Literary Analysis on The Alchemist

The Alchemist Literary Outline The Alchemist. A book about a boy's quest for hidden treasure, seeing new places, meeting new people. It has become a worldwide hit, selling millions of copies since it's publication in 1988. It's received many awards and has drawn scores of scholars and casual readers alike. This book has received raving reviews and stinging critics. Why the divided response to this book? People vastly argue over the meaning the author was trying to convey. Many would argue it's a book about a boy finding himself spiritually in his quest to discover his treasure. This of course is an easy conclusion to come to, considering the not so subtle way the author, Paulo Coehlo, continually illustrates the point of a deep connection between all things in the universe. One would think there could be no other possible reason for writing this book. But what if there was? What if Coehlo decided to go against the grain in his book. What if his seemingly endless comment on the soul of the world is all an act, covering a deeper more selfish reason? What if he was promoting the very thing most people view as a negative thing. Materialism. It wouldn't be hard to draw a connection between materialism and Coehlo, after all he did grow up in a very poor region of the world where kids often grow up dreaming of having as much as the wealthy people in the world. My belief is that Coehlo not only likes materialism but he is trying to promote it in this book. He's trying to sell it off as a great thing to have. Of course maybe that was his whole point for writing this book. After all you can make a lot of good money from writing a book, money which would only help to help a person get closer to their materialistic dreams. There are several things that point to the fact that Coehlo is trying to promote this worldly way of living such as; everyone in the book is trying to gain material things, entire plot of the book is about a boy searching for a material treasure,