The Power Of The Alchemist

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The Alchemist’s conversation with Santiago about not giving into fear clearly proves that only you have the power to prevent your dreams from becoming a reality, because Santiago must control his fear or else he will in fact prevent himself from pursuing his dream. Santiago is a dreamer and passionate advocate for pursuing what your calling is in life. Throughout the novel Santiago is faced with challenges, but he always seems to find a way to reconnect with his heart. By remembering that everything is connected through the soul of the world, and that everything happens for a reason, Santiago possesses the capability to overcome any obstacle. Although Santiago proves to be persistent on completing his Personal Legend of seeing the pyramids …show more content…
When Santiago fears of losing his life, it relates to when the driver of the caravan is telling the story of his life. After the driver explains how the Nile river once overflowed and destroyed an immense amount of land in his home he says, “‘We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it’s our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates once we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand” (Coelho 79). These two moments connect because when Santiago doubts himself, he is giving into fear (especially the fear of losing his life), and forgetting God, the soul of the world, and Maktub. The second passage, when the driver is speaking about the loss of one’s life, he explains how the fear of losing your life is easily forgotten when your soul reconnects with God and his purpose. If Santiago reconnects with his heart and understands that the same hand (God) is in charge of everything, his fear will leave him, and he can continue on. As Santiago’s fear increasingly consumes him, the Alchemist recognizes the damage that this fear could cause him. The Alchemist expresses to Santiago, “Don't give into your fears… If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart” (Coelho 146). The Alchemists purpose of stating this is because he understands how …show more content…
At this thought, the Alchemist says, “‘ If a person is living out his Personal Legend, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure’” (Coelho 146). This statement epitomizes the concept of how only you can stand in the way of pursuing your dreams because the Alchemist flat out states that only fear, an emotion which Santiago possesses control over, can prevent him from continuing his journey to see the pyramids in Egypt. By the Alchemist stating this, it also provides comfort to Santiago. The comforting concept is that even though Santiago may not recognize it yet, he already knows how to turn himself into the wind. When Santiago expresses to the Alchemist that he is not exactly afraid of failing but confused on how to turn himself not the wind, the Alchemist tells Santiago that he must learn how to because his life is dependent on it. When Santiago what if is unable to fulfill that task, the Alchemist tells him “‘Then you'll die in the midst of trying to realize your Personal Legend. That’s a lot better than dying like millions of other people, who never even knew what their Personal Legends were’” (Coelho

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