How the Theme 'Appearances vs. Reality' Is Shown as a Reflection of Actuality in the Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

Often, in life, things that we think are missing, are 'under our noses' all along. If we lose something and stress about it half the time it's in our pockets, and we're worrying over nothing. It is the same thing in the Alchemist. In this text, a young shepherd, Santiago, searches for his personal legend (purpose in life). He sells his sheep and travels to Egypt in search of treasure he dreamed was under the pyramids. On the way, he learns about himself, and falls in love. When he reaches the pyramids, he digs and digs to find the treasure he had buried there. A man approaches him, and asks him why he was digging, and Santiago tells him about the dream. The man scoffs at him, and tells him about a dream he had, that treasure was hidden under a tree by a church. Santiago remembers the tree from the man's description and comes to the realization that the treasure he was searching for, was in the place he had left, to search for it. So while it appeared that Santiago had to go all over the world to find his treasure, in reality, it was right beside him all along. This also made it appear as though his search for treasure and his personal legend was futile. But in reality, it was quite the opposite. Santiago had to travel to learn about himself and learn about the 'soul of the world'. And only by doing this could he fully discover his personal