It is true that when one reads a little deeper into the logic of The Alchemist the contradictions of the book begin to surface. The example we discussed in class last week provides the evidence to support this claim. The king of Salem clearly states on page 21 that “everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is,” then on the following page the king proceeds to convince Santiago that his Personal Legend is not to travel for the sake of traveling or to marry the merchant’s daughter (as Santiago had proposed) but to become rich with treasure. Coelho contradicts himself here, in that Santiago did not know that his Personal Legend was to find a treasure but the treasure turned out to be his Personal Legend. Therefore what the book is saying is that it doesn’t matter what you think your Personal Legend is, because it is probably wrong, and the only way to know your true Personal Legend is to find the king of Salem and ask him.
Perhaps it is true that this book was not meant to be read with any kind of critical thinking and that we as readers should not question the ideas that Coelho proposes. Coelho tells this to his reader directly on page 93: “It was the pure Language of the World. It required no explanation, just as the universe needs none as it travels through endless time.” Therefore are we supposed to read this book critically? Or are we supposed to read it in an afternoon on a whim and not take it too seriously? I think that the major purpose this book (besides for financial gain) is to inspire people to not let daily life hassles/responsibilities get in the way of realizing one’s dreams. Simply put, this book is fiction. Why can’t we read for the purpose of being inspired and entertained? Why do we have to analyize every little detail? I totally agree that there are many problems with this book when you dig a little deeper, but don’t you think we are taking The Alchemist too seriously? Don’t get me wrong, bashing this book has been very entertaining, I especially enjoyed the debate we had today in class, but let’s move on.
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"Don’t you think we are taking The Alchemist too seriously?"
Blake, I know what you mean. But on the other hand, one might argue that this has to be one of the most influential or important books written by a Latin American. Surely we really should take seriously something that has sold 40 million copies? Or should we only ever discuss "good" literature? (And again, who gets to decide what's good and what's bad?)
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