literary analysis of "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

1. The plot of the book "The Alchemist" focuses around a young shepherd by the name of Santiago. Santiago is a shepherd who left his home when he came of age, because he loved to travel, henceforth he became a shepherd. Then, he has a dream about finding a treasure at the Great Pyramids in Egypt not once, but twice. So, he decides to try to make that dream come true by actually going to the Great Pyramids. On his journey there, he discovers that it is his Personal Legend, your true dream, which he is following. 

2. The theme of the novel is to accomplish your true dream in life, or as it is referred to in the book your Personal Legend . A Personal Legend is that dream which you've always had  you want to fulfill, such as traveling to certain place or finding your true calling.

3. Well, based on the author's tone I can imagine what Paulo Coelho's morning routine is. An excerpt from the book that I feel shows whether he wakes up early or not is, " He spent the entire afternoon of the second day looking out over the desert, and listening to his heart.", which shows that the author wakes up early in the morning to watch the sunrise when it is peaceful. Another excerpt that also helps my imagination is, "To realize one's Destiny is a person's only obligation.", which shows that he very insightful which to me would mean that he drinks green tea over coffee, eats fruit and a bagel for breakfast and likes to meditate. A final excerpt is, " The boy knew the desert sensed his fear. They both spoke the same language.", which shows that he understands nature and that part of his morning routine is to take a walk at the park or around his neighborhood and just appreciating such things in life.

4. Literary Techniques

1. One literary technique I observed in the book was the use of personification, giving animals or objects human-like characteristics such as speech or movement.  

• Excerpt 1: "'What is love?' the desert asked him" The desert is able to speak, question and think
• Excerpt 2: "'You can't be the wind,' the wind said. 'We're two very different things.'" The wind is given the feature of speech and thought.
• Excerpt 3: " 'From where I am,' the sun said, 'I can see the Soul of the World.' " The sun is able to speak and can see everything in the world

2. A second literary technique is the use Allusion, a reference in a literary work to a historical, literary, or biblical place, character, or event.

• Excerpt 1: "The elder continued, 'When the pharaoh dreamed of cows that were thin, and cows that were fat, this man I'm speaking of rescued Egypt from famine. His name was Joseph.' " The excerpt is a reference to Genesis 47:20 in the Bible of when Joseph saved Egypt from the famine.
• Excerpt 2:  " 'One day, the Earth began to tremble, and the Nile overflowed its banks.' " The excerpt is a reference to the Nile River in Egypt, which overflows through a natural cycle every year and is celebrated by the Egyptians for two weeks.
• Excerpt 3:  " 'The wind began to pick up. He knew that wind: people called the levanter, because on it the Moors had come from the levant at the Eastern end of the Mediterranean.' " This is a reference to the invading of Spain in the 8th century by an Islamic people called the Moors.

3. A third literary technique used was Epiphany, a sudden, powerful, spiritual, or life changing realization in an ordinary moment.

• Excerpt 1: "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." The excerpt is about how Santiago discovered what true love felt like when he had simply looked into the girl's eyes, and it shows that when you find your "soulmate" you will know.
• Excerpt 2: "The boy was beginning to understand that intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are ale to know everything, because it's all written there." The realization is that Santiago realizes that no matter what happens, bad or good, is actually meant to be there because it is meant to be.
• Excerpt 3: " 'You old sorcerer,' the boy shouted up to the sky. You knew the whole story. You even left a bit of gold at the monastery so I could get back to this church. The monk laughed when he saw me come back in tatters. Couldn't you have saved me from that?' 'No,' he heard a voice on the wind say. If I had told you, you wouldn't have seen the Pyramids. They're beautiful aren't they?' " The excerpt is showing how Santiago realized that on your Path to accomplishing your dream God will send you on what you believe ware detours but really they are meant to make your journey even more memorable so that you may delight in your success.

4. Another literary technique is the use of Allegory(symbolism), representation of something else.

• Excerpt 1: " 'But the desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small,and as if he should remain silent.' " The Desert symbolizes the obstacles you will face in pursuit of your dreams and that they'll be difficult.
• Excerpt 2: "The problem is that they don't even realize that they're walking a new road every day. They don't see that the fields are new and the seasons change. All they think about is food and water." The sheep symbolize those people don't follow their dreams or never find it and don't notice when they have a chance because by that time they only care about having enough money to support their family.
• Excerpt 3: " 'Two years ago, right here on this spot, I had a recurrent dream, too. I dreamed that I should travel to the fields of Spain and look for a ruined church where shepherds and their sheep slept. In my dream, there was a sycamore growing out of the ruins of the sacristy, and I was told that, if I dug at the roots of the sycamore, I would find a hidden treasure. But I'm not so stupid as to cross an entire desert just because of a recurrent dream.' " The thief who said this symbolizes those people who try to find a shortcut to achieving their dream such as stealing, lying or backstabbing people.

5. The final literary technique I observed was the use of Metaphors, a comparison between two different things.

• Example 1: The author compares the sheep to the people who don't fulfill their dreams because we eventually become like sheep in how we just go along with what society says and by that time it is too late to do anything we want.
• Example 2: Another comparison is between the desert and pursuing your dream in how the desert is mostly empty and you do not have anybody to help you once you enter and in pursuing your dream you will feel alone as most of your "friends" will leave you.
• Example 3: A final comparison is between the Language of the World and being able to "see" in how you must learn how to do both in order to be able to understand your own self in pursuit of your dream.