The Alchemist Journey Essay
Life is a journey that starts the moment it begins and ends with one’s last breath. Sometimes the journey is full of struggle and hardships. The Syrian refugees journey into safety faces many hardships and dangers as they take extreme risks with their lives, by crossing oceans, countries, and unfriendly border points. Some authors who apply this theme are Rick Riordan, Susan Collins, and Gary Paulsen. Some of the well-known novels that use this theme are Percy Jackson the Lightning Thief, Hatchet, and The Hunger Games. Many characters in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist embark on their personal journeys. Through The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho Focuses on journey/personal growth of the main characters, such as Santiago and the crystal merchant. The
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main themes displayed in the Alchemist are personal growth, journey, and fear.
Personal Growth is when an individual improves and develops certain talents. It also creates identity, potential, and can improve one’s quality of life. By doing this one can achieve dreams and goals in life. Santiago demonstrates personal growth by learning a new language and experiencing new cultures. For example, Santiago puts in an effort to learn Arabic while he was in Tangier. This helped Santiago to intergrade and actively participate in Arab society. Next, Santiago expands his knowledge by taking advice from other people. For instance, Santiago learns from the Englishman that there is a lot of knowledge one you can get from books and education. On the other hand, the Englishman learns from Santiago that there is a lot to learn from real life experiences. They both agree that to grow as a person one must be able to do both. While Santiago was travelling to Egypt to complete his personal legend. He had to stop at the oasis for several months because of two warring tribes in the desert. While he was their Santiago built a life where he was comfortable and met the love of his life Fatima. However, Santiago could have lived there comfortably, but he realized he had to complete his personal legend and left for Egypt. Another theme highlighted by Paulo Coelho is journey.
Journey is the act of travelling from one place to another, involving a long distance trip.
First, Santiago’s parents wanted him to become priest but he always wanted to travel. The only reason Santiago became a shepherd was to have the opportunity to travel. As a shepherd Santiago was always on a journey travelling through southern Spain. The theme journey is present throughout the whole book. For example, Santiago embarks on an even longer journey as he has to cross the Sahara Desert to the pyramids in Egypt, where his treasure is buried. After getting beaten up by the thieves in the pyramids, one of the thieves makes Santiago realize that the treasure all along was buried back in Spain. Where he first had the dream, under the sycamore tree, in the old abandoned church. Fear is another theme used multiple times in The Alchemist.
Fear is an emotion that acts as an obstacle to a happy and fulfilled life. Santiago first encountered fear by leaving everything behind in order to pursue his dream. For instance, to embark on his journey to Egypt Santiago need to sell his sheep for money to travel. A character who experiences fear is the crystal merchant. For example, he wants to make the pilgrimage to mecca required by every Muslim, however he fears that once he has made the trip he will have nothing to live for. Lastly, Santiago experiences the spiritual fear that he will fail to turn himself into the wind when the Alchemist forces him to
try.
In conclusion, Paulo Coelho uses personal growth/journey as a way to connect with the readers, the themes talked about were personal growth, journey, and fear. When the tsunami hit Japan in 2009 many people feared for their lives, the aftermath of the tsunami was a journey for all the survivors to recovery from the disaster.
main themes displayed in the Alchemist are personal growth, journey, and fear.
Personal Growth is when an individual improves and develops certain talents. It also creates identity, potential, and can improve one’s quality of life. By doing this one can achieve dreams and goals in life. Santiago demonstrates personal growth by learning a new language and experiencing new cultures. For example, Santiago puts in an effort to learn Arabic while he was in Tangier. This helped Santiago to intergrade and actively participate in Arab society. Next, Santiago expands his knowledge by taking advice from other people. For instance, Santiago learns from the Englishman that there is a lot of knowledge one you can get from books and education. On the other hand, the Englishman learns from Santiago that there is a lot to learn from real life experiences. They both agree that to grow as a person one must be able to do both. While Santiago was travelling to Egypt to complete his personal legend. He had to stop at the oasis for several months because of two warring tribes in the desert. While he was their Santiago built a life where he was comfortable and met the love of his life Fatima. However, Santiago could have lived there comfortably, but he realized he had to complete his personal legend and left for Egypt. Another theme highlighted by Paulo Coelho is journey.
Journey is the act of travelling from one place to another, involving a long distance trip.
First, Santiago’s parents wanted him to become priest but he always wanted to travel. The only reason Santiago became a shepherd was to have the opportunity to travel. As a shepherd Santiago was always on a journey travelling through southern Spain. The theme journey is present throughout the whole book. For example, Santiago embarks on an even longer journey as he has to cross the Sahara Desert to the pyramids in Egypt, where his treasure is buried. After getting beaten up by the thieves in the pyramids, one of the thieves makes Santiago realize that the treasure all along was buried back in Spain. Where he first had the dream, under the sycamore tree, in the old abandoned church. Fear is another theme used multiple times in The Alchemist.
Fear is an emotion that acts as an obstacle to a happy and fulfilled life. Santiago first encountered fear by leaving everything behind in order to pursue his dream. For instance, to embark on his journey to Egypt Santiago need to sell his sheep for money to travel. A character who experiences fear is the crystal merchant. For example, he wants to make the pilgrimage to mecca required by every Muslim, however he fears that once he has made the trip he will have nothing to live for. Lastly, Santiago experiences the spiritual fear that he will fail to turn himself into the wind when the Alchemist forces him to
try.
In conclusion, Paulo Coelho uses personal growth/journey as a way to connect with the readers, the themes talked about were personal growth, journey, and fear. When the tsunami hit Japan in 2009 many people feared for their lives, the aftermath of the tsunami was a journey for all the survivors to recovery from the disaster.