An Analysis of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Have you ever cheated death, because of a feeling in the gut of your stomach? Have you ever decided to stay home, because something just didn’t seem right? All of these scenarios can be accounted for by following your heart. All throughout the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho the lesson of trusting your intuition is present. Areoccurring event in the book demonstrating this lesson was each time Santiago (the Shepard boy) followed an omen (a sign to guide him on his personal legend; what he was born to accomplish). | don’t believe these omens were tangible. | think it was more a sign from his heart than anything else. “‘Learn to recognize the omens and follow them,’ the old king had said. An omen, the boy smiled to himself.” As Santiago continued on his quest to his personal legend, the omens pick up. | think this is because his trail of self-discovery helps him to trust his feelings more adequately. Another piece in the reading that really represented trusting your intuition was when Santiago proposed to Fatima (a girl of the desert he fell in love with at first sight). When you are able to plainly lay eyes upon someone and feel so deeply for them, you have sheer evidence of a great relationship amongst yourself and your heart. “At that moment it seemed to him that time stood still… When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke…It was love…She smiled, and that was certainly an omen.”

An apt example of when Santiago’s heart spoke to him yet again was when he predicted war. “Once again he had perceived the many languages in the things about him…’An army is coming,’ the boy said. That is the feeling that reaches everyone at some point in their life. It is the awareness that saves us all time and time again. That intuitive prediction is the caution tape over your actions. Only a very strong feeling would have the power to restrain you from doing something you had previously planned. For this reason, | believe your gut instinct is the most important part of yourself to understand. Similar to what was just quoted, you can know so much by just knowing yourself; your intuition embodies the languages of the world, for it is something we all hold common. In relation to the real world, | think the lesson of trusting your intuition is a very important message to give to people. This book was ongoing proof of how the impossible is conquerable by understanding yourself and your needs. Your intuition is basically the little alarm in yourself that warns you when something just won’t be suitable for you. An example from my life to show this lesson is when my friend invited me to sleep over her house along with a few other people. | was feeling tired and my gut insisted to me that it just wouldn’t be the brightest idea. They ended up staying all night with no sleep whatsoever. | had a tournament the next day and played very well, probably because | got an appropriate amount of sleep. If | had ended up spending the night over there, | don’t believe | would have been so fortunate. In The Alchemist and in reality, the lesson of trusting your intuition is around every corner; make sure you can trust yours.