Please comment on how The Alchemist adheres to the Hero's Journey--
As Coelho said, "The warrior of the light knows that he is free to choose his desires, and he makes these decisions with courage, detachment, and sometimes with a just a touch of madness."
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I wrote this entry after our Tuesday night reading assignment:
Paulo Coelho clearly illustrates the hero journey throughout his novel, The Alchemist. Separation is the beginning of the hero journey. Santiago is separated from his family very early in the book. It is when his father explains that “the same people” arrive into his village hoping to leave changed, in fact leave just the same as they came. Santiago realizes he is not one of these “same people”. Nor does he accept what his father said that all people are the same no matter where you travel. Santiago is going to travel to discover if this is true, and he does this by becoming a Shepard.
Santiago gets his call to adventure through a dream. This dream reoccurred twice. In the dream a child plays with his sheep and then leads him to the pyramids in Egypt and leads him to treasure. This dream calls him to his adventure, and he begins the third step of the hero journey.
The next step of the hero journey is crossing the threshold. Coelho has this take place when Santiago enters Tangier. He crosses into Tangier and is robbed, but most importantly he does not know Arabic, so it is a whole new language for him to comprehend. He crosses the threshold into a brand new world.
Many challenges are posed to Santiago while he strives to achieve his adventure. First he is faced with the problem of money. He needs money to pursue his dream, and he earns money by working for the crystal shop owner. Santiago starts by polishing glasses and then he offers new business tactics that bring tons of new business to the crystal shop. Some may even say he is a business partner in this store. His second challenge though is the opinion of others. During his separation he faced his dad’s opinions, but now the shop owner has his own doubts. He tells Santiago “”you know that I’m not going to go to Mecca. Just as you know that you’re not going to buy your sheep” (61). This catches Santiago off guard, but he still pursues his dream and goes on the caravan. Both challenges that he is presented with he overcame.
Santiago soon enters the next step of the hero journey, the abyss. The abyss is the desert; this large vast space, when Santiago grows. At first he talks of the quietness of the caravan, but then he decides to develop a relationship with the camel. He talks of the horizon, which he so steadily watches. The desert is his next progression in the hero journey.
Thus far in the novel Santiago has is at step five out of the eight steps. It will be interesting to see, as I expect will happen, if Coelho continues to have Santiago follow this journey on the next steps of meeting with the goddess, recognition by father, and the return.
I very much believe that The Alchemist follows the hero journey throughout the book. Santiago is sent through many troubles and transformations that ultimately make him who he is at the end of the story.
At the beginning of the story Santiago yearns to travel. Santiago wanted to “see their land, and see how they live.”(9) From a young age he was able to see his own true dreams and desires. His father told him that only shepherds are able to travel because that’s all they can afford. Santiago seeing a chance to do what he wanted to do accepted with open arms, became a shepherd and separated himself from his previous life. His father gave him his blessing and accepted his choice as he many years ago had almost wanted to do the same.
The next step is the call, which happened relatively quickly after the separation. Santiago has a reoccurring dream that he is being taken to some treasure by a young boy, however every time he comes close to finding it he wakes up. This dream sparks his interest and Santiago wants to make this dream his reality. He yearns to find someone who will be able to interpret and understand his dream more than he has been able to.
His questions are answered when he speaks with both the gypsy woman and the old man who turns out to be the king. The gypsy woman says that “you (Santiago) must go the Pyramids in Egypt. I have never heard of them, but, if it was a child who showed them to you, they exist. There you will find a treasure that will make you a rich man.” (14) The king agrees with her saying “Its what you have always wanted to accomplish….bring me a tenth of your flock. And I will tell you how to find the hidden treasure.” (25) Both of these guardians and mentors are spending the time to give Santiago direction and advice in his search for the treasure. Like the king said, “to realize one’s destiny is a persons only obligation, and when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.
The next step, the initiation/transformation happens when Santiago enters Tangier in Africa. He enters the unknown and is robbed of all his money and left with nothing. Although this is bad it eventually leads him to the crystal merchant, which will be a good part of his journey.
There are many challenges that are presented to Santiago along his travels and through his dreams to find the treasure. First Santiago, like I said in the previous paragraph is robbed of all his money and is incapable of getting anywhere with out the money. Second the desert presents a huge issue when he is told that not many people cross it because it is so vast and hard to cross alive. Another problem is his inexperience, he is new to this place and it presents many problems to him, that he doesn’t know how to sort out. All he has ever known are his sheep, the vast openness of the rest of the world comes as a shock to him.
One of his main problems is the desert. Santiago is unaware of the fact that there are “thousands of kilometers of desert between here (Tangier) and there (Egypt). (47) Although he is able to overcome this obstacle by riding with a group of other men, the desert posses as the abyss for him. “The desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent. Whenever he saw the sea, or fire, he fell silent, impressed by their elemental force.” (73)
The last step of the hero journey I believe he has overcome is his main transformation. I believe this transformation he made is about Fatima. Throughout the story he was able to be completely focused on the main goal: the treasure in Egypt. All his time and effort was put into achieving this. However Santiago wanted to stay with Fatima rather than go on to Egypt and find the treasure and return. He said “I also have Fatima. She is a treasure greater than anything else I have won.” (115) This shows that Santiago is not focused on the material goods such as the treasure anymore, all he wants is to be able to stay with the person whom he loves.
Santiago is a hero, and his journey to fulfill his personal legend makes him heroic. No matter the challenges or hard ships Santiago encounters, he continues to be brave, calm, and collected and will let nothing stop him in order to come to destiny with his personal legend.
Paulo Coelho demonstrates Santiago's heroism throughout "The Alchemist" through ways of clear imagery. Santiago is a strong character who leaves his life as he knew it in order to achieve something great. He gets up, sells his flock of sheep and heads for the continent of Africa, running on only a dream, and the words of a wise king. Throughout Santiago’s journey he leaves his comfort zone, and is thrusted into new experiences, (P 41) this wasn't a strange place; it was a new one.
Santiago’s heroic journey began with a dream, which lead to a call to adventure, and the separation of everything he once knew in order to experience new things, and fulfill his personal legend. Next Santiago boarded a ship to head to Egypt in order to loot for treasure at the great pyramids. Santiago crosses into the abyss when he is in the desert separated, and lonely, with nothing to do but to ponder the ways of desert life and the caravan he is slaving onward with. While in the desert Santiago finds love of a women named Fatima, and promises he will return to her after he achieves his personal legend. And that is when Santiago meets with the alchemist.
Through out "The Alchemist" Santiago is robbed beaten, scared, loved, and learned all in order to achieve his personal legend. To me that is truly heroic.
I look forward to completing the hero journey with Santiago.
In Coelho’s The Alchemist Santiago begins the story as a simple Shepard and must follow the hero journey in order to find his Personal Legend, understand the Language and Soul of the World. To find these important things he must enter the abyss, lose everything in order to gain so much more.
Santiago struggles with the meanings of his reoccurring dreams about the pyramids in Egypt so he seeks the help of a gypsy who can only tell him to follow his dreams in order to reach his treasure. Santiago leaves disappointed thinking that he will never again listen to his dreams. An old man, claiming to be a king sits down beside him to tell him about his Personal Legend, the soul of the world, his omens, and how “all things are one” (p. 22). Confused, Santiago realizes this is his call and must search to find what the king talks about.
The first place that Santiago’s journey brings him is to bar in Tangier where he meets up with some boys whom he begins to trust and believes they can guide him to his treasure. Until the boys began to question the amount of money that Santiago has, eventually the boys run off with the stolen money leaving Santiago poor and alone. This is when Santiago passes over the first threshold realizing how “life could change so suddenly and so drastically.” (p. 39)
Santiago is faced with new challenges that are keeping and distracting him from entering the desert. Self-doubt overcomes Santiago while working at the Crystal Merchants shop for money to begin his journey. He things many times about going back to being a Shepard and forgetting his personal legend “but you know that I’m not going to Mecca. Just as you know that you’re not going to buy your sheep” (p. 61)
Perhaps the most influential part of Santiago’s journey is his entrance into the desert, or the abyss. This is where he loses everything and faces the greatest challenges of all in search of something much greater than himself. At this point he has surrendered to the call and there is no turning back, he must face all of his fears head on. While in The abyss he learns to listen to his heart while at the same time learning to balance seeing “all the marvels of he world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.” (p. 32)
In one of the final scenes of the novel, Santiago becomes the wind, this is when he breaks out of the abyss, overcomes his fears in order to transform himself into the wind but more importantly become independent from all others. This transformation gives all the struggles of the abyss meaning. In this moment Santiago learns his Personal Legend, the Language of the World, the Soul of the World and that “each performs its own exact function as a unique being, and everything would be a symphony of peace if the hand that wrote all this had stopped on he fifth day of creation.” (p. 149)
Though out his journey Santiago meets many great people who help him along his journey but ultimately it is only he who can take this trip through the thresholds, the abyss and reach his Personal Legend. With months of traveling he realizes his dream, finds his treasure, understands the world and is much more then a simple Shepard.
From a young age, when he decided to be a Shepard rather than pursue a traditional career, Santiago has roamed the lands of Andulsia. It has always been his dream to travel, an aspiration that made him unique among other children in his village. When he begins to dream of a buried treasure, Santiago recognizes the call for him to pursue his personal legend (although he does not yet know this diction). With a piqued curiosity, the boy visits a dream-interpreting gypsy who prods him on in his journey: “You must go to the Pyramids in Egypt” (14). It is the unnaturally wise king, however, who opens the door to Santiago and presents him the opportunity to commence his journey.
Diving through the threshold, Santiago sells his sheep and makes ready to initiate his adventure. Arriving in the strange land of Africa, the boy is immediately robbed. Without money or a home, Santiago is forced into a stage of transformation. It is at this time when Santiago’s faith in his personal legend is tested. Faced with the option of returning home after working for the crystal merchant wealthier than ever or continuing in his pursuit, Santiago hesitantly follows the kings advice and make his own decision: to continue.
Santiago appreciates that the journey will not be simple and that he must remain determined. Faced by the desert, which he must cross, Santiago willingly takes on the foreign terrain unwilling to submit to his first major obstacle. When Santiago’s caravan reaches the Oasis, Santiago enters his own personal abyss. Meeting Fatima, it is love at first sight. Santiago struggles most in the debate to remain with Fatima or continue his journey. Reluctantly, Santiago goes with the Alchemist back into the sandy vastness in search of his treasure.
As the two travel, Santiago experiences a revelation. Learning to “listen to [his] heart”, Santiago is well on his way to climbing out of his abyss (127). As Santiago comes to appreciate the importance of communicating with his heart, he views the world at a new angle, under a different shade of light. When tested by the strongest tribal chief of the desert, Santiago becomes one with the wind by means of an unspoken language, “the language of the world”, and rids himself of his dilemmas and fears from which he suffered in his abyss (153). At this point he understands Fatima is willing to forever await his return. His heart is from there on at peace.
Moving forward, Santiago looks only to achieve his personal legend. Wisely, Santiago listens to all of the omens he receives and understands he will reach his goal in time. It is no longer simply about getting rich, as the Alchemist points out when he demonstrates his own personal legend. Rather it’s about Santiago understanding his purpose in life, reaching the level of atonement in his journey, and not ignoring calls from destiny as many others, like the refugee, do. After discovering the true location of his treasure, Santiago begins the process of returning to normal world on two levels. Santiago physically leaves the pyramids but also completes his personal legend and finds that life “really is generous to those who pursue their Personal Legend” (166). Making sure to remember to pay the gypsy, Santiago feels the wind carry a kiss from Fatima and announces “I’m coming, Fatima” (167).
I believe that part of Coelho’s message in The Alchemist is that anybody can be a hero by following their dreams and fulfilling their Personal Legend. Santiago’s journey very much adheres to the classic hero’s journey and the eight-step transformation.
The first step in this journey is “separation”. Santiago, when the reader is introduced to him, is already separated from his family and from most of society; he is a shepherd that sleeps in the wilderness with his sheep except when doing business in small towns. Santiago is quite content with his situation, and feels no strong desire to change his path though he has already gone through the “separation” stage. In fact, when thinking about the daughter of a merchant he had met with the previous year, Santiago felt “the desire to live in one place forever” (6).
The next step in the journey is the “call”. This is the event, person, or force that leads someone to take up the journey towards his or her personal goal or legend. Santiago’s “call” comes in the form of a dream of treasure buried at the Pyramids in Egypt. Because of this dream, Santiago travels to Tarifa to consult a gypsy woman about how to pursue his dream and goal of traveling to obtain the treasure. This woman is the first of a series of mentors and guardians for Santiago, part of the “threshold” step in the journey and transformation of a hero. She tells him that he has had a dream about the Language of the World, and that he must pursue the treasure and return with one-tenth of the treasure to give to her. Santiago seems discouraged and decides hastily that he no longer believes in dreams, but soon after, he meets the King of Salem, another guiding force. The King informs Santiago that he has found his personal legend. Other guardians and mentors include the Englishman and the Alchemist.
The next part of the hero’s journey is the “initiation”, which involves the challenges that the hero faces and the abyss (or the most difficult challenge). The first challenge that Santiago faces is the thief that steals all of his money when he arrives in Tangiers. Santiago must work for a year for a crystal merchant to earn enough money to continue his personal legend. Other challenges for Santiago are the crossing of the desert, the tribal wars, and leaving Fatima, the woman he loves. The most difficult challenge (the “abyss”) comes for Santiago is when he is captured by a desert tribe while traveling with the Alchemist. The Alchemist gives all of Santiago’s money to the chief and promises that Santiago will turn himself into the wind. If Santiago can do so, he and the Alchemist will be spared. Santiago must use all that he’s learned of the Soul of the World and the Universal Language to get help from the desert, the wind, and the heavens to conjure up a windstorm great enough to spare his life. Through his understanding and use of the tools he gained through his journey, Santiago is successful and is freed.
The hero now goes through a revelation and revelation. This happens for Santiago when he arrives at the Pyramids. He is digging diligently for the treasure when two men come upon him and beat him. They criticize him for traveling so far to look for treasure that he only dreamed about, and one of the men mentions his dream about treasure buried in a location that Santiago has been to, an old, abandoned Church that Santiago is familiar with. Santiago is transformed at this point, realizing that the treasure is within his own heart.
The final steps in the journey are “atonement” and the “return”. Santiago completes these steps when he returns to the old Church and finds the treasure. Though he has discovered the riches that he dreamed about, Santiago atones by realizing where his true treasure is, and that he needs to continue his life with a journey back to the woman he loves.
Santiago’s journey can be viewed in its entirety as a single hero journey, but it can also be seen as a series of several journeys that each fit the criteria. There are certain points in the story where, if it had ended, the cycle of the hero journey could have been completed.
The initial call to action occurs when he meets this king, who tells him of his personal legend. He doesn’t want to pursue this legend initially, because it requires him to go to Tangiers and neglect women he claims to love but whose name he doesn’t know. Finally, he decided to give up this dream and go to see the Pyramids. “‘It doesn’t matter,’ he said to his sheep. ‘I know other girls in other places’” (6). These two steps are his crossing of the first threshold. It could then be said that his initiation occurs in the bar in Tangiers. Likewise, the steps that take him through his road of trials and into his abyss could be the events that surround the robbery enacted by the con artist who promised to take him to the pyramids. It could be considered that he met with the goddess when he first had faith in his omen stones, that he found a father in the crystal merchant, that what he rescued was the crystal shop, and the two worlds that he mastered were the Arabic and Spanish speaking ones. He earns enough money to buy his sheep and hesitates to leave- the refusal of return, and the freedom to live- but ultimately sets free, ready to return with a gift for the woman he wishes to marry at that time.
If the book had ended there, it would have been a complete (if not somewhat unsatisfying) hero journey, but it does not. It could easily be stipulated that, at this point, he has merely endured the initiation or perhaps has stumbled into the abyss. The supernatural guide could be the camel driver, who helped him to see that “no matter how many detours and adjustments it made, the caravan moved toward the same compass point”, an idea that helps Santiago learn to have faith in his heart. The transformation could have occurred in the desert, and the return could be his arrival at the oasis. The gift he finds could be Fatima, and again, the story could end there.
Still, though, it persists. Perhaps it is not until he leaves the oasis that he even leaves the abyss. The transformation could really have occurred throughout the journey with the alchemist as his guru. He then faces such trials as attempting to turn himself into the wind, to whom he demonstrates his philosophical progress when he announces that, “we were all made by the same hand, and we have the same soul. I want to be like you, able to reach every corner of the world, cross the seas, blow away that sands that cover my treasure and carry the voice of the woman I love” (146). These words show that Santiago has certainly made progress, and is actually transforming in more than just a physical or economic way. This escape via wind could also be considered his magic flight. He then becomes the master of the living world and the Soul of the World, and develops the freedom to live as his heart chooses. He finds the treasure and returns with this gift to Fatima.
Even the epilogue, however, leaves us wondering when the journey ended. What was the gift that he returned with? Was it the treasure, his love for Fatima, or his newfound knowledge of the Soul of the World? It has possible that Coelho purposefully has purposefully created this gray area to make Santiago more relatable to the reader. A normal man probably would not find his treasure buried under a tree in Spain, but he might find it within the hearts of the people he loves or in what he possesses within himself.
Many stories follow the pattern of the hero journey. The Alchemist certainly does many times over. What this story proves, though, is that with each risk and with each blind step taken with guidance from one’s heart, the hero story becomes more powerful and, possibly, more heroic. Not every hero journey is clean cut and exactly fitting to the criteria, because even heroes make errors that deter them from their path. The hero journey might not be a perfect circle, but it is a continuous loop all the same.
Santiago’s “hero journey” begins within the “innocent world of childhood” where he decides to become a Shepard, despite the expectations of his family. His desire to travel forces him away from the world he once knew and leaves him alone with his sheep; this would be the “separation.”
“The Call” came to Santiago when he has the reoccurring dream about his treasure. He recognizes that it is time for a change when he admits his adoration for the merchants daughter and knows that changes must be made in order for him to obtain her, including finding answers to his dream.
The time for him to simply settle as being a Shepard and he seeks out assistance. Sharing his dream with a gypsy woman, he is first introduced to the “threshold” that he must cross to find his treasure. The King of Salem also serves as a marker for the threshold as he encourages Santiago to go forth with the adventure, giving him the tools he needs to learn how to succeed. The King serves as his mentor or “supernatural aid”, allowing his knowledge to satiate each of Santiago’s experiences, keeping him on track.
The “Initiation” begins when Santiago enters a new country where he is now presented with a language barrier and a new culture. Confronting challenges following this stage, taking place in the Crystal shop are more internal rather than external. Santiago spends a lot of time during this stage figuring out what he wants to do with his future. He is offered a comparison to himself, the Crystal merchant, a man Santiago could be if he chooses to settle for basic happiness and rids himself of drastic changes. But in the end he decides to move forth with his initial journey and heads into the “Abyss.” Meeting the Englishman and being first introduced to the subject of alchemy also take place during the initiation.
The abyss takes the form of the desert. A vast, formidable landscape that has no end in sight makes all who look upon it feel small, silencing them, leaving people with nothing more than their thoughts. Santiago learns to embrace the desert, observing every detail he can catch, beginning to understand its Universal Language.
The “Transformation” occurs when Santiago decides that he ants to read about alchemy, being satisfied for the time being with his knowledge of the desert. He is combining a refined, bookish mindset, with one in tune with nature. During this stage Santiago also reaches the oasis, sees an omen, and his knowledge is recognized with high praise, he is also introduced to the Alchemist (meeting with the goddess) and furthers his transformation, learning more about his heart.
The “Atonement” takes place when Santiago laughs at the men in Egypt when they deem his adventure stupid and beat him. At this moment he realizes that his treasure was back in his homeland. He knows who he is and what he loves and is no longer troubled with fear.
Santiago’s return takes place in his connection with Fatima. He has his physical gift to bring back to her, the treasure, and he has his love for her. He knows that Fatima understands the desert just as well, if not better than he does, and he knows that they can exist together and share their love, he has completed all his goals and can now live feeling fulfilled.
Paulo Coelho basically defines the hero journey with his novel, The Alchemist; the story seems to follow a template of the hero story as it progresses. To begin the novel, Santiago has already been separated from society by being a sheep herder; the only contact he really has with other people is when he travels with his sheep into the market to sell their wool. To follow the template, after having been separated, Santiago is called to adventure. This call comes to him in the form of a recurring dream that seems to stand out in his mind. This call, like the “call to adventure” for all other heroes is what sparks the interest in beginning a quest. At first Santiago is unsure whether or not to pursue this call, for his life as a shepherd is comfortable for him. However, in order for him to achieve anything or find any treasure, literal or not, he must leave his comfort zone behind, and venture out into the abyss of the desert.
The next stage of the hero journey is defined by the crossing of a threshold; this stage includes the assistance of guardians, helpers, and mentors. It is this part of the plot where Santiago is encountered by a seemingly omniscient king, who provokes the fires of intrigue that seem to burn within Santiago. This king presents to Santiago the idea of a personal legend. Speaking with this king allows Santiago to know and understand that to pursue this dream would be to fulfill his own personal legend and that it is fate to do so. As said by the king, “whoever you are, or whatever you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth” (22).
Stage four is the initiation and transformation stage. I think this stage comes for Santiago when he travels to Tangier. He is a stranger in a new land, and when he is here, he learns that this journey is going to be a tough one, one that is filled with challenges. It is in this strange land that he begins his transformation. During this phase of his journey, things didn’t seem to look so good for him; he even felt that, “It was as if the world had fallen silent because the boy’s soul had. He sat there, staring blankly through the door of the café, wishing he had died, and that everything would en forever at that moment” (47).
Stage five is defined as the challenges, but Santiago really faces challenges through his entire journey. He is challenged by the ongoing war in the desert, he is challenged by the limitation of money, and he is challenged by the Alchemist to discover what it is to be a part of the soul of the world. I really don’t think the “challenge” stage is really a stage at all, because challenges are always coming. There isn’t just one point of the chronos that can be defined as the time of challenges; if such a time were to be defined, that would mean that a person’s entire life would be spent in the phase of challenges. Section six is the abyss. This abyss is literally the desert, but while he is there, Santiago enters the abyss that is his inner soul. The silence that exists in this abyss allows him to see into his own heart, and find the soul of this world.
When Santiago is forced to speak with the soul of the world to save his live, theses are the seventh and eighth steps combined. When he finally understands alchemy and that all things in the world are of one thing, he both transforms and has a revelation. He finally realizes that in the delicate balance, all things on earth work together in a cycle as one unit. This realization is key to understanding the treasure he is searching for. When he returns to the world, his gift is that he now I able to understand the connection that all things on earth have with eachother. His atonement comes at the end of the story when he understands that he has to go back to fin Fatima, the love of his life. This atonement isn’t as severe as the word may imply, but he is simply sticking to a promise he had made.
The Alchemist is the quintessential hero’s tale. Everything about it structurally is perfectly the story of a hero, however not all heroes follow such a path.
At a young age Santiago was part of a divine plan. Each step, choice, and decision he made lead to his ultimate success of reaching his personal legend. Early in the story he exhibited his thirst for adventure, by objecting his parent’s wishes of him becoming a priest. This objection was Santiago’s separation from others, in order to achieve his own dreams. Santiago decides to become a Sheppard so he can travel and experience the world. By breaking the bonds holding him down to a preconceived life Santiago was rewarded his call to adventure. His thirst for exploration allows Santiago to find the courage within him to start a new life and go after a dream that may not even be true, this is a heroic act.
Santiago was first crossed the threshold when he was robbed in Tangier. He was forced thrown into a place where he had no money, no friends, and no knowledge of the dialect. This ability to leave his comfort zone enabled him to be able to understand the mechanics of the world around him. Santiago learned the first lesson on his travel, when he entered the crystal shop, that there is a universal language, hard work and that through this hard work he has the ability to achieve his dreams. Santiago’s realization of these principles was his first step toward gaining his ultimate understanding of the world.
The next step Santiago’s hero journey was when he had to face the road of trials. I believe that his road of trails was when he was crossing the desert with the caravan. Through this crossing Santiago was able to meet the young Englishman who taught Santiago another side of the world, where the messages are drawn from books. This was his first experience with the two worlds, books and the natural world both being the teachers of Alchemy.
Santiago was forced into the abyss when he had to become the wind. Santiago was placed into a position where he had to perform or he would be killed. Santiago was forced to ultimately believe in himself trust the universal truth. That this universe wants him to achieve his goal. And that by understanding this belief Santiago was able to communicate to not only his heart but the entire universe.
He returned back to Spain to receive his treasure where he was finally a master of two worlds that of nature and that of knowledge. He understood the importance of personal legends, he new that by achieving his own dream he would ultimately live forever as a part of the soul of the world. Santiago finally understood what his real treasure was in life, Fatima, his love. Through Santiago’s heroic journey he became one with nature, mankind and ultimately understand and believe in himself. For those reasons Santiago became a true hero of the world, a warrior of light.
Paulo Coelho explores the concept of a hero’s journey in-depth. The main character Santiago takes the first step in the hero’s journey, which is the act of separation. He is separated from his parents at a young age when he makes the decision to be a Shepard and travel the world with his sheep. He wants to travel the world instead of becoming a priest. This is because he wants to meet the people of the world and see new places. Santiago believes he will gain more from traveling then becoming a man of the church.
The next step in the Hero journey is the call to adventure. Santiago reaches this next step when he has a dream. This dream occurs twice. In the dream Santiago is a playing with his sheep, who ultimately lead him to a treasure.
Soon after Santiago crosses the first threshold when he travels to the city of Tanger. In the city he is robbed and finds himself surrounded by a new world. He then reaches the abyss which is the dessert and the omens. The meeting with the goddess is when he meets Fatima, his true love. His return is when he turns into the wind. Finally his freedom to live is when he finds his treasure.
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