The Alchemist is the perfect book to discuss social and emotional intelligence. The story revolves around Santiago, a young shepherd from Spain who has had a strange repetitive dream that eventually takes him far from his home land in search of treasure. Throughout the book, Santiago meets many interesting characters and learns of this mysterious force known as the Soul of the World. The Soul of the World is said to unite all beings and work towards the good of those in pursuit of their Personal Legends. While pursuing his Personal Legend, Santiago adeptly maneuvers many difficult situations using his very high social and emotional intelligence.
This story really revolves around following one’s dreams and always seeking greater things.…show more content… The book mentions that, in the town of Tangier, only Arabic was spoken. This was a problem for Santiago as he only spoke Spanish. Not long after Santiago began walking in the street, someone approached him and began speaking to him in Spanish. They entered a bar and began talking about Santiago’s journey. Santiago then gave the newcomer his money to see if he had enough to get to the pyramids. The bartender, who did not speak Spanish, began acting irritated with Santiago’s new companion, so they quickly left. When they reached a crowded intersection, Santiago and his companion were separated. Santiago quickly realized that the separation was intentional and that the bartender had been trying to warn him about his companion, but he and Santiago did not speak the same language. That night is when the readers get their first glimpse of Santiago’s extremely high emotional intelligence. He begins to feel quite alone and is despairing his lot in life. At this point, he could have given up on his journey, but he doesn’t. Instead, the book states, “He looked around at the empty plaza again, feeling less desperate than before. This wasn’t a strange place; it was a new one.” Goleman in his book Social Intelligence would say that Santiago showed a high level of emotional intelligence through his self-awareness, self-regulation, and internal motivation. After that night, Santiago’s social and emotional intelligence becomes very prominent in his life. He helped a vendor who sold candy set up his stall and was able to communicate with him well enough even though they spoke two completely different languages. Santiago only recognized this phenomenon after he had left the vendor. The novel mentions, “When he had gone only a short distance, he realized that, while they were erecting the stall, one of them had spoken Arabic and the other had spoken Spanish. And they had understood each other