"The Alchemist" written by Paulo Coelho has many themes that go on throughout the book. The most prominent theme in the book is one about dreams. Santiago starts the novel off with him wanting to pursue his reoccurring dream and finding the meaning of it. While on his path to finding the meaning of his dream, he meets a gypsy so she can tell him what it's about or at least give him some insight on it. One quote that stuck with me during their encounter was, "And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it". This quote held the most significance because it fit perfectly with the whole story. The omens and the people he met throughout the story was basically the universe helping him along his journey to find his “Personal Legend”. It goes to show that if your want is great enough, the end will be easier to find if the effort is put forth. Santiago had to face serious challenges, to achieve his destiny. Throughout the novel Santiago must go through a journey to fulfill his destiny. Through this journey Santiago learns from his mistakes, learns to be courageous and how to take many risks and confront challenges.

First of all, a person's “Personal Legend” means what your purpose in life is, what dreams you are going to pursue, and how are you going to accomplish it. Santiago's “Personal Legend” is to go to the Pyramids in Egypt and to find “a treasure that will make you a rich man.” but he had to go through a lot of challenges. Melchizedek, The King of Salem, helps Santiago choose to follow his “Personal Legend” instead of giving up. He experienced triumphs and downfalls throughout his journey. For example, he met a kind person in a bar once he reached a foreign land he was not familiar with. He trusted him with all of his money and stayed with him until they were separated in the chaos of the market and lost all of his money and trust in others. A treasure doesn't come easily to those that don’t put the effort into achieving it. Santiago was able to overcome the hardships when he started to read the omens and understand the way of the world. When he correctly reads the hawk omen in the oasis, he was able to save the lives of those he was traveling with the caravan, and in turn he gained wealth. Although he dealt with leaving the life he used to know and venturing into the unknown facing a lot of challenges that at the end helped him to grow as a person. The quote, "Well, when I took my sheep through the fields some of them might have died if we had come upon a snake. But that's the way life is with sheep and with shepherds." said by Santiago used good imagery to display that one should never give up just because there is risk involved.
Through his journey, Santiago met many people, and he was able to learn and experience different types of knowledge. For example, he learnt about "The Soul of the World". He found out that this is what makes you want to achieve your individual destiny; he was able to understand this even though he