The success of The Alchemist cannot be argued; in just ten years after it was publish it has sold more than 20 million copies and has been translated into over fifty-seven languages. This is a world record for number of translations by a living author. As the New York Times aptly puts it. “[This] Brazilian wizard makes books disappear from stores.” The author Pauho Coelho wrote a book that no only sold numerous copies, but sold them in numerous language and cultures. This success points to a massive of the appeal. The beautiful prose found within the novel can be at times simply breathtaking. Add this to a wonderfully philosophically driven optimism that is redolent of a fairytale nostalgic and you would think it impossible that anyone could diminish the exquisiteness and splendor of it all. However, it is more than just fairy tale, as the book is set in a certain historical context that affects the story greatly. But while the historical context grounds it in the past, the themes discussed within the book fit the 21st audience of today in telling about what themes are of interest to the reading public across the world in this current time period. This essay looks at both the historical context, which governs the story, and also at the audience it was intended for, which is from a much different time period than when the book take’s historical place.
Because some of the locations given are accurate, and the region in the novel is called Andalucía we can with certainty say that it takes place in Spain. Because Islam has spread to the region, we know it is after the near the eighth century, but before the fifteenth century. During the eighth century, Alchemy was as much a mythical practice as it was a science (Linden, 7). Given that this is the way that alchemy is presented in the story it makes sense to place the story in the eighth century Spain.
This was an exciting time to be alive in Spain, as the Islamic empire was in their golden age and they brought music, arts, and literature wheveevery they spread. Spain had originally been settled and govern by Iberians, in the first century AD. IN 711 the Islamic conquest began and it led to a rule from 733-1492 in the region. Before Muslim rule in Spain, the country was ruled by a Tyrant Christian ruler. 756-1036 A.D, a time period during which the story is certainly set, is called the “Golden Era of Power and Progress. Because of Spains strategic placement in Europe, and with ample access to the ocean, the area was a Mecca for trade. In “The Alchemist” this is reflected in Santiago’s frequent run-ins with people during his traveling through the region are not just people from the Iberian Peninsula. Rather, he meets a wide array of people from a variety of viewpoints. He is able to travel a relatively small part of the world but still is passed a variety of perspectives. Santiago is an avid reader, and he had access to books of the “great” philosphers and thinkers of the past. This affected his perspective greatly in the book. We are our product of our educations, and Santiago’s literacy, which would not have been extremely uncommon for a shepherd at the time, gave him access to the world.
Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhil rule the Muslim world with a sense of high caliber statesmanship that helped bring about a functional system of justice and law. He was also an advocate of learning and promoted the spread of free ideas and though from all over the world. He hosted discussions and debates, and he helped the Muslim world grow in the arts and sciences—Alchemy being one of the important sciences pursued at the time (Rauf, 11).
The history is important to understand, but even more interesting is the culture that the book is being directed towards, the world culture of our present state of societal development. Coelho’s book though is less of a lesson in history or having a theme that has to do with actual alchemy and more of a guide for living and bringing about ones dreams to fruition. He is not writing for someone living in that time, he is writing for readers today and the popularity of the book speaks to exactly one the book contains that appeals to readers of the twenty-first century. Sociologically, the book transcends cultures and many diverse cultures in fifty-six different languages. The twenty-first century can be thought of as a time of individualism. Especially in the West. Coelho, who is from Brazil, can then be thought of as an author influenced by Western philosophy (Rauf, 11).
The overall theme of The Alchemist is about not listening to what society tells you to be, but instead finding your own way and own destiny. Rather than the ideals of Eastern cultures, which are family and duty oriented, Western society is about personal achievement and fulfillment—about finding one’s purpose. Coelho talks about purpose a lot in the book, “The jacket had a purpose, and so did the boy. His purpose in life was to travel, and, after two years of walking the Andalusia terrain, he knew all the cities of the region” (Coelho, 3). Because he wanted to travel, he first became a shepherd, since at that time shepherds need to constantly be on the move in order to find new pasture grounds for their sheep.
Soon though, this is not enough for him and he wants even more. Coelho writes that “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting, he thought, as he looked again at the position of the sun, and hurried his pace” (Coelho, 5). Santiago has had the same dream twice and he goes to a woman in a town called Tarifa who he has heard can interpret it for him. In the dream he is transported by a child to the pyramids in Egypt who tells him that there he will find a hidden treasure.
Much of Western thought, the ideals enshrined in the US and many other Western country’s constitutions comes from the philosophy of John Stuart Mill’s. His thinking and the societies it led to is enshrined in the thoughts of people being allowed to live out the lives of their choosing, even if these ways varied different from people to people. From a sociological perspective, Mills is one of the most influential thinkers of Western thought, and his views, written almost five hundred years before The Alchemist, are present throughout the text.
One of Mill’s central argument in his work “On Liberty” is one of a philosophical justification for the freedom of speech. Mills uses this to explore whether or not man should have the same freedom with regard to the carrying out of his wishes, as long as he does not in the process harm other agents. He then uses this to develop a case for individualism. (Mills, 52).
He sees individuality of the utmost importance and that a challenge to it is that “spontaneity” is not given a respected place within society. He sees freedom of opinions and their expression as an essential prerequisite for this spontaneity to emerge. “No on pretends that actions should be as free as opinions.” (Mills, 52). He sees no need to develop this point since he assumes the thoughtful reader will already see where it breaks down intoabsurdity if followed to its necessary conclusion. Mill cautions his readers not to assume that he in any ways allows opinions and free speech in matters where that speech has incited others to commit crimes. The individual, according to Mills, can do as he pleases so long as he does not “make himself a nuisance to other people” (Mills, 52).
He argues that opinion is allowed, but not legally binding, and people must exercise it at their own peril to the risks a misguided opinion could result in. Happiness for Mills comes in carrying out the opinions, which are resultant of who a person is at their core. Mills cites the doctrine of Wilhem von Humboldt to give category to his argument, that mankind benefits by variety, even though it is not always appreciated by the majority. Humbuldt wrote that “Freedom, and variety of situations” combined with “individual vigor and manifold diversity” create “originality.” (Mill, 54). We can find this sentiment clearly present in the Alchemist. Coehlo echoes these ideas when he writes, “Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives ,but none about his or her own” (Coelho, 8). This is written as a negative way of living, and what is valued in The Alchemist are those who are able to not worry about how others are living, but instead find how they want to live and then carry out that ideal.
Mills argues that everyone does believe in individualism, some more than others and some to a much less degree than he finds irrational. (Mills, 54). Mills in this chapter goes on to develop a case for what the bounds for freewill should be. The part I felt myself strongly disagreeing with was the way he equated desires and impulses as being as much a part of a perfect human being as beliefs and restraints (At this point he writes, “Strong impulses are only perilous when not properly balanced; when one set of aims and inclinations is developed into strength.”(Mils, 55). This point is to misunderstand the current psychology of desire and motivation and wayward desire. This is understandable, since Mils was writing at a time that did not have the advantage of our current understandings of this.
With the advantage of the world having understood psychology to a greater degree, Coehlo purposefully leads Santiago on a journey that fulfills not only his mission, but affirms the philosophical conclusions that Mills arrives at in “On Liberty.” Early on Santiago learns that, The world’s biggest lie is that “at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what ‘s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.” (Coelho, 9). Santiago says that thus far he has been immune to participating in this lie. It has never happened to him since his parents wanted him to become a priest but instead he became a shepherd.
When he meets the king of Salem, he learns more ideas that reflect Western societies ideals of individualism. Santiago asks him what a king would be doing talking to a shepherd boy and he laughs and tells him that he is for several reasons, the most important of which is that “you have succeeded in discovering your destiny” (Coelho, 10). Here is maybe the strongest reflection of Western though, that it is about you discovering your personal destiny. Though it could be read as a negative thing, Coelho does not mean for it to be. Like anything else, individualism does not mean neglecting to do one’s duty regarding family and society, but being concerned about one’s personal self-actualization and working towards becoming the ideal version of oneself. Few would argue that this is a negative thing.
Gregorgy Cowles calls The Alchemist “more-self help than literature” which is telling in a time where self-help books have exploded as a genre. (Cowles, 1). The theme of alchemy, while no longer the hard science it once was, is never the less the perfect sociological symbol of our times, with everyone it seems trying to turn lead into gold. Quoted in Cowles article is Tavis Smiley who says that he did like the book despite its “real metaphysical, esoteric nonsense. The genre of the book w in the article would be most likely to place into, however, is not self help but magical realism. But the advice dispensed in it is speaking directly to the society of our times, and is a departure from the setting and time period where the novel takes place.
History will likely remember the emerging literature of our time as a cross between self-help and memoir. Both have the focus on the individual. One is a recalling of ones own life and the other is a way to better oneself. Bettering oneself is certainly an overarching theme of both the book and the world Western culture. The book has also been translated into Eastern language. While their cultures do not has as strong a lean towards the individualism of the West, in all of these cultures individualism is on the rise due to the influence of the West. (Kachka, 3).
Boris Kachka writes in his article “The Power of Positive Publishing: How self help ate America that “Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist, [is] a fable about an Adalusian shepherd seeking treasure in Egypt” and includes it in books that are self-help without being placed in the category of self help books. The message, it seems is what matters, not the fact that it is a fictional account of an Adalusian shepherd, which makes it a novel, while still being a self-help book. Kachka looks at the sociological reasons for the emergence of self-help book in our culture and concludes that the reason the genre is thriving in a way that it has never thrived like before is because a shift in our belief systems which leave the need for people to fill a void. He writes that self-help books like The Alchemist, a “new kind of self help” thrive because it exists in a vacuum that was “left behind by the disappearance of certain public values that once fulfilled our lives.” (Kachka, 1).
His suggestion seems obvious as religion. One thing that is changing dramatically religiously in The West is religion tolerance. The book champions this by bringing in important figure from a variety of religions and placing importantce on these values across religions rather than assigning one as correct and all the rest as wrong. Though there are still deep religious divisions in our culture, acceptance is growing, and atheist, agnostics and those who do not believe in organized religions is on the rise.
Seen from a Historical perspective, the Alchemist tells a certain story about a certain time. The story ends with Santiago discovering that the treasure he sought in Egpyt was actually at the starting point of his journey. The message is clear, life is in the journey. Along the way Santiago has learned much and bettered himself and his understanding of the world. Seen from a sociological lens, The Alchemist is a message for our times as well as an affirmation of the increase in individualist perspectives across countries and borders.
Works Cited:
COWLES, GREGORY. "TBR - Inside the List - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/books/review/InsideList-t.html?scp=6&sq=the%20alchemist%20paulo%20coelho&st=cse&_r=0>.
Linden, Stanton J. (1996). Darke Hierogliphicks: Alchemy in English literature from Chaucer to the Restoration. University Press of Kentucky. Pg. 7, 11.
Coelho, Paulo. The alchemist. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. Print.
Rauf, Dr Abdur. "The History of Islam."Monthly Renaissance - Home. Excerpt. , n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=686>.
