What Does The Master's Work Symbolize In The Alchemist

In this novel, the Alchemist pushes the Shepard to perform the "Master's Work" by putting the young Shepards life on the line. By vocalizing to the Chief of the camp they were captured by, that the Shepard was capable of turning himself into the wind. The shepard has no faith in himself, telling the Alchemist that he doesn't know how to turn himself into the wind. While the Alchemist continues to tell him that he does, "There is only one thing that make a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.". The symbolism in this scene was the Alchemist willingly giving up the entirety of the Shepards savings. To me, this was telling the Shepard that the treasure was the Master's Work, not the amount of physical wealth the boy possessed. This says a lot to me, It's telling me to value skill, and knowledge over money. That the entire journey …show more content…
In the middle of the desert, with noone other then the silent Alchemist, the Shepard focus's on speaking to himself. The Shepard must immerse himself in the desert, or any place, in order to understand the Master's Work. "Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the soul of the World, and it will one day return.". His heart tells im of all things, things he doesn't know about himself, things he doesn't know about the world. It expresses his deepest fears aswell as even attempts to convince himself to stop chasing his destiny. It holds all of his fear, and for that reason, it is the place where the real treasure lies. Without the Shepard ever talking to his heart, he'd never begin to understand the Soul of the World. He'd never understand the Master's Work, and he'd never reach the treasure. The symbolism is the heart. The Shepard came to understand the Treasure, is his life. This speaks to me because it relates to the saying, put your heart and soul into it. The times when you put everything you got into achieving your