Plot In The Alchemist

Plot in The Alchemist The four obstacles are presented to us in the early pages of the introduction. The first obstacle: we are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible. The second obstacle: love. The third obstacle: fear of the defeats we will meet on the path. Finally the fourth obstacle: the fear of realizing the dream of which we fought for all our lives. We find the first obstacle Santiago faces in page 9, where Santiago mentions to his father at a early age that he did not want to become a priest that instead he wanted to travel and see the world. His father explained to him that the people that travel and see the world are wealthy people. Santiago insisted that him too wanted to see where the wealthy people lived, that he would love to see their castles in the towns where the wealthy lived, but his father explained that the only people that traveled amongst them were the shepherds. Santiago made the decision to become a shepherd, so the next day his father gave him three ancient Spanish gold coins so the boy could buy his flock.
The second obstacle Santiago faces we can find all throughout the pages and its the obstacle of love.
The love that he has for traveling the same love that made him tell his father he did not want to become a priest, but instead travel to many places. This is the second obstacle Paulo Coelho talked about in his introduction were he mentioned “we know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream” Paulo Coelho mentions that we do not realize that love is just a further impetus, not something that will prevent us going further. Santiago did just that, he abandoned everything in order to pursue his dream to become a
traveler. Santiago faces his third obstacle in page eleven were he questions himself about a recurring dream he has had in the past. He questioned himself if it was possible to have a dream come true that makes life interesting. His dream was about a young girl that would play with his animals every time Santiago was in the fields, then the girl will would grab Santiago with both hands and transport him to the Egyptian pyramids and the young girl would tell Santiago that if he went to the Egyptian pyramids he would find a hidden treasure and just when the girl was about to show Santiago the exact location where the treasure was Santiago would wake up. The fourth obstacle that Santiago faces is in page eleven through fifteen where he remembers that in Tarifa there was an old who interpreted dreams. Santiago went with the old woman, when he entered the room he noticed an image of the sacred heart of jesus and two chairs. The woman took his hands and started to pray Santiago realized that it sound like a Gypsy prayer and remembered what people would say about Gypsies that they tricked people and would kidnap children this made Santiago shaky but he didn't want the woman to realize he was afraid. The woman asked him to explain his dream so he did the lady explained that he must go to the Egyptian pyramids because a dream about a child showing you a hidden treasure was true. She told Santiago that she would not charge him for the reading, but when he found the treasure she wanted ten percent of it. The four obstacles that Santiago has faced is proof that he could overcome anything just like anyone can.