The Alchemist: The Hero And The Villain

“You can always turn a bad kisser into a good one,” Laura Prepon. Santiago, the main character of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist leads a modest and ordinary life as a shepherd. Santiago travelled constantly, exploring the Andalusian terrain. In his travels, Santiago met a woman who interpreted his dreams, and told him his treasure would lie in Egypt at the pyramids. However, Santiago believed that the dream interpreter was a phony, and he continued to herd his sheep. Soon after, he exchanged words with the King of Salem, and Santiago was once again told to venture to Egypt in order to find his treasure. After careful consideration, Santiago sells his precious sheep and begins his journey. An alchemist, somebody who turns lead

Social isolation is a social issue where people avoid contact with one society. They are commonly seen nowadays preventing people from interacting with another as well as creating reliable relations, abating any chances for one to realize their destiny. This negative spiral immensely affects the opportunity for people holding a feeling of love and community toward others.

As a result, he became a shepherd. Throughout his journey as a shepherd, he met a Gypsy woman who told him his Personal Legend. To pursue his Personal Legend, he needed money to get to Africa. He decided to sell his flock of sheep to earn money and buy a ticket to Africa. The quote relates to this event as Santiago is sacrificing his only source of income

In The Alchemist by Pablo Coelho, there is a passage that happens right after Santiago is robbed, losing all of his money. In following section he looks back onto himself that has led up to thus far. He starts to have doubts that his Personal Legend is nothing but a rouse to make him give up on everything he had accomplished. He starts to take inventory on the last of his possessions and in doing so finds Urim and Thummim still in has bag telling him he had truly talked to the old king and that gave him comfort. Even though the king is not there during this section, he is still portrayed as a character. This narrative that Santiago plays out in his head with the old king has narrative significance because it helps him work out

Although Ender and Santiago's stories were not alike, they both shared the attributes of a hero's journey, like the call and the mentor stages. In the book Ender's game, Ender demonstrates attributes of a hero's journey, one of which, is the mentor stage. Colonel Graff realized early on in the book that Ender was special. The quote took place towards the end, when it became more and more obvious that Ender was the one.

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,

The treasure he had been looking for all this time was right before him. As Santiago finds all his treasure, he realizes that he needs to experience everything he has been through on his journey before he finds his treasure. Santiago understands that if he hadn't made that one choice to follow his dreams, he would have never discovered his treasure or experienced what he had been through. The Alchemist tells a story about Santiago's hero's journey, highlighting the life-changing benefits of fulfilling his dreams. Supernatural aid, the road of the trial, and the return to the ordinary world are the hero's journeys that happen in the story and involve complex tasks and being able to accomplish

To begin his long journey, Santiago meets a wise old king name King Melchizedek. He is in a local market when the king walks up and asks Santiago what he is reading. The king continues to say that the book he is reading is important but irritating because it describes the characters inability to choose their own Personal Legend. When Santiago asks where this mysterious stranger is from, King Melchizedek replies with “I am from many places, but I was born in Salem as I am the king there” (Coelho 64). Accepting his statement as true, Santiago continues the conversation allowing them to eventually talk about his dream of the Pyramids. The king wants to help Santiago, but for a price of six sheep. Before leaving with Santiago’s sheep he shares, “’The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon’” (Coelho 32). His message to Santiago reminds him that by following his dream he will witness beautiful sights and people, but that he should always remember the purpose of his travels. Leaving it at that, the king pointed Santiago in the direction to follow his dream.

Personality: This quote tells me Santiago is stubborn. Stubborn because he refuses to follow his father’s higher judgement to become a priest as well as going to the heights of becoming a shepherd which is looked down upon.

pg 67”.later on the boy continues his journey riding the caravan through the desert, learning and understanding the soul of the world he comes to an understanding of the world, that there's more than we could ever know that only the world itself knows, He talks with the englishmen coming to the conclusion “if either of us had joined the caravan based only on personal legends,but without understanding ‘that’ language, this journey would have been much more difficult pg 82” The most dramatic shift is Santiago reflecting on his past and how he comes to understand who he is and what his journey's purpose is. Santiago first reflects upon when he was a shepherd and what that meant to him. Wondering why it was his journey, he realizes that it was but a step towards what he wanted. He didn't want to be a shepherd, he simply wanted a journey.

In the novel, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho throughout Santiago’s long adventurous journey he meets people that change the script in his play of life. When a shepherd named Santiago was on his way to meet the beautiful merchant’s daughter, he is confronted by a king who directs him to his personal legend. Santiago decides to pursue his journey to find his personal legend and meets many important characters along the way. Santiago was destined to meet these certain characters such as the crystal merchant, Fatima, and the King of Salem so they can reflect on one another’s lives and through finding their own personal legends they help redirect his.

Throughout his adventures, he learns many new ideas that help expand his understanding of the world around him and therefore nourish the soul of the world. The book uses several different archetypes to help and encourage the heroes journey. Towards the beginning of the book, Santiago is perceived to have a bad impression of the

In the book The Alchemist, the crystal merchant and I have different spiritual dharma. I’ve always set goals for myself to reach. It’s something that drives me and motivates me to keep going, and when I reach the goal it is the greatest feeling in the world to be successful at your end goal, because I know that I’m gonna have another goal after that; however, the crystal merchant it the opposite. He is afraid to fulfill his spiritual dharma by not wanting to complete his five obligations. He is afraid of change, and what would happen next after his goal is completed.

In the beginning of the novel the king says, “Because you are trying to realize your Personal Legend.” “And you are at the point where you’re about to give it all up.” “And that’s when you appear on the scene?” “Not always in this way, but I always appear in one form or another.” (Coelho pg. 23) This quote shows that the king of Salem helps Santiago with his Personal Legend. He is the first of many to help Santiago towards his dream. In the caravan Santiago hears the Englishman talking, “But the caravan began to move, and it was impossible to hear what the Englishman was saying.” “The boy knew what he was about to describe though: the mysterious chain that links one thing to another, the same chain that had caused him to become a shepherd, that had caused his recurring dream, that had brought him to a city near Africa, to find a king, and to be robbed in order to meet a crystal merchant, and …” (Coelho pg. 72) The quote supports the theme of universal support towards ones dream, because it shows that everything that had happened in Santiago’s life was meant to get him closer to achieving his dream. His whole life was a chain connecting each event after another, until eventually he reaches his personal legend. “He thanked God for making him believe in his Personal Legend, and for leading him to meet a king, a merchant, an Englishman, and an

shepherd as he pursues a quest based on a recurring dream and many mysterious encounters that send him further along on his search for a great treasure. After a devastating realization, Santiago makes a thrilling discovery in a place he had never thought to look. Santiago ends up learning that his Personal Legend, a type of ideal fate or destiny, was his “treasure” the whole time. In this story Paulo Coleho uses the characters Santiago, Fatima, Melchizedek, and The Englishman to help Santiago find the most prominent theme in “The Alchemist”, which is the idea that each person has a Personal Legend and that each person can chose whether to pursue that legend.