Preview

The Alchemist Essay Example

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
357 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Alchemist Essay Example
NAME
CLASS
DATE

The Alchemist Book Report

“The Alchemist”, a novel written by Paulo Coelho, describes the story of a young boy, Santiago, and his pursuit of happiness. Throughout the story, Santiago is a Spanish shepherd who is determined to follow his dream of finding hidden treasure in Egypt. To begin his journey, Santiago is challenged to leave his comfort zone within his own home and venture out into the unknown world. He had to learn to trust his instinct and the “Soul of the Universe”. 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. Although Santiago’s journey is for his own personal gain, he learns that he must accept the help and knowledge of others, even a man that he does not even know, so that he can reach his dreams. When Santiago finally realizes his dreams, he realizes that they are better than he had imagined. “The Alchemist” encourages people to dream. Through the story of Santiago’s journey, it is evident that despite obstacles, dreams can be achieved. The story also teaches that having certain interpersonal skills are necessary in the pursuit of happiness in that the knowledge and experience of others can help in your own personal journey. The story also encourages people to not allow others to dictate their future. Do not allow others to put your dreams down or tell you that you cannot accomplish something. Ultimately, this story teaches that all things are possible with the proper amount of time and dedication put

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Santiago In The Alchemist

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the fantasy fiction adventure novel, The Alchemist, written by Paul Coelho, an epic story is told about an individual named Santiago that follows his dreams and defies all odds to find a treasure that might not even exist. He is accompanied by an ally which is also an alchemist. Throughout the story, a main part was the symbolization of Santiago’s heart. His heart symbolizes the good in the world and the most pure way to get what you want.…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, a boy named Santiago goes on a journey to follow his Personal Legend. Someone’s Personal Legend exists as something they have wanted to accomplish from birth. However, a “mysterious force” convinces people that they cannot realize their Personal Legend. People like Santiago have the ability to overcome this force and therefore can rediscover their Personal Legend. However, fear can hinder people from reaching their Personal Legend, which Coelho demonstrates through the craft elements of dialogue and mood.…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Old Man and the Sea

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When Santiago goes on his little adventure, he has to have perseverance to continue with his goal. During the day, the Old Man offered to himself that he “could drift, he thought, and sleep and put a bight of line around my toe to wake me. But today is eighty-five days and I should fish the day well’ (54). Even though Santiago knows that he could just relax for the day, he chooses to have a good day of fishing well. He would rather have a chance of catching a fish with hard work than to be at ease for the day. Santiago thinks to himself “What will I do if he decides to go down, I don’t know. What I’ll do if he sounds and dies I don’t know. But I’ll do something. There are plenty of things I can do” (78). Santiago is…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This applied to Santiago decided to go and follow his dream and find his treasure and figure out his personal legend.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    alchemisst project

    • 965 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the first place, Santiago is faced by having to decide between completing his Personal Legend to travel all the way to Egypt to find a treasure at the pyramids and settling along the way for the treasures he has already earned. If he completes his Personal Legend, he will have succeeded in what he’s been yearning to find for so long. But, if he settles for the length he’s gotten to so far, he will later regret not completing his journey. As the alchemist said in the novel, “You’ll spend the rest of your days knowing that you didn’t pursue your Personal Legend and that now it’s too late.” It’s easy to say follow your dreams, but it’s not always as easy as it sounds.…

    • 965 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oscar Wao

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The ending of a novel can be evaluated by the reader in several different ways, however to properly analyze the work is to further explore the logic of how everything has come to be. The ability of the author to show the reader that the ending is reasonable from the preceding action and the character’s nature is what should truly be examined. Not only is the ending of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz both happy and unhappy, it is logical in the sense that it follows logically from the climax of the novel all while the character’s have been constant throughout, except Oscar. Oscar, the protagonist experiences a life-changing transformation that leads to his untimely death. However, the ending is convincing because of this transformation and it is convincing that the novel would end the way it would. Diaz wrote this novel in a way that kept the reader captivated and interested because his logic can not be questioned.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Alchemist

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, has a very good plot. Paulo Coelho is telling the readers that they can either discover their personal dreams or ruin it. The people that want to conquer their legend will always have many challenges to face, but that shouldn't stop them from trying and finding ways to complete the challenge. The people that give up on their obstacle and chooses to quit striving for their legend will not have a second chance.…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Alchemist Analysis

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages

    His first encounter with the Alchemist shows him that he has been correct to follow the path of his Personal Legend. Although the information taught to him over his travels is confusing to Santiago, he believes it, and changes his thinking understand more of the world. With his understanding of the universal language, of the signs and signals, Santiago evades death. The Alchemist begins meeting with Santiago, teaching him more about the Soul of the World, saying, “The wise men understood that this natural world is only an image and a copy of paradise. The existence of this world is simply a guarantee that there exists a world that is perfect. God created the world so that, through its visible objects, men could understand his spiritual teachings and the marvels of his…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Way consistently remains focused on the challenges fought through by ordinary people, and for Martin Sheen’s character “Tom,” the coping strategy he relies on to overcome the death of his son. Director Emilio Estevez illustrates the concept of the life lived and the life chosen to live, a life with excitement and allowing self-renewal to follow. As a doctor, “Tom’s” life was set and ruled by charts and paperwork, while residing in a comfortable home; his son however had journeyed to the starting position for El Camino, but died and therefore was not able to finish the trek. In remembrance of his son “Tom” chooses to take the ashes of his son and with them finish the walk together. Throughout his journey he realizes his son’s choices had real rewards, and along with the other characters he meets amidst the obstacles of an inexperienced traveler, gains a full understanding of what is meant by a life chosen. Moreover, the movie The Way demonstrates through all its characters and their experiences the idea of self-discovery. Each having their own reasons for taking the journey ultimately realized el Camino de Santiago did not fix their issues, that this exploratory journey did in fact just that: allow them to explore and discover themselves. The movie therefore acts a path for any viewer to reexamine their own lives and choose to find themselves through the difficulties life brings or to continue to live a life of…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Alchemist

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, consists of numerous pieces of advice dealing with universal wisdom. In this novel, Santiago, a shepherd boy, learns and matures on the journey to find his Personal Legend, his life's ultimate accomplishment. He faces many difficult decisions along the way but once he begins to listen to his heart he found love, treasure, and the ability to turn into wind. Like Santiago, a reader can grow to feel more knowledgeable from the words of Coelho because his advice can be accepted and appreciated by all people. The Alchemist expresses beliefs that easily relate to people around the world since at one point or another we all suffer from confusion about our hearts. Coelho beautifully constructed a novel that contains…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Alchemist

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In life, everyone has their own personal legend. Whether it be giving people a reason to remember the name or getting the dream job, the journey to a personal legend is not an easy one. A personal legend can take your entire life to achieve or even realize what it is! Santiago’s personal legend was to find the treasure, and although it was not an easy task to handle he managed to make it happen. Santiago would not have reached his personal legend without the dream that started it all (the call to adventure), the obstacles that ended up helping him( tests, allies and enemies), or the people he met along the way (mentor).…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the opening line of the book, García Márquez reveals the ending of the story: Santiago Nasar is killed. The rest of the story unfolds in reverse, as readers learn more of the details of how and why Santiago is killed. This tantalizing sentence provides a good example of García Márquez’s baroque writing style. Three different points in time are referred to in the same sentence, so that the central fact of Santiago’s impending death is nearly obscured with other details.…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Alchemist

    • 2063 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Foreshadowing or first obstacle helps to identify, or gives a hint (idea) of what the problem of the story is. Paolo Coelho has several foreshadowing events in the Alchemist; for example, the scene in which Santiago relates his dream to the gypsy, regarding the Egyptian pyramids. The dream itself is an indication of a foreshadowing event. It indicates the events that eventually will occur through the book, ‘’gives a taste of the problem ‘’.…

    • 2063 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout The Alchemist, readers see a clear view of how they are to discover the meaning of life. The first is by discovering their personal legend. People are supposed to go out and seek their life’s destiny. The second is by defeating fear. There is nothing to fear but fear itself. We shouldn’t worry about the past or future. In fact, we should be focusing on the present. When we take the focus off of our fears we begin to focus on the present and realize what we’ve been missing. Paulo Coelho portrays two main themes throughout The Alchemist: pursue your personal legend and dangers come when you fear.…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays