Alchemist by Paul Coelho
Following fate Paul Coelho’s book, the Alchemist is a classic book that focuses on a human beings ability to merge what providence, fate, love, and nature have in store for him in order to realize the supreme reason as to why he was created. This book focuses on three dominant themes that are going to be discussed in this literary criticism. It is a story about Santiago, an Andalucían shepherd who goes to Egypt to follow his dream. In this essay, am going to explore the conflict between the following themes; free will and fate, love (natural and human, human and human) and omen versus dreams. Santiago had dreamt of a hidden treasure beneath a pyramid in Egypt. In the hunt for the hidden treasure, he meets various obstacles that end up giving him life lessons that later turn out to be valuable to his life. When he meets Melchizedek, an ancient King who had a contradicting dream to that of his, he gains the motivation to search even harder for the hidden treasure. At the end of the story, it turns out that the hidden treasure was the experiences that he went through that ended up giving him wisdom. Wisdom is the major teaching as it is philosophically created and developed in a very simplistic manner as indicated by Sean.
The plot of this book took the shape of a fable. Naturally, most people tend to give up and deviate from the course of finding their personal legend. Equally, those who hang on to the pursuit of their personal legend become successful and end up finding the real reason as to why they were created. This is demonstrated when Santiago finds out that he is one with nature and that nature is him. The ultimate point of his discovery comes up when he turns into the wind. This criticism uses the formalist approach where it gives more emphasis on the subject matter and not the author’s point of view. In exploring the conflict between free will and fate Santiago, the shepherd, dreams of a treasure that is far beyond his means and abilities, he sets off to Egypt and learns that in life one has to earnestly listen to what his heart tells him and to realize that his own self and fate can control his life. He also realizes that fate has a way of helping us as individuals to realize our dreams and aspirations. In his personal life, Santiago was a humble shepherd whose needs were limited to acquiring freedom of movement with his animals. He is someone who despised boundaries as they would prevent him from accessing pastures far and beyond. He needed his wineskin to be full always and a book in his bag. With these few ‘wants’ he was contented and could do anything to be happy. This background allowed him to suspend what fate had for him and used his free will to search for the treasure in his dreams. This is the ultimate point at which the conflict between fate and free will comes into play. What if he succeeded in getting the treasure and became a rich man? What if he died in the course of finding the treasure? He threw all caution to the wind, disregarded his fate/destiny and used his free will to go for the treasure hunt. This is the conflict that Santiago had to compel with in order to set out for the journey. The dream of the treasure hidden several miles away under the Egyptian pyramids is a revelation that oft happens to all human beings.
Fate subjects almost every individual to big dreams and very few people dare to pursue what they dream of. It is this perspective where the human being hangs in the balance of personal choice versus fate. Verily, the text says that “At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate.” from a common man’s point of view, the departure of Santiago to Egypt was heroic and somewhat a hefty gamble. This is so because very few people dare to brave the winds. This is why the wise Melchizedek poses these words to suggest that at times its better if we lose ourselves and let nature control our lives on our behalf because natures call works for the benefit of man, only if man listens to it. Perhaps it is at this point that we have to understand that fate works in tandem with our desires to fulfill our needs, dreams, and aspirations. Indeed Melchizedek suggests that “at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate.” What is most amazing is the fact that we have to submit to the forces of nature and let them control us despite our ability to shape our destinies. He further says that “all events are fated in some way. That could be a short term fate relating to decisions recently made or through some higher power and unseen force. I don’t have control over the events.” By telling Santiago to discover his personal legend or what he always wanted to achieve the