The Alchemist Essay

makes their life lovable. In Paulo Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist, the main character’s secret to life is to always listen to the signs that the world gives you. Santiago(the main character) listens to these signs and achieves his personal legend(life’s purpose). Santiago receives many signs throughout his journey of pursuing his personal legend. The main ways that he receives these signs are through the king, nature, the Englishman, and the Alchemist. Santiago meets King Melchizedek in the…

Huffman 1 Mikayla Huffman Klass English 9 Honors 9 June 2015 Interpretation of the Symbolism of Alchemy in The Alchemist Everyone has the ability to become something more in life than what they start out as, much like the transition from lead to gold. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho contains an example of this, in how the protagonist, Santiago (a shepherd boy from a region of Spain called Andalusia) attempts to accomplish his personal legend. The leading symbol behind this book is alchemy, which…

Brazilian author Paulo Coelho said in his book, The Alchemist,“Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there”. Growing up, I always wanted to become an Oncologist because I wanted to cure patients from Cancer. My mind was set to cure, and cure only. I recall my very first interaction with Dr. Danielle Doberman, a Palliative Medicine physician, during my second month as an intern in the ICU, where I indulged in saving lives…

It is not about the treasure – it never was. In Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, Santiago completes a journey of self-discovery in search of treasure buried at the Pyramids (Coelho, 3-167), but that does not mean his core wish is a materialistic objective. In any story, the want is the goal a protagonist is pursuing, and this goal “gives the plot direction” (Cowgill, 39). However, a character’s need, which is not necessarily the same as his want, is “an unconscious, inner force that compels a…

Alchemist There are several important scenes in the book the Alchemist. One of the most striking can be found at the beginning of the story when the narrator talks about a shepherd called Santiago. In this scene, he arrives with a flock of his sheep in a deserted church. As he is tired and has been walking all day, he decides to rest at this spot, and he sleep there. The story says that there is a giant sycamore tree that seems to have grown in the place where a sacristy was placed. He sleeps…

Santiago is a boy that needs much guidance on his journey and when he gets the help he does great things. Without these teachers Santiago would not have been able to complete his journey, let alone start it. The teachers are the sheep, the King, the Alchemist, and the crystal merchant. The sheep are great teachers to Santiago, they do not have to talk to show their knowledge. Santiago does not figure this out until he goes on his journey and finds his personal legend. Santiago finally figured…

The Alchemist, a novel written by Paulo Coelho, tells the story of a boy named Santiago who is on a journey to find his treasure. Santiago gives us a glimpse of why achieving your dreams is the best thing that you can do in life, and sometimes on the path of achieving your dreams, it’s not always easy. He also meets many people who will influence his life one way or another, but the two that especially influence his life is the Crystal Merchant and the Englishman. The Crystal Merchant and the…

work hard and endure stress to make it somewhere. However, that stress can keep people from doing and trying the things they love. Luckily, if you keep trying, you’ll persevere and the view will be breathtaking. Santiago, the main character in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, represents being beat up by life, and ending up being better and stronger than before. Throughout the novel, Santiago is trying to achieve his dream…

a person’s identity Adversity defines as a difficulty or misfortune that a person faces. Throughout a person’s life they will have a lot of adversity, this is which will change us for the better or worse. Paulo Coelho demonstrates this in “The alchemist” when initially the main character, Santiago, is a naïve boy who has not experience anything much less adversity throughout the duration of his life. This however changes when he goes to Africa and is faced with many difficulties with not…

destined to be” is a quote from the book Lover Mine by J.R. Ward, this quote mean that sometimes fate is in control our lives and we have no choice in changing our destiny, as some things are made to be, whether we like it or not. In the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the protagonist Santiago is pushed by fate out of his comfort zone, to embark on his journey to find and fulfil his personal legend and experience “the marvels of the world” (32). His destiny is always controlled by fate, as…