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. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...he realisation of an aberrant knowledge, a painful truth. The closely relative journeys of Santiago and Orpheus are equally linked in abject failure, however are far more closely bound by the fact that both of them were enriched from loss. They both received a victory from defeat. Throughout all texts discussed, there is a pervasive and unmistakable sense of journey in its unmeasurable and intangible form. The journeys undertaken, are not physically transformative ones but are journeys which usher in an emotional and spiritual alteration. They are all life changing anomaly’s that alter the course and outlook each individual has on their life. Indeed, through the exploitation of knowledge in both a positive and negative context, the canvassed texts accommodate the notion that journeys bear the greatest magnitude when they change your life in some fashion.
When wanting to accomplish something in life, there will be a decision that will affect the outcome of leading to the right path. It will either help in achieving the goal that was made or take it further away from being able to accomplish it. In the novel “The Alchemist” written by Paulo Coelho, is about a young boy named Santiago. He is a shepherd wanting to travel with his sheep all around in doing so he goes through the experience called "The Hero’s Journey”. The Hero’s Journey are stages taken to accomplish your Personal Legend which is a goal you want to get accomplish in life. He also goes through stages in the journey that help him overcome any challenges he faces. They also bring him closer to the end of completing
Discoveries can be unexpected and sudden or they can transform from a process of careful and calculated planning evoked by curiosity, and wonder. These discoveries can lead individuals to search for meaning through a series of experiences. Simon Nasht’s documentary Frank Hurley - The Man Who Made History (2004) captures the experiences of adventurer, Frank Hurley as he explores the importance of discovery through the challenges that evoke individuals to transform through a process of journeys of discovery and exploration. John Keats’ poem ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’ (1816) portrays the persona discovering Chapman’s translation of Homer’s epic poems evoking a transformative process from a passive reader of literature to be stimulated
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
These timeless tales relate a message that readers throughout the ages can understand and relate to. While each of these tales is not exactly alike, they do share a common core of events. Some event and or character flaw necessitates a journey of some kind, whether it is an actual physical journey or a metaphorical one. The hardships and obstacles encountered on said journey lead to spiritual growth and build character. Rarely does a person find himself unchanged once the journey is over.
Santiago thinks about his discussion with the old man. He is annoyed that the old man was right about his being on the verge of giving up just as he finds his destiny. Wandering around the city, he approaches a ticket seller, but he does not buy a ticket to Africa, where he knows the Egyptian pyramids are. He knows that he could buy a ticket with the money he could make from selling only one of his sheep. As he stands at the ticket window, he decides to go back to shepherding his flock. He muses that neither the old gypsy woman nor the old man understand what it means to have a flock of sheep depend on them.
In analyzing and comparing symbolism, form, and style of the literary work “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost and the short story of “A Worn Path” by Eudora, Welty I ask so what is the symbolic discovery that gives the reader new ideas, connecting experiences, considering deeper insights, and coming to conclusions with harmonious delight? Although we all have ‘roads’ or ‘paths’ to take on our journey in life it is in how we handle the experience; and what we gain from those life journeys that will either enrich our life or be our demise. I intend to show that detail in the short story gives us a more precise imagery giving a lead to our imagination than that of the poem. The Symbolism in both brings to light a positive message each in its own rhythm and to each individual reader a metaphor and food for life.
In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the notion of the past and present played a great part introducing and developing a theme. A character in both novels long to relive their pasts but at the same time are okay with keeping things as they are. One of The Alchemist’s themes is about achieving one’s Personal Legend; and one of A Catcher in the Rye’s themes about the pain of growing up. These characters and their stance on the past and present were catalysts for introducing these themes.
The Alchemist is a very unique novel written by Paulo Coelho, a rather unique person. Among other things, this singularity may be attributed to a distinctive spirituality, which is an important facet of The Alchemist and Coelho’s life. The aspects of spirituality in The Alchemist are important to analyze because they comprise a major factor of this worldwide best-selling novel. Moreover, some of the values contained in this work contradict with the values of Coelho’s Catholic faith. Coelho also expressed some rather controversial interpretations of his faith outside of The Alchemist.
Would you ever listen to an old man on the street telling you to go to a place you’ve never been to follow your dreams? You don’t know how or where you’re going, but you're going on an adventure of a lifetime. Well Santiago did, all he had was fate and himself. Paulo Coelho’s book “The Alchemist” displays the theme to follow dreams to wherever they may take you.
In the book the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago’s call to adventure was to travel the world , experience life, and find his hidden treasure. This meant he would stop at nothing until he achieved so. This troublesome stage is a period where santiago is tested to grab his dream before it leaves without him.“I’m not going to charge anything now, but I want one tenth of the treasure if you find it.”This stage was very confusing for Santiago because he didn’t know why or how foreign people knew about his personal legend. Santiago chooses to pursue his legend due to a fortune-seer’s knowledge. This significance of this stage so prominently prone to santiago’s view from the inside, he finally chose to go because he knows that everything happens
The fear of failure has been implemented into child-hood, as it is the most influential time in a persons life. Santiago’s society taught people from young ages, that your dreams are impossible to achieve. This thinking habit imposed by society would influence the child’s life by letting them grow up not believing in themselves or their abilities. This thinking habit was passed down to Santiago by his own father, who tried to talk him out of the one thing he truely wanted to do in life; travel. “ ‘People from all over the world have passed through this village, son,’ said his father. ‘They come in search of new things, but when they leave they are basically the same people they were when they arrived.’ ” (pg 9) Your family should support your dreams, but because society imprints false ideologies into people, Santiago’s father convinces him to give up on his dreams. Even though Santiago’s father wanted “to travel the world” (pg 9-10) too, he didn’t have the courage to do so which influenced his life by “having had to bury it, over dozens of years,”. Santiago was young and impressionable at the time, and so when his very own father doubted his ability to be able to achieve his dreams, Santiago too grew up to doubt himself. This then influenced Santiago to try to bury his own life callings when faced with his Personal Legend. He used excused, “But there’s a tribal war”, (pg 115) “I
...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.
To begin with, the fear of losing beloved things or people presents people with dilemmas that influence the continuation of their journey and they can only bypass these dilemmas by getting rid of the fear altogether. To begin, Santiago’s fear of losing everything he already earned makes him second guess his plans and therefore discourages him to continue his journey. Santiago expresses his doubts by stating that his “‘heart is a traitor…it does [not] want [him] to go on.’ ‘That makes sense,’ the alchemist answered. ‘Naturally it [is] afraid that, in pursuing [a] dream, [a person] might lose everything [they] [have] won’” (Coelho 145). Throughout the novel, Santiago learns to always listen to his heart, but in this situation if he did, it would result in abandoning his journey. The alchemist encourages Santiago to move on from this fear by stating that it is normal to feel scared, but not normal to give up on a dream because of a feeling. Santiago’s best solution in this situation is to conquer his fear of loss altogether and erase the doubts in his mind for a smoother journey. Next, the fear of losing life in the midst of the journey makes Santiago wonder if it is appropriate to risk his life to pursue a dream. Santiago learns how to handle this situation as “the camel driver had [once] said, to die tomorrow [is] no worse than dying on any other ...
The first two obstacles that Santiago faces are that his father tells him he can not do something that he wants to do and that he wants to pursue his personal legend, but he does not want to hurt those that he loves. For example, Santiago’s father said, “The people who come here have a lot of money to spend, so they can afford to travel. Amongst us the only ones who can travel are shepherds.” Everyone is told by their parents and friends that everything we want to do is impossible. Since Santiago did not have money to spend to travel his only choice was then to become a shepherd to fulfill his desire. T...
Life itself is built upon layers of decisions, substantial or miniscule, that become intertwined in an attempt to define who we are. I believe that the choices we make will ultimately work to construct our future, whether it is the way in which I perceive the world around me, or what I choose to believe. In “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost manages to further illustrate these points in order to convey deeper meaning within the text.