Who is the antagonist in The Alchemist?

The antagonists in this story change at times - sometimes it is the people who give Santiago advice he doesn't want to hear; sometimes it's real villains like the thief in Tangier who steals all his money - but for the most part, the antagonist is Santiago himself.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on thebestnotes.com


How is Santiago the antagonist?

Santiago himself is a antagonist its quiet hard for him to sacrifice something. Hes distracted quickly and hes ready to stay with something he owned on his way.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on prezi.com


Who is the protagonist in The Alchemist?

Santiago, a shepherd boy from a small Andalusian town, is the protagonist of The Alchemist. He is determined, headstrong, and curious to learn all he can about the world.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sparknotes.com


What is the conflict in The Alchemist?

Major conflict The major conflict of the book is Santiago's personal tension between completing his Personal Legend to travel all the way to Egypt to find a treasure at the pyramids and settling along the way for the treasures he has already earned.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sparknotes.com


Is The Alchemist a boy or girl?

Alchemist The novel's title character. An inordinately learned man, he lives at the oasis and can turn any metal into gold. The alchemist helps Santiago make the journey from the oasis to the Egyptian pyramids.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on cliffsnotes.com


The Alchemist | Characters | Paulo Coelho



Is The Alchemist a true story?

The Alchemist is a work of fiction but the message of the novel was autobiographical in spirit.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on study.com


Does Santiago fall in love with Fatima?

But Fatima is perhaps even more important than the others, because Santiago believes she is a part of his treasure and Personal Legend. She and Santiago fall in love at first sight, though Santiago has loved her since smelling her perfume on the levanter.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on study.com


Why is Santiago called boy?

Referring to Santiago as “the boy” makes him a mythic figure, just as Melchizedek attains mythic significance when Santiago forgets his name and starts thinking of him as “the old man.” In turn, The Alchemist acts less as a personal story about the adventures of one character and more as an allegorical fable with ...
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sparknotes.com


What is the climax in The Alchemist?

The climax of The Alchemist comes in chapter 12, in which Santiago must become the wind in order to secure the safety of himself and the alchemist. While initially very unsure of his abilities, Santiago begins to appeal to nature, realizing that he is himself connected to everything else.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on study.com


How does The Alchemist end?

The Alchemist ends with the end of Santiago's journey across the sea and sands, right back where he started several years before, dreaming under a sycamore tree. Or does it? The last line of the novel, "'I'm coming, Fatima,' he said" (Epilogue. 13) shows us that Santiago's not ready to stop traveling.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on shmoop.com


What is Santiago's flaw?

Lesson Summary

A tragic hero is a character who faces a horrible downfall as a result of a fatal flaw. Santiago's flaw is his excessive pride and determination to keep going, even when it's too dangerous. While it leads to the greatest catch he could imagine, it also leaves him fighting for his life.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on study.com


How is Santiago a hero in The Alchemist?

Santiago is a hero because he displays kindness, bravery and wisdom; also, he is considered a hero because he displays many characteristics of an archetypal hero. Santiago displays kindness, bravery, wisdom, receiving supernatural help, proving himself and receiving his apotheosis.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on 123helpme.com


Who is the antagonist of The Old Man and the Sea?

The antagonist is the sea, a symbol of life, which robs Santiago of his final victory. The real antagonist in the sea is the group of sharks that devour the giant fish. Since the waters also provide the old fisherman with his livelihood, he sees the sea more as a challenge than an adversary.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on pinkmonkey.com


What is Santiago's purpose in life?

The narrator explains that Santiago has always known that his purpose in life was to travel despite attending a seminary until the age of sixteen. After Santiago finally finds the courage to confess his dream to his parents, who wish for him to become a priest, his father tries to talk him out of a nomadic life.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sparknotes.com


Does Santiago return to Fatima?

At the end of the narrative, Santiago returns to Fatima. This confirms what the Alchemist said about love: Santiago is able in the end to achieve both his Personal Legend and find his true love.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on gradesaver.com


What do the sheep in The Alchemist symbolize?

Santiago's sheep symbolize the sort of existence lived by those who are completely blind to their Personal Legends. Santiago loves his sheep, but he also expresses thinly veiled disrespect for them because of their animal desires for mere food and water.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sparknotes.com


What is the main theme in The Alchemist?

The Pursuit of Your Personal Legend

The most prominent theme in The Alchemist is the idea that each person has a “Personal Legend”—a type of ideal fate or destiny—and that each person can chose whether or not to pursue that legend.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on litcharts.com


What is the moral lesson of The Alchemist?

The constant theme in The Alchemist is to pursue your dreams by following what your heart desires. During the young boy's journey, he learns to listen to the heart and to follow the language of omens. With each passing obstacle and hurdle that the young boy encounters, there is a lesson to learn.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on medium.com


What are Santiago's 3 dreams?

Lesson Summary

Santiago, the old fisherman in Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, ponders youth and old age during his three-day fishing journey. Santiago dreams of lions, which symbolize youth, strength, and virility.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on study.com


Who stole Santiago's money?

He asks a Gypsy woman to interpret his dream, and she tells him he must go to the pyramids of Egypt to find the treasure. Gee, thanks Gypsy woman. Santiago meets Melchizedek, an old king who tells him to follow his Personal Legend. He sells his sheep and uses the money to go to Africa and is promptly robbed in Tangier.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on shmoop.com


What is Santiago's recurring dream?

Santiago recounts his recurring dream to the old woman: He is in a field with his flock when visited by a child who transports him to the pyramids in Egypt; there, the child says, Santiago will find a hidden treasure. Each time Santiago is about to find out the specific location of the treasure, though, he wakes up.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on cliffsnotes.com


Who is the gypsy woman in The Alchemist?

A gypsy woman whom Santiago meets at the beginning of the novel. She interprets his recurring dream about the Egyptian Pyramids as a sign that he should travel to that place and seek a great treasure. As payment, she makes Santiago promise her 1/10th of the total of his treasure.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on litcharts.com


Who finally shows Santiago The Alchemist?

The horseman tells Santiago to find him the next day after sunset if he survives the ensuing battle. Santiago asks the horseman where he lives, and the horseman simply points south before riding away. We learn that the mysterious horseman is the alchemist.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on sparknotes.com


What was Santiago's treasure?

Specifically, treasure. The treasure shows up early on, in a dream that Santiago has about a child transporting him to the pyramids and telling him that he'll find a hidden treasure there. And the treasure does turn out to be pretty awesome, "a chest of Spanish gold coins.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on shmoop.com
Next question
How much is a nose job?