Topic > A reflection on the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Alchemist is a novel about the struggle of a young Andalusian shepherd named Santiago, written by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian author, in 1987 and published in 1988. The constant theme in The alchemist is pursuing your dreams by following what your heart desires. This book was written in just two weeks and has remained a bestseller. It was basically written in Portuguese and later translated into 88 different languages. The novel is not that long and a person with basic knowledge of that language can understand and grasp this book easily. The interesting thing in this book is the author's point of view on different topics in the world. In this book, the reader comes to know how much knowledge the author has about various sensitive and non-sensitive topics of the world, including a lot of information about different religions and the writer also explains the values ​​and traditions of different societies. He has extensive research on all the topics included in this very book. The writer uses informal language in this novel so that the reader can easily understand the author's point of view. In some places the writer also used some parables, but overall the language of the novel is simple. This novel essentially represented the 20th century. This novel is based on the fundamental point of view of Sufism that the main thing in the human being is his soul. It is the greatest treasure of the human being. In front of this treasure there is nothing that man should find. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The main character of the novel is Santiago, who is a shepherd. He frequented the meadows of Andalusia with his sheep. He had no purpose in life. He loved reading books and often told various stories to their sheep. For some days he had been thinking about the girl who was the merchant's daughter. Once he met this very merchant for some business. So there he met the merchant's daughter. Now after a year he went to that merchant again and Santiago was worried about the future. He didn't know what had happened or what would happen. He was very interested in that girl. He also told his sheep about the girl. His father wanted his son to be a father in church. But his son loved to travel. Both of their goals thwarted each other. After that, the child won and the father agreed to lose. He became a shepherd to travel the world because in that place only the shepherd has the possibility of traveling the world. He was going to meet that girl. Many thoughts were in their mind like a fire. It had a cover and a book and after completing the book he replaced it with a new one. He saw a dream several times in which he found a treasure in the cubic pyramid of Egypt and became curious about that dream. He went to the fortune teller of that village to question him about that dream. The fortune teller told him that if he went to the pyramid, he would find the treasure. The fortune teller has set the condition that you must give me ten percent of your treasure as payment. The pastor accepted that term without apology. He went back and sat down in a meadow and began to read a book. "It's the chance to realize a dream that makes life interesting." After a few times, an elderly person would sit behind him with very strange behavior and question him about his surroundings. The boy is very disturbed and wants you to leave him alone. But the old man didn't want to. The old man asked the boy the question. This annoyed the boy. The old man shocked the boy by giving him a lot of information about the book he was reading. The old man gave him some information about himself and told the boy that he was the king of "Salem". The old man hasoffered the boy to give him a tenth of his sheep and as a result he will tell you about the hidden treasure. Then the old man impressed the boy with some tricks. He gave the tenth of his sheep to the old man and the rest of the sheep are given to his friend. The old man told him that the treasure was near the pyramid in Egypt and the old man told him to follow the omens. The old man gave him two stones "Urim" and "Thumium" to make decisions. After giving him some advice, the old man left. He also had a point of view: “And, when you want something, the whole universe conspires to help you achieve it.” The boy was now in the Africa bar. It seems that Africa was very strange. The sale of his sheep had left enough money in his purse, and the boy knew that there is magic in money; those who have money are never truly alone. Before long, perhaps within a few days, he would be at the Pyramids. An old man, in gold armor, would not have lied just to buy six sheep. The shepherd was robbed there by a Spaniard. He left alone, with nothing. He didn't even cry. Now he had only two stones in his bag. After seeing it, he felt relieved. He spent the night in the middle of the market of that city. Someone was kicking him awake. He got up and began walking around the market. The traders are assembling their goods. He started helping a candy dealer and in return the candy dealer gave him candy to eat. Then he reached a crystal shop. He took the allowance to clean the crystal shop. The boy said that accordingly you should give me food to eat. As long as he started working, two buyers entered the store. After eating. He began to work steadily in the glassware factory. So that he could get his herd back. The boy gave the trader some marketing tips, this way his marketing increases. The merchant talked about his dream in life and the boy also talked about his dream of wanting to go to the pyramid. The merchant wanted to go to Mecca. “People are capable, at any moment of their lives, of doing what they dream of.” The boy had been working in the crystal shop for a month. Thanks to the boy's tips, the store's sales skyrocketed. He worked hard to have more money to go to the pyramid. After eleven months in Tangier, he began planning a move from here. Because he has enough money to buy 120 sheep and he also bought the return ticket. He said goodbye to the crystal merchant and continued his journey to Egypt. He began to advance with a caravan. Together with him there was an Englishman interested in alchemy. Both of them spoke to each other and shared their life experience. Their journey to reach Egypt through a desert had begun. There was a strange fear of the desert. There was a tribal war in the desert. So the journey became dangerous. Now they walk at night. Finally they reached the safety of the desert. They started exploring different things. One day he met a girl named Fatima. The boy began to get involved with that girl. He himself didn't know why he was so interested in that girl. He spoke to her. From this love he learned a lot. On him he explored the universal language, that is, love. He began talking to some tribal presidents about the desert and shared his experience about the desert. There he faced an adventure. His life was in danger because he had said something wrong to the tribal leaders. In the desert they met an alchemist who knew the knowledge of converting simple things into gold. He had a trick to live as long as you want. His age was also almost two hundred years. After that the boy and the alchemist planned to travel together into the desert. They both haveshared their experience with each other. They continuously cover the desert. They also faced some problems in the desert because there was a tribal war in the desert. The alchemist also gave the boy a hard time and hit his waist once. But the boy addressed all the problems eloquently. At the distance of three hours from the pyramid, the alchemist left him alone and asked him to travel with his restrivings alone. He met a Raheb (monk). There the alchemist performs the experiment on how to change a simple thing into gold. The alchemist divided the piece of gold into four equal parts, one he gave to Raheb (monk) and the other to the boy and one with him, and he also gave the fourth piece to Rahab for the boy. The alchemist said to the boy: "Every blessing ignored becomes a curse." The boy began walking towards the pyramid and continued his journey. Now he was close to the treasure. He began to dig the earth. Suddenly he heard the sound of someone: "what are you doing?" He was terrified after hearing this sound. The newcomer began to beat the boy severely. Then they leave the boy alone. One of them talked about the pyramids found in Andalusia. Then he returned home and was happy to have explored a lot on his own. As it is said, the main character is Santiago who faced various problems during his journey but remained calm. This shows that Santiago was very determined and ambitious in doing things from the heart. The main character also shows determination. That we shouldn't give up after failure. We should continue until and unless we succeed. There are many challenges in life but only those who are determined and ambitious can win them. Only those people who do not give up can win the race of life. In this same novel, this explains that life is not all sunshine and roses. We should take risks if we want to succeed. The main plot of the book is about self-determination, but after reading this book you have the knowledge about desert life that desert life is full of challenges. Although this book was written in the past, it contains a moral lesson for all times. It's in the book to read before you die. There is nothing in this book that shows the magical world. All events are understandable and can occur in real life. The main thing is how ambitious you are about your goal. All the events are almost realistic. The author has a comprehensive overview of life in the desert and was also deeply knowledgeable about religion. He also knew the traditions of the desert people. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom Essay I think this book is included in the books read before death. The reader who wants to do things and make a name for himself in history but is afraid of failure can read the book and it will have a positive effect on him. The main thing is what the author thinks. There are also some questionable opinions. As an author he uses religion. He should not use it because using it creates a sense of hat in the reader's mind. The writer should avoid this. I will give the writer more marks on this book because this book is enough to change anyone's perception. The main thing I learned from this book is that we should have ambitious goals. Sooner or later we will win or be successful. Works Cited Coelho, P. (1988). The Alchemist. HarperOne.Coelho, P. (1997). Interview with Paulo Coelho. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/1997/12/coelho/Dorji, S. (2017). An overview of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. International Journal of Scientific Publications and Research, 7(10), 632-634. Galván, J. (2013). Revisiting The Alchemist: A Pilgrimage to, 5(6), 94-101.