The Fear Of Fear In The Alchemist, By Paulo Coelho

743 Words2 Pages

Fear impacts a person's mental state negatively but how does fear impact our dreams? This novel The Alchemist is written by an influential author named Paulo Coelho. The story revolves around a shepherd boy named Santiago who likes to travel. Santiago gave up being a shepherd in order to travel all the way to the pyramids in Egypt to find his treasure. During his journey, he met a lot of people and overcome several obstacles. Throughout the novel, Coelho uses symbolism to teach the reader many lessons about dreams. The most powerful lesson that was taught was that fear must be overcome in order to achieve a dream. Some symbolic characters he has used are the crystal merchant, the Englishman, and the alchemist.
First of all, the first symbol used to convey the lesson that Coelho was trying to teach is the crystal merchant. Santiago met the crystal merchant after he got robbed. He needed a job. The crystal merchant dreams of going to Mecca but he decided not to because he is afraid. For
The alchemist and Santiago met in the desert. They travel together to find the treasure. Through the journey, Santiago encountered many difficulties and fear was one of them. This is what the alchemist told Santiago, “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself”(Coelho 134). Fear leads to disbelief towards your dreams. People always see the negativity in an action. The alchemist represents a person who motivates others to live life to the fullest. The keyword suffering gives off a pessimistic tone to this quote. This reminds me of a counselor. The counselor is there to help a person conquer their fear and develop into a better person after that process. Throughout the novel, the alchemist teaches Santiago to face his fear and the Englishman not to be afraid. His character symbolized the realization process that fear needs to be controlled in order to move on in your

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Sacrifice In The Alchemist By Yusra Mardini

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    Suffering and sacrifice is never easy, but it is necessary for Santiago go through both in order to make his dreams come true. In The Alchemist, Santiago has to sacrifice his sheep so he can travel in search of the Pyramids. Santiago is hesitant to give up his sheep because he is afraid of leaving behind something he knows so well. “He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have” (Coelho 30). He is

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Jennifer Mitchel Hecht's The Alchemist

    1731 Words  | 4 Pages

    In addition, fearing the experience of failure enables us to feel vulnerable but vulnerability is the birth place of innovation, creativity, and change. Failure takes a hold of most people but regularly do they see it as a chance to learn and react. They step aside from the lessons that they play and give up. But in The Alchemist “The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” (Coelho 11)In the end he felt fully elated and feeling alive brings birth to his adventure and a path to succeeding his personal legend. In an interview with my uncle, German, he talks about the fear of failure but most of all what comes from the acceptance of fear. Born in Mexico, the expectations from his parents where diminished to what

    Read More

  • Santiago In The Alchemist

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Alchemist as a Monomyth

    1931 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Machiavelli Essay On The Relationship Between Fear And Fear

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    Think of a relationship in life, one where there is a dominant person over a group of people. Is this dominant person more feared or more loved by the general population? Machiavelli states that it is better to be feared than it is to be loved when ruling over a group of people, because one of them is going to outweigh the other no matter what. This does show to be true, but not to the extreme Machiavelli describes. In modern day, for the United States, there is no ruler or president that has public shaming or public killings, that was deemed unnecessary multiple decades ago. There is a huge line between fear and respect. Respect is a balance between love and fear, and it shows to have better outcomes with more accuracy of people not rising against ‘the man.’ There must be a balance between fear and love, if there is just fear there will be hatred, if there is just love there will be chaos. Respect is the happy medium between the love and fear, and it shows to have more positive outcomes than just fearing a leader.

    Read More

  • Fear in A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Conor, the protagonist worries about many issues. He suffers through all the emotions he has to combat about his mother's battle with cancer. However, the greatest emotion Conor has conflict is with fear itself. He is so fearful of countless issues he has to struggle with such as the fact he might have to possibly live with his grandmother for the rest of his life, or if he might not stay with his father the way Conor would like to. Primarily what Conor suffers through the most is the fear of his own mother's health. Conor cannot handle the fact that his mother is not getting any better and her health is slowly failing. Conor has an incredible amount of conflict with his fear, he tries to hide it, pretend it is not there, but soon his fear will grow until his fear finally get hold of him. In similarity, it is like procrastinating on an assignment in some sort, when there is no time left the assignment must be done. When there is no time left Conor has to acknowledge and face the fear. Patrick Ness tries to say that, through the way Conor deals with all his fears, Ness says it is better to overcome his fears than hide them. Also, not acknowledging his fears will lead to painful internal conflict, and acknowledging fears is difficult, but facing them is for the better of Conor.

    Read More

  • Overcoming Problems in The Alchemist

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Fear In 'Antojo' By Julia Alvarez

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fear influences people to make irrational decisions and take extreme measures. Often times, these actions are done to protect one’s reputation. Fear causes people to lie and manipulate to those they care about in order to escape what they are scared of most. Fear of failure has caused higher levels of anxiety, and has made society put blame on each other, rather than owning up to their mistakes. Fear can also cause one to forget one’s true identity and lose one’s values. There are two options that one can take when being faced with a fear: run away from the fear, or go through it and learn a valuable lesson in the end that will make you a stronger person. Fear is a harmful emotion that everyone has to go through in order to succeed.

    Read More

  • The Journey Through Adversity In The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning of the book, Santiago travels to visit a Gypsy who is said to be able interpret his recurring dream. As a child he had always heard stories about Gypsies capturing children, taking them to their camps and making them their slaves. These stories translated into one of his largest fears for Santiago as a child and that fear returned when he visited the Gypsy, “As a child, the boy had always been frightened to death that he would be captured by Gypsies, and this childhood fear returned when the old woman took his hand” (17). The Gypsy eventually tells Santiago that there is treasure located at the Egyptian Pyramids. Without being able to overcome his fears of Gypsies, Santiago may have never went on a journey to Egypt in order to achieve his personal legend. Another example in the book that shows Santiago overcoming his fears is while Santiago and the Alchemist are travelling towards the Pyramids. They are suddenly captured by a desert tribe at war, who mistakes them for spies. In order to save his life Santiago has to turn himself into the wind. Coelho states, “But the boy was too frightened to listen to words of wisdom. He had no idea how he was going to transform himself into the wind” (83). Two days later Santiago is standing in front of the tribal chieftains trying to turn himself into the wind. He is able to stay calm while his life is on the line and

    Read More

  • Fear In The Story By Karen Connelly

    342 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout one’s lifetime, difficult obstacles and circumstances may present themselves during times when one’s strength may not be extremely prevalent, as fear continues to restrict their ability to overcome the constant uneasiness which forms when contemplating taking risks. Demonstrated in the poem “The Story” written by Karen Connelly, fear often withholds others from performing to the best of their ability, as it hovers in the shadows, always lurking from behind. Connelly begins by portraying fear as the vast, unknown ocean as “seaweed shadows twist below” (line 6-7), intimidating the reader as they begin to imagine jumping into a dangerous void with unidentified outcomes. As the feeling of fear begins to burrow into the minds of those

    Read More

  • Theme Of Sacrifice In The Alchemist

    1796 Words  | 4 Pages

    Santiago is a shepherd trying to pursue his personal legend. His personal legend is the recurring dream about the hidden treasure at the foot of the Egyptian pyramids. In his dream he starts playing in a field with his sheep, when a child appeared and began to play with the animals. This was strange to him because sheep are afraid of strangers, but the sheep and children play along just fine. Then a child grabbed his hands and took him to the foot of the Egyptian pyramids. He begins his journey locally trying to find answers from a gypsy and a man named

    Read More

  • Examples Of The Hero's Journey In The Alchemist

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    Santiago had been rewarded with the treasure earned when completing his journey, “In my dream there was a sycamore growing out the ruin of the sacristy… there were precious stones, gold masks adorned with red and white feathers.” (Coelho 170). Santiago was able to accomplish his personal legend, which he had to go through many stages in the journey that got him closer to completing his goal. In this final stage of his journey was a good thing to accomplish, because he’s gone through all of the stages that had been placed there to challenge and see if he actually wants to accomplish it, so he did not give up and gained trust in himself to keep going. This is an important part of the journey because this had taught him to not give up and trust in his heart to accomplish his personal legend, such as when others believe that it is hard to accomplish what they want to complete and do in their life.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Vanity In The Alchemist

    437 Words  | 1 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Overview of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    “ Where your treasure is, there also will be your heart”(159). This is what the alchemist said to the main character. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, tells a story of a boy named Santiago, who goes on a long journey to discover his personal legend. As Santiago goes on his journey to pursue his personal legend, he is faced with many challenges, as well as left to make difficult decisions that change him forever. As Santiago travels the world, he becomes a hero. In The Alchemist, Santiago shows characteristics, as well as archetypal characteristics that make him a hero. Santiago displays kindness, bravery and wisdom; also he is considered a hero because he displays many characteristics of an archetypal hero. He displays archetypal characteristics such as: receiving supernatural help, proving himself many times and receiving an apotheosis.

    Read More

  • The Theme of “The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho

    513 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Fear Of Fear In The Alchemist, By Paulo Coelho

Open Document