Reflective Essay on The Alchemist
Reflective Essay on The Alchemist
This novel is a fable that contains many messages worth noting and worth applying to our lives and attitudes towards our soul. After several times of reading, I found my own answer of the three critical questions about this novel.
As for the theme, I think it is multifold, and I will illustrate in the following part of this essay.
In the beginning of this novel, a story of Narcissus and Lake was told, which seems an allegory totally irrelevant to the story, reveals part of the theme and shines throughout the whole novel—one needs a mirror to look into him/herself. Only if people are able to see themselves clearly can they find the true Soul of God, which is exactly their own soul.
If we look back at Santiago’s magical travel, we can find that it is not the treasure that counts the most precious thing in his life, but is what he met and experienced that makes him mature and aware of the life philosophy, which I think is an important theme of this novel. For example, in Tangier, Santiago was cheated of almost all he has (35-39), he learns about what is outside of him are not his true properties, and that the one he should rely on is himself (41). Another example is, when he works for the crystal merchant, they talk about dreams. The merchant told Santiago that he dreams to go to Mecca one day but he knows that he will never realize this dream, for he is afraid that it would all be a disappointment (55) and he dare not to change his way of life (57). The merchant’s thought and success in business unwittingly lead Santiago to a conflict in mind about whether to continue this journey or earn enough money to lead a comfortable life back home. This episode, which can be juxtaposed with the allegory of a boy and a wise man about the secret of happiness and the image of Fatima, can be conceived as “distractions” in Santiago’s way to his Personal Legend. So I think this is the reason for the reoccurrence of the important motif
This novel is a fable that contains many messages worth noting and worth applying to our lives and attitudes towards our soul. After several times of reading, I found my own answer of the three critical questions about this novel.
As for the theme, I think it is multifold, and I will illustrate in the following part of this essay.
In the beginning of this novel, a story of Narcissus and Lake was told, which seems an allegory totally irrelevant to the story, reveals part of the theme and shines throughout the whole novel—one needs a mirror to look into him/herself. Only if people are able to see themselves clearly can they find the true Soul of God, which is exactly their own soul.
If we look back at Santiago’s magical travel, we can find that it is not the treasure that counts the most precious thing in his life, but is what he met and experienced that makes him mature and aware of the life philosophy, which I think is an important theme of this novel. For example, in Tangier, Santiago was cheated of almost all he has (35-39), he learns about what is outside of him are not his true properties, and that the one he should rely on is himself (41). Another example is, when he works for the crystal merchant, they talk about dreams. The merchant told Santiago that he dreams to go to Mecca one day but he knows that he will never realize this dream, for he is afraid that it would all be a disappointment (55) and he dare not to change his way of life (57). The merchant’s thought and success in business unwittingly lead Santiago to a conflict in mind about whether to continue this journey or earn enough money to lead a comfortable life back home. This episode, which can be juxtaposed with the allegory of a boy and a wise man about the secret of happiness and the image of Fatima, can be conceived as “distractions” in Santiago’s way to his Personal Legend. So I think this is the reason for the reoccurrence of the important motif