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What is the importance of hard work
What is the importance of hard work
What is the importance of hard work
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When people set goals in life, they tend to learn lessons along the way. In The Alchemist, a boy named Santiago has a goal of finding treasure near the pyramids in Egypt. On his journey, he meets people who teach him about life and ways to reach goals. Santiago learned from a merchant, an Englishman, and an alchemist. One thing that he learned that stood out to me the most was: “before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way (Coelho 132).” That stood out to me because it is true, it has happened to me and it happened to Santiago. When Santiago was traveling to the pyramids with the alchemist, they were stopped by some tribesmen who were in the middle of a tribal war. Upon discovering great …show more content…
One of the lessons that I am tested on repeatedly is, “never give up.” A lot of times in life, I am so close to reaching a goal, like getting an A in a class, but I have one test left, and it is the longest, hardest test of the year. Walking into the classroom, I am thinking to myself, “How will I ever pass this test, I barely studied and I do not know much of the information.” But I never give up; I always try my hardest and do my best. If I am not tested on lessons that I have learned, then what is the purpose of me learning them? Are those lessons just useless knowledge? No, they are tools for life, and I am glad that I get tested on them, because without those tests, I would not survive in this world. In conclusion, Paulo Coelho’s, The Alchemist, teaches many lessons and gives off many ideas. Many of the ideas from this story have helped Santiago along his journey, and now I hope to use them to my advantage as I begin my journey. Being tested on lessons may seem tough, but that is how we get places in life. I know that I can not sit back and have things handed to me, but that I must work until I get what I want. But to get to that point, I will have to remember Coelho’s most inspiring ideas, I will not reach any goal in my life without being tested on lessons I have learned along the
The most significant journeys are always the ones that transform us, from which we emerge changed in some way. In Paulo Coelho’s modern classic novel The Alchemist, and Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken, the journey that is undertaken by the central exponents leaves both with enlightening knowledge that alters their lives irrevocably. In stark contradiction to this, Ivan Lalic’s poem Of Eurydice , delves into the disruptive and negative force of knowledge, in contrast to The Alchemist which details an antithesis of this point relative to knowledge. In all journeys, the eventuality of knowledge is a transformative one.
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.
“Only time will tell”. This common phrase states that the truth and true essence of everything will be revealed as time endures. Written in 700 B.C.E, Homer’s nostalgic epic poem, The Odyssey, has inspired many writers to follow. Nearly 30 centuries later, this classic indirectly influenced Paulo Coelho's writing of The Alchemist. Despite the myriad differences on the surface, The Odyssey and The Alchemist have many connecting parallels. The protagonist in each of the examples of the hero’s journey learned countless lessons along the way that can be taught to everyone. The most prominent of which are the dangers of fear, the importance of perseverance, and the seriousness of pursuing what you love.
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.
(Coelho 26) For example, Santiago’s first true test was to decide to leave behind his flock of sheep on the rolling hillside and follow his heart for adventure and head to Egypt in search of unknown treasure. Deep within himself, Santiago is questioning life and the meaning of it. But, it is only through a series of trials, adversities, and successes, that he comes to find his “Personal Legend”. (Coelho 26) Throughout the entire process Santiago does not lose sight of his objective, he maintained his focus on reaching the end of his goal. The qualities that Santiago personified of fate, commitment, love, and listening to the omens are what Paulo Coelho is teaching his readers to examine regarding their own “Personal
Coelho begins by identifying the main characters as they become timely components to unraveling the plot. The first line of the book, after all is, “The boys name was Santiago” (Coelho 3). We come to find that Santiago dreamt of traveling so he gave up his pursue of becoming a priest and instead, became a sheepherder (8). Santiago is already presented as a motivated character that makes efforts to accomplish his dreams. He exists as a dynamic character, rather than static as The Alchemist later on is portrayed. The Alchemist is cha...
The Alchemist was a great book about a young boy, Santiago, who wanted to travel the world. In the beginning of the book Santiago’s family wanted him to become a priest, but Santiago wanted to travel the world. Santiago’s father told him that the only people that travel the world are the rich and shepherds. When Santiago heard the information he then told his father he will become a shepherd. In response to his son’s decision, he gave his son one gold coin to buy his flock of sheep. As time went on Santiago began having a dream, a dream that he kept having. Eventually he met a merchant that he sold his wool to once a year. The boy had fell in love with the merchant’s daughter and the next year the dream was finally going to
"The Alchemist" is a novel written by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho in 1988. It tells the story of an Andalusian shepherd known as Santiago and his journey of fulfilling his "dream" which he names his "Personal Legend". Throughout his voyage, he met many different people and was forced under many different circumstances, and we are able to experience his emotional states throughout every part of his journey. He undergoes many revelations, and we could argue he becomes wiser and more aware of the spiritual value which everything in the world possesses. He ends up finding his "Personal Legend", but despite actualizing his "dream", he was a victim to the negative emotions that come with being human, and therefore we could argue that the main conflict in "The Alchemist" is within Santiago himself.
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” (Coelho 23), these are the words an old king spoke to Santiago. This phrase constantly runs through Santiago’s mind while on his search for his treasure. Santiago, the novel’s protagonist, begins as a quiet sheep herder who has a recurring dream about being transported to the pyramids in Egypt by a child. Once Santiago met the old king, he decides to pursue his dream, find his treasure, and realize his destiny. Throughout The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago embodies curiosity, determination, and a naive nature through events that occur while on his search for his treasure.
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.
Curious, courageous, young, adventurous: these are all words to describe Santiago, the protagonist in the novel The Alchemist. In this novel, Paulo Coelho develops Santiago’s character as a young boy who goes on an adventure to find his life’s purpose. Through the hero’s journey, Paulo Coelho insists that both internal and external struggles often cannot stop people from achieving their goals, ultimately encouraging people to fulfill self discovery and understand who they truly are.
"If someone isn’t what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear ideals of how other people should lead their lives, but none about their own.” That is one of many deep quotes that makes the reader truly think about life in The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho. The book is about a young boy named Santiago, who loves travel and adventure, but he does not have the money to do so. He was raised to be a priest, but decides that he would rather be a shepherd, so that he can travel. Santiago’s father gives him two spanish coins, and tells him that he will learn one day that no place is as beautiful as the one he lives in. It seems like Santiago’s father believes in him, but not the way Santiago wants him to.
Although Melchizedek's actions were of pure heart, his desire for praise reveals a selfish aspect of himself. Finally there's the vanity in the Alchemist's expectations of Santiago knowledge of the language of the world. When Santiago questions his own ability to turn himself into the wind, the Alchemist replies with "Then you'll die in the midst of trying to realize your Personal Legend" (Coelho, Coelho, Clarke 1993). This shows the unnecessary danger that the Alchemist puts Santiago through to test and prove that what he's learned so far was a vital for him to reach the pyramids. This approach Is very aggressive but it unveils the overwhelming belief of Santiago that The Alchemist has to bet his own life on the abilities of Santiago. The novel shows that someone can’t move forward in life unless they relinquish themselves of their own narrow-minded thoughts and become open to new ones, however having a slight amount of vanity helps a person gain belief of their capabilities to progress in their journey because a small dose of vanity is essential to gaining conviction in not only finding but seizing a Personal
The Alchemist is a very unique novel written by Paulo Coelho, a rather unique person. Among other things, this singularity may be attributed to a distinctive spirituality, which is an important facet of The Alchemist and Coelho’s life. The aspects of spirituality in The Alchemist are important to analyze because they comprise a major factor of this worldwide best-selling novel. Moreover, some of the values contained in this work contradict with the values of Coelho’s Catholic faith. Coelho also expressed some rather controversial interpretations of his faith outside of The Alchemist.