Good Opportunities Lead to a Good Destiny

Riadh Al Daqqa

09/09/09

Humanities Yellow

Alex Smith

A king a Merchant and a Alchemist

“Its true life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny, the boy thought.” (Coelho 160) This quote represents the theme of both the book The Alchemist and its main character Santiago. The whole story of the Alchemist is about Santiago going on a long journey to find his purpose in the world. Even though he went through so much trouble and problems, he was still confident and determined to achieve his destiny. Even after his destiny ‘bit him in the back’, he was still good-natured enough to have respect for things that were stronger than he was. Santiago started out as a lonely shepherd boy who found that he needed to achieve his destiny. However, by the end of the book he had become a powerful alchemist who could reach the soul of the world and communicate with God. The book takes place in many different sites, from the Andalusia countryside to the great markets of northern Egypt, the Sahara Desert and finally the Great Pyramids. Santiago goes on the journey of a lifetime and he meets many different people and exchanges knowledge with them. Also, on his journey, he meets the love of his life, a desert girl. Santiago possesses qualities such as confidence, good nature, and determination, which helped him survive his adventure, and eventually to achieve his destiny. These traits guided Santiago through his problems like a master guides a pupil. Without confidence, good-heartedness and determination, Santiago would have failed the test that he faced.

On Santiago’s journey he encountered many situations where he faced something terrible like the war during the time he was in a caravan, but Santiago never gave up being friendly and never gave up on his destiny. This shows that Santiago was good hearted. If he wasn’t good hearted he wouldn’t have been kind to the ‘English man’ and they wouldn’t have exchanged their knowledge. This is why good nature is a key trait for Santiago. Even when destiny has fooled him wrongly, almost to the point of death, Santiago is still determined enough to keep on going and to fulfill his destiny as it shows in this quote, “The boy stood up shakily, and looked once more at the pyramids. They seemed to laugh at him, and he laughed back, his heart bursting with joy. Because now he knew were his treasure is”. (155) It is the same when Santiago got stuck working at a crystal merchant’s stall. He did not just sit around and only do what he is asked but he also did things he did not need to do, out of pure kindness like giving the merchant new ideas on improving his business. Also he helped the English man in a lot of ways like looking for the alchemist at the oasis and helping him interpret the language of the world. Overall Santiago’s good nature let him exchange knowledge with others and improve his own situation. With a bit of confidence and determination he could definitely reach his destiny.

Surely no ordinary person would go on such a long journey just to reach his destiny, but Santiago went through lots of hard times to achieve this, even though he was so young and inexperienced. This shows that he had a lot of confidence in himself and knew that the soul of the world was guiding him. Probably the strongest sign of Santiago’s confidence comes right at the end of the book. He finds that finally he knows what the soul of the world is, “The boy reached through to the Soul of the World, and saw that it was part of the Soul of God. And he saw that the Soul of God was his own soul. And that he, a boy, could perform miracles. (145) But even though this is the main example Santiago also shows confidence all the way through the book. For example, when he was in the caravan, and there was a massive tribal war, Santiago didn’t freak out, he stayed confident in his fate and because of this he could think clearly and survive the war. It was the same as the thief came in the market in Tangier and in this unknown place, even though he had nothing, Santiago said to himself “I am an adventurer, looking for treasure,”(40) and he continued with his adventure. Santiago’s confidence that gave him determination is the thing that got him through all the difficult situations he encountered and gave him the strength to continue on his journey no matter what happened to him.

Throughout the book Santiago has shown great determination in reaching his destiny. On frequent occasions of the book he has put aside all his troubles and has headed straight towards his destiny. One example of this is where Santiago promised to work for the crystal merchant so he could earn money to continue his journey. He said, “I can work for the rest of today… I’ll work all night, until dawn, and I’ll clean every piece of crystal in your shop. In return, I need money to get to Egypt tomorrow.” The crystal merchant made it clear that Santiago would need to work a lot more than a day to get enough money. Santiago was disappointed, but because he was determined he worked hard for that year and eventually got the money. Another time Santiago showed determination was when he confronted the tribal chieftains about an omen he saw that predicted a war. This took a lot of courage, because the chieftains told him that they would kill Santiago if he were wrong. But Santiago was so determined to help the people of the oasis that he didn’t even try to escape. Finally, at the very end of the book, when Santiago realizes that the treasure he has been searching for are actually back at the church where he started his journey, he did not give up. Santiago was determined to fulfill his destiny, and he travelled all the way to Spain. During his many adventures, Santiago has experienced some downfalls. Although he almost gave up at one stage, his determination led him to finish an almost impossible mission.

As said in the beginning quote if you use your traits like Santiago did, and reach your destiny, life will be generous to you. Santiago’s unique traits that include confidence, determination and good heartedness eventually guided him to the soul of the world, the love of his life and finally treasure. His destiny was to go on this difficult journey, and Santiago would not have been able to make it to the end without these character traits. They helped him to every problem that came his way, his good nature kept him positive even when things looked bad, his confidence gave him the support he needed to keep going on his journey, and his determination meant that he never gave up. When you think of Santiago you think about how he crossed the Sahara desert and gained his treasure because he was so strong and adventurous but really it was the small traits the lead him to a king, a merchant, a camel driver, a alchemist and his love, but really his traits all lead to one thing, his destiny.

One trait that I have that helps me to achieve my destiny is that I am a opportunity-taker that benefit me for my future

When I think of what my destiny will be, many different ideas come into my head. Of course I don't know the future, but I know that I need to look out for opportunities that come up because opportunities are what will get me to my destiny. For example, if you want to do something for a job you cannot just show up and get the job straight away, you must grab hold of different opportunities that will lead you to your job. One of my dad's friend is a pilot and since I want to become a pilot and see that as part of destiny, he can help me reach that goal through giving opportunities like letting me try out a real flight simulator. Another opportunity I have is my education. Education will help me to achieve my destiny by learning about things that will have to relate to it. For example, if I want to become a pilot I will need to learn meteorology in science which would help me understand flying more. I think that the reason Santiago found his destiny was because of the great opportunities he had, and I think that opportunities is what will lead me to my destiny.