BACKGROUND INFORMATION - BIOGRAPHY Paulo Coelho

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION - BIOGRAPHYPaulo Coelho • Paul Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and still lives in that city. He is much like his character, Santiago, the shepherd boy, in that he has followed a quest to be a writer and has met with much frustration throughout his early adulthood. He says he always knew that his Personal Legend was to write, but he was thirty-eight before he published his first book. He tried law school until 1970 when he decided to travel throughout much of South America, North America, Mexico, and Europe. He returned to Brazil two years later and began a successful career as a popular songwriter. He was imprisoned for a short time in 1974 by the military dictatorship then ruling his country. In 1980, he walked the 500 plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain where he achieved a spiritual awakening that he later described in The Pilgrimage. He published The Alchemist in 1988, a novel that explores the same spiritual awakening he had experienced. It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and has been translated into at least fifty-six languages..

3. Preliminary Notes • The Alchemist is written in a fable format. • What is a fable? • Generally speaking, fables use recognizable, simple characters and settings in order to illustrate a simple truth about life or human nature.

4. KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING The setting begins in the Andalusian region of Spain and moves to Tangier, the Al-Fayoum oasis, and eventually the pyramids in Egypt. The story ends where it began in Spain. The time is the present day.

5. List of Characters Santiago - He is a shepherd boy, who because of a recurring dream, decides to find his treasure at the pyramids in Egypt. Along the way, he meets a Gypsy woman, an Old King, a crystal merchant, an Englishman, and an alchemist, all of whom teach him something about fulfilling his Personal Legend and striving to find his treasure. He is a very wise young man and yet one who has much to learn. Because he holds fast to his dream, he becomes a better man.

6. The Gypsy Woman - She is the first one Santiago consults about his dream. • The Old King - He is the second to help Santiago and gives him the stones named Urim and Thummim. He also advises Santiago to never stop dreaming and follow the omens. His name is Melchizedek and he is a Biblical figure who had once helped Abraham on behalf of God. He is sometimes believed to be Jesus Christ.ut his dream

7. The Crystal Merchant - He is a man for whom Santiago begins to work and who profits from the boy’s aptitude in improving sales. He teaches Santiago how important it is to follow through and not give up on his dream. • The Englishman - He is a young man who has spent ten years of his life reading about alchemy with the hope of discovering the Master Work.

8. The Alchemist He is rumored to be over 200 years old and lives on the Al-Fayoum oasis. He has an advanced sense that Santiago is coming to the oasis and knows it is his responsibility to lead him to the pyramids. Along the way, he teaches the boy much about listening to his heart and reaching out for his dream no matter what the cost. He never does anything for the boy except guide him and allow him to learn for himself. The alchemist has the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher’s Stone, which allow him to make any metal into gold. That is his Personal Legend, which he had achieved many years before. His name is not capitalized, because the title could be taken by anyone, like Santiago, who learns the truth of the Master Work.

9. Minor Characters • Fatima - She is the beautiful young woman whom Santiago meets at a well on the oasis. She directs them to the alchemist, but in the process of that first conversation, Santiago falls in love with her and she eventually falls in love with him. As a desert woman, she is willing to wait for him to find his treasure and fulfill his Personal Legend. • The Camel Driver - Santiago meets him on the caravan journey to the oasis and from him learns all about the importance of the present. He had lost everything to the flooding of the Nile, but now he is content to work as a camel driver and take one day at a time. • The Tribal Chieftain - He demands that Santiago turn himself into the wind and in the process, discovers that the boy has seen the glory of God.

10. Mood This story is uplifting almost entirely through the novel. Even when Santiago stumbles or even falls on his path to his treasure, we know he will get back up again and persevere. We feel his pride, his satisfaction, and his triumph when he reaches the end of his journey and heads back to the oasis and the love that awaits him.

11. POINT OF VIEW • The point of view is third person omniscient, which means that the reader sees and knows all as if looking through the eyes of God.

12. Meaning of the Title: It refers to the major character that helps Santiago find his way to the pyramids to find his treasure and fulfill his Personal Legend. However, it also refers to any one of us who seeks to find his own Personal Legend and understand the Soul of the World.

13. Major Themes: One’s Own Personal Legend and the Soul of the World • Minor Themes: Perseverance, Faith, and the Need to overcome the Obstacles of Life

14. Narcissusby John William Waterhouse

15. The Alchemist’s Terms/Expressions • The Soul of the World- the earth itself wants to be happy • Philosopher’s Stone - The stone or material that practitioners of alchemy believed capable of changing other metals into gold. • The elixir of life is legendary potion or drink that grants the imbiber eternal life. It was pursued by many practitioners of alchemy for two main reasons: either they sought the gift of immortality for its own sake, or they desired to spend as much time as possible practicing alchemy. • Personal Legend- our single mission or goal in life • Emerald Tablet – revealing manuscripts in alchemy that disclose secrets of the world

16. Principle of Favorability – Beginner’s Luck • Urim and Thummin - in the Bible, name of sacred instruments used for casting lots. The meaning of the two names is uncertain, as is the nature of the lots. • Alchemy- A medieval chemical philosophy having as its asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of the panacea, and the preparation of the elixir of longevity.

17. The Alchemist We will review preliminary notes on The Alchemist

18. Even though you may not initially understand some of the unusual terminology in the story (Soul of the World, for example), its themes are ones which are probably familiar to you.

19. The novel integrates ideas and philosophies of many faiths and historical periods. • Many of these ideas concern the pursuit of truth, one’s intended destiny and the attainment of personal happiness.

20. Coelho refers to these combined elements as one’s “Personal Legend.” • He tells the story of Santiago in order to teach us how we may find and live out our own Personal Legends.

21. Religions • These ideas, though, have been explored since ancient times in one form or another by countless faiths and peoples. • Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Christianity, Judaism, countless tribal cultures, in addition to ancient and modern philosophers, all attempt to define the idea of one’s Personal Legend (though they may call it by different names), and all subscribe paths to achieving personal fulfillment. • Thus, although the legend is about no faith or philosophy in particular, it is about all faiths and philosophies.

22. Alchemy is the medieval “science” of transforming rocks into gold. • Alchemy plays an important part in the plot (literal level) of the story, but it also becomes a symbol, or allegorical device, in the legend (figurative level). • Coelho is really using characters, events and symbols as tools to show us how to achieve spiritual alchemy.

23. Literal and Figurative • Literal- actual meaning • Figurative- symbolic meaning

24. Gold? • In other words, how do we find or recognize the “gold,” -- our Personal Legend-- in the “rocks” of the everyday, ordinary, simple details of our lives?

25. As Santiago discovers, sometimes the “gold” is not faraway, not glittery, not exotic, and not complicated, but it may require a journey of courage, faith and perseverance to discover what it is and where it is hidden.

26. In an interview, Paulo Coelho talks about “Four Pillars of Alchemy– four important “tips” for finding one’s Personal Legend: •  One must believe in “The Soul of the World.” The ancient Latin term for this concept is “anima mundi.” In short, this idea suggests that everything in the world is interconnected; that is, what one does affects everything else, from the smallest grain of sand to the largest whale, and vice versa. •  One must listen to the voice of the heart. Coelho suggests that sometimes we must follow our feelings and intuitions, even if we do not fully understand them. Through feeling one gains wisdom. •  One must be faithful to one’s dreams, for they both test and reward us. In other words, the path to achieving one’s Personal Legend may not be an easy one, but we must endure the tests in order to gain the rewards. •  One must “surrender oneself to the universe.” Coelho suggests that we must allow ourselves to be open to recognizing and learning from omens and signs which come our way.

27. From How to Read Literature Like a ProfessorThomas C. Foster • Every Trip is a Quest (except when it’s not): • A place to go • A stated reason to go there • Challenges and trials • The real reason to go—always self-knowledge

28. Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion • Whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion • Not usually religious • An act of sharing and peace • A failed meal carries negative connotations

29. Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires • Literal Vampirism: Nasty old man, attractive but evil, violates a young woman, leaves his mark, takes her innocence • Sexual implications—a trait of 19th century literature to address sex indirectly • Symbolic Vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, refusal to respect the autonomy of other people, using people to get what we want, placing our desires, particularly ugly ones, above the needs of another.

30. Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? • There is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature—stories grow out of other stories, poems out of other poems. • There is only one story—of humanity and human nature, endlessly repeated • “Intertexuality”—recognizing the connections between one story and another deepens our appreciation and experience, brings multiple layers of meaning to the text, which we may not be conscious of. The more consciously aware we are, the more alive the text becomes to us. • If you don’t recognize the correspondences, it’s ok. If a story is no good, being based on Hamlet won’t save it.

31. When in doubt- it’s from the Bible • Before the mid 20th century, writers could count on people being very familiar with Biblical stories, a common touchstone a writer can tap

32. Common Biblical stories with symbolic implications • Garden of Eden: women tempting men and causing their fall, the apple as symbolic of an object of temptation, a serpent who tempts men to do evil, and a fall from innocence • David and Goliath—overcoming overwhelming odds • Jonah and the Whale—refusing to face a task and being “eaten” or overwhelmed by it anyway. • Job: facing disasters not of the character’s making and not the character’s fault, suffers as a result, but remains steadfast • The Flood: rain as a form of destruction; rainbow as a promise of restoration • Christ figures (a later chapter): in 20th century, often used ironically • The Apocalypse—Four Horseman of the Apocalypse usher in the end of the world. • Biblical names often draw a connection between literary character and Biblical character.

33. Using Children’s Literature • - Hansel and Gretel: lost children trying to find their way home • Peter Pan: refusing to grow up, lost boys, a girl-nurturer/ • Little Red Riding Hood: See Vampires • Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz: entering a world that doesn’t work rationally or operates under different rules, the Red Queen, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard, who is a fraud • Cinderella: orphaned girl abused by adopted family saved through supernatural intervention and by marrying a prince • Snow White: Evil woman who brings death to an innocent—again, saved by heroic/princely character • Sleeping Beauty: a girl becoming a woman, symbolically, the needle, blood=womanhood, the long sleep an avoidance of growing up and becoming a married woman, saved by, guess who, a prince who fights evil on her behalf. • Evil Stepmothers, Queens, Rumpelstilskin • Prince Charming heroes who rescue women. (20th c. frequently switched—the women save the men—or used highly ironically)

34. It’s Greek to Me • Myth is a body of story that matters—the patterns present in mythology run deeply in the human psyche • Writers echo myth • Odyssey and Iliad • Men in an epic struggle over a woman • Achilles—a small weakness in a strong man; the need to maintain one’s dignity • Penelope (Odysseus’s wife)—the determination to remain faithful and to have faith • Hector: The need to protect one’s family • The Underworld—an ultimate challenge, facing the darkest parts of human nature or dealing with death • Metamorphoses by Ovid—transformation (Kafka) • Oedipus: family triangles, being blinded, dysfunctional family • Mother love—Demeter and Persephone

35. The End for Today  • Read the Prologue • Read pages 1- 25