Paulo Coelho’s The Pilgrimage: A Unique Search for the Meaningful

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Recommended: Essays on pilgrimage

There is no denying the fact that Paulo Coelho with more than a dozen novels to his credit has emerged as a contemporary literary figure of international repute. The Pilgrimage marks his entry into the world of fiction with a bang followed by a big bang in the form of his most popular novel The Alchemist. No doubt, The Alchemist has earned him immense popularity far and wide and established him as a novelist of consummate skill. His other novels which include The Valkyries, Like the Flowing River, By the River Pedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Zahir, The Witch of Portobellow, The Devil and Miss Prym, The Fifth Mountain, Eleven Minutes and Manual of the Warrior of Light flowed from his pen in quick succession and succeeded to capture the attention of the novel loving readers across the globe. The novel under discussion is about the Brazilian protagonist’s quest for the sword which stands for all that is meaningful to him in the world. This paper aims to highlight diverse experiences he encounters during his adventurous journey that he undertakes to find the sword in Santiago.
Human life is not meant merely for eating, drinking and merry-making. Its meaning lies in a quest for something true and meaningful. Paulo Coelho’s philosophy of life as reflected in the novel subscribes to this fact. The protagonist of the novel eschews his hearth and home, wife and domestic strife, and wholeheartedly engages himself in a long abiding search of the sword which symbolizes ancient wisdom and represents his anointment as the Master and Knight of the Order of RAM (R for regnum, A for agnus, and M for mundi). Because of his avidity for the new sword he is deprived by his master of his right over the sword and is asked to seek and find the sword af...

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...ut also miraculously make the circumstances favourable to us. Evidently, Paulo’s pilgrimage and his success story owe their origin to his intense desire to be anointed as the Master and Knight of the Order of RAM. Deprived by his Master of his right over the sword symbolizing his anointment, Paulo dedicated himself to the search of the sword- the only thing meaningful for him in the entire world. The intensity of his desire turns the circumstances into his favour and makes Petrus leave Italy to guide him and teach him the RAM practices which give him strength enough to surmount all hurdles.

Works Cited

1. Coelho, Paulo. The Pilgrimage, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995. P.17.
2. Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha an Indian tale. New Delhi: Prakash Books India Pvt. Ltd., 2011. P.111.
3. Coelho, Paulo. The Alchemist. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. P.21.

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