Hero's Journey In The Alchemist

How a Hero's Journey Affects Santiago's Personal Legend in The Alchemist

What would one do to pursue their destiny? Some people would go to the extreme to pursue their future while others would reject their prospect. Although, most people at first deny their destiny at first which is normal and then they find the courage and the will to pursue it. In The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, the main character Santiago achieves his prospect and overcomes many challenges presented by a hero's journey. In The Alchemist a Personal Legend is basically someone's destiny and they choose to accomplish and it’s reward is wonderful. The reward is they become one with themselves and happy in life. This task can be very difficult and not many people …show more content…
In The Alchemist Santiago has many helpful mentors that help him understand the universal ideas. One of his mentors was an old king named Melchizedek. He helps persuade Santiago to pursue his Personal Legend. Melchizedek also gave Santiago two stones called Urim and Thummim. The stones represent positive omens and harmful omens. Santiago did not use them very often because he was able to understand the universal ideas of favorable and unlucky omens quickly. Another mentor that helped Santiago cross the threshold was a crystal merchant. He showed Santiago the importance of seeking his Personal Legend because he never had the opportunity to pursue his goal. Santiago, learns the meaning of “Maktub” which was an important word to help him understand some of the universal ideas. The crystal merchant states “But in your language it would be something like ‘It is written’” (Coelho, 61). That word opens up Santiago's eyes to help him realize that he should see the world as it is instead of how he wishes or wants the world to be. After Santiago's experience with the glass merchant, he crossed the threshold: going through the desert to find his treasure. Finally, the last major mentor that Santiago had was the wise Alchemist. He taught Santiago how to become one with himself and his heart. He also taught him necessary tasks, emotion, and tips to help Santiago achieve his Personal Legend. To Santiago the Alchemist was a …show more content…
Most people don't accept their destiny and overcome all of the challenges that they will face including some disappointments along the way. For Santiago, it took a while for him to actually cross the threshold. The gateway for Santiago was crossing the desert and he faced several challenges along the way. One major challenge was while he and the Alchemist were traveling through the desert they came across thousands of soldiers. The soldiers took Santiago and the Alchemist hostage. The Alchemist made a deal with the leader that Santiago would show the leader of the soldiers, who took him hostage, that he knew how to control the wind (which is a part of Language of the Universe). Although, if he did not succeed in controlling the wind Santiago would be killed by the leader and all his money would be given to the commander. Another part to the deal was that Santiago only got three days to prepare for the task ahead. Also, at times Santiago was afraid that he could not make the wind move. Santiago thought that because he did not know how to control the wind. Also, it did not help because if he did not learn how to control the wind he would be killed by the leader because it was part of the deal. On the third day he became one with the wind. “I learned the alchemist’s secrets in my travels. I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe.

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