The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho's take on perseverance, self-knowledge and setting the right allegiances

Allegiance and dedication are things that people learn early in life. As they grow up, their surroundings influence them, and they learn step-by-step how to get the things they want. Some people depend on fate; others work for it solely, depending on nothing. In Paulo Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist, the lesson of dedication becomes prominent frequently as the young shepherd, Santiago, makes his journey to pursue his Personal Legend. His loyalty to himself and his dream is clearly the key point in how he manages to keep going without letting anything slow him down.

Without his perseverance to take to his journey open-mindedly, the end of the voyage would’ve been grim.

As Santiago takes the required steps to get to the Egyptian pyramids, as seen in his dreams, he finds that everyone has some sort of guidance for him. No matter how old or young the person is that he comes across, they have something for him to take from their acquaintance.

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“…as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend.” (25). This excerpt from The Alchemist is the first example of how Santiago’s elders prove to him that his Personal Legend is achievable. The quote simply means that once a person tires from the ongoing journey to seek his personal legend, he loses his focus. Soon, the prize that will come in time doesn’t matter anymore. Santiago sees this, and continuously pushes himself to keep going forward.

Selling his sheep, an action in which he does to get the money to get to the pyramids, is the perfect showing of how these words of wisdom affected him. He realizes that his dream must be worked for, which was the lesson all along.

Another factor that plays a part in the discovery of Santiago’s Personal Legend is his ability to control his self image and where that falls on his list of priorities. It is often stated in the book that once people start to care more of vanity or popularity, they lose their will to continue in search of their legend. “In the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important than their own Personal Legends.” (25). Because Santiago learned earlier that his pledge to himself was what would power him to seek his personal legend, he knows that no matter what people start to think of him or his money shouldn’t matter quite as much. As simply as working for the crystal merchant, Santiago uses this advice and puts it to good use. Though he must work for many months, nearly a year, Santiago quickly realizes that he can’t make the journey without the money to buy his sheep. He lets himself become a worker and therefore, he proves that he has the dedication to keep going smoothly along. Soon, he is able to buy back his sheep.

Eventually, Santiago is forced to make a difficult decision—to stay with Fatima, who he finds he is in love with, or to keep going to find his treasures. In making this decision, his ardor for what he wants most is put to the ultimate test. He knows that clearly, Fatima is somebody that he adores very much, but he also knows that he’s been working too hard to find his Personal Legend to let it all go. Earlier, it was stated, “Then you’ll die in the midst of trying to realize your Personal Legend. That’s a lot better than dying like millions of other people, who never even knew what their Personal Legends were.” (142). Santiago had worked very hard to change, to not be like the millions of others that lost their will. Simply, Santiago would rather die trying than to not try at all. This leads to him leaving Fatima behind and finding his Personal Legend in a very strange way.

Throughout the book, Santiago’s will and enthusiasm to find his Personal Legend conquers all. Love, fate, and wisdom all helped to fuel him, but without Santiago’s constant pestering to keep going, he would’ve never made it to find his Personal Legend in the end. His determination is proven in some strange ways, but they all matter. If Santiago had let his imagery get in the way of his journey, he would’ve given up the dream a long time beforehand. Perseverance took Santiago far in life, and it can do the same for anybody.