What Is The Symbolism In The Alchemist

Throughout the summer, I read the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and drew a cover about what my main thoughts of the book were and what shaped Santiago as a person. While making my cover, I thought about what affected Santiago the most and what symbolized him and how he went through his personal legend or journey. The cover that I drew shows some things that resemble the things that he did. The illustration includes a map, two stones, and a maze, they all resemble him and how he is shaped. The novel is could be used to inspire someone who is confused about what they should do and if they should try to reach and extend their boundaries. A map, two stones which are Urim and Thummim, and a maze are all things that, compared to Santiago’s
One thing that shows that a map resembles Santiago searching for his treasure and following people’s directions is, “I have crossed the desert in search of a treasure that is somewhere near the pyramids (278)”. Santiago has a goal of reaching his treasure and obtaining whatever it is because he has been told something would be there just like a map shows a final destination. In my image of a map, I drew different stops just like Santiago had to go to different places including the town and different shops that gave him more places to go. A map can vary in how detailed and how specific the location is, just like Santiago was given a generic place like the pyramids which takes up a big space and is tons of searching. So a map is much like Santiago’s journey and way of getting to his destination because of the things that occurred and the way he was instructed to go
Santiago was given Urim and Thummim by Melchizedek who was the king of Salem and wanted to help Santiago when he met him. The two stones were in the king’s jeweled breastplate which meant they must have been really valuable and that he actually wanted to help Santiago accomplish his goals in his journey. Something that shows what Santiago thought of the stones is, “He didn’t consider mending the hole—the stones could fall through any time they wanted. He had learned that there were certain things one shouldn't ask about, so as not to flee from one's own destiny. “I promised that I would make my own decisions,” he said to himself” (44). Santiago at first did not believe that Urim and Thummim actually would work, he truly believed that he has to make his own decisions and that no one could tell him to do something that he did not want to. While having the stones, Santiago learns that there are many things that he has to figure out himself because a simple yes or no question cannot help you with everything in life. The stones are supposed to help Santiago through his journey to complete his destiny but Santiago has a strong opinion that he should not ask if he should try to complete his own destiny. The drawing I created of the two stones Urim and Thummim is to show that the stones shaped Santiago’s character and how his