Santiago's Journey In The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist, alludes the importance of travel in our lives and in our pursuit of our dreams through Santiago’s quest. Santiago, the main character, had been having a reoccurring dream that prompted him to seek spiritual assistance from a Gypsy. The Gypsy had interpreted his reoccurring dream as being apart of the ‘Language of the World’, where he has to travel to the Pyramids in order to discover the treasure that will make him a rich man. Santiago decides to go forward with pursing his personal legend of discovering the treasure that was meant for him in the Pyramids. Traveling along this journey, Santiago grows and learns from the individuals he encounters such as the crystal merchant, the camel driver and the
The crystal merchant and Santiago soon begin to develop a friendship where they offer advice to one another and have conversations about their dreams. The crystal merchant reveals to Santiago that his dream is to travel to the holy city of Mecca and give pilgrimage. Though, this is the merchant’s dream, he chooses not to fulfill it and to just keep it as his dream because he feels that if he pursues his dream, then he won’t have anything left to live for. He expresses to Santiago, “…You dream about your sheep and the Pyramids, but you’re different from me, because you want to realize your dreams. I just want to dream about Mecca” [27]. This quote serves as an example of an internal conflict that the crystal merchant has because he had visions about traveling to Mecca ever since he was a young man and being apart of all the beautiful experiences many people have done; but is not ready to trust anyone but himself to take care and be in charge of his delicate crystal shop. However, Santiago did not quite struggle with this kind of conflict, he had easily traded his flock of sheep for money so that he can begin his travels. Choosing whether or not you will sacrifice a commodity for what your future will entail is the first
Coelho had used characterization to describe the significance of the Alchemist. The Alchemist was described as “… spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. They spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. They discovered that the purification of the metals had led to the purification of themselves” [41]. He had taught Santiago the importance of following through with ones personal legend and not letting obstacles like getting told that our dream is impossible to fulfill, love, fear of failure and fear of realizing our own dreams. The Alchemist had motivated and pushed Santiago not by telling him what he has to do but allowing him to realize and understand for himself what he has to do to succeed in going forward with his dream. Also, the Alchemist had explained to Santiago that it was his destiny to turn lead into gold and that his destiny was different than his. The Alchemist had decided to demonstrate how to turn lead into gold with the help of the Philosophers Stone and the Elixir of Life to prove to Santiago that personal legends are possible to fulfill but requires hard work and