Obstacles In The Alchemist

People face many obstacles trying to achieve their goals and, at some point, they feel like there's nothing that can be done to keep going. People would think of giving up their dream because they believe it's too hard. Yet, at some point, people will also think it through and decide to keep moving forward to achieve their Personal Legend. Along the same lines, the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, highlights the obstacles one will face when reaching your Personal Legend. The story takes place in Andalusia, Spain where a young man named Santiago becomes aware of his Personal Legend. Santiago is a very courageous person and chooses to become a shepherd, even though his parents wanted him to become a priest. Santiago travels from Andalusia
One obstacle he encountered was getting robbed in Tangiers by a man who was suppose to be Santiago’s guide, in the beginning of his actual journey. Santiago had trusted this man to take him to buy some camels to use in his travel to the Pyramids in Egypt; therefore, Santiago made the bad decision to give the man all the money he had for his journey. As they were on their way to go see the camels, Santiago got distracted viewing an awesome sword, and the guide had the opportunity to rob Santiago by running away with his money. As soon as Santiago knew he had been robbed, he felt sorry and ashamed of himself. As a result, Santiago also felt hopeless and saddened. The author writes, “He was so ashamed that he wanted to cry….so he wept. He wept because God was unfair, and because this was the way god repaid those who believed in their dreams” (Coelho pg 42). In other words, Santiago regrets taking the journey and following his dreams, but then realizes that it was a very honest mistake. Initially, Santiago felt that he was being punished by God for following his dreams, and also for starting with his own journey. Santiago didn’t know that, in the long run, that obstacle would be a blessing to him and make him have more faith and more knowledgeable of not trusting people easily. The way Santiago handles this obstacle is by receiving faith from the stones that Melchizedek had given him, and
From reading this novel, I learned you should always follow your Personal Legend and keep working hard to succeed in life. Therefore, the novel’s main theme is to keep working hard, no matter how many obstacles you will encounter. After reading this book, the author wanted us to learn to never give up in life and to keep moving on our journey to reach our goals. He taught us that the obstacles you face may actually become helpful in the long run. Reading The Alchemist, taught me to work hard to meet my goals. This novel also taught me the obstacles I face can help me learn and can influence my Personal Legend. This novel not only gave me lessons, but also inspired me to work hard for my Personal