The Alchemist Part 2 (Section 1)
Part 2 (Section 1)
Nearly a month after coming to Africa, Santiago realizes that he isn't happy with his new job. The old merchant is a grouch but treats him fairly. Since Santiago's arrival, the crystal shop has been doing better business, but even with the commissions, it'll take him a year's work to save enough money to return home and buy sheep. He asks the Merchant if he can build a display case to attract customers from the bottom of the hill, the merchant asks him why he wants to do so. Santiago tells him that if the business would improve, then he could return home faster. Santiago tells the merchant that he had wanted to go to the pyramids because he wanted to see them, he doesn't tell him about the treasure because thinking about it makes him bitter. The merchant confides in the boy and tells him of his desire to fulfill the obligations all Muslims had been given by the prophet. One of the obligations involves a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime. The merchant had started his shop with the hope that he would one day save enough to make the pilgrimage himself, but he had never been able to tear himself away from his shop. He had realized that he was afraid of having his dream turn into a reality because if it became a reality then he would have nothing to live for. He gives the boy permission to build the case.
Two more months pass, and the display case brings many customers. In six months, Santiago would have enough to buy a flock of sheep double the size of what he had previously owned. Santiago realizes that his journey so far has taught him many things that he never would have learned had he remained with his flock. Santiago continued to believe in the omens, and so asked the merchant to begin selling Tea in crystal glasses to increase sales. The merchant sat with him, they shared a hookah, and he tried to discover what Santiago was searching for. The merchant admitted that he disliked change, and the boy had shown him dreams of wealth and new horizons that he had never before considered. He didn't want to sell Tea because he knew it would expand his shop. However, he agreed to begin the tea selling operation citing Maktub which translates to “It is written.”
Selling tea in crystal glasses caused the crystal shop to expand rapidly very quickly. After 11 months, Santiago had enough money to return to Spain, buy a huge flock, and purchase a license to deal with Arabs, which he could now manage due to his knowledge of the language. He wore his Arab garb and set out to meet the merchant. He tells the merchant that he now wanted to leave and sought his blessings. The merchant expresses his pride in Santiago's achievement and tells him that he is never going to visit Mecca, just like Santiago is not going to return home for it was Maktub.
Santiago left the shop with his belongings without any tearful goodbyes and felt that he had conquered Tangiers, and could conquer the whole world. He went to the bar where he had met the thief nearly a year ago. He realizes that he is no longer happy with his decision to return home as he would never again have the opportunity to visit the pyramids, but could return to his sheep anytime. Suddenly, he is happy and heads out to find a crystal supplier that brought wares through a caravan that crossed the Sahara desert.
The Englishman sat outside a corral and wondered how he had left ten years of university to come and sit among animals. He believes in omens, and they had told him that it was time to leave the university. The man wanted to learn the true language of the universe, in its pursuit, he had first studied Esperanto, and then all the major religions. Now, he was learning about Alchemy, and making his way to the oasis of Al-Fayoum, for he had learned that an Arab alchemist lived there. It was said that the alchemist was two hundred years old and could turn metal to gold, powers lent by the philosopher's stone. A young Arab man approaches him and asks him where he is going, but the man is uninterested in making small talk, but he notices that the Arab man was reading a Spanish book. Santiago tries to read the book, but he has struggled to complete it, something always seems to come up. Santiago had come to understand that deciding something is only the beginning, and his decision to travel to Egypt is the beginning of his quest to find the treasure. The Englishman notices Santiago using Urim and Thummim, he pulls out another pair just like Santiago's. He tells him that the stones were mentioned in the bible, and were said to be the only permitted form of divination. Priests were known to wear the stones in their gold breastplates. Their conversation is interrupted by an Arab who informs them that they are going to set out for Egypt, which is where the Englishman's oasis also lies. Santiago and the Englishman talk about how luck and coincidence are the words of the universal language. Like Santiago, the Englishman is also searching for a treasure.
The caravan consists of 200 people and 400 animals, both Santiago and the Englishman ride camels that they had purchased. Santiago feels bad for the Englishman's camel since it is so heavily laden with books. The Caravan moves east through the desert, they halt at midday when the sun is at its hottest, and resume in the late afternoon. Santiago intuitively understood one of the camel handlers as he talked of the majesty of the desert, and how it caused people to fall silent. Santiago concentrated on learning the universal language by observing the desert and its people, he threw away his book just as soon as he had formed a relationship with his camel. The Englishman remained buried in his books and spoke rarely. The desert had many obstacles in its path, but the Caravan always worked its way around them. The caravan is kept informed by the Bedouins, who walk the caravan routes in their black garb and warn of thieves and barbarians. The caravan soon began hearing rumors of a tribal war being fought in the desert.
Santiago feels like he can tap into the universal language when talk of the war begins as he intuitively senses the dread among the people without hearing them utter a word. He advises the Englishman to come out of his books and to observe the desert instead, while the Englishman advises him to read more. The caravan begins to increase its pace, fearing the rumors of war, and the nighttime fires are banned to hide their presence. The Englishman and Santiago talk about the soul of the world, which exerts a positive force whenever someone is close to completing their Personal legend. The Englishman tells Santiago of Alchemy, and how it teaches that all things in the world possess a soul so that Santiago's success at the Crystal shop was brought by not just his desire but that of the crystal glasses as well. They discuss omens, very much like how the guides of their caravan sought signs to guide the caravan through the perilous Desert. Santiago believes that they can cross the desert because the soul of the caravan communicates with the soul of the desert. They are both impressed by each other's knowledge, so Santiago begins to spend time reading the Englishman's books while he spends more time observing the Caravan's journey.
Santiago learns that the most important text in Alchemy is the Emerald text, whose meaning the other books attempt to interpret. He likes to read about the lives of the famous alchemists and their achievements, he learns of the master work, which consists of the Elixir of life and the Philosopher's stone. He wants to make these objects but cannot decipher the information, and the Englishman reveals that the method of preparation was purposefully hidden to deter the unworthy. The Englishman believes that he is a true alchemist and so will be able to learn the code from the alchemist in the Oasis, but he too is becoming irritated by simply observing the caravan. He is disappointed when Santiago returns all the books have been unable to glean a more nuanced understanding of the universal language. Santiago realized that people had different ways of learning about the soul of the world, and one way wasn't more right than another.
Analysis
The Englishman is most evidently the archetypal ally in this tale. He has nearly the same objective as Santiago, which is to fulfill his own Personal Legend. They both talk of the universal language, and we see the development of another major theme in this section. The theme of Oneness stipulates that all things essentially come from one soul or spirit. This view aligns with pantheism, an ideology that bestows supreme power on nature and postulates that personal development occurs as one begins to understand their place in the universe, and their relationship with it. Santiago and the crystal merchant serve as a foil to one another since their differences help us better understand their qualities. The merchant has always wanted to visit Mecca but he feared that completing that quest will leave him without another goal to live for, while he is aware that Santiago cannot return to Spain without pursuing his goal. The crystal merchant is aware of what Santiago will do before Santiago has himself become sure of his future course. It is also important to note that the crystal merchant exercises free will in not choosing to fulfill his personal legend, just as Santiago does in choosing to follow his goal.
Santiago is unable to complete the book as he finds it difficult to concentrate. This is because Santiago has begun to gain an understanding of the universal language, and can glean a lot more by quietly observing the silent desert. The Englishman, on the other hand, is aware of the universal language but has yet to experience it in practice. He hopes to learn from the Alchemist, while Santiago relies on his intuition to learn the language from his camel, the desert, and the stories of his camel handler.
