Melchizek's The Alchemist

The alchemist begins with Santiago, a humble shepherd who is nearly content with his life, but he longs for more. He is a curious and open-minded boy, which leads him on his journey to pursue his Personal Legend. Throughout the story, it shows us how Santiago goes through an entire transformation that demonstrates his inner growth and understanding of his Personal Legend.

One key moment in Santiago's character development was his first step in pursuing his personal legend. Towards the beginning of the story Santiago gets approached by Melchizedek, and has a deep conversation about Santiago's personal journey. As Melchizedek encourages Santiago to go and hunt for his personal legend, Santiago starts taking it into consideration. Melchizedek

In the book, The Crystal Merchant talks a lot about how his dream is to travel to Mecca, but he also opens up about how he is afraid of feeling empty once he does visit Mecca. “I’m afraid that if my dream is realized, I’ll have no reason to go on living (p.45).” This evidence matters because the merchant feared potential emptiness that might come from achieving his own dreams and it made Santiago think about what mattered the most, which was finding fulfillment throughout the journey and not simply focusing on what happens in the end. We start to see Santiago's inner growth when he starts making big decisions like working for the crystal merchant to save up in order to pursue his personal legend. For example, in the book he talks about how he will always have the chance to go back to being a shepherd, but will he ever have the chance to work and save up for my dreams? “I can always go back to being a shepherd,” he said. But maybe I’ll never have another chance to get to the Pyramids in Egypt (p.51)”. This specific moment matters as we start to see Santiago's inner growth channeled by Santiago's determination to find his personal legend and also his willingness to make big sacrifices in order to achieve his dreams. The Crystal Merchant gave Santiago many wise lessons which Santiago learned from and applied to his own life. One

The alchemist teaches Santiago a lot of lessons, but also guides Santiago closer to his personal legend. Through this time, Santiago goes through a lot of self - doubt and fear, but he receives guidance from the alchemist who helps him grow and continue his journey even while facing his fears and doubts. “I’m not afraid of failing”. It’s just that I don’t know how to turn myself into the wind (p.99)”. This matters because even though Santiago is dealing with his own doubts, he does not let it hold him back. In fact, he looks for guidance from the alchemist and receives it. This made Santiago learn to trust the Alchemist. This proves Santiago's capability to confront his fears so that he can fulfill his destiny. Another important lesson the alchemist gave Santiago was to be happy with the little things in life. For example, “The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon (p.32)”. What the alchemist was trying to say to Santiago was that he should find happiness in both big journeys and small ones. This helped Santiago open his eyes and realize to appreciate the present and find happiness in simple things, even while pursuing his personal legend. As Santiago struggles with doubt, the alchemist spoke some wise words to Santiago. “Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure (p.83)”. This matters because it helps