Adversity and how it affects a person’s identity
Adversity defines as a difficulty or misfortune that a person faces. Throughout a person’s life they will have a lot of adversity, this is which will change us for the better or worse. Paulo Coelho demonstrates this in “The alchemist” when initially the main character, Santiago, is a naïve boy who has not experience anything much less adversity throughout the duration of his life. This however changes when he goes to Africa and is faced with many difficulties with not understanding the language and the culture which leads him to some misfortunes along the way. Ultimately Santiago is forced to change because of the adversity he experiences. This goes to prove that through adversity and the challenges …show more content…
In the beginning, Santiago is naïve, a dreamer and maybe even a bit lonely, but more than that, he has never experienced the world. He has never been faced with the misfortunes that a broader mind has to offer and never been immersed in any other culture, but his own. “It was as if some mysterious energy bound his life to those of his sheep he spent the last two years with, leading them through the countryside in search of food and water” (Coelho P.g 4). This passage leads us to believe that Santiago was a very simple boy, at first, with only small troubles such as: feeding his sheep and finding water and shelter for them. He has not experienced the misfortunes of life yet and therefore acts the same for there is no reason to …show more content…
Near the end of the book, Santiago undergoes many hardships from: being robbed three times to having to leave the girl of his dreams behind to fulfill his personal legend. From this his character changes, from a naïve little boy who is a self-centered shepherd to a self-knowing alchemist who has realized and completed his personal legend. “Now he was there, though instead of with his flock he was with a shovel...He thought of the many roads he had not traveled and of the strange way god chose to show him his treasure” (Coelho P.g 165). In this passage he is back at the beginning, where it all starts, and though he is back at the start he is not the same boy he once was. This is due to the challenges he faces throughout the book and the misfortunes he had along the way, because without these he would not be here, happy and
Adversity defines as a difficulty or misfortune that a person faces. Throughout a person’s life they will have a lot of adversity, this is which will change us for the better or worse. Paulo Coelho demonstrates this in “The alchemist” when initially the main character, Santiago, is a naïve boy who has not experience anything much less adversity throughout the duration of his life. This however changes when he goes to Africa and is faced with many difficulties with not understanding the language and the culture which leads him to some misfortunes along the way. Ultimately Santiago is forced to change because of the adversity he experiences. This goes to prove that through adversity and the challenges …show more content…
In the beginning, Santiago is naïve, a dreamer and maybe even a bit lonely, but more than that, he has never experienced the world. He has never been faced with the misfortunes that a broader mind has to offer and never been immersed in any other culture, but his own. “It was as if some mysterious energy bound his life to those of his sheep he spent the last two years with, leading them through the countryside in search of food and water” (Coelho P.g 4). This passage leads us to believe that Santiago was a very simple boy, at first, with only small troubles such as: feeding his sheep and finding water and shelter for them. He has not experienced the misfortunes of life yet and therefore acts the same for there is no reason to …show more content…
Near the end of the book, Santiago undergoes many hardships from: being robbed three times to having to leave the girl of his dreams behind to fulfill his personal legend. From this his character changes, from a naïve little boy who is a self-centered shepherd to a self-knowing alchemist who has realized and completed his personal legend. “Now he was there, though instead of with his flock he was with a shovel...He thought of the many roads he had not traveled and of the strange way god chose to show him his treasure” (Coelho P.g 165). In this passage he is back at the beginning, where it all starts, and though he is back at the start he is not the same boy he once was. This is due to the challenges he faces throughout the book and the misfortunes he had along the way, because without these he would not be here, happy and