In his novel, The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho tells the story of a man named Melchizedek, who says to be the King of Salem, a mysterious far-off land, but only appears as an old man living in the Spanish town of Tarifa. Although Melchizedek plays an important role throughout The Alchemist, he only appears in the book briefly. He meets Santiago the protagonist of The Alchemist, a shepherd boy from a small Andalusian town. Melchizedek helps persuade Santiago to pursue his dream and travel to the pyramids in Egypt to locate his treasure. In doing so, Melchizedek teaches Santiago about Personal Legends, and the Soul of the World. 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. …show more content…
The old man had said, “…whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth” (The Alchemist, 11). “Essentially, Melchizedek says that dreams are not silly or selfish desires that should be ignored. Instead, they serve as the primary means by which people can get in touch with the mystical force that connects everything in the universe. He convinces Santiago that his nagging desire to visit the pyramids is actually a calling, and he sets Santiago on his journey of spiritual discovery” (SparkNotes Editors). Paulo Coelho centers The Alchemist story around Personal Legends because he wants to essentially motivate and explain to people that those who ignore their Personal Legends will suffer regret and fail to have the experience of fulfilling their
Santiago, Melchizedek, the Englishman, and the Alchemist himself play a very big role in the novel, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. Santiago begins to have a reoccurring dream about going after his personal legend and going to the pyramids to find treasure. He goes to a gypsy to help interpret his dream more in depth. As she convinces him to follow his personal legend he meets an old man by the name of Melchizedek who is the king of Salem and pushes him to go after his dream and also gives him two stones that help him read omens. After he begins his journey to find his personal legend he gets robbed and works for a crystal merchant for a year.
Melchizedek directs, "When you are unable to read the omens, they will help you to do so. Always ask an objective question"(30). In the alchemist, omens offer Santiago guidance on his journey and reassure him that the Soul of the World have supported his journey. There are many references made to omens in the alchemist. Paulo Coelho made references to scarab bettles (Arabic), Urim and Thummin (Jewish), Hawks and even the presence of certain characters: Santiago, Melchizedek, the crystal merchant, Englishman, Fatima and the alchemist.
Melchizedek then went on explaining to Santiago what a Personal Legend is. He taught Santiago why a Personal Legend was so important. Melchizedek also taught Santiago about the Soul of the World and how it’s nourished by people’s happiness. Santiago learned how to read the omens from Melchizedek. Furthermore, Melchizedek gave Santiago Urim and Thummim, two rocks that helped him decide what to do.
Introduction The Alchemist is a novel by Brazillian author Paulo Coelho which throws light on how a person 's will power ,dreams and sacrifises leads him to his dreams or his chosen paradise. If a person desires something how the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream ,this can be seen through the story of Santiago ,a shepherd who believes his reccuring dream to be prophetic. The story revolves around a boy who in search of treasure finds the true meaning of life and discovers the reason behind his existence ,he explores the secrets that lie behind the human mind and finds a new meaning of the world ,how he understands the language of the world and adds new chapter to his life. the alchemist is a story that makes people realize the power of omens and forces to believe in oneself,this story states that no one else can help you except you ,this book has been a ray of hope for those who were in chaos,who failed to find the meaning of happiness. This book teaches alot ,maybe it 's another omen for a good
Because of the alchemist telling him this, he knows his Personal Legend and continues to work for it. Out of the many challenges people face in life, some still just give up instead of persevering. The Alchemist, however, shows that people should never give up, but instead fight through bad situations to complete their goals. Others may think we are just suffering when we persevere, but “no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity” (Coelho 134).
Second, the crystal merchant. He told Santiago about journeys and how to work on them. You must always persevere. And finally, the alchemist taught Santiago about reading the omens and the Language of the World.
The author leads Santiago to crucial people throughout the story such as a gypsy, a king, a merchant, an Englishman, a beautiful girl, and an alchemist. All these characters point Santiago in the “right” direction
Santiago must learn the lessons of perseverance, belief in oneself, and sacrifice in order to achieve his personal legend, to find the treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. Santiago learns many things during his journey, but one main lesson was perseverance. He learned perseverance when things got tough for him and he didn’t give up. An example of him learning this, is when he used all of his money, sold his sheep, and didn’t go to the merchant to marry his daughter. He didn’t give up though.
The Gypsy helped Santiago understand and interpret his dream. The Gypsy made Santiago realize what his personal legend was and where the treasure could be found, at the foot of the Egyptian Pyramids. The Gypsy also demands a charge service, Santiago must spare a tenth of his treasure to the Gypsy woman in return for her service and work. “ You came so that you cold learn about your dreams” said the old woman. (Coelho 48)
This emerald was not the end of his journey, it was just the beginning. Furthermore, when Santiago begins his pursuit of his Personal Legend in a land of an unknown language, he meets someone who speaks both his language and the unknown one. While conversing, the translator casually gains possession of Santiago’s money. While shopping, Santiago, “… never took his eye off of his new friend. After all, he had all his money.
All of these people and objects helped guide Santiago through his journey to get to the pyramids. When Santiago first meets the King of Salem, he is inspiring Santiago to pursue his personal legend. The King says, “In order to find the treasure, you will have to follow the omens. God has prepared a path for everyone to follow.
This causes Santiago to dig deeper into the meaning of his literal dream and seek out the Alchemist, a person who can turn lead into gold and heal illnesses, as well. Once in association with the Alchemist, Santiago seeks guidance on how he will be able to fulfill his Personal Legend, with fear that he will suffer greatly travelling the rest of the Sahara desert. The Alchemist instructs him: “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s with God and with eternity” (152). Santiago is comforted by these words and feels as though he can achieve his
Based on the number of copies each book sold in past 50 years, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is the fifth most read book in the world (Polland, 2012). "The Alchemist" received worldwide attention. The book is mainly about the journey of a guy named Santiago who is trying to achieve his personal legend which is what people have always wanted to accomplish (Coelho 1998, pg.22). In the book, Santiago faced many difficulties and fear of failure, but Santiago was able to overcome those hardships. Just like Santiago, people nowadays face many hardships or fear of failure that prevent them from achieving their own dreams.
Santiago, an educated but naive boy believes that his purpose in life is to be a shepherd until a strange recurring dream that sparked his interest to fufill his personal legend, after talking to a gypsy who encouraged him to follow the path of his dream and make it real followed by a meeting with Melchizedek, an old man claiming to be the king of salem, who offered to help him find his personal destiny he explains further that everyone has a personal destiny no matter how small and later mkaes the boy realize that he couldn’t find love if he was a shepherd because shepherds can not settle, they always need to follow their flock. he shows the boy omens At the start of his journey when he resides in africa he is soon confused because the
Millions of people around the world are devoted and unconditional fans of the fable, and one unintended consequence of that overwhelming love for the story is that its author has unwittingly been cast in the role of a new-age ‘guru’ and spiritual sage. However, after twenty eight years in print, and with more than 65 million copies of THE ALCHEMIST sold - giving it an almost mythical status in world literature - over a period of nineteen long years I discovered that no one, and I suspect NOT EVEN PAULO COELHO HIMSELF, could understand or explain the extraordinary success and appeal of his