The characters that I have chosen to write about are The Englishman, The Crystal Merchant, and Fatima. The Englishman is well-educated, ambitious and new coming alchemist. He likes adventure and because of this he is crazy enough to join a caravan in search of the alchemist. Along this adventure we find out that he isn't really big on talking. Due to the face that the Englishman and Santiago share a commitment to pursuing their Personal Legends, they quickly become friends. The Crystal Merchant serves as an important friend to Santiago. He is also someone who has become complacent and given up the pursuit of his Personal Legend. He is a good man who is devoutly religious and kind enough to take Santiago in. He fears pursuing his dream to make a pilgrimage to Mecca because he thinks he will have nothing to …show more content…
Working for the merchant is not very pleasant. The man is grouchy and always complains, but he is fair to Santiago. Santiago wants to build a cabinet to display crystal for customers who pass by to see. The merchant is insecure about change. Santiago learns that change is necessary for success and if one never changes, one never moves forward. The second thing that he learns is not to put off something one intends to do. The merchant tells how he is a devout Muslim but he has never made the pilgrimage to Mecca, because he was always afraid to trust his shop with anyone. Santiago also comes to realize that he has to listen to and identify the clues and omens around him. The Crystal Merchant impacts Santiagos journey and life because he learns many things. He learns how to deal with crystals, the language without words, omens, learned the Arabic language and he learned to take chances even thought the odds are against his favor. This character impacts my life because he also teaches me that omens are all around us and also to take chances when your the lowest and the odds are not in your
People often do not realize their differences, but the differences in people are what set them apart from all others. In Paul Coelho’s “The Alchemist” two characters do such actions. The main character, Santiago, and the arguably secondary character, the Englishman, do such aforementioned actions. The two characters meet in a caravan that is traveling across the Saharan Desert. Although they do have some pretty interesting similarities, their differences are what intrigue the reader more.
Life is a complicated process. It’s filled with many things that keep it interesting but at the same time, very dull. Life’s what you make it and for many, it’s something we all strive for. In the story, The Space Between, the author takes full advantage of the premise as there’s rarely a dull moment- as in life. The book is filled with many literary devices that work nicely with the plot and dialogue. These include; metaphors, similes, irony, personification, and many more. We follow a young man who is finding his way in the world. He has only a week to change his life for the better. But he will face many obstacles on the way that brings the readers into a startling and fun journey.
He notices the book was so strange because it talked about the mercury, salt, dragon, and king. However, there was one idea that all things are the manifestation of one thing only. It also contains the most important text in the literature of an alchemy contained only a few lines, and had been recorded on the surfaces of an emerald. The book that attracts Santiago interest was the stories about the famous alchemists that dedicated their entry lives to purifying metals. The alchemist believed if a metal were heated for many years, it would free and became individual properties. Since the languages with which all things communicated, the soul of the world allowed them to understand anything on earth. They called that discovery the master work. The boy learned that the master works consist with two parts, which is the liquid portion knows as the Elixir of Life, which use to cure an illness and kept the alchemist from getting older. While the others is solid parts is called the Philosopher’s stone. It was an important thing to turn any metal into gold. Santiago became more excited to learn in alchemy when he heard about gold. Unfortunately he became lost, when he wanted to learns how to achieve the master
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.
No one is born without a reason or purpose. While it differs from person to person, there is no greater journey than the quest to fulfill it. From a shepherd searching for the treasure of his dreams, to the son of Indian immigrants who must discover the value in the treasure of accepting in his own identity, following a Personal Legend is a significant part of one’s life. Santiago and Gogol, from the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and the film adaptation The Namesake respectively, encounter obstacles as they embark on the life altering journey to discover and fulfill their destiny. Both protagonists are faced with the challenge of realizing the importance of their Personal Legend and the quest to reach
While the narrator of “Cathedral” had assumed that the blind man would be uncoordinated and reliant on support to get by, the narrator states that during dinner “the blind man had right away located his foods, he knew just where everything was on his plate. I watched with admiration as he used his knife and fork on the meat" (6). The competency of the blind man forcibly changes the narrators view on blindness and he eventually warms up to the man. Later, when the blind man asks the narrator to describe a cathedral, the narrator finds that he is unable to adequately do this for the man as cathedrals mean very little to him. When this happens, the man asks the narrator to fetch heavy paper and a pen so that they may draw one together. They do this together and the story closes on an optimistic note we see the flicker of change happen in the mind of the narrator, who has previously been a curt and at times unpleasant individual. In “Araby”, the boy has a less pleasant experience. After reaching the bazaar, near the end of the day, he finds himself less thrilled with Araby. Finding the bazaar much more mundane points out their British accents and listens to their conversations, comparing poorly to the exotic eastern bazaar he was expecting. He finds himself unable to keep the attention of a young women running a stand, who only flippantly waits on him before going back to her conversation with another man. Frustrated at the poor outcome of this trip and seeing the future of his sexuality in the bazaar, he states that “gazing up into the darkness [he] saw [himself] as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and [his] eyes burned with anguish and anger" (5). This less optimistic epiphany completes the boys transition from naïve child to jaded young man as the story ends implying that all people become frustrated in their desire for
Santiago begins working for the crystal merchant and receives a good commission for selling each piece. He wants to make more money in order to buy some sheep and realizes that it will take him a year at the rate he is going. He offers to build a display case to place outside and attract more customers. The crystal merchant does not like things to change, and he resists Santiago's attempt to change things. After some reflection and discussion, he gives Santiago his approval to build the display case.
Santiago, a young shepherd form Spain, repeatedly had a dream about a child leading him to The Pyramids in Egypt. He was confused about these experiences until he met The Gypsy Woman, who enlightens him about personal legends, how everyone has one destined and how some follow the path to the finale and some give up or ignore realizing theirs. Santiago, being a brave
Santiago is a heroic figure because he was always kind to others. He was always helping someone with something. For example: when Santiago was working at the Crystal shop, he helped the Crystal Merchant, improve his business. When Santiago was leaving the Crystal Shop, the merchant stated “You brought a new feeling into my Crystal Shop”(61). The Crystal Merchant is talking about how much Santiago has changed his business. Santiago has helped the merchant’s business by making a display case to put outside the store, cleaning all the crystal and adding new things, such as the tea. Santiago also helped an Englishman by helping him find the Alchemist. The Englishman wanted to speak to an alchemist. The Englishman stated “I need you to help me find out where the alchemist lives”(90). Because the Englishman requested for help, Santiago helped him. It took over half a day to find the alchemist, but fi...
There are countless heroes throughout literature. Their stories are all timeless and meaningful. The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, is home to one of these heroes with an incredible quest. Interestingly, it is quite common to see quests and journeys throughout all literature. In the Alchemist, the protagonist, Santiago, goes through many stages of being a hero such as, call to adventure, refusal of the call, supernatural aid, crossing the threshold, and road of trials. Santiago clearly demonstrates all these stages throughout the entire novel.
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
Upon arriving they said they would stay at the oasis until it was safe to cross the desert. A camel driver tells Santiago that, “There are rumors of tribal wars” (The Alchemist 80). When entering the oasis they had to hand over their arms and stay in tents with locals and fellow travelers. During his short time at the oasis Santiago experiences love at first sight with a girl named Fatima. As the war drags on Santiago tells Fatima about his personal legend and she encourages him to continue on to Egypt. Although she has been waiting for him her entire life she still insisted that he achieve his personal legend. She said if they are meant to be together they will meet again one day. Then Santiago left the oasis with the Alchemist towards the pyramids. Through this he realizes that each challenge he faces on the way to his destination forms part of God's
The Alchemist conveyed the up-most truthful meaning of santiago’s personal legend by teaching him the soul of the earth. This stage helped santiago and the Alchemist are talking doing what your personal legend is and also doing exactly what your personal legend desires are when they speak in terms of listening to one’s heart. “Whenever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure. Santiago takes initiative on his dreams and pursue them regardless of love affairs and the hurt that comes along with it. The stage encouraged and also motivated santiago to find his treasure and make a better life for fatima and
In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho an Andalusian boy named Santiago leaves Spain to travel to Egypt in order to achieve his Personal Legend. During his journey he meets four people, a Gypsy, a King named Melchizedek, an Englishman and an Alchemist, all of whom help Santiago along his journey towards his Personal Legend. However, only the King and the Alchemist teach Santiago lessons that he can learn from and use along his journey. The King teaches Santiago two lessons, to follow omens and that it is not always about the destination but that it is also about the journey. The Alchemist teaches Santiago to listen to his heart for guidance, what the Language of the World is and what the Soul of the World is. He eventually arrives in Egypt after
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.