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What Does Santiago Learn In The Alchemist

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No matter how different two people are from each other, they will always have something in common: they both have a dream that they want to follow. In Paulo Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist, this dream is known as a personal legend. The protagonist, Santiago, is a shepherd in Spain who has two dreams about finding treasure in Egypt. He realizes that finding this treasure is his personal legend, so he decides to pursue it. While on the journey to find his treasure, Santiago learns to never quit and to speak the Universal Language. One of the most important lessons Santiago learns on his journey is to never quit. At the very beginning of his endeavor, Santiago faces a major obstacle, the language barrier. The narrator says, “…he had forgotten a …show more content…

When Santiago first arrives in Africa, he cannot speak Arabic. One morning, he runs across a boy setting up a shop and offers to help. The narrator says, “When [Santiago] had gone only a short distance, he realized that, while they were erecting the stall, one of them had spoken Arabic and the other Spanish. And they had understood each other perfectly well” (pg.43). Santiago thought, “There must be a language that doesn’t depend on words” (pg.43). This is the moment when Santiago first discovers the Universal Language. Santiago becomes more understanding of the Universal Language as he continues on his journey. He says, “I have watched the caravan as it crossed the desert…The caravan and the desert speak the same language” (pg.79). This evidently shows how Santiago is able to recognize what the Universal Language is, and how it works. Later in the novel, Santiago uses his knowledge of this language to help turn himself into the wind, saving his life. He asks the wind, “Just teach me to be the wind for a few moments” (pg.147). After speaking to both the desert and the wind, Santiago completely understands the Universal Language. Learning the Universal Language along his journey was very important to Santiago, because it ended up saving his

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