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The AlchemistA Fable About Following Your Dream

by

Paul Coelho
First published: 1988
TheBestNotes Study Guide by Diane Clapsaddle
Copyright ©2006 TheBestNotes, All Rights Reserved. Any Further Distribution without written consent of TheBestNotes.com is strictly prohibited.
Table of Contents
Literary Elements• Setting • Character List • Conflict • Short Summary (Synopsis) • Themes • Mood • Paul Coelho Biography
Chapter Summaries with Notes / Analysis
• Foreward - Ten Years On• Prologue• Part One• Part Two • EpilogueOverall Analysis • Character Analysis • Plot Structure Analysis• Themes - Theme Analysis• Rising Action• Falling Action• Point of View• Foreshadowing• Irony• Personification• Quotes / Quotations and Analysis• Symbolism / Motifs / Metaphors / Imagery / Symbols• Key Facts
Questions • Study Questions / Multiple Choice Quiz • Answer Key • Essay Topics - Book Report Ideas

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The Alchemist by Paul Coelho Free BookNotes Summary

Free Study Guide for The Alchemist by Paul Coelho




THE ALCHEMIST BY PAUL COELHO
LITERARY ELEMENTS
SETTING
The setting begins in the Andalusian region of Spain and moves to Tangier, the Al-Fayoum oasis, and eventually the pyramids in Egypt. The story ends where it began in Spain. The time is the present day.
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Major Characters
Santiago He is a shepherd boy, who because of a recurring dream, decides to find his treasure at the pyramids in Egypt. Along the way, he meets a Gypsy woman, an Old King, a crystal merchant, an Englishman, and an alchemist, all of whom teach him something about fulfilling his Personal Legend and striving to find his treasure. He is a very wise young man and yet one who has much to learn. Because he holds fast to his dream, he becomes a better man.
The Gypsy Woman She is the first one Santiago consults about his dream. She is mysterious and yet religious as can be attested by the Sacred Heart of Jesus picture on her wall. She tells Santiago that because it was a child who took his hands in the dream and led him to the pyramids, he must go. However, before she tells him anything, she makes him promise that he will give her one-tenth if he finds his treasure. He eventually brings her the price, because he is honorable and he has promised.
The Old King He is the second to help Santiago and gives him the stones named Urim and Thummim. He also advises Santiago to never stop dreaming and follow the omens. His name is Melchizedek and he is a Biblical figure who had once helped Abraham on behalf of God. He is sometimes believed to be Jesus Christ.
The Crystal Merchant He is a man for whom Santiago begins to work and who profits from the boy’s aptitude in improving sales. He teaches Santiago how important it is to follow through and not give up on his dream. His dream had been to travel to Mecca on a pilgrimage, but because he never does, he’s afraid that the reality will destroy the dream and so he never goes. His sense of regret encourages Santiago to take what he has earned there and buy a ticket to Tangier.
The Englishman He is a young man who has spent ten years of his life reading about alchemy with the hope of discovering the Master Work. He goes with Santiago on the caravan to the oasis so he can find the oldest alchemist of them all and learn his secrets. He teaches Santiago that not all information can be found in books and that one should observe what goes on around him as well. The Englishman eventually discovers that for himself after consulting with the alchemist.
The alchemist He is rumored to be over 200 years old and lives on the Al-Fayoum oasis. He has an advanced sense that Santiago is coming to the oasis and knows it is his responsibility to lead him to the pyramids. Along the way, he teaches the boy much about listening to his heart and reaching out for his dream no matter what the cost. He never does anything for the boy except guide him and allow him to learn for himself.
The alchemist has the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher’s Stone, which allow him to make any metal into gold. That is his Personal Legend, which he had achieved many years before. His name is not capitalized, because the title could be taken by anyone, like Santiago, who learns the truth of the Master Work.
Minor Characters
Fatima She is the beautiful young woman whom Santiago meets at a well on the oasis. She directs them to the alchemist, but in the process of that first conversation, Santiago falls in love with her and she eventually falls in love with him. As a desert woman, she is willing to wait for him to find his treasure and fulfill his Personal Legend.
The Camel Driver Santiago meets him on the caravan journey to the oasis and from him learns all about the importance of the present. He had lost everything to the flooding of the Nile, but now he is content to work as a camel driver and take one day at a time.
The Tribal Chieftain He demands that Santiago turn himself into the wind and in the process, discovers that the boy has seen the glory of God.

CONFLICT
Protagonist
The protagonist of a story is the main character who traditionally undergoes some sort of change. Santiago is the protagonist of this novel. It is his story and his maturing and learning about life that composes the plot. Through his trials and tests, we also learn about life.
Antagonist
The antagonist of a story is the force that provides an obstacle for the protagonist. The antagonist does not always have to be a single character or even a character at all. The antagonists in this story change at times - sometimes it is the people who give Santiago advice he doesn’t want to hear; sometimes it’s real villains like the thief in Tangier who steals all his money - but for the most part, the antagonist is Santiago himself. He must learn to accept the problems on his journey and not give up. He must accept himself and his own limitations as well as his strengths to persevere and find his treasure. Like many protagonists, he is often his own worst enemy, but in the end, he overcomes adversity and triumphs.
Climax
The climax of a plot is the major turning point that allows the protagonist to resolve the conflict. The climax comes when Santiago comes to the pyramids, digs on the spot where he sees the scarab beetle, and yet is rewarded by being beaten by some Arabs who want his treasure. It is only at the point that he realizes where his treasure actually is.
Outcome
Santiago realizes he must return to Spain after the leader of the Arab refugees who beat him tells him his recurring dream about a ruined church with a sycamore tree growing out of its sacristy. He knows the church, because that is where he had his dream about the pyramids. He returns there and finds a conquistador’s buried treasure under the sycamore tree and determines to take it and go back to the oasis and marry Fatima.
SHORT SUMMARY (Synopsis)
A young shepherd boy named Santiago has a recurring dream about a child leading him to the Pyramids of Egypt. After a Gypsy woman tells him he must go, he meets an old king who also teaches him about omens and following them on a path to his dream. He buys a ticket to Tangier, but is robbed of all his money when he gets there. He is forced to work for a crystal merchant for a year to earn enough money to go home, but over the course of the year, and by realizing the merchant’s regret that he didn’t follow his own dream, Santiago decides to continue on. He joins a caravan to the Al-Fayoum oasis as it’s on the way to the pyramids. With the caravan, he meets the Englishman, and on the oasis, he meets Fatima and the alchemist, and they all teach him valuable lessons about following his dream. Eventually, after many trials and tests, he sees the glory of God and finds the pyramids. Then, he realizes that his treasure has been back in his homeland all along. He finds it and determines to return to Fatima and the love that awaits him.

THEMES
The theme of one’s own Personal Legend recurs many times in the story. It refers to that which is your own dream or goal in life and is part of the path God has created for you. You have the free will to turn your back on your Personal Legend, but it is a decision which you could live to regret. Most people never achieve it because it is a journey filled with hardships and many turn back. For those who continue their search, the fulfillment of their Personal Legend is immensely satisfying and rewarding.
The theme of perseverance is also an important idea. Many times, Santiago finds himself wanting to turn back and it’s only when he reaches deep within himself that he finds the strength of will to go on. It teaches us all about how good things come to those who reach out for them, not to those who wait! Life is a struggle no matter what path we may choose, but if we stay strong and continue on, the consequences are all good.
The theme of the Soul of the World is a theme which makes the reader think about how we are all connected in some way to each other, to the animals around, to the plant life, and to every element created by God. The Master Work is actually his creation of earth and everything on it and around it in six days. So we are all an element of his creation. Once we realize that, we can find our Personal Legend and understand the language of the world.
The theme of faith is also an intrinsic part of this story. Without faith that he could succeed and without the faith others had in him, Santiago would have been lost. Again, it is a message to us all about believing in ourselves and our part of the Soul of the World.
The final theme is very close to perseverance, but refers to the need to confront the four obstacles of life and overcome them. We first must overcome the voices that have told us from childhood that what we want to do is impossible; second, we must overcome love, i.e. recognize that those who truly love us want us to achieve our dreams; third, we must overcome fear of defeat or failure; and fourth, we must overcome the fear of realizing the dream we have fought for all our lives. If we can climb over these four walls, our treasure will be close at hand and we will have discovered our fulfilled our own Personal Legend.
MOOD
This story is uplifting almost entirely through the novel. Even when Santiago stumbles or even falls on his path to his treasure, we know he will get back up again and persevere. We feel his pride, his satisfaction, and his triumph when he reaches the end of his journey and heads back to the oasis and the love that awaits him.
Paul Coelho - BIOGRAPHY
Paul Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and still lives in that city. He is much like his character, Santiago, the shepherd boy, in that he has followed a quest to be a writer and has met with much frustration throughout his early adulthood. He says he always knew that his Personal Legend was to write, but he was thirty-eight before he published his first book. He tried law school until 1970 when he decided to travel throughout much of South America, North America, Mexico, and Europe. He returned to Brazil two years later and began a successful career as a popular songwriter. He was imprisoned for a short time in 1974 by the military dictatorship then ruling his country. In 1980, he walked the 500 plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain where he achieved a spiritual awakening that he later described in The Pilgrimage. He published The Alchemist in 1988, a novel that explores the same spiritual awakening he had experienced. It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and has been translated into at least fifty-six languages. Other novels he has written - By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Valkyries, The Fifth Mountain, and Veronika Decides to Die - explore the different streams of our lives. He has won numerous literary prizes and he is a prominent speaker for humanitarian causes.
Awards for The Alchemist include:
The Nielsen Gold Book Award 2004 for its outstanding sales in the UK retail market. The Corine International Award 2002 for the best fiction in Germany. The Golden Book Award 1995 and 1996 in Yugoslavia. The Super Grinzane Cavour Book Award and Flaiano International Award 1996 in Italy. The Grand Prix Litteraire of Elle 1995 in France.

FOREWARD - Ten Years On
Summary
The foreward was written by the author, Paulo Coelho, ten years after he had published The Alchemist. Because the book had been such a huge success over those ten years, the author was asked, “What is the secret behind such a huge success?” He tells us that he honestly doesn’t know. All he knows is that like Santiago, the shepherd boy, we all need to be aware of our personal calling, or the path God has chosen for us.
He goes on to explain ideas that are extremely important in understanding The Alchemist. He begins by explaining that whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are following our legend. However, we don’t all have the courage to confront out own dream because of four obstacles: first, we are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible and so the layers of fear, prejudice, and guilt often bury the dream very deeply. Second, if we have the courage to disinter the dream, we are then faced by the obstacle of love. We know what we want to do, but we don’t want to hurt anyone around us by pursuing the dream. We must come to realize that those who love us genuinely want us to be happy and are prepared to accompany us on our journey in whatever capacity. Once we accept that love can be a stimulus to the dream, the third obstacle crops up: fear of the defeats we will meet on the path of our journey.
The secret to conquering this fear is to understand that life is all about falling seven times and getting up eight. Once we get past these three obstacles, we meet the fourth: the fear of realizing the dream for which we have fought all our lives. Once we see what we can have, we are filled with guilt and forget all the previous obstacles we had to overcome to earn the dream. But if we believe ourselves worthy of that for which we have fought so hard, then we become the instruments of God, we help the Soul of the World, and we understand why we are here.
Notes
This foreward to the novel lays out the foundation of what Santiago will discover when he follows his dream. Knowing this in advance is helpful in understanding the philosophy of The Alchemist, but finding it out while reading about the shepherd boy’s adventures is so much more satisfying!
PROLOGUE
Summary
This opening part of the novel introduces us to the alchemist who has found a book left behind by someone in a caravan. He finds the story of Narcissus, the youth who daily knelt by a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He eventually fell in and drowned, but where he fell a flower was born called the narcissus. But the author of the book did not end the familiar story here as it is usually ended. Instead, he tells the reader that the goddesses of the forest appeared and found that the lake so mourned for him that its fresh water became salty.
The goddesses assume that the lake mourns, because it could contemplate his beauty close at hand. But the lake asks if Narcissus was beautiful. The goddesses are surprised at the question, because who could know the answer better than the lake? The lake is silent for a moment, and then explains that it never noticed Narcissus’ beauty, because it could see, in the depth of his eyes, its own beauty reflected. The goddesses respond, “What a lovely story.”
Notes
The prologue prepares us for what Santiago the shepherd will eventually learn in his travels: we are all joined one to the other in some way. Narcissus’ seeming egotistical behavior was actually a way for the lake to discover itself. We are all a part of the Soul of the World.
CHAPTER SUMMARY / NOTES FOR THE ALCHEMIST BY PAUL COELHO
Note regarding the structure: Instead of breaking the story into traditional chapters, the author has separated the sections of the text by the characters **. Thus, each section separated by ** should be considered a chapter.
PART ONE
Summary
This section opens with our introduction to Santiago, the shepherd boy, who has decided to spend the night in an abandoned church which had fallen in long ago and now has an enormous sycamore tree growing on the spot where the sacristy once stood. We discover immediately that he is a reader, because he uses the book he has just finished reading as a pillow. He awakens in the middle of the night having had the same dream as the one he had a week before, but like before, he has awakened before it ends.
So he gets up and notices that his sheep begin to awaken, too, because as he tells us, “They are so used to me that they know my schedule.” He has a very interesting relationship with his sheep: he reads to them and he knows the name of each one, because he believes they understand what he says. Lately, he has only spoken to them about one thing: the daughter of the merchant who lives in the village they will reach in four days. He takes his sheep to this shop to be sheared and the merchant buys the wool. That is how he had come to know about his daughter. Like himself, she is Andalusian, from a region of Spain, and her appearance vaguely recalls their Moorish ancestry. They had spent several hours together the last time he had been there talking mostly about his travels. She wonders why a boy who knows how to read is only a shepherd. He gives her no real answer and only knows that he was experiencing the feeling of wanting to live in one place forever.
Santiago is excited to return to the village and the merchant’s daughter, but as he moves steadily forward, it occurs to him that his sheep stay close to him, because they are incapable of making any decisions. They trust him and have forgotten how to rely on their own instincts, because he always leads them to food and water. In return, they give him their wool, their company - and sometimes, their meat. It reminds him of his purpose in life: to wander, to travel. He had attended a seminary until he was sixteen years old, but even though his parents had wanted him to remain there and be a source of pride for them, he knew that he had wanted to see the world and that was much more important than knowing God and the sins of man.
**
He had told his father what he wanted to do, and his father had tried to dissuade him. But when he realized Santiago was determined, he told him that the only people who travel were shepherds and then he gave him three gold coins to help him buy his flock. He told his son goodbye with the advice that someday he would learn that their own countryside was the best and their women the most beautiful. In his father’s eyes, Santiago had seen his own desire to travel which he had buried beneath the burden of finding a way to just survive.
**
Santiago muses that he is able to live out his dream every day and if he tires of it, he can always sell his sheep and go to sea where he would come to other cities and lands to explore. Now, the dream concerns the merchant’s daughter and he hurries his pace to Tarifa, the next village. He also remembers that, in Tarifa, there is an old woman who interprets dreams.
**
When the boy enters the house of the old woman, he is somewhat uneasy, because she prays and acts like a Gypsy and gypsies are thieves. However, she has a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus behind her so he comforts himself with that thought. The old woman tells him that dreams are the language of God, so Santiago tells her that twice he had dreamed that he was in his fields with his sheep when a child appeared and took his hands and transported him to the pyramids of Egypt. At the pyramids, the child had told him that if he came there, he would find a hidden treasure. Every time the child was about to tell him the location of the treasure, he would wake up. The old woman thinks for a bit and then tells him she won’t charge him anything that day, but that he must promise to give her one-tenth of the treasure if he finds it. He swears that he will and she tells him that it’s a dream about the language of the world and is very difficult to interpret. However, he must go to the pyramids, because if a child had shown them to him, they exist and he must find them to become a very rich man. Santiago is a little irritated, because he could have figured that out on his own. He leaves, deciding that he’ll never believe in dreams again. He goes to the marketplace for something to eat and to trade his book. There, he sits on a bench in the plaza watching people and maybe making new friends. He likes life this way, because, even though he wants to meet new people, he doesn’t want to become a part of their lives. That’s when they try to change you.
While he is reading, an old man sits down and strikes up a conversation. Santiago doesn’t want to talk to the man, preferring to read or think about the merchant’s daughter. However, the man persists, and because he had been taught to be respectful to the elderly, he doesn’t get up or refuse to speak. The old man picks up the boy’s book and tells him that it is a good book, but one that is really irritating, because it tells the same thing that almost all other books in the world describe: how people are unable to choose their own Personal Legend. It also ends up saying the world’s greatest lie - “at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate.”
Eventually, the old man tells Santiago that he is the King of Salem and that his name is Melchizedek. In spite of the boy’s surprise at that pronouncement, the old man just wants to know how many sheep he has. When the boy says he has enough, the old man responds that he can’t help him if he already has enough sheep. Santiago makes a move as if to find another bench when the man tells him that if he gives him one-tenth of his sheep, he’ll tell him how to find the treasure. Santiago fears that this man is the old Gypsy woman’s husband and that he’s trying to get more information out of him. However, before he can say anything to him, the old man bends over to write in the sand and reveals something so bright on his chest that it almost blinds Santiago. Then, when he can see again, there in the sand are the names of his mother, his father, the seminary he had attended, and even the name of the merchant’s daughter. There are even things there he had never told anyone.
PART ONE
Summary (continued)
**
The old man repeats his title and when Santiago asks him why a king would be speaking to a shepherd, he tells the boy it’s because he has succeeded in discovering his own Personal Legend. The old man then goes on to explain how everyone has a dream, but at some point, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize it. This mysterious force, according to the old man, appears to be negative, but actually shows us how to prepare for realizing the Personal Legend. This desire originates in the soul of the universe and it’s our mission on earth. The king then points out that the baker who can be seen in his shop window also wanted to travel as the boy is doing. However, he kept coming up with excuses and never acted on his dream. So, the baker stayed in one place and created a home and became one of those that people would want their daughters to marry and that became more important than his Personal Legend.
Santiago then wants to know why the king is telling him all this and the old man’s answer is that the boy has realized his Personal Legend and now he is about to give it all up. He says that’s his job - to appear on the scene when he’s needed to make things happen. The boy then reminds the man that he had said something about his treasure, but the king won’t give him any help until he promises to give him one-tenth of his sheep. When Santiago offers one-tenth of his treasure instead, the old man advises him, “If you start out by promising what you don’t even have yet, you’ll lose your desire to work toward getting it.” He also tells Santiago that by promising to give the Gypsy woman one-tenth of his treasure, he has learned that everything in life has a price and that is what the Warriors of Light try to teach. So it is agreed that tomorrow at the same time, if Santiago gives him one-tenth of his sheep, he will tell him how to find his hidden treasure.
**
The boy wanders through the city of Tarifa and comes to the gates where he can buy a ticket to cross the strait and arrive in Africa. He realizes he must do this to get to Egypt and that he only has to sell one of his sheep to do so. The idea frightens him and he decides he should just go back to being a shepherd. On his way back to the center of the city, Santiago climbs to the uppermost wall of the city’s castle. There, he can see the shores of Africa. He curses the moment that he met the old man and he thinks about how his sheep depend on him. He worries that if he ever decides to leave them, they will suffer.
The wind picks up at this point and he remembers that it’s called the levanter, because the Moors had arrived by it from the Levant at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. The wind increases in intensity as the boy agonizes over being between his flock and his treasure. He works though his reluctance to leave what he has become accustomed to, while the wind blows in the smells of the desert and veiled women. He is jealous of the freedom of the wind and understands that he can have that same freedom.
The next day, he meets the old man again and tells him that his friend, who had been caring for his sheep, had agreed to buy them all. It is a good omen for his friend who had always wanted to be a shepherd. The old man calls this the principle of favorability or beginner’s luck. The old man looks over the remainder of the sheep and tells Santiago that he will have to go to the pyramids in Egypt and that, in order to find the treasure, he will have to follow the omens.
The omens are what make up the path God has prepared everyone to follow. Just then a butterfly appears, and Santiago is reminded that his grandfather had once told him that butterflies are good omens. Then, the old man opens his cape and the boy realizes the bright light he had seen there the day before is a breastplate of heavy gold covered with precious stones. He takes from the center of the breastplate two stones - one white and one black - and gives them to Santiago. He tells the boy that they are called Urim and Thummim.
The black one signifies “yes” and the white one “no” and they will help him read the omens when he is unable to do so. He advises him that “everything you deal with is only one thing and nothing else” and that he mustn’t forget the language of the omens and to follow his Personal Legend through to the end. The king ends his commentary with a story about a young man who goes to the wisest man in the world to learn about the secret of happiness. The wise man sends him on a tour of his castle, but tells him not to spill a drop of oil in a spoon he must carry with him. The young man climbs all the staircases and enters all the rooms of the castle with his eyes always on the spoon lest he spill a drop.
When he returns to the wise man, he cannot describe anything in the castle, because he had only watched the spoon. So the wise man sends him back again, telling the young man that he can’t trust anyone whose house he doesn’t know. This time the young man observes everything in the castle, but when he returns, the oil has all spilled from the spoon. The wise man then says that the secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, but never to forget the oil. The shepherd boy understands from the king’s story that although he may like to travel, he can never forget about his sheep. The king then walks away after blessing the boy.
PART ONE
Summary (continued)
**
Later that afternoon, Melchizedek, the King of Salem, sits atop the walls of the fort in Tarifa, the highest point of the city. He sees a ship plowing its way out of the port and knows that he will never again see the boy, just as he had never again seen Abraham after having charged him his one-tenth fee. That is his work: he helped the boy and now he hopes Santiago will succeed. He also wishes he had reminded the boy of his name, and despite how vain that seems, he tells God, “An old king sometimes has to take some pride in himself.”
**
Santiago is now in Africa, specifically Tangier, and thinking how strange Africa is. He thinks of all the strange people as infidels and is reminded of the image of Saint Santiago Matamoros on his white horse, his sword unsheathed, and people such as these kneeling at his feet. He is further uneasy, because he has forgotten that these people speak only Arabic, and he does not. However, he remembers how omens he had seen in nature had protected him when he was guarding his sheep and so feels somewhat better. Then, a young man in western dress, but looking Arabic, approaches him and asks Santiago in Spanish who he is.
The boy is so happy to have someone to speak to that he sits down with this stranger and tells him he needs to get to the pyramids. He asks the stranger if he will guide him there and that he has money to pay him. He even shows the man his money pouch to prove he has enough. This causes the bar owner to pull the stranger away and argue with him a bit. The stranger then tells Santiago that they need to leave. The owner tries to talk to Santiago, but the boy doesn’t understand him, while the stranger tells Santiago that the owner wanted his money and that it is better to leave quickly.
The stranger, whom Santiago trusts, tells him he needs money to buy two camels and Santiago give him his money bag. Santiago is then distracted by a beautiful sword, which sits in a shop window. When he turns around, the stranger is gone and has taken all his money. Santiago naively believes the stranger will return, but at the end of the day, he is alone, a stranger in a strange country where he doesn’t speak the language and without any money. His life has changed very drastically in just one day and he weeps, because God is so unfair.

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He is reminded when he opens his coat that he still has the two stones the king had given him, and he decides he could sell them for enough money to return home and buy more sheep. He also understands now what the bar owner had been trying to tell him: not to trust the stranger. Like everyone else, he had seen the world in terms of what he would like to happen, not what actually does. However, the old man’s advice also rolls around in his head and he takes out Urim and Thummim again and questions them like the old man had told him to do. When they fall though a hole in his pocket, he is reminded to recognize and follow the omens. Now he knows that the old man is still with him and that this isn’t a strange place; it’s just a new one. And he isn’t a poor victim of a thief, but an adventurer in quest of his treasure.
**
He awakens the next morning in the marketplace where he had fallen asleep, and even though he hasn’t a cent in his pocket, he has faith. He helps several merchants set up their stalls and realizes that like the king, he is able to sense just by observing them whether they are near or far from their Personal Legends, something he had never been able to do before. Furthermore, he realizes that even though he is speaking Spanish and they are speaking Arabic, they understand each other very well. Like his experience with his sheep, they are speaking a language that doesn’t depend on words. With that ability, he can learn to understand the world. He resolves to walk through Tangier and look for the omens, because, as the king had said, all things are one.
**
A crystal merchant lives in Tangier and had sold his crystal in the same spot for thirty years. Once he had been more prosperous, but now with the growth of the city, his shop is in an out-of-the-way spot and his business has fallen off. He thinks that it’s too late to change his business, because it’s all he knows how to do. Then, just before lunchtime, a boy - Santiago - stops in his shop. The boy tells the merchant that he’ll clean the glasses in the window in exchange for something to eat.
When the merchant hesitates, Santiago takes the initiative and cleans every glass in the window. This prompts two customers to enter and buy some crystal. The merchant is impressed by this good omen and takes the boy to lunch. Then, he asks Santiago if he would like to come to work for him, but the boy promises only to work for him the rest of that day into the next to earn money for Egypt. The merchant explains, however, that he could never pay him enough for the amount of work which would get him to Egypt. Santiago’s soul falls silent, but he agrees to work for the merchant to earn enough money to get him home again and buy more sheep.

PLOT SYNOPSIS ANALYSIS FOR THE ALCHEMIST BY PAUL COELHO
PART ONE
Notes
From the first section of Part One, we see an abandoned church with a sycamore tree growing out of its sacristy. This tree will have important significance for Santiago by the end of the novel and so is the first example of foreshadowing. He had passed that way many times and had never come across the church, which gives it a kind of mystic significance, and it is the place where he dreams, as we learn later, about the child showing him the pyramids of Egypt, which starts him on his journey.
In the next few sections, we are given a sense of one of the major themes of the story: we are all part of the Soul of the World. Santiago muses over how dependent his sheep are on him and how they seem to understand him. He also remembers how he had told his family that he wanted to travel and how he had seen the same desire in his father’s eyes. This prepares us for the idea of fulfilling our own Personal Legend: Santiago has begun to fulfill his by following his dream to travel.
Santiago meets several individuals from this point on who are instrumental in encouraging him to fulfill his dream of finding treasure at the pyramids. The first is the gypsy woman who for the price of one-tenth of his treasure tells him that his dream is about the language of the world and that he must go to the pyramids. The second is the King of Salem, Melchizedek, who, in the guise of an old man, tells Santiago all about realizing one’s Personal Legend and how it’s the purpose God sets for us. (Melchizedek is the character who appeared in the Book of Genesis to Abraham, bringing the patriarch bread and wine after his victory over the four kings who had besieged Sodom and Gomorrah. He is believed to be a representative of the priestly line through which a future king - Jesus Christ - is ordained. Sometimes, he is envisioned as an angel or as Jesus himself.)
Melchizedek uses the metaphor of the baker who had desired to travel like Santiago is doing, but became immersed in his obligations and never fulfilled his Personal Legend. He is like a Guardian Angel who appears when an individual is about to give up on ever fulfilling his dream. His advice prompts Santiago to continue in search of the treasure and take the chance of leaving everything that is familiar to him, something most of us haven’t the courage to do. The next individual who encourages him to go is the crystal merchant, who gives him a job after he has all his money stolen. This man doesn’t know he is helping Santiago fulfill his dream, but he will, over the next year, show the boy how to be successful while relearning how to be successful himself.
This part of the novel also introduces some of the many lessons Santiago learns on his way to finding his treasure:
• He learns about fulfilling one’s own Personal Legend, or following through with one’s dream. • He learns about what will be called the Soul of the World, the sense that we are all connected one to the other. • He is introduced to the idea of the language of the world, which once we recognize it, helps us communicate with anyone, no matter what language they speak.
• He learns that everything in life has a price, as evidenced by his promise to pay the Gypsy woman one-tenth of his treasure to interpret his dream, by his obligation to pay the King one-tenth of his sheep to learn how to find the treasure, and by his trust in the Arab “guide” who steals all his money.
• He learns about the “principle of favorability” or beginner’s luck which everyone has at one time or another, but which is nothing he can ever depend upon.
• He learns about the language of omens, which are really metaphors for one’s intuition and sense of what is right and good.
• He also learns through the story of the young man with the spoonful of oil that happiness is a combination of fulfilling everything you would like to fulfill while never forgetting those you must leave behind.
• Yet another lesson involves the tendency of us all to see what we would like to happen, rather than what really does. This often makes us give up our quest to fulfill our dreams.
• Finally, Santiago learns to listen to the language of the world, which doesn’t require words, but only actions; to be an adventurer in quest of his treasure rather than the victim of a thief; and that it’s never too late to change as seen in the example of the crystal merchant.
Santiago begins to follow the steps of the journey to his treasure by completing the following: he has fulfilled his Personal Legend by traveling as a shepherd boy, and he has overcome the obstacle of love by turning over his sheep to his friend who wanted to be a shepherd and by putting his idea of marrying the merchant’s daughter on hold. However, he meets up with the third obstacle, which is the defeats he must face along the way. Momentarily, at the end of Part One, he gives in to the despair of his first defeat when the crystal merchant says he cannot give him enough money after one day’s work to get him to the pyramids. He decides to stay there just long enough to earn enough money to return home and buy more sheep.
FREE BOOKNOTES FOR THE ALCHEMIST BY PAUL COELHO
PART TWO
Summary
Santiago comes to the realization after working for the crystal merchant for a month that it will take him a year to earn enough money to buy more sheep. He suggests to the merchant that they set up a display case for the crystal outside to attract more customers. When the merchant worries that the glass might be broken, the boy tells him that’s the chances you must take when you are in business. You.....
Notes
This section of Part Two shows how the example and experiences of others can lead you to the right path. The crystal merchant has put his dream on hold out of fear that it won’t live up to his expectations. Without knowing it, he has shown Santiago that regrets for unfulfilled dreams can reduce the quality of one’s life. Santiago.........
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Summary
The display case works and many more customers come into the crystal shop. Now, Santiago has earned enough money to double his flock and he thinks that the pyramids are now just a distant dream like Mecca is for the merchant. However, he still recognizes omens: when........
Notes
Here the omens show Santiago that he can accomplish much with just his........
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Summary
The news spreads about the crystal shop which also sells tea and eventually the merchant must hire two .........
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Summary
Eleven months and nine days after he set foot in Africa, Santiago has earned enough money to buy himself 120 sheep, a return ticket to Spain, and a license to import products from Africa to his own country. He tells the merchant that he is leaving to return home, because he has enough money for the sheep and........
Notes
This section prepares the reader for what the merchant already knows: Santiago will.......
PART TWO Summary (continued)
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Summary
As the boy packs his things with no intention of using the money for anything other than the sheep, the two stones, Urim and Thummim, fall out of his shepherd’s pack. They remind him that the king had said, “Never stop dreaming. Follow the omens.” He is also reminded that the sheep has taught......
Notes
The two stones falling out of Santiago’s pack are omens of the future and so foreshadow his.....
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Summary
At the same time, an Englishman sits in a corral near the supplier’s warehouse. He has spent ten years at a university and now finds himself in only in such a disgusting place. His studies had been aimed at finding the one true language of the universe and he, like Santiago, believes in omens. Now, he is studying alchemy, but he .......
Notes
The Englishman is another character who will provide an example to Santiago to either follow or reject. He is.......
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Summary
However, as Santiago (the boy who speaks Spanish) tries to engage the Englishman in conversation, he gets nowhere. The man wants to be allowed to study his books. It’s only when the boy takes out Urim and Thummim that he gets the man’s attention. He tells the man that he got them from a king and then the.......
Notes
Here we are given information about the universal language whose basis is luck and coincidence. It works here........