Personification In The Alchemist

As secretary William Jennings Bryan once said, “Destiny is not matter of chance, It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” Nowhere is this concept more evident than in Coelho's novel, The Alchemist. The Alchemist reveals that one must have the courage to follow their destiny, for otherwise, they will hold themselves back from happiness. Coelho uses foil, symbolism, and personification to further develop this theme. Today’s readers can apply Santiago’s story to their own life, as a lesson to follow their calling.
Throughout The Alchemist, Coelho uses foil characters to represent how Santiago’s life could be if he does not follow his personal legend. One foil is the crystal merchant, as he tells Santiago “You dream about your sheep and the pyramids, but you’re different from me, because you want to realize your dreams. I just want to dream about Mecca” (Coelho 55). The crystal merchant knows his destiny, but he is afraid to achieve it. This makes him a foil character when compared to Santiago, because Santiago is working hard to achieve his own destiny. Since the crystal merchant fears his personal legend he has become satisfied with his current …show more content…
Often Santiago’s heart is shown to be afraid of what is to come. The Alchemist helps calm it down by saying “tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself… no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams” (Coelho 130). As the boy is fearful of following his destiny, Coelho personifies his heart. HIs heart cannot actually suffer, but Coelho does this to help us realize how Santiago is feeling. When Santiago’s heart calms down, Santiago receives enough reassurance to continue following his personal legend. When this happens Santiago goes against his fear to find his personal legend. This takes courage which the bot finds to that he can feel true joy in his