How Did The Englishman And Santiago Meet The Alchemist

Santiago changes in many ways. He changes from worrying about the future, to not worrying. He learns that

What makes a hero be a hero? A hero has to have certain characteristics, such as; bravery, wisdom, etc. No matter what characteristics are pointed out, every story has a hero, or an archetypal hero. From a short stories to really long novels, you will have some type of hero. In the novel The Alchemist, the main character Santiago is a hero. The book is about how everyone should live their dreams and never give up on them. It follows a young man named Santiago who is following his own dream, or his own “Personal Legend”. It follows him and his struggles to achieve said Personal Legend. Santiago is a hero because he is wise, kind, and brave; He is also a hero because he displays characteristics of an archetypal hero..

Throughout the book “The Alchemist”, Santiago faces many trials on his journey to Egypt to find the treasure. He is able to follow all the steps of the Hero’s Journey, starting with the call to adventure and finishing with the status quo. Santiago may have started his journey in Spain and made his way to Egypt but key points through this book include the status quo, threshold, and the abyss.

Both men come across interesting characters to say the least. They were interested and curious when it came to these characters, and felt the need to investigate them, often leading to misfortune. Though this is not positive, it is a similarity.

In The Alchemist, Santiago goes on a journey to find his personal legend and learns to understand women and the world. Santiago is a shepherd who transforms into a wise individual. He encounters many symbols and faces them to reach his personal legend. Three ways he changes are by meeting the Englishman, the crystal shop owner, and the Urium and Thummin.

Some may refer to The Alchemist as a best-selling novel written by Paulo Coelho which explains the ideas of having a dream, or Personal Legend, and going through obstacles to conquer it. The book starts off like any other, introducing and describing the main characters, in this case Santiago is the first to share the interest of peers reading the story. He is said to be a small town shepherd boy who will do anything for his flock of sheep. In the opening scene of the story, Santiago takes his flock to an abandoned church and lies down under a sycamore tree hoping to get some rest. He is soon woken up from a disturbing dream which foreshadows further into the story of his own Personal Legend. Later in the book, Santiago is faced with multiple tests to be successful in finding his treasure. “Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure” (Coelho 15). Paulo continues to add characters in the book that help Santiago throughout his journey.

In my opinion Santiago, a shepherd boy from Andalusian town, changed the most in this novel. In the beginning of the story he was scared to trust in himself and follow his dreams. Santiago goes to the extent of searching for help from a gypsy. She tells him his meaning of his own dream and instead of trusting her he seeks another opinion. He goes on a journey across the Sahara to reach the Alchemist. When he asked The Alchemist how to turn himself into wind and he doesn’t get step by step instructions he is forced to trust his own judgement and intuition and believe in himself to figure it out. At the end of the story, he encounters a robber who talks to Santiago about his dream and why he would go on a journey across the Sahara. Santiago realizes

Have you ever had people in your life influence your character development? In “The Alchemist”, many people that Santiago encounters help him develop his personal character. They help Santiago develop his character in many ways, I'll be mentioning Santiago's mentors during his character development and journey. I'll talk about the ways that these mentors helped Santiago through his journey and personal journey. The main mentors that helped Santiago during his journey of finding his personal legend and going after his dreams are the king of Salem, the alchemist, Fatima, and the crystal merchant.

Through his journey, Santiago represents the search for fulfillment and the discovery of one’s purpose. Santiago starts as a boring shepherd’s boy, comfortable with his existence and life. Then at the end turns into an alchemist who understands the language of the world. Santiago gained great knowledge about the connectedness of all things, the importance of courage in adversity, and the fulfillment that comes with achieving and chasing your dreams. His transformation and journey are a reminder that living and chasing one’s personal legend takes more than what you thought was possible.

My personal legend is just me completing college. This may not sound like much but it relates to the four obstacles that Santiago himself face. The first one would be Pessimism I never got told that I wasn’t going to be able to go to college by anyone else it’s just me doubting myself. Not many people from my family even went to college the only one was my brother and I’m next in line so it’s a lot of pressure on me. I always think to myself am I ready for college? Or am I smart enough to handle it. But attending Serra High school gave me a better push and boost up my confidence. The second one of course would be Love, Santiago gave up love to pursue his personal legend. And it’s not easy finding love or just receiving love. I can tell I’m

Throughout The Alchemist there were many twists and turns as well as changes to the main character Santiago. He had to adapt to the different ways of life in each place he visited, and had the tenacity to never give up on his journey even when times became tough, i.e. when he was robbed. Santiago started out as a shepherd, happy with how life was, maybe a sense of wanting more; later he encountered a king, gypsies, and others along the way who literally wanted him to follow his dreams because they could change a person’s life. He had to take risks and leave everything he had known behind to follow something he knew little to none about. When Santiago wanted to stay within his boundaries, he was pushed by the people he met which enabled him

Santiago,the boy who was born in a priest’s family and was put up to become a priest.But ever since he had been a child,he had wanted to know the world ,and this was much more important than knowing about God and learning about mans’ sins.He summed up courage and told his father that he want travel all over the world and learn.He is a humble shepherd whose desires are few–he wants to be free to roam with his sheep, to have some wine in his wineskin and a book in his bag. Fate intervenes, however, in the form of the recurring dream of a great treasure hidden thousands of miles away at the base of the Egyptian Pyramids. When Santiago meets melchizedek, a strange wise man who claims he is a king from a far-off land, he decides to seek his treasure. The next day, Santiago sells his sheep and embarks to Africa to pursue his dream.

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

But the Englishman only relied on books and thought he would receive information only from books. He also believed that searching for the 200 year old Alchemist and talking with him would let him achieve his Personal Legend of becoming an alchemist himself. They both agreed to try what the other did and they did not see the significance of the other’s ways. The Englishman did not see the importance of the desert and the boy did not see anything that the book could help him out with. That is where Santiago was different and understood more than the Englishman.

Santiago talked to a Gypsy women (who interpreted dreams) about his reoccurring dream that he would find hidden treasure at the Egyptian pyramids. Later in the city, he talked to Melchizedek (King of Salem) about Personal Legends. The boy did not know the meaning of a Personal Legend, Melchizedek said “It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young knows what their Personal Legend is.” (Coelho 23) Now that Santiago knew what a Personal Legend was he could discover his.