‘The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream’ by Paulo Coelho
(Originally posted in June 2005)
Well, crudpuppies. I’ve been so head-down in work and thesis writing that I realize I’ve let not one but two posting dates slip by me. I apologize; I’ll try to do better in the future. For now, please enjoy the following book review… while I go back to typing madly on my thesis. June graduation, here I come! :)
Credits: To Michelle, who encouraged me to suggest this book for the book club — thank you!
This story is a lovely religious parable about following one’s dreams. By “religious,” of course, I mean not dedication to an established religion, but rather devotion to finding inner spiritual enlightenment. In much the same fashion as I use the phrase “inner spiritual enlightenment,” the author uses the words “dream” and “personal legend” as his metaphors for fulfilling one’s own potential or destiny.
As is the norm in fables and hero-quests, the protagonist, Santiago, finds himself at different times penniless and friendless, comfortably wealthy, aided by able companions and teachers, or in immediate danger of his life. The story thread is much like a tarot reading, with the joyously innocent Fool leaping off the proverbial cliff in order to more fully discover and live life. In this case, after a prophetic meeting with the Hierophant, the young boy sells all his belongings and heads off to find his repeatedly-dreamed-off treasure, supposedly to be found near the mystical Egyptian pyramids.
Disturbance or dross?
One objection I heard regarding the book was concern over what appeared to be a belief in predestination within the story. Like the woman who voiced this issue, I too do not believe in an inviolable destiny, or in the fantasy that there’s but one predetermined “one and only true love” in the world for us all. Were that the case, our inviolable destinies must have been determined by a truly sadistic over-being — there’s too much pain and suffering in the world for me to believe anything kind and sane could knowingly abuse helpless beings so.
Furthermore, if there’s but one perfect person in the world for us all, how on earth (no pun intended) are we supposed to find each other in a world with literally billions of individuals on it? I don’t know anyone who’s done so much physical traveling that they’ve met every potential mate on the planet. That trip alone could take a lifetime.
Philosophically, to me the “one perfect mate” concept sounds rather like emotional projection — like the unattainable dream of returning to the state of childhood, when things were simpler because Mommy took care of everything. Being an adult doesn’t always have to mean constant struggle, of course, but in a relationship of peers there’s got to be, at the very least, the effort of communication in order to get along well with your beloveds.
Those objections having been stated, I don’t believe the book insists on either of these concepts in order to inspire and entertain. Yes, there is someone Santiago meets who just feels right to him, and who returns his instant, electrified interest, but she’s as much a realist (within the story’s precepts) as he is not. Emotionally she compliments him well, urging him to continue his quest and become all he can be, rather than settling down immediately with her. She’ll be there when he returns, she assures him. I found myself believing her, if only for the simple reason that I could see her embarking on her own internalized alchemical pursuit — of burning away all the extraneous dross in order to reveal the purified essence within.
Noble metals
The metaphor of alchemy extends throughout the entire story, revealed more fully as the boy learns of the various forms different quests take, and their alchemical effects on the soul. As the author himself notes, for a restless soul a quest could well entail endless travels and great travails, endured while searching across the world for the peace found in one’s personal vision. Other individual quests can be as concentrated as a laser, with one’s attention focused on one particular burning internal dream until understanding is achieved — or a more leisurely exploration of learning on a particular issue, in unwitting pursuit of enlightenment.
The story also relates what happens if you’re diverted from your dream or personal legend. That part reminded me somewhat of Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince, describing both more metaphorically and more clearly the blunt, straightforward encounters the Little Prince had. Indeed, I suspect much of my passing unease with The Alchemist stems from recognizing myself in one of his diverted destiny-seekers. Still, he does not simply label them as failures to be avoided or discarded. I was impressed by how gently his protagonist returned hope to one who’d lost sight of his dream. It reflected well on the author’s desire to encourage as well as enlighten his readers.
Alchemical miracles
The story was as practical and mystical as a fable, requiring both leaps of faith and common sense pragmatism from both reader and Santiago in order for him to finally succeed in his alchemical quest towards his own personal legend. The allegory was a fine one, demonstrating the inter-connected circular nature of life.
Admittedly, I do not know how a modern person can be sure they’ve succeeded on their hero quest, let alone whether you can say there is but one quantifiable, concludeable personal legend for each person. Life is an oft-inchoate, messy, and tangled affair in my experience — so wouldn’t it also be a constant pursuit of one’s personal dreams?
I don’t know, although I do know the book speaks to me, as well as to a multitude of others. The book was written a decade ago, yet people today still find relevance and inspiration within the story. I myself found the book disturbing, entertaining, and ultimately inspiring. Like the tarot or a muse, I think the hero quest is a culturally specific mental paradigm which helps us discern, however dimly, the potential greatness of the human soul, and be inspired to fulfill that greatness as completely as we can. As long as people search for meaning within their lives, inspirational alchemical quest stories will remain timeless in their encouragement and appeal.
(Comment from original posting in 2005)
Many modern interpretations of alchemy view it as a process — or say it should be viewed as a process — for the purification and perfection of the human soul. I’m not entirely certain that the original alchemists were truly that ‘deep,’ but some may have been. But either way the ‘modern study’ of alchemy is intriguing and in fact may actually have something when taken as a personal development regimen.
Repeatedly one sees common themes in things such as Tarot, alchemy, and the Journey of the Hero. The purification of the self through either the Tower or the furnace or the Underworld is recurring, whether through design or modern interpretations or happenstance. I’ve read a book which likens the major arcana to various steps on the path of the Journey of the Hero, and it’s quite remarkable in this interpretation. There are many sources on the web which discuss alchemy as a metaphor for personal development.
Like most sets of symbols, alchemy can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but much of what a person gains from it — as with the study of other systems such as Tarot or Kabbalah — is in the consideration of the symbols themselves, and the metaphors within. Again, this holds true mainly for the more modern interpretations. It can be debated if people such as Crowley, Fludd, Dee, and Bacon had in mind a unified psychoanalytical model of personal development based on the monomyth! That doesn’t mean that modern interpretations and views are automatically rubbish, mind you.
Of course, the fact that there are so many points of correspondence between all these systems might mean that there really is something buried under there.