A life trained in sorrow will have the profundity of life
“If a person is living out his destiny, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” (Coelho 135) In The Alchemist, Santiago, a young dreamer leaves his homeland to see the whole new side of the world and to find the hidden treasure in the Egyptian Pyramids (that appeared in his dream). Santiago has to overcome his fears and obstacles to reach his goal. Santiago achieves his destiny by learning new things with curiosity, intelligence and determination.
Santiago has great curiosity even before he begins his journey, but he gains more curiosity as he steps closer to his destiny. The reason Santiago became a shepherd was because he was curious about how people in other lands lived. Santiago had a talk with his father about his curiosity. However, his father said that only rich people could afford to make journeys to other lands; but shepherds were the only one who could travel amongst them. Therefore, Santiago chooses to live as a shepherd. Traveling around from places to places Santiago learns how different cultures are from each other. One day Santiago dreams of a hidden treasure in the Pyramids of Egypt under a sycamore tree. And with his curiosity regarding to his dream leads him to an old amazing woman who interprets dreams. The old woman tells Santiago that he must make his journey to the Pyramids of Egypt. On the journey, Santiago, meets the alchemist. The alchemist is a wise man that answers everything Santiago asks him. “Does a man’s heart always help him?’ the boy asked the alchemist. “Mostly just the hearts of those who are trying to realize their destinies. But they do help children, drunkards, and the elderly, too.” “Does that mean…danger?” “It means…it can,” the alchemist said. (Coelho 129) Santiago was curious about if a man’s heart will always help him to overcome the obstacles. The alchemist tells him that the heart only does what it can. Not only does Santiago’s curiosity help him on his journey, he also moves closer to his destiny by gaining wisdom.
With the alchemist by his side, Santiago achieves a huge amount of new intelligence. When Santiago first began his journey, Santiago wasn’t sure about anything. When he was robbed and lost all his possessions, he was so shocked that he even thought about stopping his journey and going back home. But he continued on with his journey thinking of the old man (Melchizedek), who taught Santiago the Principle of Favorability, and also about how the world will conspire to help him to achieve his destiny. Santiago then goes through a journey with the alchemist. The alchemist teaches him that he should always listen to his heart. Then Santiago listens more carefully to his heart, which enables him to speak many languages of others. Santiago also uses the words of wisdom that the alchemist told him about and uses to persuade things to help him throughout the journey. “Help me,” the boy said. “One day you carried the voice of my loved one to me.” Who taught you to speak the language of the desert and the wind?” “My heart,” the boy answered. (Coelho 130) According to this quote, Santiago uses what he learnt from the alchemist to persuade the wind to help him out. With his new intelligence it made the journey easier for him. But if Santiago didn’t have perseverance, the curiosity and his intelligence would have just been useless.
Santiago had determination before he even started off his journey. “Amongst us, the only… shepherds.” “Well, then I’ll be a shepherd!” (Coelho 9) Here Santiago is so determined on wanting to know about the other lands that he chooses to live as a shepherd; even though he could choose a relaxing life by choosing to live as a priest. But another reason that describes him as a determine boy is because he didn’t regret on choosing to live as a shepherd. Santiago was not only determined towards his destiny but also to the lives of other people. Due to the help of Santiago, the crystal merchant made a lot of money. There were many times when Santiago could have stopped in his journey and head back home, especially when he couldn’t agree on what the alchemist was doing. However, watching/hearing the alchemist solve problems, talk in words of wisdom, teach life’s lessons Santiago gains a stronger determination on achieving his destiny.
The journey that took off for Santiago to Egypt was just a road of experience before he achieved his destiny. It is because at the end of his journey Santiago realizes that the treasure, he’s been looking for was just underneath the ground where he had dreamt on. When he got his treasure, Santiago not only gained wealth but the experiences he had during his journey. On the other hand Santiago would have failed at achieving his destiny and gained nothing if didn’t have curiosity, intelligence or determination. The Alchemist tells you that life with no grief is likely to be shallow and weak. It is because you need to go through some obstacles, in order to have a successful and happy life. It is important to achieve your destiny, because in the process, the world around you will let you know that a man trained in sorrow can know the profundity of life.
'Determination'
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Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. Meaning, if you don’t have any determination you wouldn’t have that much accomplished in your life. Like Santiago, determination is an essential thing for me to have in my journey to my destiny. Determination allows me to have a strong feeling on what I should go for. However, I hesitate for a while thinking if I should move on or stop but mostly choose to move on with my journey. Having determination enables me to have a burning fire of greed which makes me overcome the obstacles blocking my way to my destiny. Like Coelho states in The Alchemist you can only learn through action. But you should always think before you act. Not meaning that you should always be aware of everything around you because that would just destroy the point of determination. It just means that you should choose your decision wisely, because having determination won’t always reward you with great gifts of life. Having too much determination can actually hurt you more. So, it is always wise enough to control your determination over things. But you should always know that when your life is trained in sorrow you will have profundity of life.
