The Alchemist
By Paulo Coelho
Sarah Colorado
Yvette Villa
Denise Ferrer
The main character of the fable book The Alchemist is Santiago, a Shepard who went
about to travel at the age of 16 years old. His family wanted him to become a priest, but it wasn't
in his heart to become one, so he told his father that he wanted to become a Shepard. His father
agreed to his wishes and gave him money to buy sheep to start his journey. Santiago’s character
is strong willed, he has a sense of ambivalence towards people and he is also not selfish but he
might be a bit self-centered. Santiago’s is risk taking and does not enjoy routine; he takes
different paths on his journeys to meet new people and to learn about the land he lives in.
Other important characters that interact with the main character, Santiago, in the story
are the merchant, who buys wool from Santiago, the merchant’s daughter, whom Santiago falls
in love with from his previous visit to city to sell wool for the merchant. The girl, as described in
the story, “was typical of the region Andalusia, with flowing black hair, and eyes that vaguely
recalled the Moorish conquerors”. By this description you can conclude that this girl is
significant to the story because later the author says, “He recognized that he was feeling
something he had never experienced before: the desire to live in one place forever. With the girl
with the raven hair, his days would never be the same again.” Being a Shepard, it is impossible
for one to live in one place forever. This girl made him feel that he didn’t want to travel anymore
maybe quit his profession to live with her. This girl had a great impact on Santiago. The Gypsy
who was a dream interpreter told Santiago the meaning of his dreams and his treasures was
another important character that interacted with Santiago. She was an old woman who did her
work inside of her own home. Santiago was fearful towards her because of what he had heard
about gypsies when he was a child. He heard that gypsies “spent their whole lives tricking
people. It was also said that they had made a pact with the devil, and that they kidnapped
children and, taking them away to their mysterious camps, made them their slaves. It was
significant that the gypsy didn’t charge him for her labor because she wanted one-tenth of his
treasure that was in his dreams. The king, Melchizedek, who appears to look old and dressed in a
cape with a gold vest underneath, tells Santiago how to get the treasure is also an important
character in the story. He describes the significance of Santiago’s Personal Legend, which is “…
what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their
Personal Legend 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 Personal Legend. The universe will conspire in helping you
to achieve your Personal Legend.” Because all this information was laid upon the boy the king
asked for one-tenth of his sheep. The crystal merchant who is the last important character in the
first 65 pages is significant as well, because he treats Santiago with lunch on their first
acquaintance and gives Santiago a job to help buy a new flock of sheep.
The setting of this story takes place on the countryside of Spain, Andalusia, Egypt, and
the farm he sleeps in with his sheep in the beginning of the story. The settings in this story is
where he meets all the important characters he interacts with. The setting in the story changes all
the time because Santiago’s profession is being a Shepard, and being a Shepard results in
traveling to different parts of the country to deliver sheep. But as he meets these different
characters throughout the book its hints to you the setting is going to change. When he finds out
about the treasure his new destination is to Egypt.
The major action that is happening in this story is Santiago wanting to know the meaning
of the dreams that he has been having. Santiago believes that a gypsy could help him to find out
the meaning of his dreams. "And this is my interpretation: you must go to the Pyramids of Egypt.
There you will find a treasure that will make you a rich man" the gypsy told to Santiago (Coelho
1993). According to the gypsy Santiago's dreams mean that a treasure awaits him, which leads to
another major action of trying to find the treasure himself.
A symbol of the story is Santiago's dreams; his dreams are not just part of his
imagination, these dreams are a guide to achieve his Personal Legend. His major goal is to travel.
“One afternoon, on a visit to his family, he had summoned up the courage to tell his father that
he didn’t want to become a priest. That he wanted to travel” (Coelho 1993). The language being
used in this story by Santiago and the other characters is that they talked to each other politely
and with respect. The words used are easily understood by us, the readers, because they were
using objective words; words that got to the point, and are not using "slang". The tone that is
used in The Alchemist is serious, at some specific quotes the readers can notice that Santiago
shows no interest in talking with some of the characters. “What are they doing?” the old man
asked. “Working” the boy answered dryly (Coelho 1993).
Class is handled in this story is very stereotypical because different characters throughout
the book label each other, for example Santiago who is a Sheppard. According to the people a
Sheppard is known as a person who has no home, no education, and not so much income. By the
first 62 pages there was no issue or conflict with gender. Women are seen as a gift for men in the
story. Men merry just to have someone next to them. Mostly all men were part of these first few
pages of the story. Race is presented in different ways in The Alchemist. Europeans and Africans
are the two major races that are in this book. Coelho introduces race with no difference. The
characters treat fairly and with respect, no matter their race.
There were a lot of stereotypes in this story; an example of this is all the classification the author
gave to all his characters towards each other. Such as the shepherd, since he was a "shepherd"
that meant he had no education so he automatically doesn't know how to read. The Gypsy known
for lying and stealing, the Baker whose life is more secure than that of a Shepherd's because he
has a home and because "Parents would rather see their children marry bakers than shepherds." ,
and the King who has wealth and power.
The theme in the story the author tries to express in this book is to pursue your dreams and to
never give up in what you want to do for yourself or in what you believe in. That no matter what
or how many obstacles come your way, you should always have the strength and the desire to
keep going and pushing through."...people are capable at any time in their lives, of doing what
they dream of."
The story that relates to the Alchemist is the Pursuit of Happyness, that movie and the
book have the same theme to follow your dreams, never give up even if people tell you that you
can’t do it. In the Alchemist the Shepherd follows his dream of traveling even if it meant he had
to be taking care of his sheep and sleeping outdoors. In the Pursuit of Happyness Chris Gardner ,
the main character didn't mind spending all his savings in some portable bonedensity scanners and working as an intern at a big company for six months and no pay because
he was accomplishing his dream of becoming a stockbroker. By him becoming a stockbroker not
only will he accomplish his goal of having a good job but he will give his son a happy life. In the
alchemist the gypsy tries to trick the Shepherd into giving her part of the treasure he will soon
find and in the Pursuit of Happyness a hippie girl and a homeless man try to trick Gardner into
taking his scanner away because they believe it’s a time machine. The king in the Pursuit of
Happyness would be Jay Twistle, the manager of the company whom Gardner ends up working
at. Both the book and the movie have the same theme to never give up and to follow your
dreams.