The Alchemist - Blog 1

This narrative currently entails a young shepherd named Santiago who travels from place to place in Spain, offering the sale of the wool from his herd of sheep to merchants. He has a fondness for exploration and reading. In Andalusia, he came upon the daughter of a merchant who he couldn't stop thinking about since he saw her on his previous travel the year before. As Santiago made his return to the said merchant, he was again blessed with her presence as she exclaimed "I didn't know shepherds knew how to read," on page 9. He spoke to her for hours, telling her stories of his travels, realizing that he was slowly falling in love with her. After leaving, he reminisces the days of his father giving him three Spanish gold coins to fulfill his dreams of being a shepherd. He dreamt about having a life with the daughter of the merchant and went to an old lady in Tarifa who interprets dreams. He spoke to her of his dreams of finding hidden treasure in Egypt. The woman knew nothing of Egypt, but bargained for one-tenth of his treasure had she interpreted his dream. Santiago left as disappointed as the woman stated the obvious, "There you will find a treasure that will make you a rich man." He realized that he had better things to accomplish at the moment. Soon after, he read his new book on a bench, thinking about shearing his sheep in the presence of the merchant daughter to prove his ability to do hard tasks. As he read, an old man approached him and spoke to him to which he disengaged the conversation. The old man questioned the book the boy was reading, so the boy showed him the book. To Santiago's surprise, the old man knew of the book and had read it before. The old man then stated his thoughts on the book which made Santiago think. The old man then had an elaborate discussion with Santiago about destiny as he revealed that he was the King of Salem, Melchizedek.

My thoughts: 

This book is very captivating so far and has sparked my internet to continue reading. It features a lot of relatable scenarios and statements similar to experiences that I have had in my life. When the narrator says "If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own." on page 34, it struck a bone in my body as I've had experiences of other people wanting my life to be structured a certain way which I seldom agreed with. Also, when the old man on the bench remarks the lies of Santiago's book on page 40 "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 connect with this statement, especially as a young person who is still navigating who I am and what I'm destined to be.