The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho Essay

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The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho: effectiveness through the use of characters, themes, and philosophical statements

The Alchemist is an international bestseller by Paolo Coelho. The story is about a shepherd boy – Santiago – who has the dream of traveling the world driven by the desire to find treasures. He is courageous enough to embark on the journey and follow his destiny. The journey takes him from Spain through Tangiers to the desert in Egypt. Along the journey, he gets cheated, he loses money and goes through unpleasant experiences, but he also gets loved, makes money, learns a new language, meets many diverse people, and finds himself in pleasant situations. He has adventure, learns numerous lessons, and meets a king, an alchemist, and a desert woman. All these experiences add to enrich his view of life. This essay seeks to explain the effectiveness of the novel courtesy of the use of characters, themes, and philosophical statements.

Santiago, the protagonist in The Alchemist novel is considered to be a curious, strong, and determined boy who is interested in learning new things and traveling. He states “I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure” (Coelho, 41). Even though his parents wanted him to be a priest, he had a greater goal of knowing the world, learning new things, and finding a reassure at the foot of the Egyptian pyramids.

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Santiago is able to realize his goal because he is strong-willed, very insightful, and intuitive. In addition, he states that “to realize one’s Personal Legend is a person’s only real obligation” (Coelho, 24). Santiago is able to follow and achieve is goals because of a number of driving factors. First, the old man triggers zeal in him to achieve it. The hold man challenges Santiago by saying “…bakers are more important people than shepherds…parents would rather see their children marry bakers than herder.” Given the girls Santiago wanted to marry was in the town where the baker was, he had to pursue his dream and not be a shepherd, lest he loses his desired girl.

Melchizedek is one of the very influence characters in the novel. Acclaimed to be the king of Salem, Melchizedek is very wise and knowledgable. When Santiago meets him near the merchant's shop, one of his quotations was “the secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil….....

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