The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho

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Analysis of The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho How much would you sacrifice to follow your dream? Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist takes the saying “follow your dreams” to a literal level. This short novel tells the tale of a young shepherd named Santiago on his journey to find treasure in Egypt, after having recurring dreams of treasure being hidden there. This is a story about finding yourself, seeking fulfillment, and rather than going against the waters, flowing with it towards your destination. In the exposition, the reader meets Santiago, a shepherd native to Andalusia, Spain. One night while sleeping under a sycamore tree in an abandoned church, Santiago had the same dream he had a week ago (Coelho 4). In hopes of understanding his recurring dream, he seeks out a gypsy woman in Tarifa who interprets dreams. Santiago dreamt about a child that told him that he would find treasure at the Egyptian pyramids. The gypsy interpreted his…show more content…
This is where the boy interacts Melchizedek for the last time in the novel. Santiago wondered why the old man hadn’t just told him that the treasure was there all along, when he heard Melchizedek’s voice in the wind saying, “If I had told you, you wouldn’t have seen the Pyramids. They’re beautiful aren’t they?” (Coelho 417-418). This showed that what should be taken from the story is not that Santiago got his treasure, but rather what he learned from his adventure. Had Santiago not gone on his journey, he never would’ve found the true meaning of love, he wouldn’t have gotten to be so talented at reading omens, and he never would have discovered how to communicate with the elements. The Alchemist is basically an allegory for the saying that life is not about the destination, it’s about the journey. At last, the story ends with Santiago finding a chest filled with gold and jewels under the tree, and promising to make it back to

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