Count Of Monte Cristo And The Alchemist Comparison

Hero’s Journey Comparison and Contrast Essay

In the three stories, The Alchemist, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Odyssey, some of the stories ¨heroes”are actually anti-heroes. Every story has a protagonist, but that protagonist isn’t always a hero. Sometimes the main characters of the stories we love, are actually anti-heroes, and make the story more interesting. Anti-heroes can seem like heroes, but they often deny the very lesson the character is trying to learn and are motivated by evil, not good. Out of the three stories above, Edmond Dantes is an anti-hero, Santiago is a true hero, and Odysseus can be considered both a hero, and an anti-hero. In the story, The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes is an anti-hero. Throughout the

Santiago’s journey was all about courage and strength. When Santiago travels to sell his sheep’s wool in the story, he is confronted by a stranger calling himself the King of Salem. He shared these words with Santiago, “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” This inspires Santiago to achieve his goal of getting the treasure in his dreams. Later on in the story the Alchemist tells Santiago, “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” Many struggles come Santiago’s way on his journey, but this quote sums up how Santiago conquered his fear of failure, and was able to achieve his dream. Santiago followed every step of the hero's journey, and passed all of his challenges, and because of this Santiago is a true

In Odysseus’ case he is a hero, but in the eyes of many, he is a mass murderer, and a villian. The quote, “Ah how shameless – the way these mortals blame the gods. From us alone they say come all their miseries yes but they themselves with their own reckless ways compound their pains beyond their proper share,” partly describes Odysseus’ journey. Odysseus is the source of his own greatest weakness and that is his hubris. Many times Odysseus makes a disastrous decision simply because he wants to boast about his skill. Early on in the story Odysseus makes a poor decision to enter a cyclops’ cave and steal his food. Only through his cleverness by saying, “My name is Nohbdy,” were Odysseus and his men able to escape. Even with his unbelievable wit, Odysseus’ hubris cost him everything he had for 20 years. However, Odysseus still follows the hero’s journey path and because of this he is a