The
Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Dreams,
symbols, signs, and adventure follow the reader like echoes of
ancient wise voices in "The Alchemist", a novel that combines an
atmosphere of Medieval mysticism with the song of the desert. With
this symbolic masterpiece Coelho states that we should not avoid our
destinies, and urges people to follow their dreams, because to find
our "Personal Myth" and our mission on Earth is the way to find
"God", meaning happiness, fulfillment, and the ultimate purpose of
creation.
The novel tells the tale of Santiago, a boy who has a dream and
the courage to follow it. After listening to "the signs" the boy
ventures in his personal, Ulysses-like journey of exploration and
self-discovery, symbolically searching for a hidden treasure located
near the pyramids in Egypt.
When he decides to go, his father's only advice is "Travel the
world until you see that our castle is the greatest, and our women
the most beautiful". In his journey, Santiago sees the greatness of
the world, and meets all kinds of exciting people like kings and
alchemists. However, by the end of the novel, he discovers that
"treasure lies where your heart belongs", and that the treasure was
the journey itself, the discoveries he made, and the wisdom he
acquired.
"The Alchemist", is an exciting novel that bursts with optimism;
it is the kind of novel that tells you that everything is possible
as long as you really want it to happen. That may sound like an
oversimplified version of new-age philosophy and mysticism, but as
Coelho states "simple things are the most valuable and only wise
people appreciate them".
As the alchemist himself says, when he appears to Santiago in the
form of an old king "when you really want something to happen, the
whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true". This is the
core of the novel's philosophy and a motif that echoes behind
Coelho's writing all through "The Alchemist". And isn't it true that
the whole of humankind desperately wants to believe the old king
when he says that the greatest lie in the world is that at some
point we lose the ability to control our lives, and become the pawns
of fate. Perhaps this is the secret of Coelho's success: that he
tells people what they want to hear, or rather that he tells them
that what they wish for but never thought possible could even be
probable.
Coelho also suggests that those who do not have the courage to
follow their " Personal Myth", are doomed to a life of emptiness,
misery, and unfulfillment. Fear of failure seems to be the greatest
obstacle to happiness. As the old crystal-seller tragically
confesses: " I am afraid that great disappointment awaits me, and so
I prefer to dream". This is where Coelho really captures the drama
of man, who sacrifices fulfillment to conformity, who knows he can
achieve greatness but denies to do so, and ends up living a life of
void.
It is interesting to see that Coelho presents the person who
denies to follow his dream as the person who denies to see God, and
that "every happy person carries God within him". However, only few
people choose to follow the road that has been made for them, and
find God while searching for their destiny, and their mission on
earth.
Consequently, is Coelho suggesting that the alchemists found God
while searching for the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone?
What is certain is that the symbolism of the text is a parallel to
the symbolism and the symbolic language of alchemism, and similarly
the symbolism of dreams is presented as “God's language".
It is also symbolic that Santiago finds his soul-mate, and the
secrets of wisdom in the wilderness of the desert. The "wilderness"
is a symbol that has been used by many great writers e.g.. Austen in
"Mansfield Park", and Shakespeare in "King Lear". In the desert,
Santiago meets his "twin-soul" and discovers that love is the core
of existence and creation. As Coelho explains, when we love, we
always try to improve ourselves, and that's when everything is
possible. The subject of love inspires a beautiful lyricism in
Coelho's writing: " I love you because the whole universe conspired
for me to come close to you."
"The Alchemist" is a novel that may appeal to everybody, because
we can all identify with Santiago: all of us have dreams, and are
dying for somebody to tell us that they may come true. The novel
skillfully combines words of wisdom, philosophy, and simplicity of
meaning and language, which makes it particularly readable and
accounts for its bestselling status.
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