The lesson “life is what you make it” was a big part of the novel. But also this lesson was reflective. When Edwin asked Cole to go to the freezing pond, he gave him a stick and says that the right end of the stick represented happiness while the left end represented anger. Cole broke the anger side of the stick, until he recognized that everytime he broke…
Santiago had to learn to follow his heart throughout the novel and not listen to his sadness, thus allowing him to go further through the desert by following his heart. “The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.” This shows us that Santiago has decided…
And as in most books, the main character develops throughout the book, learning from his or hers mistakes and whatever else they might have come across. "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" is a saying that many live by, or turn to in bad times. What it means is basically that it is impossible to know which roads to take in life. You might experience a rough time once in a while, but life is about learning, and this is what you learn from. Secondly you will learn that if you choose one that is a blind alley you should probably consider an alternative the next time you have to a similar decision.…
quite different for everyone. What I feel is that the lesson is to prepare yourself to die, to…
Throughout life, people will have to make decisions everyday whether it is important or inessential. In this book, Santiago is deciding whether he should follow his “Personal Legend” (what one has always wanted to accomplish), or…
For example, when I do not receive a good grade, I do not give up but keep trying to improve that grade. The author of the book Paulo Coelho also emphasizes that the universe conspires to help someone who is trying to find their personal legend and that when someone truly wants something the universe will help them. As Santigo starts his journey, he encounters the wise king of Salem who gives him helpful and wise advice about following your dreams. The king says, “When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it” (Coelho pg 24). This quote encourages Santiago even more to pursue his dreams and his personal legend.…
I truly enjoyed reading the novel A Lesson before Dying. I loved how this book pretty much teaches you a lesson by trying not to be at the wrong place at the wrong time or hanging out with the wrong kind of people. The quote below is from the book and it was one of my favorites. “I probably would not have noticed it at all had a butterfly, a yellow butterfly with dark spots like ink dots on its wings,…
He had a lot of life lessons that really caught my attention but I did narrowed it down to three of them so I was able to write about them. To conclude, this book really brought out the inner self in me because it made think about life in a different way I’ve never imagined…
This book has taught me so much, and I think that was the purpose of the author. He wanted to share his mistakes with all his readers so that we could be able to learn from them. He taught me to never give up because anything is possible if you really want it. Luis is a caring person who all he wants in life I to be a better person and make life worth it. He knew he wouldn’t get anywhere if he kept living the bad life he did of drugs and violence. He decided to make a change for himself and found happiness in his…
Foreshadowing or first obstacle helps to identify, or gives a hint (idea) of what the problem of the story is. Paolo Coelho has several foreshadowing events in the Alchemist; for example, the scene in which Santiago relates his dream to the gypsy, regarding the Egyptian pyramids. The dream itself is an indication of a foreshadowing event. It indicates the events that eventually will occur through the book, ‘’gives a taste of the problem ‘’.…
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, consists of numerous pieces of advice dealing with universal wisdom. In this novel, Santiago, a shepherd boy, learns and matures on the journey to find his Personal Legend, his life's ultimate accomplishment. He faces many difficult decisions along the way but once he begins to listen to his heart he found love, treasure, and the ability to turn into wind. Like Santiago, a reader can grow to feel more knowledgeable from the words of Coelho because his advice can be accepted and appreciated by all people. The Alchemist expresses beliefs that easily relate to people around the world since at one point or another we all suffer from confusion about our hearts. Coelho beautifully constructed a novel that contains…
Santiago’s die or die trying attitude and it’s correlation to his pursuit of pride & praise is a direct representation of Hemmingway’s life code as D’Agostino describes it, “a solitary struggle … conscious of having no sense or reason beyond itself.” Santiago often discards logic in the pursuit of success. He no longer believes in himself, considering himself to be ‘unlucky.’ Santiago even denies the help of the young boy who looks up to him for his unusual strength in his old age and his undying determination. When the boy asks to go fish with Santiago he replies, “no… you’re with a lucky boat. Stay with them”(10). Immediately, Santiago puts himself down when Manolin tries to commend him on his fisherman’s abilities. Santiago shows us through this action that similarly to Hemmingway, he desires to conquer life as a “solitary struggle.” Hemmingway alludes to his beliefs about…
The Alchemist was written by Paul Coelho, and there were many themes embedded within its text. The two main themes that stand out throughout the novel are forces of nature and emotions. More specifically, the main theme is how nature as well as human emotions plays important roles during Santiago’s journey. Some of the featured emotions are fear, hope, desire, and love. Also, some of the forces of nature involved are the sun, wind, the desert, and God. During Santiago’s journey to find his own Personal Legend, all of these things work together in order to aid him on his important journey.…
There are several life lessons being taught in the film. Personally, among these lessons, the most important are the pursuit of excellence through passion and not just the pursuit of success, the importance of life and its beauty, and the significance of hard work as well as the danger of living a mediocre life. These three lessons, if inculcated, will not only lead to a successful life but will also lead to a life that is worth living.…
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…