interests, as mentioned before. One of many is they both go after their personal legend. A personal legend is what you were put on the earth to do; a dream of some sort. Santiago and the Englishman both realize their personal legends and follow omens to get to them, which then sends them on an adventure across the desert. Another similarity shared between the two characters is the enjoyment and longing to learning. Both characters are often found throughout the book, eagerly learning from their adventures. For example, riding in the caravan, …show more content…
Santiago was taking in his surroundings and contemplating them, as the Englishman was reading his endless supply of books. Of Santiago and the Englishman’s few similarities, their longing to learn new things and willingness to chase after their personal legend are the most distinguishable. The Englishman and Santiago have multiple contrasting features between them that spice up their relationship.
A strong example is the way they learn. Santiago learns through observation and actions, while the Englishman can only learn by reading books. They have even tried the other’s method, but failed to learn anything. This is an important difference because they would have to find different methods to learn the same thing, which would take different amounts of time. Another contrast between the two is their beliefs. Santiago is obviously a believer in God, while the Englishman appears to hold to no particular religion. In other words, this means he is more than likely an Atheist. This contrast is more of a conflict between them, as most religious differences are. The Englishman and Santiago’s most significant differences are arguably the ways in which they learn and their religious
beliefs. While the Englishman and Santiago have some subtle and small similarities, the differences between them are what are most noticeable. The Englishman and Santiago’s few noticeable similarities include the eagerness to learn, and the courage to go after their personal legends. Of the characters differing features, the way they learn and their religious beliefs are of the utmost importance. People do not often recognize their differences, but little do they know the differences in people are what make things interesting.
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.
Two people could be living two very different lifestyles, yet they could be very similar in the way they act and react in the same situation. Charlotte from “The Metaphor” by Budge Wilson and the Mother character from “Borders” by Thomas King live very different lives but the way they deal with the problems they are faced with is very similar. Both protagonists have to deal with trying to be forced to be something they are not by society and their families, but Charlotte from “The Metaphor” has been challenged by her strenuous home, she must face her organized mother and orderly home; the Mother from “Borders” must stand up for what she believes in and fight for what she wants.
In The Alchemist Paulo Coelho presents a character, Santiago, torn between following tradition and his Personal Legend. Santiago tries to live true to his Personal Legend, which is a path pursued by those who strive to fulfill their purpose in life. Yet throughout the novel tradition, a motif, presents itself as a roadblock holding Santiago back from reaching his dreams. Coelho juxtaposes tradition against Personal Legend to illustrate its purely individual nature and the necessity of the acceptance of change to reach one’s dreams and goals.
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 novel, Lord of the flies, Jack and Ralph have many similarities and differences between them. Some similarities of Jack and Ralph could be used as differences. Some examples of their similarities is leadership and survival. Jack and Ralph both contribute to survive because Jack
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
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.
"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles”(Christopher Reeves) continuing to strive forward. This statement particularly adheres to Santiago, the protagonist, in the novel The Alchemist a novel written by Paulo Coelho. The primary basis of the plot line centers around Santiago, a mundane shepherd, whom obtains visions of the great pyramids of Giza venturing off in hopes of discovering a tangible treasure. The aspects of this unprecedented journey would be: his call to adventure, refusal of the call, answering of the call, supernatural aid, and finally the road of trials. With every step, Santiago follows the footsteps of every hero before him.
"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 contrast, there are many differences. In the first place, that is the purpose of these me...
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...
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).
Everyone is obviously different, but the personal qualities of a person and external situations that are occurring in the world around them can create similarities between people who have vast differences. In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, this idea is very clearly shown through the lives of Liesel and Max. Although they come from vastly different backgrounds, the situations around them and their personal qualities reveal similarities between their lives. In The Book Thief, Max and Liesel’s lives have much in common, such as their love of literature and the impact on their lives as a result of Nazi persecution. However, they also differ in many aspects of their lives such as the degree of freedom that they were able to exercise and their attitudes toward life.
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 president. An astronaut. A spy. A movie star. A veterinarian-- Everyone has their lives planned out when they’re a child. People dream of doing the most impossible things; however, most people never even start to pursue that dream. Practicality wins out and people gradually begin to compromise their dreams until it reaches a point where it is impossible. In the Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, a young shepherd boy stakes everything he’s worked for on his dream of discovering a great treasure. On the way, the boy learns some universal truths of the world. Coelho uses metaphors and similes to show that to achieve a dream one must never give into fear and always stay true to oneself and therefore one’s dream.