Who Is Santiago Change In The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist follows the ventures of Santiago, a young shepherd from an Andalusian town in Spain. He disobeyed his father’s wish to enroll at a seminary to become a Catholic priest; instead he became a shepherd in order to fulfill his dream to travel throughout the country, in fact the world. Throughout the novel, his character changes while he is on a journey to find his Personal Legend and to find his treasure that would make him rich. In the novel, he changes constantly and he somewhat represents mankind.
At the beginning of the novel, he was afraid to trust his dreams and seek the aid of a gypsy to interpret his dream. Her respond was vague but the massage is what Santiago believed to be the meaning of the dream.

Instead, he sought out for a second opinion. During his journey across the Sahara, he shows that he is able to put faith in his judgment as well his intuition. He asks the Alchemist how he is supposed to turn into the wind, but the Alchemist refuse to give him step-by-step instructions. Eventually, Santiago trusts his intuition to solve his problem, which makes him successful.
In the novel, he goes into a quest to find his Personal Legend. A Personal Legend is one’s destiny to put it simply. It is used to identify our purpose in life and to pursue it. One of the Personal Legends in The Alchemist includes Santiago. Santiago encounters many people in his journey who help him either indirectly or directly accomplish his goals. In The Alchemist, it shows it is not the destination, but the results come from the journey.
Santiago’s growth in the story is very significant in the novel. Santiago represents the quest to find his personal legend. Santiago’s experience with the Englishman shows a level of maturity in him. He recognizes the level of value of finding one’s Personal Legend. He understands its importance that it extends to himself and others around him. Santiago also sees the cruelty in this world. He experiences being cheated, which it stirs up a dimension in his being and his journey for his Personal Legend. Santiago gains insight into efficacy in his quest. Santiago changes from gaining an understanding into the world. For example, “But the sheep had taught him something even more important: that there was a universal language in the world that everyone understood, a language the boy had used throughout the time that he was trying to improve things at the shop. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired. Tangier was no longer a strange city, and he felt that, just as he had conquered this place, he could conquer the world.” (Part II: Page 64)
Santiago emerges from being a shepherd along with being his father’s son into a being of his own that involves numerous changes in his life.

Throughout the book, he shows a level of ferocity towards his goal to achieve his personal legend by overcoming obstacles in his life. Although he changes, he is still thoughtful. He represents innocence because while he was in his journey, he witnesses the cruelty of the world around him. As he is the protagonist in the story, he is patient and he trusts in his destiny and his fate. Santiago represents mankind because in each person’s life, they either change mentally, physically, or emotionally. Santiago may symbolize us trying to figure out the questions that are hard for us to solve: What is my purpose in life? What is the meaning in life? Santiago also represents the youth of today. In the beginning of the novel, his father wanted him to become a priest similar to parents wanting their children to have careers they like, but Santiago later tells his father that he wanted to travel the world. His father was disappointed, but he gave his son his blessing almost like parents giving their children their

blessing.
In conclusion, Santiago develops and changes very significantly throughout the pilot of the novel.

Santiago may symbolize humanity. He represents mankind because he desires to find his Personal Legend and going on arduous journey. Although the journey was hard, but he was determined and he had help. The journey, to me personally, symbolizes life because as Santiago was embarking changes that made a huge effect in his life, the journey was hard but he overcame it. It represents us because in life we go into a journey not knowing when something is going to happen but we have help, not just other people but God himself to help guide us in every way. Santiago also represents mankind because we change in many ways. Despite encountering many obstacles and being cheated, he was patient, thoughtful, and in every encounter he learns. When he asked the Alchemist how to do the task, he gave him a vague response but Santiago did it by himself, this too represents us because we have to use our intuition to solve may problems that lie above our path. Santiago was told that when you want something, the entire universe would help you achieve it. It similar to Christians when Jesus tell us when we need things in life we pray to God the Father and he will help get it in his will. With many people helping Santiago to understand his Personal Legend it shows that they are numerous people are there to help us to overcome many obstacles that lie ahead on the path of life.

Despite many hardships and difficulties, we can achieve things we desire or dreamed for like Santiago. Eventually, we gain the things we desired for and like Santiago; we can gain an understanding of our Personal Legend in life and overcome any challenge. As Paulo Coelho once quote, “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”