The Alchemist - Blog 3

After meeting Fatima, Santiago visited her often and became friends with her, telling her about his life and journey. Before long, the caravan leader told the people that the war could last for years, as Allah was fighting on both sides. Soon enough, Fatima fell in love with Santiago as well and didn't want his love for her to hold him back from his dreams, claiming that their love would be unchanged like the desert. He wandered the desert, looking for answers about his life, trying to distinguish love from possession. As he wandered, he began to understand the language of the world. With this knowledge, he glimpsed the colliding of hawks in the air and quickly envisioned an army attacking the oasis. At once, he warned the camel driver of the army, only for him to call the boy a seer. The camel driver told the boy stories of seers who were feared because they saw the future even when sometimes wrong. Santiago then went to the luxurious tent of the army chief to warn him about his visions. The chief listened and declared that if guns were not used the following day to fight enemies, it would be used on the boy himself. Santiago was nervous but trusted his omen. He then paced into the desert, halting upon a man dressed in all black who questioned his reading of the language of the desert. The man pointed a sword to Santiago's head as he answered, but he wasn't afraid to die. The man realized that the boy was courageous and different from the average person. In time, the boy came to realize that he had met the alchemist. The subsequent day, two thousand soldiers appeared at the oasis. The enemy commander was the only survivor and he was hung for breaking the tradition of an oasis being neutral territory. Santiago was granted 50 pieces of gold and asked to become counsellor of the oasis. The boy rode to the alchemist the next morning as he promised. While they ate and drank, the boy told the alchemist of the Englishman who was looking for him. The alchemist explained that the Englishman was essentially just a person who guided him to his destiny, even though the Englishman was the one destined to meet the alchemist. They both trailed into the desert when the alchemist hastily extracted a venomous cobra from the dense sand. He then drew a circle around the cobra to contain it. The alchemist related this to the boy's life if he went back to the oasis. They continued their travel, coming closer and closer to the end, and the boy was congratulated by the alchemist for coming this far. In the midst of this period, the boy became perplexed with the emotions of his heart. He struggled as he thought about Fatima and the negative outcome of his journey. He turned to the alchemist who advised him to trust his heart so he could overcome its feelings. Later, they were both confronted by some horsemen who took all of their belongings. They were taken to the chief who questioned their motives. The alchemist averred that he and the boy were alchemist, which he explained to the chief. To prove this to the chief, the alchmeist professed that the boy would turn himself into wind. Givne three days, the chief set them free for the time being. Shocked and fearful, the boy protested to the alchemist that he didn't know hot o do such a task. The alchmeist proclaimed that he had to learn, as it was the cost of their lives. The day promptly arrived, and the boy's fate was in his hands. The boy stood atop a cliff where he began his process. He spoke to the desert, the wind and the sun as he gained a great deal of wisdom in that moment. Soon. there was a colossal sandstorm at the camp. The alchemist and the chief were pleased by the boy, and they were liberated. They were escorted for the rest of their journey until the approached a monastery. There, the boy saw the process of lead being turned into gold. Thus, they parted ways as the boy left the alchemist saturated with knowledge. Ultimatley, the pyramids emerged Santiago and found his treasure. He dug and dug, until two men approached him and halted his pursuit. They stole his belongings, beat him and figured that he was digging for more treause. At this point, Santiago's life flashed before his eyes. He pondered the journey of his life and everything he went through, detesting that it would amount to this.  As he told the men of his dream to find the Egyptian treasure, one of them shared his experience of searching for treausre to which he was unsuccessful. Thinking this would be the same case for Santiago, the men left him, alleging that he would find nothing. The next morning approached, and the boy kept digging. Within time, he found a chest filled with Spanish gold coins amongst other pretentious materials. Exhilarated, he realized that he had completed his destiny and made his way back to Fatima.

My thoughts: The most defining moments of the narrative occur in this area of the book. I really got to experienced the growth of Santiago as a character, which felt so real, making me forget that I was reading something fictional, but rather a true story. I could relate to him and feel his emotions when he fell in love, as they resonated for my longing for love as well. I think the essence of unexpected events is demonstrated greatly as Santigo became an alchemist which was never a part of his original destiny. Entirely, I think this narrative elucidates destiny and truly reveals what life is all about.