Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist

Human imagination is very dominant in society. It sets humanity apart from the rest of living things that roam the planet by giving us the ability to make creative choices. The imaginary world is very heavily with the real world and there are many ways by which to illustrate this through literature, either realistically or exaggerated. Everything from the food we eat to the books we read had to have been thought of by someone and their imagination. The imagination empowers humans. It allows people to speculate or to see into the future. It allows artists to create, inventors to invent, and even scientists and mathematicians to solve problems. The Alchemist is a novel that incorporates the common idea of following your dreams and taking risks …show more content…
So it's better to listen to what it has to say. That way, you'll never have to expect something unreasonable along your way.” Paulo Coelho is trying to show that it is possible to achieve anything you want in life and that human imagination and desire is the start of it all. The Alchemist talks a lot about realizing your personal legend. “Personal Legend; It is what you have always wanted to accomplish.” It explains what a personal legend is and how it will deeply affect someone’s life. Nobody wants to live life full of regrets by keeping something inside of them they’ve wanted to experience or do for a long time. During the novel, the personal legend belongs to a shepherd, but it is more interesting to see the support he gets from the people around him. “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve …show more content…
It is impossible for the human race to do anything without its imagination. It molds and shapes our society. It makes things we dream about into real things. Imagination pushes the human mind to create, to invent and to aspire to new heights. It revolves around everything. Music could not be created without imagination. Most importantly, dreams and goals in life wouldn’t exist without our minds. Paulo Coelho’s novel teaches you to follow your heart and overcome obstacles such as fear. “Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?" "Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet.” The simple things in life appealed to the shepherd. He developed a new sense of adversity and resilience which allowed him to fulfilled his Personal Legend and goal in life. He accomplished this by moving past innocence and gaining experience, and he enhanced his ability to focus on the simple things in life, while he finally took slow psychological steps to surpass a mental