Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Interactive Map
The Journey of Santiago
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
By: Kaushik Sambamurthy
ECE, 108114042
The beginning
Where the stage is set for the reader to learn of Santiago, and for Santiago to learn of himself.
The beginning
The characters
The main participants in this arc of the story are three.
- Santiago
- The Merchant's Daughter
- The Merchant
Santiago
The shepherd boy
Santiago
The Merchant's Daughter
Santiago was convinced that he was in love with her.
He was also certain that she had other men pursuing her.
He vowed to return the following year and talk to her, perhaps even asking for her hand in marriage.
The Merchant
A gruff, no-nonsense man, he made the shepherd wait through the day.
After the boy sheared the sheep, he sent him away, telling him to return after a year.
The story
This introductory segment of Santiago's tale consists of events taking place in two locations.
- The abandoned church
- The village
The abandoned church
The wandering shepherd took his sheep to an abandoned church, where he decided to stay the night.
He had a dream - a dream that he had had before.
Like the previous time, he awoke before it ended.
The village
This is where Santiago encountered the merchant and his daughter, and vowed to return the following year.
The village
The Motivation
Where Santiago is spurred onwards and pushed along the path written for him.
This portion of the story takes place in Tarifa.
The motivation
The Gypsy Woman
With four days to go until his scheduled return to the village with the merchant and his daughter, the boy decided he would make a quick detour.
He went to a gypsy woman who interpreted dreams.
The Dream
She asked him to explain his recurring dream.
It was a dream where the boy stood in a field with his sheep.
A child appeared and, after playing with the animals for a while, it led the boy to the Egyptian pyramids, where he would find a hidden treasure.
The dream ended both times right as the child was about to show Santiago the location of the treasure.
Interpretation and Payment
Santiago was to follow the dream - to go to the pyramids and find the treasure.
In return, he would pay the gypsy woman a fee of one-tenth of his treasure.
The King
Sitting on a bench, the boy decided to read a novel.
An old man sat at his side and made conversation, which the boy reluctantly responded to.
Identity
The old man announced himself as the King of Salem.
He was there to provide instructions on how to find the treasure and for the boy to realize his destiny.
"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."
Instructions
He told the boy to follow the omens in order to find the treasure at the Pyramids.
As a first step, the boy was to sell off his flock and go to Tangier.
Instructions
The lull
Santiago sold his flock and, with the money, went to Tangier by boat.
Here, he was supposed to find a group of people to travel across the desert with, in order to reach the Pyramids.
Inexperience
Scared of his new surroundings, the boy found a young man who spoke Spanish and befriended him.
His companion said he would accompany Santiago to the pyramids, which they could reach on camelback.
Santiago gave the young man his money to buy camels, but the man took his pouch of gold and fled.
Forging ahead
Despondent and distraught, Santiago considered returning to Andalusia.
However, bearing in mind the advice of the wise King, he decided to stay and work for money.
He worked for a crystal merchant, cleaning glass.
A poignant exchange
In the beginning, Santiago offered to clean the crystal in exchange for food. The man did not respond, so Santiago began to clean the crystal.
Later, when he was done, the crystal merchant said:
"You didn't have to do any cleaning. The Koran required me to feed a hungry person."
"Well then, why did you let me do it?"
"Because the crystal was dirty. And both you and I needed to cleanse our minds of negative thoughts."
Over time...
Over time, through his interactions with the crystal merchant, Santiago learned a lot of lessons about life.
Santiago encouraged the merchant to take risks with his business.
The risks paid off, and Santiago became a rich man in just a year.
With this money, the boy set off to pursue his destiny.
The desert
Now flush with riches, Santiago decided to pursue his destiny and to head towards the Pyramids.
He joined a caravan crossing the Sahara desert towards Egypt.
The Englishman
On the caravan, Santiago met an Englishman who wanted to become an alchemist.
The Englishman was traveling with the caravan to the Saharan oasis of Al-Fayoum, where a powerful, 200-year-old alchemist resided.
The Englishman planned to ask the alchemist the secret of his trade.
There is a universal language, understood by everybody, but already forgotten. I am in search of that universal language, among other things. That's why I'm here. I have to find a man who knows that universal language. An alchemist.
Learning on the go
The primary difference between the boy and the Englishman was that the boy preferred to acquire knowledge by observing the world; the man resorted to complex books instead.
Over the journey, the boy paid attention to the desert, listening closely.
Through his efforts, he discovered the Soul of the World.
The oasis
Terribly violent tribal wars were going on across the desert.
As a result, the caravan was forced to make an extended stop at the Al-Fahoum oasis.
The oasis was considered to be a neutral territory and a place of refuge.
Love
At the oasis, Santiago was smitten by the beautiful Fatima.
At that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and the Soul of the World surged within him. When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke - the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love.
Vision
Wandering away from the oasis into the desert, Santiago saw two hawks fighting in the sky.
This was an omen of an imminent battle.
He rushed back to warn the elders at the oasis.
As a result, the oasis successfully defended itself against the assault.
The Alchemist
The Alchemist, who resided near the oasis, got word of Santiago's vision.
He invited Santiago on a trip into the desert, where he taught Santiago about the importance of listening to the Soul of the World and his own heart.
He convinced Santiago to leave Fatima and the caravan and to finish his journey to the pyramids.
Together, they set off on the next leg of his trip.
The journey
Over the course of his journey with the Alchemist, the shepherd learned several lessons and gleaned vital wisdom.
The journey
Knowledge
"Why do we have to listen to our hearts?" the boy asked.
"Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure."
------------------------------------------------------------
"Why don't people's hearts tell them to continue to follow their dreams?"
"Because that's what makes a heart suffer most, and hearts don't like to suffer."
Capture
When they were mere days away from the pyramids, the two were caught by Arab soldiers.
The Alchemist handed over all of Santiago's money and made a bold statement.
He said that Santiago was a powerful alchemist himself, and would turn into wind within three days.
Release
Over the next three days, Santiago used his knowledge of the Soul of the World to communicate with the elements.
One by one, he spoke with each element until the wind acquiesced to his pleas and stirred itself up.
He prayed to the Hand That Wrote All, and at the height of the storm he disappeared.
He reappeared on the other side of the camp and the tribesmen, awed by the power of the storm and by Santiago’s ability, let him and the alchemist go free.
The search
After a few more days of travel, the Alchemist bid the shepherd farewell at a place mere hours from the Pyramids.
The search
The Pyramids
When he reached the top of the dune, his heart leapt. There, illuminated by the light of the moon and the birghtness of the desert, stood the solemn and majestic Pyramids of Egypt.
Digging
At the foot of the Pyramids, Santiago began to dig vigorously, eager to find the hidden treasure and fulfill his destiny.
Suddenly, he was accosted by two Arab attackers.
They made him dig, suspecting that he was hiding some valuables and wealth at the Pyramids.
Santiago confessed that he was looking for a hidden treasure, as per his recurrent dream.
The Answer
Before they left, they came back to the boy.
One of the men told Santiago that such dreams are worthless, explaining that he had had a similar dream while sleeping at the base of the Pyramids.
Except, in the attacker's dream, a treasure was buried in an abandoned church in Spain where a sycamore tree grows.
Santiago laughed, his heart bursting with joy.
Because now he knew where his treasure was.
The treasure
The boy returned to the church where all his adventures began and dug at the base of the sycamore tree.
An hour of digging rewarded him witha a chest of gold coins and other precious jewels.
It's true; life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny.