The Desert In the book, “The Alchemist”, the author, Paulo Coehlo, incorporates multiple ideas that allow the book to develop including the desert. The desert plays a major role since the climate and peak of the story happens in the desert and many new characters are introduced in the desert. The desert is an important part of the story because of the character development that occurs in it, the theme of Unity of Nature and Humanity it contains, phrases that develop, and it’s symbolism. The Englishman, throughout the book, experiences character development in the desert as he follows his personal legend by letting the desert teach him peace and the Soul of World. The Englishman states “ Ten years at the university, and here I am in a corral” …show more content…
Santiago realizes “The caravan and the desert speak the same language” as he travel through the desert. A big emphasis in the story is the language of of the world which all of creation understands and all of creation is also connected by the language. In this situation, the caravan and desert are united because of the language of the world and that is the reason “The desert allows the crossing”. Also, in the desert Santiago “Became so emotional over the desert sunrise that he had to hide his tears” when looking over the horizon. Santiago interacts with the desert in an emotional way that makes him tear up because of the unity he experiences with the desert. A person’s emotions are found in their soul, and when Santiago exhibits emotion towards the desert, both his and the desert’s soul connect with each other through the soul of the world. In like matter, Santiago thinks, “The same omen he had sought to find with his sheep, and in his books, in the crystals and in the silence of the desert” after he discovers the omen of love.When Santiago first looks at Fatima’s eyes, at the moment he realize all of the universe and nature had united in the form of the language of the world to bring him to Fatima.Throughout his journey he been shown glimpses of love through his books, sheeps, crystals, and silence of the desert but when he meets eye to eye with Fatima he knew this was what the previous glimpses had led to. Additionally, Santiago tells the Alchemist, “I don’t know the language of the desert, but my horse knows the language” when looking for life. Santiago, knowing life attracts life, let’s his horse lead him to life because he understands that all living things speak the same language of the world and will attract to each other, By all of nature being in unity, Santiago’s horse is able to find in the desert where there’s little promise of life and
The knowledge and universal understanding derivative from a journey can leave the traveller positively enlightened. In Coelho’s story, Santiago is faced with recurring dreams which lead him to ‘’traverse the unknown’’ in search of a treasure buried in Egypt, the metaphor for universal connection, and in doing so, comes to the unrelenting realisation of spiritual transcendence. After arriving at the assumed geographical location of the treasure ‘’several figures approached him’’. They demand the boy keep searching for this treasure as they are poor refugees and in need of money, but as Santiago does, he finds nothing. Then, after relentless digging through the night ‘’as the sun rose, the men began to beat the boy’’ , finally relenting with the truth, Santiago reveals his dreams to the travellers. In doing so, Santiago finds out that these men had also been faced with recurring dreams measured around the place where the boy had undergone his own, both relative to hidden treasure. However the leader was ‘’not so stupid as to cross an entire desert just because of a recurrent dream’’. It is with this fact, tha...
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.
Santiago and the Englishman have many common interests, as mentioned before. One of many is they both go after their personal legend. A personal legend is what you were put on the earth to do; a dream of some sort. Santiago and the Englishman both realize their personal legends and follow omens to get to them, which then sends them on an adventure across the desert. Another similarity shared between the two characters is the enjoyment and longing to learning. Both characters are often found throughout the book, eagerly learning from their adventures. For example, riding in the caravan,
Apart from the novel's thematic development, McCarthy's setting and his detailed description of the ornate beauty of the desert southwest is deserving of praise. A lyrical quality and refined beauty are apparent in the novel's description. McCarthy's extended accounts of the pristine beauty of the desert can be seen as an artistic and visually appealing piece work apart from the plot of the novel. Such memorable accounts seem to be a lone highlight in a shockingly disturbing book (Moran 37).
The Alchemist helped him discover how to recognize signs of danger in the natural world and become one with the Soul of the world. Santiago in the end learns to communicate with the forces of nature and the Hand That Wrote All, a force that seems to represent God. “The existence of this world is simply a guarantee that there exists a world that is perfect. God created that world so that, through its visible objects, men could understand his spiritual teachings and the marvels of his wisdom.” (Coelho 133) Coelho uses this ever-present force of God as a constant reminder of how the Soul of the world will work in the favor of those in pursuit of their 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.
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
In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho continuously shows how Santiago conquers fear and is greatly rewarded for it. In order to get his treasure and achieve his personal legend he must first travel through the well-known dangers of the desert. It is an extremely expensive trip that many do...
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
He first struggles internally when he wants to understand the dream he is having repeatedly. During the call to adventure in the hero’s journey, Santiago heads to an old gypsy in order to understand the dream he has. However, after listening to the interpretation, Santiago decided to “never again believe in dreams” because the gypsy only told him things he had already known (Coelho 17). This internal struggle, which sets the stage for the rest of Santiago’s struggles, had restrained Santiago for some time because he wasn’t able to pursue his personal legend if he didn’t believe in it, However, he later overcomes this struggle and continues on his path to achieving his personal legend. Santiago struggles internally later when he meets with the chief of a camp in the desert who tells him that he wants to see him turn into the wind. The alchemist, a man Santiago met to help him achieve his personal legend, told the chief that Santiago will be able to turn himself into the wind to show his powers, and if he can’t, “[they’ll] humbly offer [them] [their] lives” (Coelho 145). Santiago has never turned himself into the wind, so he has to dig deeply within in order to find the
"They come in search of new things, but when they leave they are basically the same people they were when they arrived. They climb the mountain to see the castle, and they wind up thinking that the past was better than what we have now. They have blond hair, or dark skin, but basically they're the same as the people who live right here." Santiago’s father is saying that no matter how much Santiago travels, or how much of the world he sees he will come back the same person. Santiago’s father is an important person in his life. Without his father believing in him Santiago might not believe in himself either. Santiago seems to know what he wants in life, but with his father practically telling him it is wrong he might not succeed. Santiago needs others believing in him or he will not have the motivation to succeed in finding the treasure. Not only does Santiago need others believing in him, but he needs to believe in himself as
There were around two hundred people that join the caravan including the Santiago and the Englishman. The Englishman says ‘there’s no such thing as coincidence’. Santiago realizes the closer one gets to realize his Personal Legends, the more that Personal Legends becomes his true reasons for beings. While crossing the deserts, he was thinking about the past and the future by learning the universal language. His mother’s referred this knowledge as hunches and also the word maktub means it is written. He realizes that he had learns more by observing his camel and the caravan, and he throw away his books. Santiago having a conversation with the camel driver at night, he told Santiago about his life before and how he became a camel driver. He learned
The Soul of the World is effected when Fatima says “Those who don’t return become part of the clouds, a part of the animals that hide in the ravines and of the water that comes from the earth. They become a part of everything . . . they become the Soul of the World” (Coelho 98). The Soul of the World combines all natural forces into one. She knows that if he were to die while reaching his Personal Legend he would always be there. Fatima finds it important for Santiago to reach his goal. She tells him to leave on his journey by saying “That’s why I want you to continue toward your goal” (Coelho 97). She does not want to hold him back from doing what he needs to do. Fatima and Santiago speak more than one language together and the most important would be love. This is shown by “The language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was Love” (Coelho 92). People do not have to talk to each other to communicate. The love that Santiago and Fatima shared gave extended the theme of Language of the World. It provided another example of how people can understand each other without
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.