The Alchemist

The Alchemist is a story about following your dream. It revolves around the main character of the story "Santiago", the Shepherd. The story describes his spiritual experiences and learnings on his way of following his dream.

As a shepherd, Santiago travels to many places and sees new things. Its the life he has always wanted and he was happy. Then one day while he was sleeping in an abandoned church, he has a dream that a child guides him to the pyramids of Egypt and tells him to find the buried treasure there. After thinking a lot, he decides to get his dream interpreted by a dream interpreter. The lady tells him that dreams are language of God and he would indeed find the treasure at the pyramids. The boy gets in dilemma whether to leave the stable life he had been living and follow the dream or to continue what he has always wanted to do. Then he meets a mysterious old man who happens to be the king of Salem. The man tells him that he will tell the boy how to find the treasure in exchange of 1/10th of his sheep. The boy is amazed as has never mentioned the dream to him. The man teaches him many things. He tells him that discovering one's true purpose is the person's real obligation in his life. He also tells him to follow omens. He gives the boy two stones Urim and Thumim and told him that it will help him make decisions.

The boy decides to go for the treasure hunt and sells all his remaining sheep and head towards Egyptian pyramids which are thousands miles away from his country. At the beginning of his journey, in Africa, he gets robbed of all his gold. He regrets his decision of following the dream and quickly finds a job at a crystal shop for saving enough money to go back to his country. With his brilliant ideas he made success at the shop and had enough money to go back and pursue his old profession again with twice the sheep he had. He decides to go back to his home. But a few conversations with crystal merchant changed his mind and made him realize that he was on the right path and he should get back to following the dream. He reasons that if he fails he can always go back and make money again. He risks his life again and joins a caravan to cross the thousand miles spread desert.

He meets an Englishman who has studied and risked everything to find the

answers behind his questions about the language of the universe, and the

mysterious Philosopher’s Stone. He’s now heard tell of an alchemist who may

have the answers he’s looking for, and has decided to cross the desert to

seek him out.

When the boy takes out Urim and Thummim, however, the Englishman explodes

with excitement and pulls out two stones identical to the boy’s. The king had

been to visit him as well. They quickly strike up a friendship.

As he makes his way through the vast emptiness day by day, the boy begins to

understand that When you are on your true Path, the entire universe conspires

to help you succeed.

The rumor of tribal wars elsewhere in the desert causes the caravan to move

faster and quieter. The boy spends his days observing the people, and

thinking about the desert and what it can teach him about life. After weeks

of travel, the caravan made it to the oasis.

The next day the boy helps the Englishman to find the alchemist that lives at

the oasis. The boy, who speaks better Arabic than the Englishman, begins

asking the villagers where the alchemist lives. No one wants to tell him, and

finally he sees a young girl at the well who might help him. The moment he

looks the girl in her eye, he experiences the truest language of the world,

Love. She smiles and he knows that it’s the omen he’s been looking for his

entire life. There would never be anyone else after her, and as he looks at

her he is amazed to realize she understands the same thing. Without speaking

a word to each other, they have spoken the truest Language of the World.

The boy finds out her name is Fatima. When he asks her about the alchemist,

she points towards the south and then leaves.

He tells her he loves her and wants to marry her. She has become more

important to him than his treasure.

As the days pass he meets her at the well everyday and tells her all about

being a sheperd, about the king, and the crystal shop, and his quest.

Fatima tells him one day that she wants him to continue on his quest to find

his treasure. She wants him to wander free, and says that if she is truly

part of his life he will come back to her one day. She will wait proudly for

him.

Meanwhile, the Englishman has built a furnace outside his tent. The alchemist

told him that he must begin the process of separating the sulfur, so that is

what he’s trying to do. He’s lost his fear of failure, and really believes

that this time he will succeed.

Later the boy interprets the movement of hawks and sees vision of wars. He’s

troubled, and alerts the cheifs about it.They heed his warning of an attack.

The man demands to know how he read the flight of the hawks. Santiago tells

him that the same hand that wrote the armies also wrote the birds, and that

he was simply seeing what Allah wanted him to know. he realizes that if he

has to die tonight, he can die happy knowing he risked everything to follow

his dream, and that he got to love the desert and Fatima.

Suddenly the man withdraws his sword, and tells him that he had to test the

boy’s courage. The man says that if the boy is still alive after sunset to

come see him. As he rides away, the boy realizes that he just met the

alchemist.

The next morning every man at the oasis is armed for battle. Before noon an

army of 500 had tried to attack the oasis, and all but one were killed by the

men. The chief of the oasis is very happy that so many lives were saved.

When they met again,the alchemist says that he’s there to help the boy find

purpose of his life. The alchemist tells him that he must continue his search

for the Pyramids. and instructs him to sell his camel and buy a horse.

The next night the alchemist presents a challenge to the boy. He tells him to

go find life in the desert, because only those who can find life in the

emptiness can find treasure. The boy doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know

how to find life, and the alchemist finally gives him a hint, telling him

that life attracts life. The boy understands and lets the reins loose,

allowing his horse to run freely through the desert. His horse leads him

directly to a cobra snake.

The alchemist tells Santiago that this was the omen he needed and that he

will lead him across the desert. Santiago’s heart is heavy because he does

not want to leave Fatima. The alchemist tells him that she is a woman of the

desert and understands that if she wants him to come back, she has to let him

leave. The boy decides to go with the alchemist in search of his treasure,

and his heart is at peace to finally be on the way again.

That night Santiago goes to find Fatima. He tells her that he loves her and

is going to search for his treasure. She understands, and says that she will

wait for him to return. The oasis is now an empty place for her, and she’ll

look out to the desert for him everyday.

They ride deep into the desert’s silence for a week, speaking very little.

Santiago finally tells the alchemist that he has told him nothing along the

way, and the alchemist tells him that the only way to learn is through

action. He tells Santiago that in order to understand the world he must

listen to his heart, always. The heart came from the Soul of the World, and

speaks the truth.

the boy realizes that his heart is afraid of failing and wants to go back to

the woman he loves. They ride for many more days and Santiago begins to learn

the ways of his heart, its dodges and tricks and moods. He finally realizes

one day that he is completely happy, and that the longing and fear has

disappeared. He learns from the alchemist that every second of his search for

his Personal Legend is a second spent in the company of God and eternity.

The alchemist then teaches him the most important lesson of all: that the

Soul of the World will test everything right before it’s time for him to

realize his dream. He warns the boy that it’s at this point that most people

give up, when they’re so close. The proverb “the darkest hour of night comes

just before dawn” is justified for the boy, and he resolves not to give up

when he’s tested.

That evening Santiago’s heart warns him that they are in danger and suddenly

over one hundred horsemen surround them. They’re taken to a nearby military

camp, where the alchemist informs the tribe leader that he is merely a guide

for his friend, who is an alchemist. The alchemist says that the boy could

destroy the camp by simply turning himself into the wind. The chief laughs,

and grants them 3 days to perform this feat. If they cannot do it, their

lives are forfeit.

Santiago is terrified. He has no idea how to turn himself into the wind, and

quickly starts to panic. The alchemist gently tells him not to be afraid,

that his heart has the answers he needs to do this.

The first day the boy wanders around camp, and comes no closer to figuring

out how to turn himself into the wind. That night as he’s talking to the

alchemist, he asks him why he is even bothering to feed his falcon when they

might die. The alchemist smiles, and tells him “You might die. I already know

how to turn myself into the wind.”

The second day the boy climbs to the top of a cliff, and listens to his

heart. He does not learn how to turn himself into the wind.

On the third day, the chief and his men all gather on the cliff to watch the

boy. He warns the crowd that it may take awhile, and they all say they are in

no hurry. They sit down and wait. And then the desert begins to speak to

Santiago.

He tells the desert that it’s holding the woman he loves, and the desert

wants to know what love is. As the boy explains it, the desert says it can

lend its sand to help the wind blow, but if he wants to know how to turn

himself into the wind he must ask the wind itself. A breeze begins to kick

up, and the alchemist smiles to himself.

The wind already knows of the boy’s conversation because the wind knows

everything. It asks the boy how he knows the language of the world, and

Santiago says he learned it from his heart. The wind tells him that he can’t

turn himself into the wind no matter how much he wants to, because a boy and

the wind are two very different things.

Santiago tells the wind that they were both written by the same hand, and

that they’re really not that different. If the wind will only transform him

for a little bit, they could have a wonderful conversation about all of this.

The wind’s curiosity is aroused, which has never really happened before. It

begins to blow, but then quickly acknowledges that it doesn’t know how to

transform the boy. The wind tells him that maybe he should ask heaven, and so

Santiago asks the wind to blot out the sun so he can look towards heaven

without blinding himself. The wind howls, kicking up sand so the boy can look

upwards to ask his question.

The boy turns his head upwards, and asks the sun if it knows about love and

the Soul of the World. The sun says it does, because it loves the earth and

everything on it. As they talk, the boy tells the sun that when things strive

to become better then everything around them becomes better too. He realizes

that the sun doesn’t really know about love, or how to turn him into the

wind, and he asks the sun who he can talk to so his question can be answered.

The sun tells him that he needs to speak to the hand that wrote it all. The

wind, who is enjoying the conversation, screams in delight and blows even

harder. On the ground, the men are trying not to be blown away.

The boy turns to the hand that wrote it all and falls silent. In his heart he

begins to pray without words. He begins to understand that the wind and the

sun and the desert are all also trying to find their way and understand the

signs that are written by the one hand. He begins to realize that his soul is

the Soul of the World, which is the Soul of God. He sees that his soul is one

and the same as God’s soul, and that he can perform miracles.

When the wind ceases to blow, the boy is standing next to the chief, who

realizes he just witnessed a miracle. The next day, he allows the boy and the

alchemist to go free.

The next day they stop at a monastery. The alchemist tells Santiago that he

is only 3 hours from the Pyramids and that he will be going the rest of the

way alone. Before they part, however, the alchemist shows the boy that lead

can indeed be turned into gold. He turns lead into gold divides it in four

and keeps one with himself, gives one to the man whose kitchen he used to

transform lead and one to alchemist. He gives the remaining one part also to

the man and told alchemist to collect it later as he might need it.

Hours later Santiago climbs a dune and beholds the Egyptian Pyramids. He

weeps with happiness because he finally achieved his Personal Legend and saw

it through to the end. As he looks down to where his tears hit the sand he

sees a Scarab beetle, which in Egypt is a sign of God. He begins to dig deep

into the sand, and is convinced this is where his treasure lies.

He digs all day, but suddenly is surrounded by a group of men who steal his

money and then beat him severely. They force him to keep digging, and then

when there’s no gold to be found in the ground they leave him. Before they go

the leader tells Santiago that he’s not going to die, even though he feels

like he might. He tells him that he shouldn’t be so stupid to follow his

dreams, however. The thief says that 2 years ago right at this very spot he

had a dream of his own, that he should travel to a ruined church in Spain

where sheperds slept and dig deep at the roots of a big sycamore tree to find

a treasure. The thief says that he didn’t do it because he’s not stupid

enough to cross an entire desert over a recurrent dream.

After that, Santiago stands up and begins to laugh, because now he knows

where his treasure is.

He collects the remaining gold piece from the man and starts his journey

back.

Santiago reaches the church just as night is falling. As he begins to dig, he

remembers everything that led him to this very moment. Hours later, he has

before him a chest of gold Spanish coins and precious gemstones. He remembers

he has to get to the dream interpreter so he can give 1/10 of his treasure to

her as she demanded as her fee for interpreting the dream.

Suddenly the wind begins to blow from Africa and brings him the scent of a

perfume he knows well, and the touch of a kiss .

He has learned the language of the world and he realizes that the wind is

bringing the scent of fatima so he tells her he is coming.