The Alchemist Holly larson P. 4
“Two more months passed,and the shelf brought many customers into the crystal shop” (57)
The merchant is glad that he hired Santiago because he brought in more customers. Santiago helped the merchant make more business by making the place look cleaner. This connects to regular life because if something looks cleaner in a store,it will attract more customers. If something looks clean and polished, more people would come over and look at it. This applies to real life, because in a store, if the merchandise is clean, in order, or looks new, the greater the chance more of it will be purchased. Also, if your bedroom or any room of your home is clean, the better you would feel about having people or being in the room.
“It is this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what is happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.” (18)
This statement was spoken by King Melchizedek to Santiago about the book Santiago is reading. By saying that the world’s greatest lie is that we are controlled by fate, he is implying that individuals control their own futures. This stood out because it shows that we have the ability to change our future. Some people believe that their life is already written out, but it actually isn't. We have the potential to forge our own life story and live it. If we do that, we can be happy and have no regrets when we are at our deathbed. Like the video about people having regrets about their life, that we saw in class, people are worried about not living their life. Some people are so worried about what others think about them, so they forget about what they truly love to do and that dream just dwindles down and eventually dies. And then their heart aches and tells them that they should have followed their heart; then they have regrets later in life.
“There must be a language that doesn’t depend upon words the boy thought” (46)
Santiago thinks that he can communicate without using a verbal language. It shows that people are able to communicate without speaking. In real life, there are many other ways of speaking to each other, other than verbal words. Some people say that music is a universal language, which is true. We use music to tell stories that maybe aren't easy to tell, that are hard to put into words. We create paintings and other works of art to express ourselves and sometimes tell our life stories. Some people write, some paint or draw, or some play instruments, as a way to express how they feel.
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” (22)
King Melchizedek is explaining the universe’s convergence to Santiago. The universe converges to help someone achieve their personal legend. When you want something with all of your heart and being, it will help pull you towards it. When you are a young child, and you see something you like, you just stop and stare at it. Your mind is so fascinated that there is such thing in existence and you think, "I MUST HAVE IT", but you can't get it because you have toys at home, your parents say. So you're sad all the way home, and you can't stop thinking about that specific toy. Some time later, you get a surprise at home and you open it, and you scream in joy. Your parents were able to purchase it somehow. This is an example of the universe conspiring to help you get it. When you really, really want something, the universe tries it best to get it to you. And it does its job.
“There is only one way to learn, It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey” (129)
The Alchemist says that the only correct way to learn, is to do it yourself. Learning from someone else, you only learn so much. This quote states a very easy to understand the truth about life, that it is in experiencing and taking part in something that you really learn about it, whatever it is. In life, the way that you learn how to do things is by experiencing it, not just by reading about it. It is just like learning how to ride a bicycle. At first you try, then you fall and cry. Then the next day, you try again and again over and over until you go and your parent lets go and you don't notice until you look back and see them watching you in the distance. Then you fall, but you don't cry as much as you did the first time. You just laugh that exclaim that you were riding your bike! That is an example of a real life experience where you learn to do something. Life is just like learning how to ride a bike, you fall down a couple of times and you keep trying until you can do it for a long period of time. Then you try something else after that and repeat the process of learning.
“Wherever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure”(132)
This quote states that your heart will yearn to go to the treasure that it seeks, and push you until it gets to it. “Heart” is a metaphor to yourself. Knowing where it wants to go, is knowing where you want to go in one day. Your heart is a leader, it will show you the direction of your treasure. In my life, I have had to make choices that could have had a major impact on my life, and I followed my heart and made the choices that I have made. Throughout our lives, we will have to make choices, some much more tough than others, and we will get the outcomes of our choices. The end results may be hard and we end up failing what we were doing, but we learn to not make the same mistake again. We make the simplest choices, such as choosing what to wear for the day to deciding when to propose the person that you love. And if we make the wrong choice, we can make the whole day go bad. In the end, life is all about making choices whether they end up being good or bad.
Credits:
Created with images by annca - "crystal glasses crystal glass" • ray79Forever - "Sunset" • DariuszSankowski - "knowledge book library" • Mount Rainier NPS - "Wildflower Meadow" • jpeter2 - "desert morocco sand dune" • Unsplash - "heart padlock love"