Santiago In John Steinbeck's The Alchemist

In the novel The Alchemist written by Paulo Cohelo is about Santiago and his quest to discover a treasure. This novel carries multiple strong themes of love. Santiago falls in love romantically with two characters: the merchant’s daughter, who remains unnamed, and Fatima. These characters follow the archetypes that enhance how the author, Paulo Cohelo, views love and its importance. In the Alchemist, Paulo Coelho explores the lover archetype to illustrate that love is something that is so strong it can change your perspective on life.

The child grabs his hand and takes him to the pyramids of Egypt and tells him about a treasure there. This dream was his call to adventure. He returns home to find treasure, but realizes his true treasure was Fatima. In The Alchemist, the female protagonist is Fatima, the girl he met by the well at the oasis. Even though in the book Santiago doesn’t spend an immense amount of time with Fatima, and the book doesn't tell much about her, she plays a key role in the book and in Santiago’s heart.

These are some of the last words the Alchemist says to Santiago before they part ways. He explains to the boy why he had to undergo tests and trials in order to fulfill his personal legend. Santiago endured many hardships, but it all started with "beginners luck. " His first trial was when he was robbed of all his possessions, and it ended with having to turn himself into wind. These tests were put in place to have Santiago ace the lessons he had learned along his journey.

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.

In the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, if not for the tests of his journey the story would be incomplete, for the bumps of the journey change Santiago's life. Santiago’s tests form the new person after this journey. Santiago heads out on his journey uncertain of the future and starts work at a crystal shop in Tangier. Though in just a year, “Tangier was(is) no longer a strange city, and he felt that, just as he had(has) conquered this place, he could conquer the world” (Pg-64).The test of Tangier exposes Santiago to a new place that he is unfamiliar with, a place with a completely different language and culture. Santiago learns from this land that no matter how different, any place can be won over with determination and courage.

Santiago's temptation is when he has the choice whether or not to stay with Fatima and abandon his Personal Legend. After leaving Fatima he has a difficult time coping with the separation, even if Fatima is a woman of the desert, who knows he will return. The Alchemist offers him a sole piece of advice, “love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend.” (120) Santiago’s heart is aching for the loving arms of Fatima. He realizes that he needs to focus on what he needs, pursuing his Personal Legend and not what he desires to be with Fatima.

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.

While Santiago originally sets out for his treasure of material riches, the treasure he values most has been transformed to that of knowledge and love along his journey. The theme of treasure appears early on in the story and inspires Santiago’s journey. One night while herding his flock, he dreams that there is buried treasure waiting for him at the pyramids of Egypt. After seeking advice from a gypsy who interprets his dream, she again confirms that at the pyramids of Egypt, “there you will find your treasure” (14).

The Alchemist is a famous book written by Paulo Coelho. It’s about a shepherd named Santiago who travels from his homeland Spain to the Pyramids in Egypt. He does this to find a treasure he was told about. Along his hard journey, he meets some people along the way like a gypsy woman and a king in disguise who all direct him towards his quest. He doesn’t let the obstacles stop him toward his goal and eventually he finds his treasure.

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.

In the story the alchemist it is discovered that there are many different things in life to look forward to. There is also something in the story that is a moral or your life´s destiny called your personal legend. Your personal legend is one of those things in life that some people look up to in the future. Santiago travels the world to pursue his personal legend. Santiago strived to find his personal legend with the help of people he met on the way to find treasure that he is destined to find , just to realize the treasure was where he had fallen asleep in the beginning of the book.

As Ban Ki Moon once stated; “Migration is an expression of the human aspiration for a better future.” All migration accomplished by mankind has followed a consistent pattern of looking for a better living. In Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, we can see this similarity. Migration is greatly influenced by geography. Human Geography is the study of the interaction between human beings and their surrounding environment.

Santiago is woken up by a man at the next day when people began to set up shop. Santiago helped the man set up is candy shop, he game Santiago a candy, he accepted it and went on his way. He met this crystal glass seller upon the top of a hill surrounded by other shops. Santiago didn't know how to communicate to the glass seller that he wanted to clean his glasses in exchange for food. The merchant allows him to clean his glasses and then tells him in spanish that he didn’t have to and that his bible of his religion and his bible the Quran.

I identify with Santiago from The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. He is a young boy with an unknown future ahead of him. He has a dream to leave his secure life as a shepherd and travel hundreds of miles across the Sahara to find a hidden treasure. At first, he is unsure about pursuing his dream, but over time he commits to it and goes after it with all his heart. He realizes that it is more important to follow his dream rather than be afraid of what the uncertain future holds. Although he encountered some obstacles, Santiago continues on and didn’t let anything stop him from reaching his dream.