The Alchemist Review

The Alchemist The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a novel about one’s journey and personal struggles in which aid him in uncovering his newfound self realization. Coelho advocates this message through the story of Santiago, a shepherd whose “personal legend” is to find the treasure at the Egyptian pyramids, but instead finds his treasure through the experiences during his journey. Coelho’s purpose is to share his ideas of hope, and individual understanding or interpretation of life. He is successful in communicating these ideas, as the tale of Santiago’s quest has affected my personal perspective on life and self understanding. In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster discussed the symbolic meaning of quests in literature. Coelho’s Santiago is a prime example of Foster’s proposition in that Santiago’s quest initiates as a journey to find a treasure, although through his tribulations and experiences to get to his destination, he realizes that his treasure was in the knowledge he attained while on the journey. Coelho deciphers the meaning of individual quest in making it a theme throughout the story. We are often reminded of, not only Santiago’s journey, but the personal virtue that each of us must find. While this instance of symbolism is rather obvious, it reflects a great amount of insight towards Coelho’s purpose. The theme of personal quest is clearly and masterfully represented through Santiago’s journey. In The Alchemist, Santiago faces the harshness of the desert on his journey to Egypt. Like Foster shares in the chapter, ...Geography Matters, I believe that the desert separating Santiago from the pyramids symbolizes the monument of challenges he has to overcome. While Santiago’s obvious obstacle is a purely physical matter of crossing the desert, I find that the desert, in addition, represents his emotional and spiritual challenges as well. Santiago’s emotional challenges entail that he must learn to let go of being content with his