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The problems of the alchemist
The alchemist book review
The alchemist book review
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In The Alchemist Paulo Coelho presents a character, Santiago, torn between following tradition and his Personal Legend. Santiago tries to live true to his Personal Legend, which is a path pursued by those who strive to fulfill their purpose in life. Yet throughout the novel tradition, a motif, presents itself as a roadblock holding Santiago back from reaching his dreams. Coelho juxtaposes tradition against Personal Legend to illustrate its purely individual nature and the necessity of the acceptance of change to reach one’s dreams and goals.
Coelho contrasts tradition with Personal Legend to illustrate the individual nature of the pursuit to discover one’s goals and dreams. Tradition stands as a very powerful force that makes Santiago hesitate his quest to fulfill his Personal Legend. The fear of breaking tradition holds people back from living true to their dreams since, “We always observe the tradition” (Coelho 107). Tradition involves practices of older generations and the following of already trodden paths, in hopes of reaching already achieved goals. Meanwhile, the concept of ...
The heart of a child is one free of fear. It is brave and courageous; uncontaminated by any sources of doubt. Therefore, during the tender age of childhood, one is able to form ideas that those older are unable to even entertain. It is only when one comes of age, that he faces predicaments which cause him to question whether his dream should be pursued. In such circumstances, the individual either comes to consider his dreams too impractical to achieve and chooses to submit to that uncertainty, or chooses to overcome his fears and pursue his dream. Such is apparent in various events throughout Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. In several circumstances, individuals are faced with the option of conformity as it is depicted as the result of fearing
In the novel, The Alchemist, Santiago is an archetypal hero who embarks on the most common forms of a hero’s journey. From when he received his calling from his dream, the gypsy woman, and the king, his denial and refusing of the call with his thoughts of assurance of a stable livelihood, his acceptance and beginning of adventure, his help throughout the ways with the aid of the mystical alchemist, to finally the trials that he faces from the start to the conclusion. Therefore, so Santiago is what now, and always has been considered to be the all-known hero.
Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a story about a young shepherd who goes on a journey to the Great pyramids in Egypt in search of treasure to fulfil his personal legend. The boy meets people along the way who either help or hinder his ability to achieve his dreams. Through the contrasting views of The Crystal Merchant and the Englishman Santiago learns that many people pursue their personal legends only in their minds and that they all influenced Santiago’s personal legend; as a result of the characters’ outlook on life, Coelho conveys that everyone pursues their dreams either in life, or in their imagination, or through books.
In the time he spent with the Crystal Merchant he realized that it is important to continue moving forward. He learned all that he could from his sheep, so he sold them and through the continuation of his journey he met new people and was taught new things. With his newly found understanding of the world, Santiago realizes that achieving one’s Personal Legend does not necessarily guarantee a treasure of material wealth, however, one will almost certainly acquire treasure in the form of personal
In the novel The Alchemist it tells a story of a boy who is in search of his Personal Legend. A Personal Legend is the means in which a person can live a satisfying life, in other words ones destiny in life. As the novel states the only way to achieve perfection is if all natural things continuously undergo a cycle of achieving their Personal Legend, evolving into a higher being with a new Personal Legend, and then pursuing that new goal. This concept, that the individualistic pursuit of a Personal Legend exists as life’s dominant—perhaps only—spiritual demand, lies at the center of the unique theology of The Alchemist. As we see when Santiago must give up his flock, material success and even love pose obstacles to Santiago achieving his Personal
...In conclusion, we can say that after applying Joseph Campbell's theory of The Monomyth on The Alchemist; it is noticeable that despite The Alchemist being a postmodernism wok of literature, the author Coelho used all major patterns of the hero's journey of ancient myth in his novel and this developed Santiago's journey from an ordinary one into an archetypal one.
“The closer one gets to realizing his Personal Legend, the more that Personal Legend becomes his true reason for being” ~ Paolo Coelho, The Alchemist (75)
Have you ever encountered problems while trying to fulfill a goal in your life? In the book The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, a shepherd boy named Santiago overcomes obstacles to reach his personal legend. Throughout the book Santiago encounters many friends to help him fulfill his destiny. Santiago encounters many problems throughout the story. He overcomes them with the help of his friends and his wife-to-be. These problems shape Santiago into a dignified man of many traits.
First of all, the author shows that through persevering through adversity anyone can achieve their dreams. During the book Santiago continuously faces problems that he will have to overcome to achieve his Personal Legend. In this scenario, Santiago is in the city of Tangier when he is suddenly robbed of all of his money, by a thief who promised to take him to Egypt. However instead of thinking of himself as a victim of a thief he decides that “I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure” (34). Santiago was able to persevere through a situation that many people would not have been able to overcome and not able to continue their journey. Being able to persevere through
There are many obstacles in everyday life, but none as detrimental to ones future as fear. Fear can cause people to not only avoid achieving their goals in life but it also forces them to think about it throughout every day. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist shows that those who wallow in fear will never achieve their personal legend, and those who conquer fear will achieve anything they strive for. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a commonly analyzed and criticized piece of literature. One of these articles is Rejendra Kumar Dash’s “Alchemy of the Soul: A Comparative Study of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist”. Dash’s article is a literary criticism of the different parts of the character’s journey in The Alchemist. He talks about, in his article, how the theme in The Alchemist is found through analyzing the different parts of Santiago’s journey and what those parts mean. Another one of these articles is Lily Hasanah’s “Decision Making in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist”. Hasanah’s article is a literary criticism of the main character in The Alchemist, Santiago. She searches for the theme in The Alchemist through analyzing the decisions, and the outcomes of those decisions, made by Santiago. Paulo Coelho provides access to his theme, for the most part, though the actions and adventures of the main character, Santiago. Although this is the method of delivery he had in mind, Dash and Hasanah view the delivery of his theme differently.
Will Santiago go after his dream? In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago has had the same dream twice. He takes it upon himself to discover what this dream means and where the treasure in the dream is located. The people and challenges he faces along the way all present him with a sacrifice. When trying to achieve his goal, Santiago sacrifices his sheep, Fatima temporarily, gold, and time.
Coelho incorporates many internal struggles into Santiago’s life in order to prove that they don’t restrain people from achieving their personal legend. Through the use of the hero’s journey, Santiago faces many internal struggles such as when he attempts to understand
"They come in search of new things, but when they leave they are basically the same people they were when they arrived. They climb the mountain to see the castle, and they wind up thinking that the past was better than what we have now. They have blond hair, or dark skin, but basically they're the same as the people who live right here." Santiago’s father is saying that no matter how much Santiago travels, or how much of the world he sees he will come back the same person. Santiago’s father is an important person in his life. Without his father believing in him Santiago might not believe in himself either. Santiago seems to know what he wants in life, but with his father practically telling him it is wrong he might not succeed. Santiago needs others believing in him or he will not have the motivation to succeed in finding the treasure. Not only does Santiago need others believing in him, but he needs to believe in himself as
...ins. “He had before him a chest of spanish gold coins”(166). Another apotheosis Santiago received was finding his personal legend. “Its true; life really is generous to those who pursue their personal legend”(166). Santiago is an archetypal hero because he received his apotheosis at the end of the novel.
Personal Legends are a euphemism for dreams or goals. Furthermore, Santiago hears from the Alchemist that dreams come from a special place. He explains, “Wherever your heart is, that is where you will find your treasure”(Coelho 132). This idea leads the reader to believe that the heart, soul, and mind are a combination of what forms dreams, as explained by other characters that helped the reader understand this