Thesis: Making hard decisions is a vital step in achieving your personal legend as shown throughout Selena, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Lesson Of The Moth, and The Alchemist.

Detail one: The Alchemist states, "Here I am, between my flock and my treasure, the boy thought. He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have" (Coelho, 30). He had to make a hard decision to stay where he was comfortable or chase something he wanted.

Commentary one:

Selena had to choose to either follow along with her father where she was comfortable or to start her life with her lover. As you can see Selena made a hard decision to marry Chris against her father's will and possibly face being disowned. She did this to follow her personal legend, to have a family, and to be happy. Just as Santiago made his decision to set out for the pyramids and find his treasure.

Detail two: In The Alchemist Santiago decides to not ask the boy for his money back in fear of offending his friend although he knew that the boy was capable of stealing it. The book quotes, "He thought about asking him to give it back, but decided that would be unfriendly. He knew nothing about the customs of the strange land he was in." (Coelho, 40).

Commentary two: In To Kill A Mockingbird it states, "'How could they do it, how could they?' 'I don't know, but they did it. They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it seems that only children weep.'" (Lee, 213). This quote expresses that even though Atticus knew how the jury would decide he made the hard decision to take the case although the odds were not in his favor. He did this because he was following his personal legend to help people and to do what he felt in his heart was right. Santiago had a similar feeling that the odds were not in his favor, but still trusted the boy because that is what he felt was right to do.

Detail three: The Alchemist says, "The horseman was completely immobile, as was the boy. It didn't even occur to the boy to flee. In his heart, he felt a strange sense of joy: he was about to die in pursuit of his Personal Legend." (Coelho, 114).

Commentary three:

This poem explains that the moth made a hard decision to burn himself up in beauty because he followed his personal legend to be happy even if just for a moment. Santiago reacted similarly in his situation, he was not scared but rather happy. He would rather die trying to live his personal legend then live a long meaningless life, just as the moth had demonstrated.