Life > August 28, 2006

By Caitlin Kenney

Staff writer

“To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation.” So says Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, a story that uses deceptive simplicity to weave a message of universal and spiritual importance.

Coelho’s story follows a simple outline. Santiago, a Spanish shepherd boy has a dream of hidden treasure, so he sells his flock to follow his dream into the Sahara Desert and ultimately towards the Egyptian pyramids.

But in search of the treasure, Santiago develops an understanding of the world and the people in it. Through his conversations with a Gypsy fortune teller, a Salem king, a crystal merchant, a troubled Englishman and the alchemist, Santiago learns about the Soul of the World and the universal language.

The Alchemist is a fast read, easily finished in one or two sittings, making it the perfect book for a busy college student. The book is certainly not for fans of fluffy summer reads or sassy chic lit.

Rather, it brims over with inspiring one-liners you’ll want to add to your AIM profile or it may just inspire you to delve more deeply into eastern religion.

Coelho, who is a Christian, identifies with and presents a spirituality that is outside organized religion and uses his book to explore ideas of personal destiny and connection with the natural world.

Santiago’s quest is in no way purely spiritual — the shepherd boy is searching for his fortune and a way to support the woman of his dreams. But Santiago is only able to realize his personal legend by learning to understand the language of the world and his purpose in it.

The Alchemist presents the idea that every individual has a personal legend, a destiny that they have always wanted to accomplish. When people are young, this destiny is easy to long for and anything seems possible.

Yet something comes to stand in the way of this dream. Coelho writes “but, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their destiny.” In other words, people convince themselves that they cannot accomplish their goals. The Alchemist strikes a chord with anyone who has a dream, but sets that dream aside for what is easier or what is safer.

In that sense, the book is perfect for college students, many of whom are actively in the process of convincing themselves that it would be impossible to realize their dreams. The Alchemist causes you to think about what makes you happy and what doesn’t, about why you are happy or why not. 

Coelho says “when each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises.”

Reading The Alchemist won’t take much time at all, but the result is well worth it. Don’t let talk of universal languages and connections with the natural world scare you off.

This book is deeply personal and inspiring, but also uplifting and motivating. Santiago’s journey will make you look a more closely at your personal journey and force you wonder whether you are following your heart.