Book Summary: The Alchemist

Santiago, our hero from The Alchemist has three main mentors: The gypsy, the king, and the Crystal merchant. They all contribute to him and his journey in different ways. The gypsy gave him the first push he needed to find

Santiago's epiphany leads to him pushing forward and finishing his journey of achieving his ultimate treasure of hope and

Do you think santiagos obstacles will truly lead him to success in the end, or will it set him up for failure? Throught the book The Alchemist Santiago runs into many obstocules seeking treasure, but in the end Santiago realized he only needed to do one thing all along. The obstacles Santiago runs into teach him many lessons and get him to his succes in the end. In the beginning of the book the alchemist Santiago was very torn on going to Egypt or continuing being a shepherd but Santiago took the risk and went to Egypt and ran into his very first obstacle, an obstacle that felt almost impossible to overcome.

As according to Sigmund Freud dreams are assembled sequence of the incidents that one witnesses just before sleep and gradually dream . All those things which both Santiago and the leader of the group observed developed into dream the prediction about the treasure . Moreover , Santiago when visited the old lady (astrologer) she interpreted his dream and encouraged him to hunt his treasure but on the other hand leader of the group never took his dream seriously but instead ignored it as one of the stupid dream because he did not accepted it as he shuns his trust to God . Although Santiago felt disheartened when he failed to find his treasure beneath the Pyramids of Egypt but his trust and laborious nature paved path to his treasure . But the leader of the group did not even noticed his dream and simply ignored it moreover he described himself as well as Santiago as a stupid person to follow dreams because in his view dream is just another device that deviates human from their daily life routines

In addition, he also gives Santiago two magical precious stones encrusted in a gold breastplate called, Urim and Thummim which represents “yes” and “no” and will help guide and keep Santiago focused on his journey.

By continuing he finds his true inner strength. In the story, the author shows the importance of perseverance, and how to face the many obstacles that people are presented in their lives to complete their goal. In Coelho's novel, Santiago faces many difficult challenges, but because of his courage and perseverance, he is able to face them head on. While in the town of Tarifa, Santiago meets

The Alchemist says that Santiago will “spend the rest of [his] days knowing that [he] didn’t pursue [his] Personal legend, and that now it’s too late” (120). In this line, the Alchemist encourages Santiago to continue to pursue his Personal Legend, instead of giving it up for what he has now. This also informs Santiago that time is limited. If he chooses to abandon his Personal Legend, he will spend the rest of his days like the crystal merchant, pondering what it would be like to fulfill his Personal Legend. The Alchemist explains that the process of pursuing his Personal Legend is more important than any dream that he wants to fulfill.

Santiago’s willpower and understanding grows once he leaves with the Alchemist. The Abyss and Rebirth are the points in the Hero Cycle when it is the darkest hour and the hero pushes through it, becoming a new person in whole. In The Alchemist, Santiago’s darkest moment is when he has to turn himself into gold, and he regenerates into this person who is one with God. He “saw that the Soul of God was his own.

Ultimately Santiago has developed his identity through the soul of the world and alchemy and has achieved his personal legend

He gives him money in order to travel to the pyramids. In life we are handed unexpected opportunities. We either can take them or take too long thinking about them, which can possibly lead to losing it. Santiago decides to drop his life as a Sheppard and travel to Africa. Upon arriving he is manipulated by a thief and robbed of his money.

This is illuminated when the Alchemist says, “‘There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure’” (141). This particular moment shows that even though Santiago has both the ability and the knowledge to achieve his dream, it is impossible to attain it if he fears even attempting to reach it. Consequently, this fear acts as his enemy and a barrier that stands in the way of the meaningful and happy life he is destined to accomplish. Furthermore, another one of his fears is the fear of losing what he believes he has already earned. ” He reminded himself that he had been a shepherd and that he could be a shepherd again.

Even Though there was three different people who helped santiago find his personal legend, he had to go find it to fill complete. The king helped him first by explaining what a personal legend is. He tells Santiago about good and bad omens and says that it is the shepherd boy's duty to pursue his Personal Legend. Melchizedek then gives Santiago two stones, Urim and Thummim, with which to

Before finding his treasure, he must be courageous and clever to survive the desert and the danger that he encounters. This courage enables him to reach the treasure and fulfill his Personal Legend. The determination Santiago exhibits is what allows him to earn his fortune and decide his

Marita and Santiago, had to take steps that were hard but guided them to their goal after all. But this process was influenced by influencers and influences through their journey, that either taught them something valuable or helped them reach their end goal. In the Alchemist “if he (Santiago) hand believed in the significance of recurrent dreams, he would not have met the Gypsy woman, the king, the thief, or... ‘well its a long list’” (pg, 169). Santiagos recurrent dreams gave

I think the author designed the character, Santiago, to prove that everybody, even a shepherd, could have unique experiences as he aspires and takes actions. Throughout the story, I observed the obstacles that the shepherd goes through to acquire the treasure that is Maktub- means written in Arabic. That’s why the novel taught me: “When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve