First of all, a person's “Personal Legend” means what your purpose in life is, what dreams you are going to pursue, and how are you going to accomplish it. Santiago's “Personal Legend” is to go to the Pyramids in Egypt and to find “a treasure that will make you a rich man.” but he had to go through a lot of challenges. Melchizedek, The King of Salem, helps Santiago choose to follow his “Personal Legend” instead of giving up. He experienced triumphs and downfalls throughout his journey. For example, he met a kind person in a bar once he reached a foreign land he was not familiar with. He trusted him with all of his money and stayed with him until they were separated in the chaos of the market and lost all of his money and trust in others. A treasure doesn't come easily to those that don’t put the effort into achieving it. Santiago was able to overcome the hardships when he started to read the omens and understand the way of the world. When he correctly reads the hawk omen in the oasis, he was able to save the lives of those he was traveling with the caravan, and in turn he gained wealth. Although he dealt with leaving the life he used to know and venturing into the unknown facing a lot of challenges that at the end helped him to grow as a person. The quote, "Well, when I took my sheep through the fields some of them might have died if we had come upon a snake. But that's the way life is with sheep and with shepherds." said by Santiago used good imagery to display that one should never give up just because there is risk involved.
Through his journey, Santiago met many people, and he was able to learn and experience different types of knowledge. For example, he learnt about "The Soul of the World". He found out that this is what makes you want to achieve your individual destiny; he was able to understand this even though he