In The Alchemist, when Santiago is robbed in Tangier, he has to take a menial job with the crystal merchant. There, Santiago learns many lessons on...

How do you
explain how a book can be viewed? First, look for central themes or repeated motifs (that is,
ideas that the writer thoroughly investigates). Second, support your explanation using textual
evidence and analysis. This is only possible if you spend time with the book.

Here you must provide evidence and analysis that supports the idea that
is a story of self-education and soul-searching. So, begin by finding
passages that explore those themes. Since this book is concise, examples abound in every
chapter.

In fact, Coelho wastes no time in delving into these themes. On page
1, he begins hinting at Santiagos obsession with self-education:

He [Santiago] swept the floor with his jacket and lay down, using the book he had just
finished reading as a pillow. He told himself that he would have to start reading thicker books:
they lasted longer, and made more comfortable pillows. (p. 1)

When you analyze the text, look not only at what is said, but what is implied. The fact
that Santiago often uses books as pillows implies that he has a book at his side at all
times.

Only a few pages later, on page 9, Coelho explores the theme of
soul-searching:

If I [Santiago] became a monster today,
and decided to kill them [his sheep], one by one, they would become aware only after most of the
flock had been slaughtered, thought the boy. They trust me, and theyve forgotten how to rely on
their own instincts, because I lead them to nourishment. (p. 9)

Obviously, he is reflecting upon his own soul when he considers the idea that he could
become a monster. But analysis requires you to look deeper. What do his conclusions about the
sheep imply about his own inner workings?

Lessons:

Like the explanation, your
conclusions about the lessons must be supported by textual evidence and analysis. However, take
time to note how the themes of self-education and soul-searching tie into the idea that
Santiagos life is filled with lessons. How? If you are intent on learning to understand yourself
and the world better, you are going to tend to look upon all the experiences in your life as
lessons.

As with the themes, the lessons abound, and Coelho begins the
lessons in the first few pages. In fact, he ties those lessons into soul-searching. On pages 8
and 9, can you find evidence for the assertion that Santiago is tempted to stay in one place?
Who is the teacher in this lesson? What does Santiago learn? Notice that the lesson deals with
temptation and, therefore, ties into the theme of soul-searching.

Legend:

To identify the lessons that
are crucial to the pursuit of Santiagos Personal Legend, you have to identify where that quest
begins. Who tells Santiago that he has identified his Personal Legend? What sentence in the text
proves that the boy never recognized his Personal Legend before? To help you find it, locate the
quote below where this same person proves to Santiago that his vision of the boys life can be
trusted:

There, in the sand of the plaza of that small
city, the boy reads the names of his father and his mother and the name of the seminary he had
attended. He read the name of the merchants daughter, which he hadnt even known, and he read
things that he had never told anyone. (p. 23)