In Paulo Coelho’s novella The Alchemist, it is clear that
symbolism is being implemented in Coelho’s description of both the church and
the tree at the beginning of the story.
Symbolism is when something such as an object or character or setting,
though maintaining its literal meaning, represents something far more
significant beyond itself. At the
beginning of the novella, Coelho writes, “the boy arrived with his herd at an abandoned
church. The roof had fallen in long ago,
and an enormous sycamore had grown on the spot where the sacristy had once
stood” (3). Literally, the protagonist
Santiago and his sheep are about to sleep in this rundown structure. However, an astute reader soon realizes that
this structure represents something far beyond itself with regard to Santiago’s
life journey. Coelho writes that “[t]he
roof had fallen in,” which literally means that the roof has failed to fulfill
its purpose of keeping out the elements.
Soon after this point in the novella, readers learn that religion has not
fulfilled its intended purpose in Santiago’s life: “His parents had wanted him
to become a priest, and thereby a source of pride for a simple farm family”
(8). In other words, Santiago, who
“attended a seminary until he was sixteen” (8), is expected to learn and
appreciate religion so much that he continues studying and teaching it for the
rest of his life, and in so doing, he will make his family proud. Santiago, though, “wanted to travel” (8). He did not pursue the path of the priesthood,
deciding instead to develop and flourish along another life path, much like the
“sycamore [that] had grown on the spot where the sacristy had once stood.” Like the roof, the sacristy, the room in the
church in which sacred items were once kept, no longer fulfills its original
role. However, something equally sacred
has grown in its place, which might symbolically foreshadow that where religion
once “failed” Santiago, an alternative path will lead to growth. Symbolism undeniably exists in Coelho’s
novella.
Coelho’s
implementation of symbolism also helps develop a central idea of the novella,
namely that all individuals must pursue their own paths to happiness and success, not those that others envision
for them. People develop and flourish
via experience and reap additional rewards when they follow their dreams. First off, had Santiago become a priest as
his parents had initially hoped he would, he would not even have been in the
abandoned church at the start of novella.
Santiago is at the church because he is a shepherd, a lifestyle that he decided on so that he could fulfill his dream of traveling and seeing the
world. It is in this same church that
Santiago experiences a recurrent dream in which he is “in a field with [his]
sheep, when a child appear[s] and…[takes him] by both hands and transport[s
him] to the Egyptian pyramids” (13). This
dream ultimately sets Santiago off on his quest to find treasure at the
pyramids that drives the plot of the novella, and none of this would have
happened had he entered the priesthood.
Instead, Santiago travels across the Strait of Gibraltar, works for a
crystal merchant in Africa, meets and falls in love with a woman, and
eventually arrives at the pyramids, growing as a person as time
progresses. For example, when Santiago
has a conversation with the crystal merchant prior to setting off into the
desert, he thinks to himself, “There had been a time when [I] thought that [my]
sheep could teach [me] everything [I] needed to know about the world. But they could never have taught [me] Arabic”
(58). Santiago learns and appreciates
this valuable lesson during his time with the crystal merchant. It is the novella’s conclusion, however,
where Coelho makes his theme most clear. Fittingly, a few pages before the
novella ends, readers encounter the following passage: “‘Two years ago, right
here on this spot, I had a recurrent dream, too. I dreamed that I should travel to the fields
of Spain and look for a ruined church where shepherds and their sheep
slept. In my dream, there was a sycamore
growing out of the ruins of the sacristy, and I was told that, if I dug at the roots
of the sycamore, I would find a hidden treasure. But I’m not so stupid as to cross an entire
desert just because of a recurrent dream’” (163). This passage, words spoken by an African man
who attacks Santiago at the pyramids, reveals that technically speaking,
Santiago did not need to go anywhere
to get the “Spanish gold coins…precious stones, gold masks adorned with red and
white feathers, and stone statues embedded with jewels” (166) that readers see
him dig up in the epilogue of the novella.
Bearing in mind the symbolism made evident at the start of the novella,
though, readers realize that the ultimate treasure is not the chest buried beneath the sycamore, but instead, the growth
experienced by Santiago on his journey that the sycamore represents. The literal treasure is merely an added
bonus, but not the most significant reward.
Coelho’s novella ends with the following words: “‘I’m coming, Fatima’” (167). True love is also bestowed upon Santiago
because of his pursuit of his dreams, helping readers draw the conclusion that
the unique learning experiences and sense of fulfillment discovered on one’s
journey is always more significant
than the destination.
