1. PLOT-CONSTRUCTION OF THE ALCHEMIST
The setting begins in the Andalusian region of Spain and moves to Tangier, the
Al-Fayoum oasis, and eventually the pyramids in Egypt. The story ends where it
began in Spain. The time is the present day .A young shepherd boy named
Santiago has a recurring dream about a child leading him to the Pyramids of
Egypt.
The book begins from Santiago's point of view, as told through an omniscient
narrator who describes what Santiago is feeling and thinking. This point of view
reveals the subtle changes that he goes through and allows the reader to share in
his insights and discoveries.
The changes Santiago experiences are important to the theme of alchemy, and
the fact that his perspective is dominant helps to underscore that theme. The
narrative does not stay only in Santiago's perspective, but like a cinematic
camera, the point of view of the story pulls away from the close-up scenes when
necessary and shows a wider panorama of perspective.
As it starts with the point of view of an omniscient narrator who describes what
Santiago is feeling and thinking. This point of view reveals the subtle changes
that he goes through and allows the reader to share in his insights and
discoveries. The changes Santiago experiences are important to the theme of
alchemy, and the fact that his perspective is dominant helps to underscore that
theme. The narrative does not stay only in Santiago's perspective, but like a
cinematic camera, the point of view of the story pulls away from the close-up
scenes when necessary and shows a wider panorama of perspective. The is told in
the chronological order not in the flesh back. The whole novel is divided in three
parts and the three parts are further divided in many episodes. The story follows
the main line, the main plot of the novel is stick with the main theme of the novel
which is journey and discovery. All other themes are there just to develop the
main theme of the novel.
The style of writing is simplistic, with correlations to that of The Little Prince,
fairy tales, or spiritual writings. The novels is narrated by an omniscient
narrator and the diction is related to stories/tales from the Koran, the Bible,
and Egyptian mythology.
Dreams, symbols, signs, and adventure follow the reader like echoes of ancient
wise voices in "The Alchemist", a novel that combines an atmosphere of
Medieval mysticism with the song of the desert. With this symbolic masterpiece
Coelho states that we should not avoid our destinies, and urges people to follow
their dreams, because to find our "Personal Myth" and our mission on Earth is
the way to find "God", meaning happiness, fulfillment, and the ultimate purpose
of creation.
The novel tells the tale of Santiago, a boy who has a dream and the courage to
follow it. After listening to "the signs" the boy ventures in his personal, Ulysses-
like journey of exploration and self-discovery, symbolically searching for a
hidden treasure located near the pyramids in Egypt.
When he decides to go, his father's only advice is "Travel the world until you see
that our castle is the greatest and our women the most beautiful". In his
journey, Santiago sees the greatness of the world, and meets all kinds of
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2. exciting people like kings and alchemists. However, by the end of the novel, he
discovers that "treasure lies where your heart belongs", and that the treasure
was the journey itself, the discoveries he made, and the wisdom he acquired.
"The Alchemist", is an exciting novel that bursts with optimism; it is the kind of
novel that tells you that everything is possible as long as you really want it to
happen. That may sound like an oversimplified version of new-age philosophy
and mysticism, but as Coelho states "simple things are the most valuable and
only wise people appreciate them".
As the alchemist himself says, when he appears to Santiago in the form of an old
king "when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires
so that your wish comes true". This is the core of the novel's philosophy and a
motif that echoes behind Coelho's writing all through "The Alchemist". And isn't
it true that the whole of humankind desperately wants to believe the old king
when he says that the greatest lie in the world is that at some point we lose the
ability to control our lives, and become the pawns of fate. Perhaps this is the
secret of Coelho's success: that he tells people what they want to hear, or rather
that he tells them that what they wish for but never thought possible could even
be probable.
Coelho also suggests that those who do not have the courage to follow their "
Personal Myth", are doomed to a life of emptiness, misery, and unfulfillment.
Fear of failure seems to be the greatest obstacle to happiness. As the old crystal-
seller tragically confesses: " I am afraid that great disappointment awaits me,
and so I prefer to dream". This is where Coelho really captures the drama of
man, who sacrifices fulfillment to conformity, who knows he can achieve
greatness but denies to do so, and ends up living a life of void.
It is interesting to see that Coelho presents the person who denies to follow his
dream as the person who denies to see God, and that "every happy person
carries God within him". However, only few people choose to follow the road
that has been made for them, and find God while searching for their destiny,
and their mission on earth. Consequently, is Coelho suggesting that the
alchemists found God while searching for the elixir of life and the philosopher's
stone? What is certain is that the symbolism of the text is a parallel to the
symbolism and the symbolic language of alchemism, and similarly the
symbolism of dreams is presented as "God's language".
It is also symbolic that Santiago finds his soul-mate, and the secrets of wisdom
in the wilderness of the desert. The "wilderness" is a symbol that has been used
by many great writers e.g.. Austen in "Mansfield Park", and Shakespeare in
"King Lear". In the desert, Santiago meets his "twin-soul" and discovers that
love is the core of existence and creation. As Coelho explains, when we love, we
always try to improve ourselves, and that's when everything is possible. The
subject of love inspires a beautiful lyricism in Coelho's writing: " I love you
because the whole universe conspired for me to come close to you."
"The Alchemist" is a novel that may appeal to everybody, because we can all
identify with Santiago: all of us have dreams, and are dying for somebody to
tell us that they may come true. The novel skillfully combines words of wisdom,
philosophy, and simplicity of meaning and language, which makes it
particularly readable and accounts for its bestselling status.
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3. The plot draws largely from an English legend, "The Pedlar of Swaffham"[2],
which has been also used by Leo Perutz in "By Night under the Stone Bridge"
and Borges' Tale of Two Dreamers, collected in Universal History of Infamy,
according to Critic Neerav Bhatt.[3].
An even earlier possible source is in the work of the 13th century Persian poet
Jalal al-Din Rumi, who in one of the stories of his Mathanawi (written between
1260 and 1273) tells an almost identical tale. In a modern translation the story
(told in verse) is titled "In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo: In Cairo, Dreaming of
Baghdad". (The Essential Rumi, transl. Coleman Barks, New York:
HarperCollins, 1995) In it, a poor man in Baghdad who inherits a lot of money
and land only to squander it quickly and become poor again has a dream, in
which a voice tells him to go to Cairo and dig in a certain spot to find his wealth.
When he gets there, while wandering the streets and begging for coins he is
picked up by a night patrol. When he tells his story to the patrolman, the latter
calls him a fool and tells him of a similar dream (which he had dismissed) about
a place in Baghdad, describing the very street and house in which the poor man
lives.
Many have compared The Alchemist to Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, a
children's book about another boy, the Prince, who leaves his home in search of
greater things, learning valuable lessons about life and love on the way. It is
interesting to note that much of The Little Prince also takes place in the desert.
There are many parallels to Siddhartha's journey in Herman Hesse's
Siddhartha. They both develop a spiritual aspect being alone early in life. Later,
just like Siddhartha on his journey, Santiago has to become a business man; his
ideas succeed in making him wealthy, but he is apart from the business of
business. The Alchemist parallels the boatman in Siddhartha, who, after
transporting Siddhartha across the river, sends him on his way to follow his
destiny, knowing he will return. The love story develops and ends differently;
Santiago has a different Personal Legend in that aspect. Both are "spiral"
stories with the same places visited more than once.
Some have also compared and contrasted this story and the journey of Santiago
to the Biblical account of the Prodigal Son.
The story is simple but it is embedded with many fairy tale elements, symbols
and metaphors. The story has the comic, claim, dramatic tension and
psychological intensity of a fairy tale, but has a specific wisdom as well. We can
say that The alchemist is basically an allegory, it is a symbolic story which parallel
to the real life. It is a fable used to teach us a specific lesson, that we should follow
our dreams. Another important element in the novel is the magical realism, these
are the element of fantasy often borrowed from mythology and that are inserted
into realistic sitting. The boy followed the omens in to find treasure. Throughout
the journey Santiago follows the omens. The story is very symbolic, on surface
level it is the story of Santiago into the soul of the world, but in deeper level it is a
journey of spiritual alchemy. We can say that the story ends with some kind of
revelation.
There are several other literary devices that pop up at various times in the story.
These devices are very important in the development of the plot of The Alchemist.
One of the most prevalent ones is foreshadowing which frequently presents clues
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4. of something that will happen later in the novel. The entire foreword, Ten Years
On, is a foreshadowing of the obstacles Santiago will face on his search for. The
Prologue is foreshadowing of the idea of the Soul of the World – we are all a part
of each other so that when the lake watched Narcissus, it saw only its own beauty
reflected in his eyes. Another element that is important to note is irony – when
something happens, or is seen, or is heard that we may know, but the characters
do not, or that appears opposite of what is expected .It is ironic that Santiago has
turned down a life in the seminary because he didn’t need God to travel with his
sheep. In the end, it is God he ultimately finds in his Personal Legend. Other
elements that are present in this novel are symbols and metaphors. Symbols are
the use of some unrelated idea to represent something else. The modern writers
are profound and complex in their thoughts. Symbolism means deeper meanings.
This novel is not just the story of Santiago’s journey to Egypt but also the
reflection of his experiences that he had felt during his journey. There are many
symbols used by the author such as: Dreams represent the language of God. The
baker and the crystal merchant represent the loss of the dream and the regret
that follows. The ruined church represents Santiago’s treasure.Melchizedek, the
Old King of Salem, represents Santiago’s need to follow the omens. There are also
several metaphors in this novel, including: The baker’s decision to make his
bakery profitable instead of traveling around the world like he wants is a
metaphor for those of us who turn our backs on our dreams.
The Alchemist retains the unshakeable fairy tale faith in life and the goodness of
people illustrated against the beautiful backdrop of wondrous and magical world,
Paulo Coelho managed to write fairy tale for adults. Coelho gives the inspiration
to follow the dreams by seeing the world through your own eyes not from
someone else. The Alchemist is the perfect example of fairy tale. It is written in
simple language; in the gauze of fable Paulo Coelho tells us the simple truth of
life. Santiago realized his dream through suffering and at the end come out with
some sort of wisdom.
In short it can be said that the elements added to the main plot of The Alchemist
are very important for its development. Coelho uses archetypal symbols in
straightforward style. The four Elements Sea, Wind, Sun, Desert used to establish
the collective consciousness of the readers. These are the symbols which people
by heart through fairy tales, fables and myths. Coelho uses the known plot, the
familiar characters, elements and well known style of fairy tale.
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