Every once in a while we feel that divine intervention is behind the incidence or occurrence of something that has come along in life. Whether it is a commercial, a person, a song or something else, we cannot help but pay attention because it reaches directly to our heart. For most readers, finding Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist makes them believe that it will be a nice, quick read that will provide a change of pace from the usual books that they read. However, Coelho’s novel turns out to be
In The Alchemist, Coelho discusses the concept or idea of the destined path that should be taken by each person to achieve the greatest happiness that he refers to as a person’s “Personal Legend.” In Coelho’s story, a recurring dream sends Santiago, a young shepherd boy, on a quest to look for his own Personal Legend. Throughout his journey, he experiences a lot of emotions along the way, such as confusion, devastation, frustration, hope, and love. Santiago meets many new people and finds himself in scenarios he must adapt to, yet he does not give up and proceeds steadfastly on his journey with the hope that he will ultimately find his Personal Legend. Coelho makes the readers feel as though this book was written directly for them, to enlighten them at the particular stage in their life that they are in.
Coelho explores a variety of themes through Santiago’s travelers that streamline throughout The Alchemist. At one point, Santiago meets the “wisest of wise men,” who teaches him how important it is to notice the small things in life. He states that “[t]he secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon” (Coelho & Clarke, 1993, p. 32). Since Santiago had just started on his quest at this point, he does not seem to fully understand. However, as he makes progress in his journey, he comes to fully understand the meaning of the advice. He frankly and sincerely reflects that “[w]hen [he has] been truly searching for [his] treasure, [he has] discovered things along the way that [he] never would have seen had [he] not had the courage to try things that seemed impossible for a shepherd to achieve” (Coelho & Clarke, 1993, p. 129).
Reflecting on Santiago’s journey will provide readers two lessons: to cherish the small things in life and to take chances, because both of them will teach them something. Most of us have grand plans for our future, but we rarely emphasize on slowing down and just enjoying life for what it is worth. The American society has become so capitalist-driven that we easily get caught up in the capitalist mentality of our own future. We want our every action to lead to more fame or money, or more this or that, in our future. However, with a mentality like this, we lose sight of the small things in life. Even when keeping the future in mind we should never forget the present, because that is the only way to catch sight of things that we could easily overlook, and it is these things that enhance and make our life fuller.
Additionally, readers will realize that they will learn the most in the situations where they take the most chances. In fact, it takes a lot of courage to take a chance, whether for a choice or on a job, the stakes always tend to be high and there tends to be much to lose. According to Coelho, many people avoid taking these chances because of the fear of suffering. Similarly, many of the readers may also feel that the reason they hesitate from persisting on their journey towards their Personal Legend because they want to avoid pain, since after all, it is biologically ingrained into their every cell. Like many others, they worry about abandonment, failure and rejection. However, the only way to experience great accomplishments, a sense of great personal achievement, or even true love, is to take chances. As the wise man explains to Santiago, “the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity” (Coelho & Clarke, 1993, p. 129).
Along these lines, Coelho also uses his novel to describe the role that love plays on a person’s journey to finding his/her Personal Legend. In fact, one’s Personal Legend can have many dimensions, such as career, family, etc. and many readers may be fully convinced that their first and foremost priority is to love. We all have certain inherent talents that we can utilize to the best of their ability throughout their day to day life. What is interesting is that even Coelho seems to agree with this ideology that the most important thing in life is love. Coelho refers to love as the the most important part of the language that all the world spoke – the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart” (Coelho & Clarke, 1993, p. 92), and this is what Santiago ultimately learns.
Even though country, culture, language, etc. have divided people, Coelho suggests offers hope by suggesting that this universal language of love could unify humanity. This is one language that is spoken and understood everywhere in the world, a language that we are all human beings and we all deserve the same basic human dignities, no matter what our race or religion. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is short and succinct, but incredibly everlasting and perpetual. Thus, it can be recommended as a must read for individuals who want to begin their amazing yet simple quest for their Personal Legend.
References
Coelho, P., & Clarke, A. R. (1993). The alchemist. New York: HarperCollins.
