The Alchemist - Blog 2

The old man spoke to the boy about the prophecies of life and insisted he follow his destiny to find the treasure. With this knowledge, the boy decided to go fulfil his dreams and go to Egypt. He thought about his sheep, and how he didn't want to leave them, knowing they would suffer without him. He then remembered that when he left his parents, they adjusted, so his sheep could as well.  He also thought about the merchant's daughter, then removing his thought, claiming that she had probably already forgotten about her. Santiago arrived in Egypt, filled with hope. Not too long after he arrived, he met a young man who claimed he could show him the way to the pyramids, but he needed the money for it. The young man took Santiago to a bar and he trustingly gave him his money as the bartender shouted. Unfortunately, Santiago didn't know this was a warning as the bartender spoke Arabic. The man told Santiago that he would come back to him soon and they would make their journey to the pyramids. Santiago waited for hours, only to realize that he was robbed. At this point, he was broke and lost all hope. He neared the point of giving up but he remembered the old man. He picked up what he had left, and began to wander, stumbling upon a store owned by a crystal merchant. Desperate to get back his money, the boy started working without being asked by the crystal merchant. At first, the merchant ignored the boy but then gave him a job after realizing that the boy had brought new customers to his store. The boy worked there for over a month but he wasn't happy although he was paid well. As Santiago and the merchant became closer over many months, the merchant told him about his dreams of going to Mecca. At this point, he had enough money to go there. He claimed that if he goes, his dreams would be fulfilled and he would have nothing to live for, so he'd rather remain the same, as he didn't like change. The boy shared with him his knowledge of dreams and destiny which he learned from the old man. It had been about a year and the boy could speak Arabic and he finally had enough money to leave the store and go to the pyramids. He remembered that the king was always nearby when someone wants to figure out their destiny, thinking that it all worked out. He then met an Englishman on a bench near a warehouse, who had a bag filled with books. Santiago tried to converse with the Englishman, coming to figure that he had a destiny as well. The Englishman wanted to meet an alchemist. They both boarded a caravan that took them through the desert. On the journey, Santigo and the Englishman made a bond with each other after a period of unsteadiness. The Englishman allowed him to read his books, hoping for him to learn about alchemy as well. After reading one of his books on alchemy, the Englishman asked him "Did you learn anything?", but was disappointed with his answer. (pg.192) The caravan then had to stop at the Al-Fayoum oasis, to avoid being endangered by an ongoing war. Santiago and the Englishman decided to search for the alchemist while they were there. While searching, Santiago came upon a young woman who he instantly fell in love with, claiming that the would of the world was within him. Soon after, the Englishman wandered off on his own, only to return the next morning, meeting the alchemist who told him that he should try to transform lead into gold,  which he had done so many times.

My thoughts: This section of the book has been even more intriguing than the previous section as the story develops. I learn much about Santiago and his personality and the way he sees the world. Throughout this part of the story, I feel as though I'm in Santiago's position and as if I'm learning the lessons he is learning although I haven't even had the experience to learn these lessons. I relate to him when he experiences different emotions such as hopelessness and love. I do think that he is very intelligent but allows himself to be vulnerable at times to learn new things because learning is a part of who he is.