The Alchemist

The title of the book I chose for the honors book report is “The Alchemist” by Paul Coelho. HarperSanFrancisco, a division of HarperCollins Publishers published the book. The original book, written in Portuguese, was published in 1988 and the English translation was published in 1993. “The Alchemist” is a book of Science Fiction. Other genres include fantasy, quest, drama, adventure, psychology, etc. The book is 196 pages, 167 pages excluding the author interview. The story takes place Tarifa, Spain, Tangier, North Africa, and the Egyptian pyramids. The central conflict is man vs. self. Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Santiago, faces many conflicts such as man vs. nature and man vs. man but the entire novel revolves around Santiago
The rising action was when Santiago met a gypsy in Tarifa who simply told him he needed to go to Egypt and find the treasure. In return for her interpretation, she wanted one-tenth of the treasure if he found it. Santiago then met the old king, Melchizedek. Melchizedek told Santiago all about personal legends and where and when to find the treasure in return for one-tenth of his sheep. Continuing with the rising action, Santiago continued to follow omens. The omens led Santiago to a bar where a young man stole all of his money, leaving Santiago no money to travel. A crystal merchant kindly employed Santiago until he earned enough money to travel across the desert. Santiago’s employment lasted for eleven months and nine days. Reaching the climax, Santiago traveled to the desert where he met the alchemist. The alchemist led Santiago the rest of the way, teaching him valuable lessons about life and personal legends. Nearing the end of their journey, they both get captured by a tribe and the alchemist says that Santiago can turn himself into the wind. This leads Santiago to be one with the Soul of the World. Following the resolution, Santiago and the alchemist get released. The alchemist takes Santiago to a Coptic monastery where he shows Santiago how he turns lead into gold. Afterwards, the alchemist explains that Santiago is now only three
At the time, Santiago’s sheep were all he had and supplied him with his money and way of life. For Santiago to give six of his sheep to an old king whom he didn’t know very well was a very brave and risky decision. This decision pushed Santiago forward to follow his personal legend. Without having sold six of his sheep, he would have never learned about personal legends, prophets, and omens as well as learning to speak the universal language and become one with the Soul of the