While this is not the first time I have read the book, I am still moved by Coelho's words. It seems with the turning of the pages and the distance of Santiago's journey, the author instills these little bits of wisdom throughout the text. As you read, keep note of quotations that are particularly inspirational or eye-opening for you. A question on the 2004 AP Lit. exam asks students to answer the following question: "Critic Roland Barthes has said, 'Literature is the question minus the answer. ' What is the central question the work raises and to what extent if any is the question answered."
Consider some of these quotations as you search for the question and the answer the text may or may not provide. Also, feel free to include your own quotations. These are just some of my favorites from the first few pages:
Pg. 10 "I couldn't have found God in the seminary, he thought, as he looked at the sunrise."
Pg. 11 "It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."
Pg. 15 "It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only the wise men are able to understand them."
Pg. 16 "Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."
Pg 18 " 'What 's the world's greatest lie?' the boy asked, completely surprised.
'It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.' "
I would say that the question that was never answered would be if he found his personal legend or not. The book just cuts to an end right away and you never get a clear answer. I would like to think that he did find his personal legend. I don't think that the physical treasure was his true personal legend, maybe it was more along the lines of him trying to find his true self that was his real personal legend.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting Tonya. I think you ask a good question. Would the boy have realized his personal legend had he stayed home? Was it the journey that made him realize that all he valued was at his home the whole time? Good food for thought!
ReplyDeleteThe question that was never answered was what Santiago's Personal Legend was. When talking about Personal Legends, the King says, "It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is." Many people that read The Alchemist might believe that Santiago's Personal Legend was finding the treasure itself. However, like Tonya said, it wasn't the treasure at all. His true Personal Legend was the journey he took, what it taught him, and what he learned from it.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Santiago's Personal Legend? That is the main question The Alchemist asked. This question was answered, but every person that reads The Alchemist might have a different idea of what Santiago's Personal Legend was. Some people might believe that the Personal Legend was finding the treasure, but the treasure is just a piece of the puzzle. Santiago's Personal Legend was actually the journey itself, what it taught him, and what he learned from it.
ReplyDeleteSantiago's personal legend is one of perspective. Santiago viewed the treasure as his personal legend, but it is his journey and his pursuit of the treasure that can also be viewed as a "treasure" in its own right. It was in this pursuit he found the real treasure: the knowledge and wisdom he gained along the way. In a sense, isn't that the question? Was the treasure Santiago in pursuit of the physical treasure or the mental treasure? Santiago gained something priceless in meeting the people he met, from the situations and predicaments that he was involved in and the lessons he learned from both.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, if it wasn't for the treasure of wisedom, Santiago may never have found his physical treasure. For example, Santiago learned to listen to the omens from the king, which led him to the crystal merchant who helped Santiago learn the meaning of "maktub". This phrase taught Santiago to remain focused on his goal, for it was already written what was to happen. "Maktub" became Santiago's motto and he relied upon this phrase in order to survive the hardships in finding his physical treasure.
DeleteWas Santiago's personal legend to find the treasure or was it the journey he took to find it? Considering that the treasure was right beneath him to begin with, the journey it took him to find it was his true personal legend. To set out on a journey only to find yourself back where you started has to mean something more than just the material object at the end. The people he met, the places he saw, and the wisdom he gained while on the journey meant a great deal more than the treasure. The treaure won't be there forever, but everything that Santiago learned and accomplished on his journey will. That's why the journey was Santiago's personal legend, not the treasure itself.
ReplyDeleteThe question to ask is, did Santiago ever find out what his true personal legend was? In the end I believe he did find out what his personal legend was and more. In the beginning the King says that a personal legend is something you want to accomplsih. With this, is a force that may seem to push you away from your personal legend, but in the end its actually is trying to help you achieve it. Santiago's personal legend could have been the treasure or the girl he ends up falling in love with. The force may have stood for the new people he meet and the difficulties of his journey. In the end he found his personal legend, but he also found love, knowledge, and was taught how to work for something and never give up.
ReplyDeleteThe question this book asks readers is What was Santiago's Personal Legend? Was it the treasure, was it the journey to the pyramids to find the treasure, was it finding Fatima, or was it all those different parts combined. I think it was finding the treasure because the alchemist told him in the desert that if he turned back now, he would only be content with Fatima for a year or so. Then his urge to find the treasure would come back until he was so consumed with it that it was an obsession and he needed to find it no matter what; but by that point all the omens towards the treasure would be gone. So when he realizes where the treasure is at where his Personal Legend lies.
ReplyDeleteThe question in the Novel The Alchemist is what is his true personal legend. This question is never fully answered, so it is up to the reader to interpret. I would interpret his personal legend as the great journey he had to go on just to find his way back home. The bravery of selling his sheep just to travel over seas. The courage to leave his job which made him very successful and the willingness to travel across the whole desert. He then decided to leave his new found love to travel alone and ended up finding out that his personal treasure what truely back home where he had started. I believe knowledge, wisdom, and finding out he could do anything was his true personal legend that the King spoke of.
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