Theme Of The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho

In paulo coelho’s book the alchemist there are variety of themes and they are ever changing. however, all of these small themes help to develop the most important theme which is the centrality of personal legends or fate. the centrality of personal legends is about following your fate no matter what. in the alchemist their is a boy named santiago who has a reoccurring dream that his personal treasure is waiting for him in the pyramids of egypt. he, however, is a simple sheep shepherd and lives very far away in spain. he is comfortable with his life as a sheep shepherd as it provides him what he needs and he has his parents support. however, the reoccurring dream that he keeps having of his treasure leaves him feeling like theres a void in his …show more content…
santiagos sheep for example symbolize those who do not follow and are completely oblivious to their personal legends. the sheep though they have been taken to many wonderful lands by santiago, do not appreciate these wonderful lands and still only desire mere food and water. he says in the book that he could kill them one by one and they would not notice as they are so trusting towards him.“If I became a monster today, and decided to kill them, one by one, they would become aware only after most of the flock had been slaughtered, thought the boy. They trust me, and they’ve forgotten how to rely on their own instincts, because I lead them to nourishment.” they symbolize people like the crystal merchant and the baker who do not pursue their own personal legends and are instead content with material desires and social acceptability and miss out on various opportunities because of their limited perspectives. alchemy which is a laborious process that transforms basic metals into luxury metals like gold represents santiago’s convoluted journey to achieve his personal legend. in the book the alchemist says to santiago that a base metal must rid itself of all impurities to achieve a higher evolutionary state and in retrospect achieve its personal legend. the desert with its harsh conditions and tribal wars symbolized the difficulties one encounters when pursuing their personal legend, but in essence it also serves as a teacher to santiago by showing him that these hardships are necessary for him to achieve his personal