The Alchemist Critical Analysis

The Alchemist Essay In life, everyone has their own personal legend. Whether it be giving people a reason to remember the name or getting the dream job, the journey to a personal legend is not an easy one. A personal legend can take your entire life to achieve or even realize what it is! Santiago’s personal legend was to find the treasure, and although it was not an easy task to handle he managed to make it happen. Santiago would not have reached his personal legend without the dream that started it all (the call to adventure), the obstacles that ended up helping him( tests, allies and enemies), or the people he met along the way (mentor).
To begin with, Santiago would not have realized what his personal legend is without the dream. The dream reoccurred and at first Santiago tried to brush it off, but then he thought of it as an “omen”. This is his “Call to adventure”. From there, he decided he wanted to be a Sheppard and travel the world with sheep. Later on in the book he met the gypsy woman. She told him, “You must go to the pyramids in Egypt. I have never heard of them, but if it was a child who showed you them, they exist.
Then you will find a treasure that will make you rich”(Coelho 14). If the gypsy would have never explained to him what the dream meant, he might have not known the true meaning of his personal legend, and would not be able to fulfill it. Continuing, the result of Santiago’s journey might not be the same if the obstacles that were in his way were not there. It’s kind of like the saying “One step back, two steps forward”, the obstacles that may have momentarily been bad or got in his way, actually ended up helping him in the long run or making him stronger.

For example when Santiago lost all his money and had to work in the shop for a year or so, he ended up making money and learning to speak Arabic which was very useful for him. Finally, the mentors that Santiago met throughout the book were also very crucial to him reaching his personal legend. He met the gypsy woman who was almost as important as The Alchemist. Without the gypsy woman, Santiago may have interpreted the reoccurring dream he had (his call to adventure) incorrectly and never realized/achieved his personal legend.
Another important character to the story was The Old King. He tells Santiago “They show that, when we strive to be better than we are, everything around us becomes better too. ”(Coelho 150) There are many steps to achieving your personal legend. Everyone has one, but not everyone can fulfill their legend. One must first realize what it is and then go from there. In Santiago’s case, his three most important steps were his call to adventure, the tests, allies, and enemies he encountered, and the mentors he met along the way.