Essay on The Alchemist Based on Santiago's Change

In the story "The Alchemist", by Paulo Coelho, Santiago makes great change from beginning, to the end of his journey. From the start, Santiago is just a shepherd of a small flock of sheep, but when he learns of his personal legend, all of this changes. There are many major turning points, leading up to when Santiago finds his treasure and realizes his personal legend. Could any of the signs in the novel also lead up to the question, "Is Santiago a true alchemist?"

From the beginning of Santiago's journey, he has always been practicing alchemy, without even knowing it. An example of Santiago practicing alchemy would be when he decided that he did not want to be a priest, but a shepherd. While going against what was wanted of his parents, his father showed acceptance by giving him three ancient Spanish gold coins. Santiago states "Well, then I'll be a shepherd!" (11). Another example of Santiago practicing alchemy would be when he decides to figure out what his dream means. He says in the story that it's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting. With surprise, "He had suddenly remembered that, in Tarifa, there was an old woman who interpreted dreams" (13). Just from the beginning of the story, we can already see that Santiago has changed, and is using alchemy in his own type of way without even realizing it.

In the middle of Santiago's journey, he shows true promise in figuratively becoming an alchemist. While Santiago works for the crystal merchant, he introduces new ideas to the merchant, that would make his shop even better and bring in more customers. Santiago tells the merchant, "I'd like to build a display case for the crystal" (53). Later, he mentions to the merchant that they should sell tea in crystal glasses because the people that climb the hill would complain that it was impossible to find a decent place to get something to drink after such a climb. Also during this middle point of the novel, Santiago also shows signs of alchemy by how he reads the flight of the hawks. As he read them, a fleeting image came to him: an army, with its swords at ready, riding into the oasis. Santiago says to himself, "I am learning the language of the world, and everything in the world is beginning to make sense to me... even the flight of the hawks" (101). Judging by what Santiago has done, he has progressed much in alchemy and is starting to understand things more as he moves along on his journey.

Toward the end of the novel, Santiago seems to have figuratively mastered the art of alchemy in his own way, and has definitely changed from the beginning of his journey. When Santiago meets the alchemist, he is faced with a sword to his forehead, but he does not back down showing change, and his true desire to learn alchemy. As Santiago stood with unflinching courage, "the stranger lowered it slowly, until the point touched the boy's forehead" (111). When Santiago doesn't back down, he is lucky to find that the Alchemist was just testing his courage. Another example would be how Santiago believed in himself and talked to the desert, the wind, the sun, and the hand that wrote it all, about turning himself into the wind. In the book, it says that for generations thereafter, the Arabs would remember back to the legend of a boy who had turned himself into the wind. When Santiago was finished talking to the sun, "The boy turned to the hand that wrote it all" (153). We can see that Santiago has progressed very much through the course of the story in change, and in the steps to becoming an alchemist.

From the beginning of Santiago's journey, he was always practicing alchemy in his own way, without even knowing it. By the end of the novel, we can tell that he has made much change in his character. At the start of his journey, he was just a young shepherd looking forward to seeing a girl in a certain city. Now he has realized his personal legend, found his treasure, and is in love with Fatima. What Santiago learns is that there are many other treasures along his journey to realizing his own personal legend.