The Motorcycle Diaries Film and The Alchemist Novel

In the film adaptation of the Motorcycle Diaries by Alberto Granado and Ernesto Guevara and the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the physical and mental challenges of crossing boundaries is shown through the use of irony, symbolism and the setting. Both are adventures about young men who leave home believing one thing and then come home changed completely. Irony is evident when Guevara, leaves his home in order to not only volunteer at a leper colony for a time, but to travel across South America.

However, on the way Guevara begins to understand how his family's wealth comes at a cost. Furthermore he reaches a turning point which alters the course of history. Guevara set out to travel South America, but in the end it was so much more. In the film Guevara questions himself "How is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world I never knew? " This quote explores the inner workings of Guevara's turmoil. Guevara has lived his whole life in a small world, and never venture out, despite the fact he is suppose to be glad he is well off, Guevara feels regret for what he didn't see.

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What's more, this quote explores the remorse Guevara feels for not crossing the mental boundaries in the social hierarchy of South America, he feels that maybe if he had done something the world would be a better place. In the alchemist, Santiago leaves his home in order to seek his personal legend, but along the way he is confronted with the realities of the world he lives in.

He begins to doubt himself along the way and he wonders whether or not he is truly capable of achieving his personal legend, yet every time he was about to give up something happened to change his mind.

Ironically, in the end Santiago finds that his treasure was exactly where he started. Both the alchemist and the motorcycle diaries feature Spanish Main characters that start out believing one thing but in the end have a view on the world that is completely opposite. Furthermore Guevara and Santiago also both doubt themselves, thinking all is lost at certain point, yet ironically they always manage to pick themselves up and keep going.

Both characters are crossing physical and mental boundaries; both are travelling to places they'd never thought they'd see and becoming people beyond there original fai?? ade of personality In both of the compared, the main character preformed a physically impossible task, its meaning went beyond the literal meaning. In the alchemist Santiago turned himself into the wind. This is a task that in Santiago's world was termed impossible, yet Santiago managed to do it, not by coincidence but by believing he could do it.

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure. " Santiago was not afraid of attempting something he had never done before, because he knew if he was afraid he would fail, and in doing so lose his life. This symbolises Santiago's growth as a human being, because as Santiago learned more, the closer eh came to achieving his goal until the turning point of becoming the wind. For at that point Santiago no longer cared what was and was not possible, he knew that if he really wanted something the universe would conspire to help him achieve it.

Similarly in the motorcycle diaries, Guevara swam across a river that had never been swam across before. He had asthma and everyone told him he could not make it, yet despite the challenge he faced, he did not give up. Guevara by swimming across the river that segregated the sick from the non sick at sano Paulo leprosy reserve, displays a vital quality that he cares more about human dignity then social norms. This symbolises the change in Guevara, from an ignorant university student, to an enlightened man of the world.

Guevara, by crossing the river, also crossed the cultural boundaries; by refusing to do what everyone else did just because it had always been done that way. Santiago and Guevara cross boundaries both physically and culturally, by accomplishing the impossible and doing what they believed was right. In conclusion, the alchemist and the motorcycle diaries display conceding attributes which not only enhance the quality of the works, but emphasize the meaning behind them.

Moreover this quality is furthered by the use of multiple literary devices of which add sophistication to the overall end product. Irony and symbolism throughout the Alchemist and the Motorcycle Diaries highlight important events within the works. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our International Baccalaureate Languages section.