“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.
“…people need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want" (79). Both protagonist learned about the dangers of fear through the tribulations of their journey. Although life may constantly though curveballs our way, it is important to learn how to take risks. One must to have the audacity to continue on. Odysseus, a courageous Greek hero, would not have made it very far if he was apprehensive of taking risks. Instead, he sought
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Odysseus encountered many hardships, yet still continued to try to get back home. A great example of this was when he was on Calypso’s island. Calypso gave him the choice of staying with her forever in exchange for eternal life. This would mean not being able to go back to Penelope and his kingdom. Rather than being lazy and taking the easy road, Odysseus chose to continue on his journey back home. This also applied in The Alchemist. Santiago never stoped even when life gave him “lemons”. Instead he took those lemons and made lemonade with them and drank it. An example of this was when his money was stolen by a thief. Yes, he was discouraged, but he kept going and persevered and used the situation as a learning
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.
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.
...ght or flee, if any man will save himself from death and doom. But some here will not flee, I think, from instant death"(Homer 213). Odysseus builds up his courage and he has his moment.
...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.
Singing Sirens. Billowing seas. Risky heros. These three items may be present in the two text, Homer’s The Odyssey and “O Brother Where Art Thou” , or they may vary. Even though both of these text are about the same story, they both differ and have similar aspects.
Paulo Coelho, Author of bestselling books such as The Alchemist, Warrior of the light, and The Pilgrimage, wrote “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” (Coelho 12) In his Journeys, Coelho unlocks and discovers characteristics similar to the ones in our readings. Through his travels he comes to an enlightenment just like the character in Myth of the Cave, proves himself knowledgeable despite doubts from outer influences like Wind-Wolf in An Indian Father’s Plea, and teaches himself –as well as the others around him— that knowledge may come at times you wouldn’t expect just like Malcom X in Coming To An Awareness Of Language. Because of these unique characteristics Coelho has come to be known by some
In Holmer’s “The Odyssey” , Odysseus faces many challenges during his lifelong journey. I can compare some of his hardships with real life. For example when Odysseus saves his men from the cyclops, it relates to saving my team in a volleyball game. Odysseus makes many tough decisions that come with consequences. Just like Odysseus , I will face many difficult times as I grow.
In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, personal legend is the most important theme, because it is something Santiago needs to discover, something that shouldn’t be hindering us, but motivating us, and it is a path that not only comes with Santiago’s treasure, but also with lessons he must learn.
The men in The Alchemist, The Odyssey, and The Count of Monte Cristo all went through extremely difficult, life changing journeys. They were all give many chances throughout their journies to choose the hero or anti-hero path. To become anti-heros they would have needed to give in to the temptations along their journeys. Anti-heros serve as a representation of greedy people that just want to be able to control anything they feel inclined to, without limit. On the flip side, heros are able to resist temptation and they show the positive side to themselves by being selfless and revolving their life and journey around personal sacrifice no matter how severe. The men in each of the three stories each had their downfalls like any person would and
His Personal Legend is to discover how to turn lead into gold. He believes the only way to learn about alchemy is to read books, but when he finally arrives at the Oasis, all the Alchemist tells him is “go and try” (Coelho, 95). Sometimes people make others responsible for their Personal Legends. The Englishman put his Personal Legend in the hands of those who wrote books about alchemy. He seems to believe, that once he gets to a certain point, the universe will do the rest for him when really the universe is just there to help him. The King once said almost the same thing “What's the world's greatest lie? The boy asked, completely surprised. Its that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie” (Coelho, 18). Out of all those years he had read books and searched for the Alchemist to show him how to accomplish his dream, he could have been trying and experimenting with alchemy himself. The book suggests that the Englishman will one day accomplish his Personal Legend due to his meeting Santiago and the Alchemist. They were both steps on his journey to his Personal Legend. Santiago was instrumental in teaching the Englishman the universal language and without that he would have never been able to continue on his journey. Without the Alchemist he
The ending of the book The Odyssey written by Homer shows a heart-warming moment between Penelope and Odysseus when they met again after twenty years and embraced each other . In the movie version of The Odyssey by Andre Konchalovsky it takes a more different approach than the book. While in the movie version of The Odyssey they are shown in a more sexual way. The movie betrayed the more caring ending from The Odyssey. They focused more on Odysseus and Penelope’s sexual relationship than their caring relationship shown in the book which confuses the audience.
Would you rather be scared and stuck inside your house your whole life, or be able to face your fears in order to make your life exciting? Sometimes you have to use your courage to say, “I have lived through this horror” which is part of the quote by Eleanor Roosevelt used by Kelley Kalafatich in her TED Talk, "Living with Courage: Embracing Fear to Follow Your Heart”. This quote means a lot to me because it shows that the person who used it went through something challenging in them to be able to say it. This quote part of the quote basically means that you can be able to talk about your fear after you use your courage to conquer it. The quote and the message that Kelley Kalafatich expresses in her TEDtalk can be connected to me personally, the arts, and the world.
Despite various differences, both Away and The Alchemist explore this concept through compelling allegorical representations of life and self discovery, narrating the course of two physical journeys which culminated into cathartic inner discoveries. Discovery is a complex journey which sometimes can be obstructed by both internal and external forces and, as exemplified in both texts, overcoming critical obstacles is vital in completing the quest of discovery. By exploring the importance of overstepping psychological limitations and fear during the course of our lives, Away and The Alchemist exemplify how discoveries can radically change us and the way in which we view life and ourselves, ultimately leading to new perceptions and
The Theme of “The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho is, always follow your dreams and listen to your heart. At the start of the novel Santiago does not know what he should do when he is confronted by his dream. But by the end of the novel Santiago completely trusts his heart to guide him though life. Santiago’s story shows him learning and living out the theme of the novel.