77 pages • 2 hours read
Paulo CoelhoThe Alchemist
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1988A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Character Analysis
Santiago
The protagonist, Santiago, is a shepherd hailing from a small town in Andalusia, Spain. From the beginning of the novel, he is portrayed as headstrong and determined, though with an innate curiosity that guides him through his journey. He loves to read and—even as a lowly shepherd—he is always searching for new books to read and new worlds to explore. From a young age, he was trained to be a priest. However, he left the seminary in his teenage years, unsatisfied with the direction his life was taking. Though his parents were invested in him becoming a priest, they gave him their blessing and enough money to buy the first few sheep of his flock.
As a shepherd, Santiago loves that he can travel around the countryside. He wants to return to the small town where he met a girl the previous year; he has been thinking about her ever since and dreams of marrying her. At first, these dreams are somewhat conservative. Though Santiago is ambitious—he wants to travel and does not settle for life as a priest—he is still limited in his ambition. He worries that a girl will not want to marry a lowly shepherd. Then, he begins to have actual dreams. In the ruined church with a tree growing in the middle, he lies down and dreams of the pyramids in Egypt. Beside them, his dream tells him, is a buried treasure. Soon, the scope of Santiago’s ambitions begins to grow: He travels to Tangiers, learns Arabic, and crosses the desert toward Egypt, risking his life. There is a marked change between the limited scope of Santiago’s dreams at the beginning of the novel and the dreams and ambitions as they evolve throughout the story.
This change occurs after Santiago meets the elderly and mysterious Melchizedek, a watershed moment in Santiago’s life. The meeting opens up Santiago to new and interesting experiences, unlocking the true scale of his ambition. Appropriately enough, their encounter begins with a book. Melchizedek sits beside Santiago and makes conversation. It is only when Melchizedek provides an analysis of the book Santiago holds in his hands that Santiago begins to pay serious attention to the old man. Just as the content of the books (when read) would expose Santiago to new worlds, the book in his hand is his gateway to great treasures. This analysis of the book teaches Santiago to trust Melchizedek and, from this point on, he begins to trust even more in the power of omens and the forces of nature that surround him. Melchizedek teaches Santiago about the spiritual possibilities of the world and how to fulfill his own Personal Legend.
This is a lesson that Santiago takes to heart. Melchizedek teaches Santiago to be uncompromising in his approach, to never deviate from what his heart tells him to do. Though there are points (his time in the crystal shop and the oasis) when Santiago seems to be set on staying in one place or turning his back on his Personal Legend, Melchizedek’s lessons eventually win out. By giving himself over entirely to the teachings of Melchizedek, Santiago becomes more powerful and more capable of achieving his dreams. The pursuit of the Soul of the World is evidence of this. When crossing the desert, Santiago notices the universal language employed by everything around him, from people to camels to hawks to the wind. Slowly, he begins to learn this language. This knowledge begins Santiago’s entry into the world of alchemy. While people like the Englishman are stuck trying to turn lead into gold, Santiago learns the true alchemy of the world, culminating in the scene where he turns himself into the wind. In doing so, he communicates directly with the higher being (be it God or Allah) and finds himself in tune with nature and the world around him. From a lowly shepherd boy to a man talking directly to a deity, Santiago’s growth is made possible through the education given to him by Melchizedek.
The Alchemist
According to legend, alchemy is a field rife with ancient wisdom and knowledge. In the text, there is one character who embodies this to the extent that he is referred to solely as “the alchemist.” The use of lowercase letters in the name indicates that this is a profession, rather than a title, just as the merchant or the chieftain are named after their professions. Of all the characters in the text, the alchemist is perhaps the most mysterious. Not only is he supposedly as old as 200 years, he can also turn lead into gold (as well as perform a number of other tricks). He lives in the Al-Fayoum oasis, a spring of life in the middle of a harsh and arid desert. Even in this community, he lives apart. His tent is found to the south of the oasis and few members of the community will dare to speak about his to outsiders (such as Santiago and the Englishman). Indeed, many of them do not even know that he exists. His importance is demonstrated by the fact that even the chiefs of the oasis tribe must request a meeting with the alchemist if they want to see him. Before he even appears in the text, it is clear that other people hold him in high regard.
To that end, his meeting with Santiago is a flurry of excitement, risk, and weaponry. As the oasis prepares for an attack by an army Santiago has seen in a prophecy, Santiago wanders out into the hinterland. There, he hears the pounding of hooves, and a cloud of dust is thrown up around him. When it settles, he sees a masked figure on the back of a horse, a falcon on his shoulder and a sword in his hand. With an army ready to attack the oasis, the threat is clear: This could be a warring tribesman or a bandit, launching their attack early.
Before revealing his identity, the alchemist demands that Santiago confess to seeing a vision and then makes the Spanish boy bend down in front of him. Santiago obliges, expecting to have his head cut off. Rather than cut off Santiago’s head, he uses the sword to draw a single drop of blood. The entire scene has a ritualistic quality, as though Santiago is being ushered into a new and magical world. This is reinforced when the alchemist reveals his true nature, as well as when he shows off his possessions: the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life. Despite possessing these extraordinary powers and capabilities, the alchemist seems only to use them on rare occasions. Instead of an all-powerful wizard, he plays the role of a teacher, revealing to Santiago the true power of alchemy. His riddles and abstract expressions encourage Santiago to learn through experience. By the end of the text, Santiago has learned everything that he needs to know, and his actions often reflect the alchemist’s teachings.
These teachings are inextricably linked to alchemy, which is a theme and a metaphor all at once. On the surface, the field seems simple: a pursuit of the ability to turn base metals into gold. However, alchemy becomes more abstract and, hence, the alchemist becomes a more abstract character. Soon, it is revealed to Santiago that alchemy involves turning one element into another. On occasions, these elements may not even be physical. When Santiago is ordered to turn into the wind, he uses his alchemy skills to speak to the Soul of the World. This is knowledge that the alchemist has passed along and seems to have nothing to do with base metals or gold.
Instead, the wider and more abstract meaning of the alchemist’s teachings tie into the foundational themes of the novel: the pursuit of individual truths and personal goals. The alchemist is the conduit through which Santiago learns how to access these themes. In that sense, Santiago becomes one of the alchemist’s projects himself. The alchemist helps turn and inquisitive shepherd boy into one of the most powerful beings in the world, able to transform himself into wind and discover great fortunes. The alchemist’s ability to transform men is just as important as his ability to transform base metals. In that, he is the undisputed master.
Fatima
In a novel with very few female characters, Fatima is perhaps the most prominent. There are others—the unnamed girl who has occupied Santiago’s thoughts for more than a year and the Roma woman who reads his fortune—but they are little more than side characters, who shift along the plot and are mentioned only in passing for the rest of the novel. From the moment Santiago sees Fatima, she becomes the central female figure in his life. Even then, she is given little more to do than chores. When Santiago meets Fatima, she is fetching water from a well. Every day, when he sees her, she is doing the same. When Santiago departs, her first instinct is to go about her daily tasks in the knowledge that he has already left. There is little to her life other than the tasks she carries out in the aid of her community. The qualities that she possesses, as conveyed by Santiago, are perceived through a male gaze. She is beautiful and attendant. She is loyal and committed. Outside of her role as a love interest, her character is as empty as the desert that surrounds the oasis.
Indeed, the key moment for her character arrives when Santiago is about to depart. He has told her everything about his life up until this point, including his belief that there is a treasure buried beside the pyramids waiting to be uncovered. She understands that he has a purpose in life and, when he tells her that he is considering staying behind to be with her, she urges him to leave. In that moment, she changes. She is no longer a woman, but she is a woman who waits—an identity common to people in the oasis. The women of the oasis understand that the men need to travel to other places and that this will take a long time. When the men go, the women wait for the men. Fatima is willing to wait for Santiago because she has inherited this cultural expectation.
Just like fetching the water from the well and carrying out her other chores, Fatima’s promise to wait for Santiago is an example of her fulfilling a societal expectation. Furthermore, in that moment, she ceases to be defined as an individual. She is now defined by Santiago’s absence; she is no longer a woman but she is a woman who waits. This carries a subtle difference, as there is a perpetually implied male proximity. Fatima becomes a woman who is waiting for a man, and everything that she does is now simply filling time until Santiago returns. Whatever she does, she will be doing it as a woman who waits, confined to this identity that depends on the location of a man. With seemingly no goal or Personal Legend of her own, Fatima is subsumed into the wider story of Santiago. While she is the closest the novel has to a fully-fledged female character, she is barely a character at all.
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