You are a shepherd boy whose dream has led you on 2 personal journeys to find an unknown treasure. Although your journey started off well, your luck turns on you after a friendly local tricks and rohs you of your many. This leads you to a crystal merchant’s shop where you are forced to confront your fears. The Alchemist tells the story of a boy, Santiago, who experiences just this. His first negative experience away from home led him to face his fears. In this essay, I will prove that the crystal merchant is a representation of the fear Santiago has of being consumed by his own fears through the merchant’s lack of liveliness, the parallels between him and the merchant, and the lessons learned after living with and working for the merchant for …show more content…
“...But you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons I have never known. Now that I have seen the, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I’m going to feel worse than I did before you arrived. Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish, and I don’t want to do so (pg.60).” This quote from the merchant explains his own aversion to continuing a personal journey, but even more expands upon the fact that he sees himself in Santiago. Spending time with the boy has made him realize how much time he has wasted and how long he has wallowed away in his own misery when he knows he should’ve been doing something else—something more with his …show more content…
The crystal merchant spends his life wallowing in fear and anxiety and does not let himself grow or move from the spot he made for himself thirty years ago despite the clear logistical option of going to Mecca and seeing his wife once more. The merchant and Santiago share parallels as the merchant’s reluctancy to leave his spot due to overwhelming anxiety parallels Santiago’s inability to move forward due to one bad experience that left him broken and broke. After living with this merchant and working for him for so long, the boy realizes he needs to move forward despite any negative experiences. Bad things happen sometimes, but he realizes no good comes out of staying in one spot just to ease the pain of one small event over the course of your entire life. Therefore, Santiago’s direct speech and physicality near the merchant had forced him to view and face his fear
The crystal merchant had few customers, but once the crystal was cleaned, a larger crowd was attracted to his storefront. Santiago would receive a much needed meal, as well as a job offer. Freshly cleaned crystal attracted many customers, which caused the crystal merchant to offer Santiago a full-time position, with pay. Like an alchemist, Santiago went from being in poverty, to being successful. Santiago also turned a negative into a positive for the crystal merchant. The crystal merchant’s shop did not appear inviting to potential customers, but Santiago rectified it, which in turn, caused the shop to receive more customers and generate a greater profit. Santiago is a metaphorical alchemist. He turns the worst into the best, just as an alchemist turns base metals into gold.
This realization about himself and his way of thinking is important to continue on with his journey and creating positivity for himself. As Santiago is on his way out of the market to keep moving on wiht his journey, he meets a candy seller who offers him candy for no
During his journey, Santiago faces the obstacle of overcoming his fear of defeat. This challenge of his fear of defeat is what is significant to Santiago’s growth. As Santiago arrives in Morocco, he was robbed by a stranger and left with nothing in a strange place. Yet, over time Santiago found a job with a Crystal merchant and, “…he had been working incessantly, thinking only
Santiago worked for the merchant for one month, selling crystals. This matters because he has learned how to sell crystals to buyers and has helped the merchant with income and also learned how to speak a different language that can help him communicate with others and the way he can interact with them. " The boy’s presence in the shop was an omen, and. as, time passed and money was pouring into the cash drawer, he had no regrets about hiring the boy”(Page 54). Santiago gets robbed of his money and this leads to meeting the crystal shop owner.
First of all, the Coelho emphasized on the importance of dreams and striving for attaining our personal legends; as the main purpose around Santiago’s actions was chasing his dream. Moreover, the most important message in the novel was to follow our personal legends. In addition, the writer highlighted the theme of fate, as he stressed on the fact that everything is determined; as the motto of the crystal merchant was “Maktub”. At the same time, Coelho elucidated that we can’t accomplish anything unless we take action and pursue our dreams while accepting our
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 the poor adventurer boy, seeks the treasure in his dreams. Despite having a family that wanted him to become a priest. But as Santiago made way towards his journey, he was faced with the unlucky fate of being robbed of all he had. While he had nothing, he could only go up. He learned to find omens which that will lead him towards a better future. As a result he managed to land a job within a crystal merchant’s shop. Another instance is when Santiago is confronted by the love of his life. He wanted to stay with her forever, however doing so would force him to abandon his journey. Fatima,
Although he starts as a burden to Santiago when they first met after talking, he gives Santiago words of wisdom about beginners luck and leaves him with a great lesson about his personal legend. The Crystal Merchant is the second person that
In The Alchemist, Santiago embarks on a transformative journey from a humble shepherd to a confident person. This story delves into Santiago's inner growth and understanding of his Personal Legend, highlighting important moments and characters that shape his character development. Through mentorship from the Crystal Merchant, experiences with the caravan, and guidance from the Alchemist, Santiago becomes a confident seeker of his destiny. As Santiago's journey unfolds, his encounters with the Crystal Merchant impart crucial lessons. The Crystal Merchant serves as a mentor to Santiago, offering guidance and wisdom.
- 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.
Being a foreign to this land, Santiago is easily diverted by the marvels of this world. He admires a beautiful and impressive sword on display in the streets of Tangier, describing it as “embossed in silver, and the handle was black and encrusted with precious stones”(38). As a result of his distraction, Santiago’s money money is stolen by the man who claimed to be his “friend”. Consequently, Santiago has no other option but to seek for help and replace his possessions by working in a modest crystal shop before continuing his
In addition to the merchant offering him a job, he enlightened Santiago that "every blessing ignored becomes a curse" and the necessity of carrying out his Personal Legend (Coelho 60). Santiago was prodded by the crystal merchant to continue on and not give up too soon. Along with the merchant not letting him give up, the Alchemist explained to Santiago that, “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure” (Coelho 146). Demonstrating that, rather than physical barriers, it is just his inner fear that is preventing him from moving forward. After resuming his journey through the desert, Santiago sensed the elemental energy in the stillness of the desert and felt drawn to it since it appeared to be "old and wise" (Coelho 76).
The merchant is happy about dreaming about the trip to Mecca, but his fear of it being a disappointment hinders his ability to fulfill his dreams. Santiago, on the other hand, wants to be able to say that he achieved his dreams. The merchant staying in the crystal shop for his life is something that Santiago does not want to do, which pushes him to keep moving forward with his goal. When Santiago is ready to leave the crystal merchant, he asks for the merchant’s blessing to buy his sheep, but the merchant says “you know you’re not going to buy your sheep” because “Maktub” (it is written) (Coelho 49).
At the start of the book, Santiago is a humble shepherd content with his life but wanting something more for himself. His encounter with the wise old king, Melchizedek, crystal merchant, sets him on a path of self discovery and fulfillment of his Personal Legend. As he travels, Santiago faces numerous challenges, meets various mentors and learns valuable lessons that shape his character. As Santiago travels through the weird landscapes of Spain & Egypt, he develops from a humble & patient shepherd to a confident alchemist, representing the steps in a hero story.
In the novel, The Alchemist tells Santiago that, “wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You’ve got to find the treasure so that everything you learned can make sense,” (116). He has to realize that women also encourage his personal legend, but he is the absolute factor that keeps him yearning for his end result. However, the Crystal Merchant wants to always dream about finding his desire and not actually obtaining his dreams. He repeated “I’m afraid that if my dream is realized, I’ll have no reason to go on living,” (57).