One of the main themes the Alchemist talks about is that every individual has a personal legend, which is a purpose or destiny that calls to them. Santiago's journey symbolizes this with his universal quest for meaning in his…
This applied to Santiago decided to go and follow his dream and find his treasure and figure out his personal legend.…
Also during his journey, Santiago learned that in his pursuit of happiness he must also find his own “Personal Legend”, what he is destined to do in life. Santiago bravely overcomes his fears and many other obstacles set in his path. Santiago learns that the people that really love him would not undermine his dreams. Further, he learns that he must disregard his fear of failure and defeat in order to get to where he wants to go. And finally, he learns that the worst thing that he could do is to deny himself of his own dreams.…
To begin with, Santiago would not have realized what his personal legend is without the dream. The dream reoccurred and at first Santiago tried to brush it off, but then he thought of it as an “omen”. This is his “Call to adventure”. From there, he decided he wanted to be a Sheppard and travel the world with sheep. Later on in the book he met the gypsy woman. She told him, “You must go to the pyramids in Egypt. I have never heard of them, but if it was a child who showed you them, they exist. Then you will find a treasure that will make you rich”(Coelho 14). If the gypsy would have never explained to him what the dream meant, he might have not known the true meaning of his personal legend, and would not be able to fulfill it.…
This scene provides an idea of the problem (first obstacle) that Santiago will have to overcome through the book. The scene suggest what Santiago have to do in order to find that treasure – not every step, or every aspect of the procedures but a hit of what he should go –Then with this information, the reader realize that Santiago must cross the desert to reach the pyramids, that he must acquire some money to arrive to Egypt. A foreshadowing event not only tells the reader what a character might do to accomplish ‘’that’’, but with what he might struggle and what the character mush overcome.…
The play opens with a violent argument between Subtle and Face concerning the division of the riches which they have, and will continue to gather. Doll breaks the pair apart and reasons with them that they must work as a team if they are to succeed. Their first customer is Dapper, a lawyer's clerk who wishes Subtle to use his supposed necromantic skills to summon a "familiar" or spirit to help in his gambling ambitions. The tripartite suggest that Dapper may win favour with the "Queen of Fairy," but he must subject himself to humiliating rituals in order for her to help him. Their second gull is Drugger, a tobacconist, who is keen to establish a profitable business. After this, a wealthy nobleman, Sir Epicure Mammon, arrives, expressing the desire to gain himself the philosopher's stone, which he believes will bring him huge material and spiritual wealth. He is accompanied by Surly, a sceptic and debunker of the whole idea of alchemy. He is promised the philosopher's stone and promised that it will turn all base metal into gold. Surly however, suspects Subtle of being a thief. Mammon accidentally sees Doll and is told that she is a Lord's sister who is suffering from madness. Subtle contrives to become angry with Ananias, an Anabaptist, and demands that he should return with a more senior member of his sect (Tribulation). Drugger returns and is given false and ludicrous advice about setting up his shop; he also brings news that a rich young widow (Dame Pliant) and her brother (Kastril) have arrived in London. Both Subtle and Face in their greed and ambition seek out to win the widow.…
“But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.”- The camel driver pg.76. This is important because the camel driver is telling Santiago that everything happens for a reason, nothing is random because the universe was written by one hand, so everything compliments one another. This means that everything that happens to Santiago, good or bad, brings him closer to his personal legend.…
For example, Coelho writes, “It prepares your spirit and your will, because there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it 's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe.” (Coelho, 22) This excerpt, which a gypsy named Melchizedek says to Santiago when they first meet each other, forms the infrastructure of the ideology of “The Alchemist.” Another example is revealed when Coelho writes, “Now that I have seen them, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I 'm going to feel worse than I did before you arrived. Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish, and I don 't want to do so.” (Coelho, 58) As Santiago continues on his journey, he meets with a crystal merchant in a city called Tangier. Then the crystal merchant gives some advice to Santiago as he prepares to leave Tangier after he has been working for a year for the merchant. The merchant knows that he has not achieved all he can in life and feels depressed as a result so he forewarns Santiago that those who ignore their Personal Legends, feel haunted by their vacant potential. The third example that Coelho portrays the centriole of Personal Legends is when he writes “But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history…
As one of the supporting characters that have a hand in the transformation of Santiago, the alchemist gives insight to Santiago to help achieve his Personal Legend. With his own success of turning metal into gold, the alchemist shows Santiago that one’s dream is capable of reaching—that one’s Personal Legend can be achieved. While the alchemist symbolizes the achievement of Personal Legends, two characters in the story symbolize the dissipation of Personal Legends: the baker and the crystal merchant.…
“If we have enough courage to disinter dream, we are then faced by the second obstacle: love” (Coelho 2). Santiago is afraid of hurting those around him. He isn’t afraid of love itself, but of hurting those he loves by doing what he wants. When Santiago has the dream about the treasure, he is very hesitant to abandon his sheep. After thinking about it, Santiago realizes that he has to follow his dream, so he sells his sheep and follows his dream of the treasure.…
When Coelho got out of institutional care, he joined law school, but he dropped out to spoiled in the "drugs and rock 'n' roll" of hippie life in the 1970s. He used to write song lyrics for Brazilian singer protesting the country's military. He was jailed three times for political activism.…
Cited: (1) "Alchemy." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 18 Jan. 2011. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. .…
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”. This powerful quote from Paul Coehlo’s The Alchemist, is just one of the book’s messages that changed me. In this story, Santiago, a young shepherd, decides to give up his current life and follows his dream of finding lost treasure. By reading Santiago’s adventures, I was given the words to describe something I had always felt, the power to make my life what I want it to be. Through this majestic tale, Coelho provides the title for a work of art, but leaves it to me to paint the picture for myself. The Alchemist speaks about the importance of seeking to fulfill our dreams for life. As we grow older, people begin to forget about all these wonderful aspirations that make being a child so magical. We lose sight of our hopes for the future. Every child has amazing fantasies of what they want to be when they grow up, and Coehlo calls this our “personal legend”, or a person’s purpose for living. When your personal legend is revealed to you, nothing can stand in the way of achievement. By following his legend, Santiago learns from others that life is about the experiences we undergo, and these events lead us to our goals. This book spoke to me as no book has ever spoken to me before. Every morning when I walk out my door, I know that it is in my control to make that day unlike any other one. I realize that in order to grasp the full picture of life, I first need to pay attention to the smaller things that make our world so magical. Much like the phrase carpe diem, The Alchemist inspired me to make everyday something new and special. A life of habits and patterns has no excitement; it lacks the spirit and intensity that make human life so amazing. When I look back on my life, I want to be able to recall a million different accomplishments that I achieved in my lifetime. I don’t want life to be monotonous, but to be a process of creating memories…
Paulo Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist greatly portrays the importance of a personal legend by focusing on the value of persistence. Throughout the novel, Santiago encounters numerous obstacles in which his will and persistence is tested. He is continuously discouraged and when faced with difficult struggles, advised that he should give up on his dream and return home. Throughout his…
Based on the number of copies each book sold in past 50 years, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is the fifth most read book in the world (Polland, 2012). Many people were impressed by this book, and people had time to think about their own personal legend after reading this book. The content of “The Alchemist” is so great that people can easily read and understand this novel, but the title of this novel, “The Alchemist”, confused many people. The reason is that even though there is an alchemist in the story, the story is mainly about the journey of a guy named Santiago who is trying to achieve his personal legend which is what people have always wanted to accomplish (Coelho 1998, pg.22). However, the novel is entitled “The Alchemist” for specific…