The Fable AboutFollowing Your Dreams

About the AuthorPaulo Coelho was born in Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil in 1947. His own life has in many ways been as varied and unusual as the protagonists of his

internationally acclaimed novels. Like them, Paulo Coelho has followed a dream in a quest for fulfillment. His own dream, to be a writer, met with frustration throughout much of his early adult life, a time in which he

worked at various professions, some of them materially rewarding but

spiritually unfulfilling. He was thirty-eight when he published his first book.

In 1970, after deciding that law school was not for him, he

traveled through much of South America, North Africa, Mexico

and Europe. Returning to Brazil after two years, he began a

successful career as a popular songwriter.

In 1974, he was imprisoned for a short time by the military dictatorship then ruling in Brazil. In 1980, he experienced one of the defining moments of his life; he walked the five hundred thousand-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. On this ancient highway, used for centuries by pilgrims from France to get to the cathedral said to house the remains of St. James, he achieved a self-awareness and a spiritual awakening that he later described in The Pilgrimage.

Paulo Coelho once said that following your dream is like learning a foreign language; you

will make mistakes but you will get there in the end. In 1988, he published The Alchemist, a

novel that explores this theme, and it launched him as an international bestselling author.

Specifically, Paulo Coelho is recognized for his powerful storytelling technique and the profound

spiritual insights he blends seamlessly into his parables. His books have sold over 150 million

copies worldwide. A winner of numerous literary prizes, he has been a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. Paulo Coelho is

also a prominent speaker for humanitarian causes. In 2007, he was named a United Nation

Messenger of Peace.

Summary of the Story

It is a story of a boy named Santiago who wanted to

know the world so he decided to become a

shepherd in order to follow his dream- to travel. He

went into different places, do different work, and meet

different people.

Santiago had a same dream twice, he dreamed about that he was

with his sheep in the field, when a child appeared and began to play with the animals. They keep on

playing with the animals for quite a while. Suddenly the child took his both hands and transported him to the Egyptian pyramids

where the child told him, “if you come here, you will find the

hidden treasure” and he woke up.

To understand his dream, he went to an old woman who

know how to interpret dreams. The old woman make him swear that he

would give her one-tenth of his treasure in exchange for what she was about to tell

and the boy agreed.

The dream is about the “Language of the World”. The

boy needs to go to the Pyramids in Egypt. There he can find a treasure that will

make him a rich man.After his conversation with the

old woman, some stranger approach him and that's where

his journey begins.

He sold his sheep and went overseas where he became a worker at the crystal shop. He makes the shop

successful once again and he was rewarded. He worked there for almost

six months but decided to leave to pursue his dream. From then, he was engaged in the caravan leading to the desert where he met an Englishman that is looking for an alchemist of the desert. They become friends while in the caravan. They reached the oasis

where he found Fatima and fell in love with here.

While at the desert he learned many things. He was able to save the oasis from its enemy and he

was paid for his action. He met the alchemist of the desert and they continue to cross the desert once

more. They reached the monastery which is three hours away from the

pyramid. The alchemist showed him how to turn lead into gold. The piece of gold was into four parts.

The first is for the monk for his generosity to the pilgrims. The

second is for the Santiago to make up for what he gave to the general to let them cross the desert. The third part

is for the alchemist because he needed to return to the desert where

there are tribal wars. And the last piece was given to the monk reserved for the boy if he ever needs it. Before they got separated, the alchemists

leave a proverb to the boy.

It says that “everything that happens once can never happen

again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a

third time”. And his gone.

At the end of the story, the boy was able to fulfill his

dream. He found the treasure hidden at the

abandoned church that he had in his dream.

Criticism

No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally

he doesn’t know it. – (Alchemist)

Every one of us has a dream and the author calls it as Personal

Legend. To achieved this, we need to know about the essential wisdom of

listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning

to read the omens strewn along life’s path and most importantly, to follow our dreams. The destiny of a

person is already written before birth. To fulfill this, we need to

follow what our hearts desire. It’s not bad to sacrifice big-time as long

as it is for the better. Life has a purpose. To fulfill our Personal

Legend, it is important to know our purpose first so that we will be able

to make steps in achieving our dreams.

The Alchemist gives me lessons like; whoever we are,

whatever we do, wherever we are, even the unfortunate ones, when we want something, it will come true as long as it came from our

hearts. Like in The Alchemist, “all the universe conspires in helping

you to achieve it”. It is not impossible for the things to come when you give your best to reach it. Sometimes we may feel that it is nonsense to continue believing,

but when the Language of God speaks for us, it gives us strength

to keep on fighting.

As we continue with our lives, sometimes what people think of us

becomes more important than our own destinies. We give much attention on

what people will say to us if we do this and we do that. And it can cause us to

have a doubt if we’re going to continue or not. The Alchemist once

said that “all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”, so we must not let others to influence us to stop pursuing our dreams and be content on what we have if our hearts desires

for more. Maktub it is mentioned many times in the story. It is an Arabic word meaning “It is written”. We should not

stop dreaming even if we feel a sudden comfort from what we have today, but instead we must continue

with our Personal Legend.

Never think what we left behind in search for our Personal Legend.

Always remember Maktub, everything that will happen to us is already written. Even when we leave, it will stay there forever.

Santiago found the love of his life in the desert and he came to the point that he wanted to stop his journey and better stay with her because his having a doubt. But

he wonder about his past, his experiences that bring him where

he was now and he came to realize that he needed to go on.

In life, it’s the simple things that are the most extraordinary.

We ignore simple things and take it for granted without

realizing that even the smallest has a great purpose. We just

need to learn how to read omen that is spread along our life’s

path. Simple things has a great purpose, sometimes we became ignorant because we think of it as small. We should know the

Language of God and recognize opportunity even in a very

simple way.

We may not even notice that the darkest hour of midnight comes before dawn. There comes a time that we are

weakened by the trials we experienced in life. It makes us stop in pursuing our dreams. We were surrounded with

darkness. And we forget that during the darkest hour there is a light behind waiting for us at the end. Life is not always about happiness. It is most

precious when we spend it according to what our hearts desire. If we possess

great treasure and we try to tell others about them, seldom are you believed. We

must be willing to share everything we had to them. Life is about sharing.

Material things are just matter, it is not important. What more important are the feelings that we felt and lessons that we

learned. Because life is about our Personal Legend, it is about our dreams.

In the story The Alchemist, the author wants the reader to learn, to realize what

life is, and to internalize. What is life if we just seat? If we just wait for miracle to happen without doing anything. What is dream if we don’t know the meaning of

this and we don’t have one? The Alchemist is not about an ordinary story of a one’s journey, but it is the author’s

ways of communicating and for spreading the Language of God to others that is

having doubt in their lives. For those who need inspiration and are experiencing

darkness we must not forget to keep on believing and have faith.

That every challenge in our life, has it’s purpose. It is not given to make people suffer but for us learn. For us to realize that every one of us is different.

We have different personality, life, purpose, and destiny and most

especially we have different heart that will tell us what we really want. Learn to read our heart and follow it because it will bring us into something that we really wanted. Have courage in doing

everything to make our life worth-living. Also it can awaken our inner

soul and mind that there is hope. Just like in the desert, there is an oasis that gives hope for those who travelled. We

should not put ourselves into something that will make our life

miserable.

The Alchemist can change our perception in life. It was written because it has a

purpose. It inspires me, it encourage me to keep going

and aim high. There is no ordinary person; every one of us is special in our own way.

We were created equal. Always remember “Maktub”.

To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, to draw

closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose

of life. -the secret life of

Walter Mitty

Reference HARPERAn Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers10 East 53rd StreetNew York, New York 1022-5299 English version copyright©1993 by Paulo Coelho and Alan R. Clarke.Foreword © 2014 by Paulo Coelho. Prologue translation copyright © 1998 by HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. illustrations © 2014 by James Noel Smith.ISBN 978-0-06-235530-0HarperCollins ® and Harper ® are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers.Printed in the United States of Americawww.harpercollins.com

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