The Alchemist

A detailed Summary of The Alchemist

Biography of Author - Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janiero in 1947 and before his career as a best-selling author, he was a playwright, theatre director, hippie, and popular songwriter for some of Brazil's leading pop artists. In 1986 he took a pilgrimage along that Road of Santiago and this would be the center of the plot of the book, The Pilgrimage, which was published in 1987. His second book was named The Alchemist and was published in 1988.

This book has gone to number one in 29 countries and Coelho has been regarded as the most widely read contemporary writers. The Alchemist was one of the top ten international best sellers of 1998. His work has been published in more than 100 countries and is translated into 42 different languages. He has been awarded a variety of prestigious awards from many different countries. He today lives in South America with his family.

The Shepherd - This was the boy through whose eyes the story was told. He followed his personal legend to the fullest and never let up

The Alchemist - This is the man that he met in the desert and he helped the shepherd to lead the people from the danger that was imminent from the war. He also allowed the boy to follow his legend and realize his dream.

He traveled to the pyramids by way of northern Africa. About half way through his trip he came onto an oasis that was in the middle of a war between two native tribes. The rules of war said that the oasis should be a safe haven for all of the people that were traveling through the desert. This is where he met the alchemist, the man that would help him to realize his personal legend. By going off into the desert at night, he learned all about the masterwork and the many things that he needed to do in order to become a true alchemist. He began to have a dream about a group of rebels attacking the oasis because they thought that the travelers would be taking up arms against them. The boy went to the men who were in charge of the oasis and told them of the impending doom that was coming onto the oasis. They didn't believe that this dream was an omen but they gave him one shot. The rebels did attack and they were able to fend off all of the assailants. The boy was hailed as a hero and he went off into the desert to seek his personal legend. Here he was forced to make a decision about whether or not to leave behind the woman that he had met and had decided to marry. He said that he would return later and he did. This was after he found out about his treasure that he wanted for such a long time.

He was anticipating seeing the daughter of a man who would buy the wool from his sheep when he arrived in the town that he would come to in another couple of days. He thought that he might actually settle down and get married to this girl if she would like to. He had been having a recurring dream about him at the pyramids in Egypt. There he would be able to find all of the treasure in the world and to realize what would come to be called his personal legend. So, the next town that he went to he went to a fortuneteller and asked her if she could help him out of his dilemma. She was unclear about what to do, but she made him promise to give him a percentage of his treasure if he ever found it. When he left the fortuneteller, he went and sat in the park where he would have been content to read his new book.

The Englishmen - This was the man that the boy met on his trip to the pyramids. He was the one who turned the boy on

Some common words found in the essay are:
Characters Shepherd, Road Santiago, Paulo Coelho, Lake Woods, personal legend, Northshore School, main theme, South America, IV APG, tree growing middle, personal legend fullest, sycamore tree growing, life boy, sycamore tree, crystal shop, growing middle, ten percent, legend fullest, main characters, onto oasis,

Approximate Word count = 1648
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels