“But you don’t know about love. If there hadn’t been a sixth day, man would not exist; copper would always just be copper, lead just lead. It’s true that everything has its destiny, but one day that destiny will be realized. So each thing has to transform itself into something better, and to acquire a new destiny, until, someday, the Soul of the World becomes one thing only”. (pg 143) His determination has indeed led him to his destiny and love had helped him strive to become better than he himself and his courage had put him out of a lot of difficulties. Santiago, an Andulasian shepherd who dreamed a lot of of things. He eventually chose the path of searching his treasure because he truly believed that it was indeed his destiny to reach the Great Pyramids and during his journey, he encounters the Alchemist who has been waiting for him.
In the beginning of the book, Santiago was still unsure of a lot of things, his destiny. He was not yet any determined to look for his destiny. But little by little, he gained a strong determination to pursue his destiny. “You must not let up, even after having come so far.” (pg 106) First, Santiago thought of returning to Fatima in the middle of his search but he chose not to. “No project was completed until its objective has been achieved.” Is what Santiago reminded himself (pg 153) Secondly, Melchizedek said when one is about to achieve his or destiny, he or she tend to give everything up and all the difficulties and troubles they faced will turn into ashes but Santiago has clearly overcame that. “When you get into a place and everything does against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will return.”- Harriet Stowe. To achieve something, determination will be required and if it is strong, all things are possible to anyone. Finally, There were times when Santiago had no idea what to do. For example, when he was caught by one of the tribes in the desert and was forced to turn himself into wind, he was afraid he couldn’t and die there yet he was still very determined. He showed courage within himself that he, a boy could perform miracles and demonstrated it but without courage, he wouldn’t have been able to turn himself into wind because courage helped him to face the nature and allah. But failure will still happen if one’s determination is not strong enough to succeed but Santiago was strongly determined no matter what.
It is clearly proven that Santiago truly believes in love. He believes that Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World. Firstly, Santiago says “Because it’s not love to be static like the desert, nor is it love to roam the world like the wind. And it’s not love to see everything from a distance, like you do. Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World. When I first reached through to it, I thought the Soul of the World was perfect. But later, I could see that it was like other aspects of creation, and had its own passions and wars. It is we who nourish the Soul of the World, and the world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on whether we become better or worse. And that’s where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are.” (pg 143) Santiago mentions that love improves the Soul of the World and that is why Santiago has been able to strive to be better than he himself. Secondly, in the very beginning, he has been waiting for the meeting of the merchant’s daughter. He didn’t understand the true definition of love. It was just simply the excitement to meet her once again. It was indeed very different with Fatima because at the very first sight, he felt the true love in her and by feeling the true love, he was able to learn the Soul of the World well and improved it. Finally, his intuition convinced him that she was his love and the more he learnt about love, it wasn’t just about being near around your loved one. Through all these years, Fatima has been jealous whenever she sees other desert woman waiting for their loved ones because she knows her love would one day have to go away in order to return and her treasure will always be Santiago and expects him to find his destiny without getting distracted of having left her love behind. I would say the search of his destiny is indeed not his only goal but to return to Fatima is one of his major goals too because he was able to achieve his destiny and survive because he knew Fatima would be waiting for his return. So by thinking that he must return, he would try his best strive and that is why Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World. Lastly,
His courage was a big help in the long run and if he wouldn’t have become the alchemist’s apprentice. When the alchemist came upon and tested Santiago’s courage, Santiago was calm and explained clearly why he read the omens of the two hawks and that takes courage. The alchemist also mentioned how important courage was in his learning process. “Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World.” (pg 106) He also said, “You must love the desert, but never trust it completely. Because the desert tests all men: it challenges every step, and kills those who become distracted.” (pg 106) Secondly, It clearly states that Santiago wouldn’t have been able to travel through the desert without his courage since the desert challenges every step and banishes whoever becomes distracted but Santiago always focused on his destiny. In the middle of the journey, Santiago and the alchemist were caught by one of the tribes in the desert, Santiago was to turn himself into wind and before that he had to challenge the wind and the sun with their knowledge. Lastly, He was brave enough and his courage indeed defeated the sun.
Every man has his own destiny and Santiago achieved his destiny and without these three traits, he would have failed. His destiny was not the journey to the Pyramids or anything because the treasure was always at the original starting point of his journey. His destiny was to truly understand the Soul of the World and to strive to become better and improve himself. “Dreams are like stars...you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny.
I am indeed the main participant in my destiny and it is a fact that one's destiny is only achieved when much hardwork is done. Some people might say whichever path they take will still eventually lead to their destiny because destiny is not there to be controlled. But in my opinion, not chances, but choices definitely make one's destiny and every single choices that is made matters. In addition, if one doesnt focus and control his destiny, some one else will. In the process of searching one's destiny, determination will be required more than anything else. It is sure that one will get a lot of distraction and at some point people will decide to give up due to the difficulties they faced but if the strong determination is within one's heart, one can defeat anything that comes into his way and nothing will stop him. The courage or even the intelligence one have wont make anymore good if one decides to give up and give everything away. Therefore, I think determination will be required first before anything.
