In the novel “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho there is a young shepherd named Santiago who is in search for his personal legend. Santiago’s personal legend is to find the treasure at the pyramids. Throughout his journey, there are a lot of emotions especially the emotion fear. Santiago encountered a lot of challenges like crossing the desert, being in a war and turning himself into the wind. He learned the different levels of fear; fearing fear, being in fear, and overcoming fear. In the end, he overcomes the fear, challenges, and tasks to reveal his treasure. The definition of fear is an emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat. Santiago was fearful of fear when he was crossing the desert, not knowing if their caravan was going to get stuck in the middle of a battle or if they were …show more content…
When Santiago was walking in the desert he saw two hawks fighting. He saw it as an omen (something that is believed to be a sign or warning of something that will happen in the future) that a tribe will attack the oasis. He notified the chief who said, “for every ten dead men among our enemies, you will receive a piece of gold” (Coelho 111). He said that he will give out guns for a day, and at night he will take them back. The chief said, “If at least one of them hasn’t been used by the end of the day tomorrow, one will be used on you” (Coelho 111). Santiago was in fear that there wasn’t a war coming and that he might die. Later in the book Santiago was asked to turn himself into the wind. The Alchemist said “He is going to transform himself into the wind, just to demonstrate his powers. If he can’t do so we humbly offer you our lives, for the honor of your tribe” (Coelho 144) Santiago felt very pressured but he didn’t fear to die this time because he knew that the universe was going to help him. Santiago overcame the fear of dying and turned himself into the
For example, after some tribesman captured the Alchemist and Santiago, the Alchemist said Santiago is an alchemist and can easily turn into wind and destroy the camp. Santiago talks to the forces of nature including the desert, the wind, the sun, and the hand that wrote all, which leaves two people smiling. "But there were two people smiling: the alchemist, because he had found his perfect disciple, and the chief, because that disciple had understood the glory of God." (157). When the Alchemist tells the tribesmen that Santiago can turn himself into the wind and destroy the camp, Santiago is left with no choice but to do it.
In comparison to Ishmael, Santiago also finds a drive to continue. When faced with the challenge of becoming wind, Santiago believes in himself. He “reached through to the Soul of the World, and saw
He is a stronger and smarter man because of what happened to him. Santiago hit a lot of adversity at the beginning of his journey and it prepared him for the worst of his journey. “Now he understood why the owner of the bar had been so upset: he was trying to tell him not to trust that man.” (Coelho 43). He lost it all and he was prepared for anything for the rest of his journey.
Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist tells the story of Santiago a Shepard whose life changes once he finds out about a treasure from his frequent dreams and meets a strange man who helps him to start his personal legend. On Santiago’s journey he starts to see the hidden meanings behind daily life creating the thesis that through seeing and understanding symbols behind the world people can learn about their own personal legend and live life to the fullest. Santiago’s life starts out all about his sheep, he chose to be a shepherd, so he could travel and meet new people. Santiago’s job is to take care of the sheep, but the sheep have more meaning in the story. The sheep represent how he is comfortable in his life and how he is questioning his frequent dream, to sacrifice his comfortable life to find this treasure or to continue without taking the risk.
The Importance of Perseverance At many times in people’s lives, they consider giving up. This is also true for Santiago, the protagonist in Paulo Coelho's fantasy novel The Alchemist. Santiago is on a journey to find a hidden treasure he saw in a dream. Along this journey he continues to contemplate whether he should just give up, or continue his adventure.
Paulo Coehlo’s, The Alchemist, explores the Hero’s Journey through the story of a shepherd, Santiago. Throughout the novel, Santiago becomes more aware of his potential as he pursues his Personal Legend. He faces temptations and obstacles as he develops as a character. The hero crosses the threshold when they leave their old reality in search for a new one. Santiago crosses the threshold by selling his sheep and taking a boat to Africa.
Omens come in many different forms, shapes and sizes. They can be living or inanimate objects. If you’re not looking close enough, you might not be able to see them or chose to believe they are actually there. In Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist, Santiago discovers many omens on his personal legend journey such as the King of Salem, Stones and the Crystal Merchant.
Santiago then tells the alchemist: “My heart is a traitor. It doesn’t want me to go on.” The alchemist replied with a smart answer and said “That makes sense. Naturally, it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve won.” A fear of uncertainty is what Santiago is feeling and he worries he’ll lose everything he’s accomplished so far.
Decision-making through the theory of Existentialism Existentialism is a philosophy which means finding self or finding meaning of life. It is theory which talks about freedom. Paulo Coelho in the novel The Alchemist talks about Santiago’s dilemmas and how he takes decision.
… The boy was shaking with fear, but the alchemist helped him out of the tent. … the alchemist continued, “usually the threat of death makes people a lot more aware of their lives.”” (Coelho 140 6 8, Coelho 142 2) Just like before Santiago is afraid and doesn't know what to do in a situation of adversity. But he does not give up he perseveres and developes
When the alchemist presented Santiago with the choice to stay at the oasis, or leave and achieve his personal legend, Santiago struggled to find the correct answer. The alchemist let Santiago know that if he stayed in the oasis, for the first year his marriage would be great and so would his marriage. Over time Santiago and Fatima would drift apart, and he would loose his job. But on the other hand, if he decided to voyage into the desert in seek of finding his personal legend he worried that he might loose Fatima. He thought, "...
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.
During the whole story Santiago is trying to find his personal legend, he is trying to find his purpose in life. Therefore in the Alchemist, the most important thing is personal legend. Everything is based off Santiago’s personal legend, if he wouldn’t of became a shepherd the book wouldn’t be all about him following his personal legend and trying to figure out what his was. Santiago has to figure out a bunch of new things that lend his to his personal
Marquez writes that “The week before, he 'd dreamed that he was alone in a tinfoil airplane and flying through the almond trees without bumping into anything” (Marquez 1). The dream harbors the event of Santiago 's death because he always dreamed of the trees and his own body covered with bird feces. When he
The first suggestion that Santiago is going to be killed is the very first sentence of the novel, “On the day they were going to kill him.” The word “they” suggests that not solely one individual will kill him but several. This is an astute technique used to discover how and why