The theme of the story, is someone achieving their own destiny. In other words, your own personal dreams. Santiago had a lot of obstacles in his path to his dreams. Just goes to show it’s not always easy to get where you want to be. When Santiago was with the old man, he had told him “When you are young you believe that all your dreams are possible, or will come true,” “but as time passes by a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them for them realize and achieve their destiny.” Santiago learned what having a destiny means, and it was his mission on earth to go achieve it. He was thinking whether to risk losing his sheep or seek his destiny. Santiago also thought of the merchant’s daughter ,but he knew he didn’t depend …show more content…
Santiago didn’t want to leave Fatima, but he wanted to reach the pyramids for his dreams. Which was the treasure he wanted. He risked losing ,the love of his life, Fatima to achieve what he wanted. Sometimes things that stop us from reaching our goals,isn’t always bad, it can be good as well. Love is part of the narrative, but it is complicated by the book's philosophy. Fatima, Santiago's love , tells him that she would rather him achieve his dream ,than stay by her side. Her reasoning is that she loves Santiago and ,therefore, must love his dreams as well. The alchemist, who encourages Santiago to pursue his dream, has a slightly different way of thinking about it . He claims that, although Santiago will be extremely happy for a while, he will get mad at fatima for preventing him from achieving his dreams. It is better to pursue those dreams than to allow them to go away.The twist at the story's end is that the treasure was always near Santiago after all the traveling and the teachings of the alchemist. Just as the alchemist insists that the secrets he holds are in fact simple and easy to understand, so too was the treasure always at
In contrast, The Alchemist provides hopeful insights when Santiago goes on a journey and discovers new ideas and hidden treasures. He discovers that playing it safe proves more dangerous to his freedom than taking risks. When placed in a life and death situation, Santiago learns that the Soul of the World is shared by everything. In both of these books, the characters have traumatic experiences that eventually create epiphanies that provide hope and
Santiago’s last step to completing his personal legend was walking through the desert, to find his treasure and completing it. Thus, showing the symbols and meanings behind these little puzzle pieces in the journey and being rewarded with love and treasure helping to support my thesis, through seeing and understanding symbols behind the world people can learn about their own personal legend and live life to the
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.
The book begins with Santiago’s craving for love with a merchant’s daughter to whom he has only spoken with a few words. This “love” is what takes Santiago off track from his pursuit of his Personal Legend as Santiago refers to this love as his main goal in living. However, when Santiago meets Fatima, his true love, it presents a more difficult challenge as it convinces him to abandon his Personal Legend. However, his love with Fatima is acceptable since Fatima encourages him to pursue his Personal Legend. Fatima says, “If I am really a part of your dream, you'll come back one day” (97).
Thinks Santiago “I am learning the Language of the World, and everything in the world is beginning to make sense to me” (Coelho 103). Temporarily residing in the desert, the young shepard becomes aware of the environment around him, and the deeper meanings in the world. Located in the desert for a long time allows Santigo to learn of the connections between the world of souls and his present through his journey to the treasure. Wisely states Santiago, “‘I learned the alchemist’s secrets in my travels.
In the book The Alchemist, Santiago obtains his personal legend by completing the steps of the hero’s journey. In the beginning of The Alchemist, Santiago gets a call to action but refuses and he gets tested. Santiago gets a call to action via his dreams. He goes to see a dream interpreter but it does not help.
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.
Santiago had to look deep within himself, find peace and talk to the sand. He depended on the love he had for Fatima in order to save himself and to communicate with the part of the world that did not know man’s language. In the novel it states, “The sun thought for a minute. The wind was listening closely, and wanted to tell every corner of the world that the sun’s wisdom had its limitations.
The decision was difficult as both options don’t provide him a steady choice. As being a shepherd does not promise him to be with the merchant daughter and for finding a treasure he need to give up his well settled life. But at the end he chose to find treasure as it allows him to purse his personal legend or dram of travelling throughout the world. He always considers his choice before taking a decision this can be seen through this conversation of Santiago with himself, “Here, I am between my flock and my treasure, the boy thought. He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have.
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.
From the crystal merchant’s experiences Santiago realized that his dreams might not come true if he waits too long. Santiago ultimately learns to realize his dreams, change is needed to be successful and achieve your
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
Some people’s ignorance of dreams can be harmful for themselves just like knife is for butter. Santiago’s dream of a treasure in Egypt, for instance, reveals to him his Personal Legend and sets the entire plot of the Alchemist into motion. For Santiago finding treasure wasn’t easy. He had to sacrifice his shepherdess (as he sold his sheep) and work for year at Crystal Merchant’s shop to gain money to travel because he was robbed. Crystal Merchant did not believe in his dream of going to Mecca.
This scene is important because this is when Santiago learns how important it is to believe in his dreams. By him understanding his Personal Legend he now understands why it is he keeps having this dream. Although he was hesitant about taking on the task of finding his treasure, he decides to pursue his dream, because he felt that it was his Personal Legend.