Resumo de The Alchemist

Paul Coehlo presents a fable which steps through reality
into fantassy. Fairytales and fables are
often dismissed as children's stories without recognition of deeper
intellectual content. However, fairytales and fables contain elements of
myth that are revealing to human psyche and present studies of human nature.

Santiago, an
Andulasian shepherd, has a recurring
dream of finding treasure in a distant land. He's not really a shepherd, but
find his vocation in tending sheep. A seminarian, he should have completed his
studies to become a priest. Unlike his local villagers, he can read and
occupies his mind through intellectual study while his sheep are busy grazing.
His life is redundant. He knows the seasons, the pastures and villages
according the needs of his sheep and his life is uneventful until he has the recurring
dream which fills his soul with yearning for the unknown destination.

The dream is irrepressible, insistant in that he follow a
new path. Like all those troubled by inner yearnings, he seeks the advice of
someone wiser, skilled in dream interpretation and encounters a Gypsy
woman. She tells him that he needs to
liten to his inner voice and seek internal counsel rather than relying on
external resources. Discouraged he retreats to reconsider the situation and
meets an old man who claims he is King of Salem. He introduces himself as
Melchizedek and offers Santiago two
magical stones, Urim and Thummim, the stones of the high priests rom the ancient
temple of Jerusalem.
Melchizedek counsels him that he cannot invest what he does not own and he
cannot remain in the past if he want to explore the unknown. To fulfil his
dream, he must abandon his known environment and cross from Europe
into Africa to follow his path.

Through the use of metaphor and biblical allusion, Coehlo
narrates the unforgettable journey of Santiago
as he seeks self-fulfilment. A contemporary Everyman story, The Alchemist draws
the reader into a land where fantasy and reality are intertwined and each
decision becomes the pivot for success or loss. Arriving in Tangiers, Santiago
is disoriented by the alien culture and finds himself swindled. Through
misfortune, he loses the precious money that he received from the sale of his
beloved flock of sheep. He is tormented between the urge to return to the
security of the past and safety of his profession as a sherpherd or to pursue
the unknown. As a result his dilemma as a stranger in a strange land, he
realizes that his survival is dependent on pragmatic actions and the generosity
and hospitality of those about him. He
applies himself to menial labor, first cleaning the crystal within a shop window in return for a meal.
Slowly he recovers the money lost from the theft and contemplates returning to Spain
to redeem his flock.

Through the narration of Santiago's
foray into northern Africa, Coehlo challenges the reader
to assess himself in the light of his own dreams and goals. We follow the
adventures of Santiago, but with
the constant awareness that we fail to pursue the dreams that elude us in daily
life. Lyrical, the book sings with poetry, offering refuge from our chaotic,
noisy lives. It offers a time for contemplation, an intellectual retreat and
monastery while we ride the busy public
transportation to work or sit in the midst of the hubbub of a noisy cafe.
The journey from the pastures of Andulasia to the pyuramids of Egypt
is not mere fantasy, but reflects the spiritual journey within each person as
he strives to achieve fulfilment and
find the purpose of his existence in a seemingly senseless world outside filled
with meaningless violence.

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