This is an honest attempt to offer a brief retrospection of significant ideals I found most intriguing as I flipped through the pages of Paulo Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist.
This book has rested on my bookshelf for well over a year now; and it behooves me why I never took an immediate interest to read it before now. I am sure my disinterest has something to do with timing, along with my many reading mood swings and an overload of “must-read-books.” Whatever the case and cause, I am most pleased that the universe was in agreement this morning as I grabbed the book off the shelf. As fate would have it, The Alchemist satisfied my avidity for a better understanding about life, love and the magical powers of the universe.
It is getting late, so I am not going to entertain you with a bunch of literary criticism nor give explicit details about the entire story. Even though Paulo cunningly and brilliantly uses literary devices to his advantage in order to develop a clear message and masterpiece. However, I will keep it simple and hopefully craft out something useful; delivering it using my own personal style, whether it is grammatically correct or a bit blemished. Sometimes going against the grain gives a story voice; at least that is my intention.
It would be quite easy to simply say that The Alchemist is a great story; conversely, this would be an understatement and truly a disservice to the author. The Alchemist touched my inner being and spoke to me like no other book has done. When I need encouragement, wisdom, truth, knowledge and a teaspoon of inspiration I automatically look to J. Cooper, R. Warren, R. Wright, F. Haynes, M. Angelou, The Bible, The Koran (Qu'ran) and recently W. Kamkwamba (no particular order). Today I am adding to this list of great intellectuals Paulo Coelho, as I continue in the search for my “Personal Legend.”
Santiago is the main character that is faced with the decision of going after his dream of traveling verses becoming a Priest, as his parents had hoped. Ironically, he decides to go against is parent’s will and go after his dream of traveling, which in doing so he becomes a shepherd.
Through his travels as a young shepherd he conveniently meets a host of influential people who seem to push him toward his “Dream.” Eventually, Santiago decides to pursue his dream of going to the Great Pyramids of Giza to find his treasure (true calling). In short, Santiago’s persistence to find great fortune and wealth articulates the notion of going after ones dreams in order to find your personal identity is worth taking the risk. In a real sense, this applies to the universal theme of life, fulfillment. In risk taking there are always tests. Notably, the test of trusting oneself as Paulo cleverly demonstrates throughout the story. Santiago had to allow trust into his heart since “the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.” Trust is the ultimate objective in the search for identity. When we doubt ourselves as Santiago did, we are sometimes fortunate enough to have the right person there to step in and give us confidence. That is the idea that “when you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” In simpler terms, this means when you want something in life it is most probable that the universe will be of assistance in gaining it for the only “thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve…[is] the fear of failure.” By the same token, your personal identity will not be granted without recognizing the authenticity of dreams.
Fast forward to one of my favorite parts, i.e., Santiago meets Fatima.
As Santiago continues his quest to find his treasure, he meets Fatima; and falls in love with her the moment he lays eyes on her. At this point in Santiago’s quest his heart allows him to trust the world as the soul of it speaks to that part of him that makes him feel what real love feels like. Fatima’s uncommon way of showing him her love makes Santiago to be even more devoted to her. I say uncommon because she loves him enough to not stand in the way of him going after his Personal Legend. Fatima is wise beyond her years. She realizes Santiago would probably eventually resent his decision to stay with her if she insisted that he give up on his dream. Instead, she speaks to him in a way no other woman has ever done-- “you told me that you loved me. Then, you taught me something of the Universal Language and the Soul of the World. Because of that, I have become part of you.” She gives him confidence to continue his journey toward self-fulfillment –“the dunes are changed by the wind, but the desert never changes. That’s the way it will be with our love for each other.”
For me, Fatima is like a sister that has always been apart of my life. In my own personal journey in trying to find answers about life and its coincidences; it is clearer to me why I have had and continue to go through certain tests. The test of life is finding-“Discovering things along the way that I never would have seen, had I not had the courage to try things that seemed impossible to achieve.”
And with that chew and please swallow post…..I’m bushed. Though there are many motifs I didn’t touch on, I hope that I have shared with you my opinions of The Alchemist and of my personal reflective life experiences I found important as I read the book.
Maktub!
*If you want to know what the word Alchemist/Alchemy means, you’ll have to read it for yourself.
