Everything Is One Thing Only
“I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure,” (Coelho 40) In The Alchemist, Santiago, a young, but ambitious Andalusian shepherd boy, sets off on a journey to Egypt in search of the buried treasure from his recurring dreams. Persuaded by the king of Salem, he leaves behind his life as a shepherd to seek his destiny. Santiago encounters many significant figures that assist him with each step he takes towards his goal. But there is more than just a chest of gold awaiting him at the end of the journey. With a combination of the three vital traits of determination, inquisitiveness and bravery that Santiago possesses allow, a mere shepherd boy to fulfill his true destiny.
Santiago’s determination was one of his strengths that support him in achieving his destiny in various ways. Right before Santiago becomes a shepherd, he studies at a seminary to become a priest like his parents want him to be. He had been preparing until he was 16, when he finally makes up his mind to give up on becoming a priest and to travel around the world. Since then, his strong desire to become a shepherd overpowers his parents’ wishes and in the end, Santiago was roaming around the rural lands of Andalusia with his sheep. Then, Santiago sets off on a journey to Egypt to find the treasure from his dreams. Shortly after arriving in the ‘alien’ land of Africa, Santiago is robbed and loses all of his money that could be used to return and start everything over again in case he gives up. While Santiago thinks about what had happened to him, he finally makes up his mind. ‘…As he mused about these things, he realized that he had to choose between thinking himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure. “I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure,” he said to himself” (Coelho 40). Santiago doesn’t give up and stays determined because he knows that the buried treasure is still out there and that he can find it. As Santiago continues on with his journey, he runs into the desert warriors and is taken to their military camp along with the alchemist, the alchemist explains to the chief of the camp that Santiago is an alchemist and is able to turn himself into the wind and destroy the camp whenever he wills to. Santiago is almost sure that he is not able to turn himself into the wind but his determination to achieve his true destiny has enabled him to communicate with the desert, wind and the sun and eventually, Santiago is successful in turning himself into the wind.
But Santiago wouldn’t have had such determination if it wasn’t for his inquisitiveness. His curiosity towards the ‘unknown’ is stated in several places throughout the novel. First of all, it is Santiago’s inquisitiveness towards the world “outside” that makes him choose to become a shepherd. If he wasn’t interested at all about what awaited him beyond his “safe-zone”, he would just have become a priest like his parents wished. However, it is Santiago’s irresistible inquisitiveness and determination that leads him into becoming a shepherd. After having his recurring dreams interpreted by both the gypsy and Melchizedek, the King of Salem, Santiago realizes that there is another whole new world out there that he has never even heard of. Once again, this brings out Santiago’s inquisitiveness for the world beyond Andalusia and the treasure that lies beneath the pyramids. As Santiago boards the ship heading to Africa and starts his quest for his true destiny, King Melchizedek watches him from the highest point in Tarifa. ‘Melchizedek watched a small ship that was plowing its way out of the port. He would never again see the boy, just as he had never seen Abraham again after having charged him his one-tenth fee. That was his work. The gods should not have desires, because they don’t have destinies. But the king of Salem hoped desperately the boy would be successful’ (Coelho 31). After Santiago encounters the alchemist on his journey, the two soon travel together towards the pyramids where Santiago’s treasure is buried. During the journey with the alchemist, Santiago is unable to keep his questions to himself and asks the alchemist about alchemy and the Emerald Tablet. The alchemist explains why most of the people fail to become an alchemist like him and tells Santiago that the only way to learn is through action. From this conversation, Santiago learns that one cannot be successful in learning alchemy if they are only searching for the method to make gold and becoming immortal.
Santiago’s determination and inquisitiveness leads him into quite a few obstacles on his way which almost cost his life. But this is where his bravery comes in. Santiago shows bravery when he first encounters the alchemist. The alchemist tests Santiago’s bravery with his sword by pretending to be a soldier from an enemy tribe. But Santiago remains brave and gets his conjecture across to the alchemist clearly, which highly impresses the alchemist and makes him take Santiago as his apprentice. When the alchemist lowers his sword, he converses with Santiago for a short moment. ‘”I had to test your courage,” the stranger said. “Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World”’ (Coelho 106). When Santiago was taken to the military camp with the alchemist, not only does he show his determination, but also displays a strong example of bravery. When Santiago is demanded by the chief of the camp to become the wind, he sees that there is no way out and he would have to suffer the consequences if he fails to become the wind. But he doesn’t back away from this challenge, showing bravery that many do not possess. In the end, Santiago manages to transform into the wind. Lastly, when the refugees of the tribal wars beat up Santiago, he manages to summon up his courage and strength to tell them that he is looking for a treasure buried in the very spot where he was sitting. This wouldn’t have been easy to do when one is getting beat up by several men and is forced to hand over all of their money. But by not running away and telling them this, leads Santiago back to Spain, where his treasure is actually buried.
When, Santiago reaches the Pyramid from his dreams in Egypt, He spots a scarab scuttling in the sand, and takes it as a good omen. After hours of digging in the sand, Santiago finally realizes that his treasure is not buried in Egypt and soon finds out that it is located where he had always been living in, his home in Andalusia. Now he has learned that in order to find the treasure from his dreams, he had to set off on his journey and that the journey played the most important role in helping Santiago to fulfill his destiny. And in the end, Santiago gained a combination of knowledge, wisdom and won his true love, Fatima. All in all, Santiago’s strong characteristics of never giving up his goals, wanting to find out more about things that he doesn’t know of and displaying courage in all that he does, have assisted him to transform into the young desert man he became at the end of his journey. Additionally, this novel provides the reader with a general meaning of life that all that is different, is not different at all: that everything is one thing only.
The trait that I think I could possibly possess which would help me in participating in my destiny is my determination. When people are face-to-face with a challenging task or an obstacle, they tend to give up easily. But I think I'm not the type of person who would lose faith in themselves when they are confronted with a problem that they think they cannot find a solution to. I occasionally notice myself working for hours on difficult tasks or assignments and finally finding a satisfying resolution to it. And even when I run into the toughest obstacles sometime in the future, I will still have faith in my own self and will not give up on my goal no matter what happens just like Santiago, the protagonist of The Alchemist. In general, I think determination is a very helpful trait that one could possess in order to be able to participate in their destiny and I should continue on in demonstrating this trait in all that I do. And who knows? I might find myself very close to fulfilling my true destiny.
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