Communication In The Alchemist

Santiago realizes that the seeing the butterfly, being a good omen, means that he needs to listen to the old man, as he will help Santiago to continue on with his journey and desires for treasure. Further into his the journey, Santiago is alone and helpless in a market in Africa, and unable to speak the native language. The only physical items that he owns are a book, his jacket, and two stones the old man had given him. Having minimal possessions and not much hope left he realizes that he is just like everyone else in the world because he sees the world as what he wants to happen, “not what actually does” (43). The point of view of Santiago, being stranded and having almost nothing, forces him to think deeper and change his broad perspective of his current situation in hopes of getting back on track of his journey.

>>>>Coelho applied some irony towards the end of the novel; "An hour later, he had before him a chest of Spanish gold coins" (Coelho 268). It is ironic for Santiago to travel all the way to Egypt only to discover that the treasure he was seeking was right under the place where he had dreamed it.

The Alchemist, a novel written by Paulo Coelho teaches us about the importance of self-discovery and exploration by taking us through the journey of a young Andalusian shepherd, Santiago. Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 24th 1947, to Pedro Quiema Coelho de Souza, an engineer, and his wife, Lygia, a homemaker. Paulo early on had dreamed of an artistic career and then after his surroundings in Jesuit school, he discovered his true vocation was to be a writer (Coelho 195). Upon telling his mom, she told him that his father was an engineer, a reasonable and logical man and had a clear view of the world. At the age of 16, Paulo’s opposition against following a traditional path led to his parents committing him into a mental institution (Paulo Coelho). To satisfy his parents, he enrolled in law school. However, it led him to mental illness and failing his career. After many years, he gave a shot at his dream profession and started to write. Paulo wrote The Pilgrimage: Diary of Magus which described his experiences and his discovery that the extraordinary occurs in the lives of ordinary people. He was the recipient of numerous international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum. The Pilgrimage was published in 1987 and The Alchemist was published in 1988, a year after. Both novels appeared on the best sellers list but The Alchemist continued to sell more copies than any other book in Brazilian literary history. The Alchemist,

Not before long, Santiago meets a crystal merchant. Trying to run away from his Personal Legend once again, he gets a job at the

     Santiago needed money and food, so he asked a man who owned a crystal shop, if he could clean all his crystal pieces for some food and money. The man liked the Santiago’s work, so gave him some food, and told him he could work for him if he wanted to. Santiago took the job, and ended up working

The Narrator explains that people can’t always do things they would like to do. In the novel, Santiago runs into dilemmas, but improvised to still continue his

Early in Santiago's journey, he realized there was an unspoken language everyone understood. He knew this because he had been able to learn it from his sheep. As Santiago was attempting to learn this language, he

- Santiago decides to trust the familiar, Spanish-speaking young man, who eventually robs him, instead of the Arabic-speaking bartender, who perhaps was trying to protect Santiago from the young Spaniard at the bar. This may be said to be a case of stereotyping on the basis of one’s ethnicity. - When Santiago offers to build a display case for the crystal, which can put outside the shop to attract potential customers, the crystal merchant fears that passers-by will bump into it and break the glass, and hence shows Risk aversion behaviour. - The crystal merchant understands that he acts foolishly in not pursuing his Personal Legend, making it difficult to understand his motives when he refuses to change his ways, even after Santiago shows him the benefits of taking risks.

The Alchemist was written by Paulo Coelho and it was first published in 1988. It was originally written in Portuguese and has since been translated in 67 different languages. It has sold over 65 million copies worldwide and was awarded “Best Fiction Corine International Award” in 2002. It follows a story of a boy named Santiago who is following his personal legend. The Alchemist has many archetypal themes and symbols including wise old men, women, and the nature around him.

Latin American immigrants are not just concentrated to one area of the country. Cubans mostly live in Florida, while Puerto Ricans live in the northeast, and Mexicans mostly live in the southwest (Chavez, et al, 2005: 508). Their main destinations in the United States could be based on the geographic locations of their home countries. They settle in the area of the United States that is the closest to their country of origin. The formation of ethnic enclaves is common among immigrants because it connects them to their home country. They are able to livie among people who speak the same language, or in this case the same dialect, prepare the same food, and have the same cultural values. This spatial distancing is further proof of separate ethnic identities. Immigrants tend to live within groups of people from their own countries, not just with people who identify as Latino. By living with people from their home countries, immigrants maintain connections with where they came from.

The crystal merchant was talking to Santiago about his dream of going to Mecca, but said he didn’t want to pursue it because it could be disappointing once he gets there, “‘But I’m afraid that it would all be a disappointment, so I prefer just to dream about it’” (Coelho 57). Mecca is where he’s supposed to go once he gets enough money because in his religion everyone goes to Mecca once in their lives. He is too scared to go because he is comfortable in his shop, but in order for him to accomplish his dreams he has to take risks and experience what he isn’t comfortable doing. Even if he has enough money he doesn’t want to go to Mecca because he is too scared it’ll be a disappointment and he would waste his money.

When Santiago arrives in Tangier he is robbed by a thief and is forced to find work from the locals. He meets a crystal merchant and gets hired to work for him. Santiago convinces the merchant to take some risks in his business. This advice pays off and Santiago becomes a rich man in just a year. Santiago stars to gain confidence in his decisions and decides to use his earning to pursue his personal legend. Santiago soon joins a caravan crossing the Sahara desert and meets an Englishman who is studying to become an Alchemist. On the trip Santiago and the Englishman don’t converse much but Santiago still ends up learning a lot

“His parents had wanted him to become a priest, and thereby a source of pride for a simple farm family. ”(Coelho 10) Overtime Santiago's parents learn to accept him and

Soon after, Santiago is forced to work for a crystal merchant in the hopes of replacing his lost money and continuing on his quest. He works for the merchant for eleven months and during this time, continues to think less and less of his Personal Legend. He becomes skilled in this practice and begins to work towards instead, replacing his flock of sheep and returning to his past lifestyle. During this time, Santiago perceived reaching the pyramids as an impossible feat claiming “Egypt was now just a distant dream for him” and that, like a mirage, it would always be just out of his reach (56). In this way, Coelho shows that Santiago’s morale is lessening. The more that he stays at the crystal shop, the more he sees his treasure as a mirage instead of a physical object.

14) Earlier in the story, the alchemist told Santiago "when you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed." At the end of the story, how does this simple lesson change Santiago’s life? How does it lead him back to the treasure he was looking for?