Theme Of Fear In The Alchemist

Sometimes leaving fear behind is the best way to accomplish goals. In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the main character, Santiago, pursues his personal legend of finding his treasure he has been dreaming about. Santiago, an ex-shepherd, learns his only obstacle to his personal legend are his fears. When he overcomes those fears, it is easier for him to understand his end goal. Because Santiago overcomes his fears he is able to achieve his personal legend. First, one must, understand that Santiago has fears he must face. One fear he must deal with is his fear of rejection. He goes to the gypsy woman to tell her about his reoccurring dream, but he is scared that she will laugh at him because of his crazy dream. In addition, Santiago fears losing everything he owns. When the old king, Melchizedek, meets Santiago he tells him he will give him the information he wants if he gives him one tenth of his sheep. Santiago is scared to give up his sheep because that is all he has had and his only source of money. If he does not find …show more content…
The first effect of leaving his fears behind is that he learns that the treasure in his dreams is real. For example, Santiago is scared to tell the woman about his dream, but he tells her anyway, and she tells him that his treasure is at the pyramids in Egypt. Instead of forgetting about the dream and not telling the gypsy, he is able to know for certain that the treasure exists. Similarly, the second effect of leaving his fears behind is he learns where and how to find his treasure. For instance, Santiago gives up the only thing he has, his sheep, and in return gets Urim and Thummim from Melchizedek. Melchizedek also tells him that the treasure is at the pyramids, just like the gypsy said, and he will have to use a combination of omens and Urim and Thummim to find it. Leaving his fears behind leads Santiago to figure out that his treasure is real and how to find