The Alchemist
Santiago?
Significance in the name….
 In the early 9th century the tomb of the Apostle St. James
"Santiago" was found in Galicia, Spain.
 The Cathedral of Santiago is on the site of what is believed
to the burial place of St. James. St. James traveled to
Spain during the 1st century to preach Christianity. Upon
return to Palestine he was taken prisoner and tortured to
death. His body was secretly taken back to Spain and
buried.
 In the Middle Ages, Christians began to make pilgrimages
to the site.
Prayer to St. James the Apostle
O glorious Apostle, Saint James,
who by reason of thy fervent and
generous heart was choen by Jesus
to be witness of His glory on Mount
Tabor, and of His agony in Gethsemane;
thou, whose very name is a symbol of
warfare and victory:
obtain for us strength and consolation in
the unending warfare of this life,
that, having constantly and generously
followed Jesus,
we may be victors in the strife and
deserve to receive the victor's crown in
heaven.
Amen.
Symbols

From the first pages of the text, The
Alchemist is infused with symbolism
– Church
– Sycamore Tree
– Sheep
– Shepherd
Church
outside of the church- signifies sacredness
and spiritual nourishment. It is
representative of your value system and
the things you hold sacred.
in a church- suggests that you are seeking
for some spiritual enlightenment and
guidance. You are looking to be uplifted in
some way.
Sycamore Tree
 Trees of
Life. From the highest
antiquity trees were connected with
the gods and mystical forces in
nature.
Sycamore continued

The sycamore was the Tree of Life in Egypt, and
also in Assyria.

It was sacred to Hathor at Heliopolis; and is now
sacred in the same place to the Virgin Mary.

Its juice was precious by virtue of its occult
powers

" The fruit and sap of the Tree of Life bestow
immortality."
Sheep

SHEEP - denotes lack of individuality.

The ewe is seen as stupid and harmless.

The ram is seen as strength, vitality, and
unwavering determination.

In the lamb, the symbolism is innocence
Shepherd

Leadership

Higher guidance

Christ Symbol
Santiago visits a “dream interpreter”

Gypsy- signifies ‘outsider’ or member of the
‘non-establishment’ ‘ possibly pagan

Implications of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Gypsy Woman - She is the first one
Santiago consults about his dream. She is
mysterious and yet religious as can be attested
by the Sacred Heart of Jesus picture on her wall
Sacred Heart of Jesus
symbolism of the heart
It is this symbolism that imparts to its
meaning and its unity, and this
symbolism is admirably completed by
the representation of the Heart as
wounded. Since the Heart of Jesus
appears to us as the sensible sign of His
love, the visible wound in the Heart will
naturally recall the invisible wound of this
love. This symbolism also explains that
the devotion, although giving the Heart
an essential place, is but little concerned
with the anatomy of the heart or with
physiology.
The Old Man
Who is he?
 What is his significance?
 Prophet?


The Old King - He is the second to help
Santiago and gives him the stones named Urim
and Thummim. He also advises Santiago to
never stop dreaming and follow the omens. His
name is Melchizedek.
Melchizedek?
Melchizedek, the king of Salem in the
time of Abraham.
 Many believe that Melchizedek was
Jesus.
 Melchizedek appeared in Genesis to the
patriarch Abraham. Whether he actually
existed as a person or as an abstraction
remains a mystery.

Biblical Reference

Hebrews 7:3 in the New Testament refers
to Melchizedek as a king "without father
or mother or genealogy",

a reference which some Christians take as
referring to Melchizedek's true nature as
an angel or even as Jesus himself,
appearing thousands of years before his
Earthly incarnation.
Significance of Emeralds

Emerald, the first stones were mined in
the deserts of Egypt near the Red Sea in
what were known as Cleopatra's Mines.

Symbolic of your inner healing powers
A symbol of love, healing and magic
A stimulant for memory, vision and
clairvoyance
Important Quotations

It's the possibility of having a dream come
true that makes life interesting. (p11)

What's the world's greatest lie? It's this:
that at a certain point in our lives, we lose
control of what's happening to us, and our
lives become controlled by fate. (p18)

The boy didn't know what a person's "destiny"
was. It's what you have always wanted to
accomplish. Everyone, when they are young,
knows what their destiny is. At that point in their
lives, everything is clear and everything is
possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to
yearn for everything they would like to see
happen to them in their lives. But, as time
passes, a mysterious force begins to convince
them that it will be impossible for them to
realize their destiny. (p22)

And, when you want something, all the
universe conspires in helping you to
achieve it. (p23)

People learn early in their lives what is
their reason for being. (p25)
How to Read Literature Like a
Professor- continued

It’s more than just rain or snow
– Rain
 fertility and life
 Noah and the flood
 Drowning—one of our deepest fears
– Why?
 plot device
 atmospherics
 misery factor—challenge characters
 democratic element—the rain falls on the just and
the unjust alike
– Symbolically
 rain is clean—a form of purification, baptism, removing sin or
a stain
 rain is restorative—can bring a dying earth back to life
 destructive as well—causes pneumonia, colds, etc.;
hurricanes, etc.
 Ironic use—April is the cruelest month (T.S. Eliot, The
Wasteland)
 Rainbow—God’s promise never to destroy the world again;
hope; a promise of peace between heaven and earth
 fog—almost always signals some sort of confusion; mental,
ethical, physical “fog”; people can’t see clearly
– Snow
 negatively—cold, stark, inhospitable, inhuman, nothingness,
death
 positively—clean, pure, playful
…More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You:
Concerning Violence
– Violence can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean,
Romantic, allegorical, transcendent.
– Two categories of violence in literature
 Character caused—shootings, stabbings, drownings,
poisonings, bombings, hit and run, etc
 Death and suffering for which the characters are not
responsible. Accidents are not really accidents.
– Violence is symbolic action, but hard to generalize meaning
– Questions to ask:
 What does this type of misfortune represent thematically?
 What famous or mythic death does this one resemble?
 Why this sort of violence and not some other?
Is That a Symbol?
– Yes. But figuring out what is tricky. Can only discuss
possible meanings and interpretations
– There is no one definite meaning unless it’s an
allegory, where characters, events, places have a
one-on-one correspondence symbolically to other
things. (Animal Farm)
– Actions, as well as objects and images, can be
symbolic. i.e. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
– How to figure it out? Symbols are built on
associations readers have, but also on emotional
reactions. Pay attention to how you feel about a text.
It’s All Political
– Literature tends to be written by people
interested in the problems of the world, so
most works have a political element in them
– Issues:
 Individualism and self-determination against the
needs of society for conformity and stability.
 Power structures
 Relations among classes
 issues of justice and rights
 interactions between the sexes and among various
racial and ethnic constituencies.