“This is not about success, accomplishment… it’s about working towards something greater than yourself” (Sicinski, n.d., para. 2). What Sicinski is stating is that the journey one is trying to achieve is not about the end of the quest, but about what learned one learned during the journey. In the novel, The Alchemist, the main character, Santiago, is on the quest to follow his dream. The whole book is about the trials he faced and dominated. Just as the other characters show that accomplishing one 's personal legend is extremely difficult but worth it in the end. Paulo Coelho teaches the trials and outcomes one will face if one is following their dreams more than anything, through Santiago, the Englishman, and the crystal merchant. The
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The crystal merchant says “I’m already used to the way things are… I don’t want to change anything, because I don’t know how to deal with change” (Coelho, 1992, pg. 31). The problem the merchant has is that he is too comfortable and does not want change. If he would pursue his destiny he would feel accomplished with himself, but he is too anxious to go follow his destiny. One may be scared to leave their parents to go to college because it is a huge change and investment or if someone is moving they may be panicked because they will not know anyone and they will have to adapt to their new surroundings. But if one does not make those changes out of fear, they will not have learned certain lessons. One may not find the courage to abandon their current life to follow their personal destiny. The crystal merchant also shows the ways not chasing one’s dreams can be realistic. The crystal merchant mentions, “... It’s the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive...I’m afraid that if my dream is …show more content…
One problem the Englishman did was he only learned from books. “Somethings need to be experienced to be truly internalized” (N.A., N.D, para. 3). The Englishman tried to learn alchemy only from books, but he never actually tried to attempt it in real life. Like when someone is learning how to make a cake, they can not become the best baker by just reading the recipe they need to attempt to make the cake, or when someone is trying to learn how to play baseball but only watches the games, they can not become a MLB player just by watching the games. One needs to learn that not everything can be taught through books. When the Englishman tried to talk to the Alchemist, the Alchemist told him to go practice. The Englishman states “...He asked me if I have ever transformed lead into gold… he told me I should try to do so. That 's all he said…” (coelho, 1992, pg.52). The Alchemist knew that the Englishman never learned anything from his surroundings, so he had sent the Englishman to go try to transform lead into gold. Simply because the Englishman was not ready to learn to to do so. The Englishman instructs that one needs to start experimenting and start learning from lessons being taught in the real world. Striving to achieve one 's personal legend one needs to recognize the omens and follow
The crystal merchant says “I’m already used to the way things are… I don’t want to change anything, because I don’t know how to deal with change” (Coelho, 1992, pg. 31). The problem the merchant has is that he is too comfortable and does not want change. If he would pursue his destiny he would feel accomplished with himself, but he is too anxious to go follow his destiny. One may be scared to leave their parents to go to college because it is a huge change and investment or if someone is moving they may be panicked because they will not know anyone and they will have to adapt to their new surroundings. But if one does not make those changes out of fear, they will not have learned certain lessons. One may not find the courage to abandon their current life to follow their personal destiny. The crystal merchant also shows the ways not chasing one’s dreams can be realistic. The crystal merchant mentions, “... It’s the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive...I’m afraid that if my dream is …show more content…
One problem the Englishman did was he only learned from books. “Somethings need to be experienced to be truly internalized” (N.A., N.D, para. 3). The Englishman tried to learn alchemy only from books, but he never actually tried to attempt it in real life. Like when someone is learning how to make a cake, they can not become the best baker by just reading the recipe they need to attempt to make the cake, or when someone is trying to learn how to play baseball but only watches the games, they can not become a MLB player just by watching the games. One needs to learn that not everything can be taught through books. When the Englishman tried to talk to the Alchemist, the Alchemist told him to go practice. The Englishman states “...He asked me if I have ever transformed lead into gold… he told me I should try to do so. That 's all he said…” (coelho, 1992, pg.52). The Alchemist knew that the Englishman never learned anything from his surroundings, so he had sent the Englishman to go try to transform lead into gold. Simply because the Englishman was not ready to learn to to do so. The Englishman instructs that one needs to start experimenting and start learning from lessons being taught in the real world. Striving to achieve one 's personal legend one needs to recognize the omens and follow