By: Paige McTernan
I first became aware of The Alchemist when I found the title on a summer reading list during my senior year of high school. I had never experienced the book up until now, but what I have experienced in this story of Personal Legends is indeed a miraculous one. I had mostly surrounded myself with cheesy gay rom-coms before, because having to read lengthy novels and analyzing them deeply for school had taken the fun out of reading for pleasure. However, reading The Alchemist provided me with a world I had yet to experience in all my years of reading — a feeling of finding oneself. I particularly loved the fact that each character that was introduced first through their point of view had Santiago come in at the last minute, then switched the point of view back to Santiago to continue his story, while also continuing the other character’s story.
When thinking about the intertextuality of this book, I found a lot of biblical references through the Symbolic Code. For example, there were many references to God and His influence on Santiago’s Personal Legend, especially through omens. One that really stuck out to me was Melchizedek, the old king that Santiago met in the beginning. He knew of Santiago’s dream of finding treasure at the Pyramids despite Santiago never telling anyone besides the Gypsy woman. The crystal merchant and the alchemist knew about it as well, and both had something, whether it was the crystal merchant’s smile or the alchemist’s words, that reminded Santiago of the old king. This gave me the idea that the old king is somehow God personified, or even a messenger of God that took multiple forms. In Santiago’s time of need to nudge him forward on his journey, there was always someone, another omen if you will, that inspired him in some way. After all, the old king did say, “I am always nearby when someone wants to realize their personal legend” (Coelho, 67).
Another couple of references through the Symbolic Code were the animals, elements, and worldly surroundings like the desert. On page 101, Fatima says, “Those who don’t return become part of the clouds, a part of the animals that hide in the ravines and of the water that comes from the earth. They become part of everything….they become the Soul of the World” (101). I remember when Santiago was trudging through the desert with the caravan, he tossed his book and instead observed his surroundings and befriended his camel. And I thought, “What if this was the old king’s way of reminding Santiago to keep his head high instead of low, lest he may miss the omens that lay ahead of him?” Had he kept his nose in his book, Santiago might not have understood the life around him, and he might not have noticed the hawks that gave him his vision of the impending army.
Now, what makes a legend in the world of Santiago? First off, for something to be referred to as a legend, it must achieve status from the people. For example, the biblical story of Joseph that was referenced on page 110 came in handy. Joseph was a man who could interpret dreams, and once his gift was proven true after he saved Egypt from famine, his story became a legend for generations to come. Now, I overlapped that with Santiago’s vision of an army coming to attack the oasis. At first, the chieftains didn’t believe him, however once they tested his vision and it was proven to be true, Santiago was made counselor of the oasis. That might have not been his Personal Legend, but he was the legend amongst the people of the oasis.
Through the Cultural Code, the Soul of the World is referenced quite a lot. For Santiago to reach his Personal Legend, he must first understand the Soul of the World, which was many things throughout the book; the sheep, the camels, the wind, the desert, the hawks, etc. I feel like understanding the Soul of the World was a cultural thing amongst the Arab people, as the ones that Santiago came into contact with knew the ways of nature and understood the omens. What really stood out to me was what the alchemist said to Santiago on page 132: “Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there”. Now, to me this could have meant two things: either the alchemist was talking about how your heart and soul returns to nature once you die, or it was foreshadowing Santiago realizing that his treasure was at the church in his homeland all along, and that his heart belonged home.
All You Read is Love 
Paige, I liked how you noticed the references of the Symbolic Code involving the elements and animals, I hadn’t made that connection. One thing I noticed early on is how certain names of characters allow us to predict their character traits. I first noticed this when Santiago seeks out the Gypsy in hopes that she can help him interpret his dream. I myself am descended from Romani Gypsies, and I’ve done a lot of research about their history and culture. I’ve found that many times, Gypsies are associated with fortune-telling and unfortunately, thievery. The saying “I got gypped” meaning “I got swindled,” was derived from stereotypes that surround Gypsies. I believe my knowing that Gypsies are associated with skilled fortune-telling, but also untrustworthiness, helped me understand why Santiago was so quick to refuse to believe what she was saying. Santiago even admits on page 14 “People said that Gypsies spent their lives tricking others. It was also said that they had a pact with the devil, and that they kidnapped children….” Santiago takes his previous knowledge of Gypsies that he’s heard second-hand and allows it to inform his situation, similar to how my previous knowledge of Gypsies allowed me to anticipate that the Gypsy would end up being correct in predictions of the treasure in Egypt. Many depictions of Gypsies in pop culture show them as untrustworthy, but extremely powerful (getting cursed by a Gypsy spells disaster in many horror movies). It’s interesting how Coelho was able to include this depiction, thereby supporting the stereotype and debunking it at the same time. The Gypsy proves to be trustworthy since she tells Santiago what he must do, but she’s also untrustworthy in a way for making him promise part of the fortune. One all-encompassing theme I’ve noticed when it comes to depictions of Gypsies is that they value self-preservation, and at times do need to resort to lying in order to survive, so it’s interesting that this depiction had her tell the truth, and become rewarded by doing so.
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I wanted to dive further into a topic you wrote about in the beginning of your post. The Alchemist talks heavily of omens and this sparked a curiosity in the origins of the word and previous meanings that were attributed to it. I decided to do some research, thinking maybe I could uncover something relating to the codes present in this post. According to wikipedia, an omen is described as, “a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. People in ancient times believed that omens bring a divine message from their gods,” (wikipedia). This is pretty spot on to what the narrator experiences through his experience with omens. I also found out that the origin of the word omen is unknown. The word omen, is most likely contributed to the latin word, audire, which means “to hear.” I thought that this was very interesting when you take into context the omens that Santiago receives in the book. It is explained through the book that omens make up parts of the universal language of the world. In a way, the book reiterates that omens really are something you hear. Whether you are seeing them, feeling them, or actually hearing them, through the universal language, you will hear them all the same.
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