The Alchemist Part 2 (Section 3) - Epilogue

Part 2 (Section 3) - Epilogue

They cross the desert in silence and with caution as the war continues to be waged around them. Santiago attempts to listen to his heart but finds it difficult as it is agitated. He feels the fear in his heart as they pass the armed tribesmen. Santiago believes that his heart is a traitor but the alchemist tells him that it is natural for the heart to be afraid of pursuing a personal legend. He advises him to continue listening to his heart, and as Santiago continues to listen to his heart it grows quiet and begins to tell him of the soul of the world. It tells the boy that it had tried to save him by acting on his own and had prevented him from being attacked by thieves. He tells him that hearts help people who are trying to fulfill their Personal Legends. The Alchemist noticed the change in the boy's heart and knew that it had returned to the soul of the world. He warns the boy that the journey would become extremely difficult right before he found the treasure just as the darkest part of the night comes right before dawn. 

They see the first clear signs of danger as armed tribesmen come upon them and search their bags. They note the gold that the boy carries, and the Masterworks of alchemy that the Alchemist carries, but dismiss the objects as jokes when the alchemist reveals their true nature. The tribesmen let them pass unharmed. Santiago's heart grows quieter with each passing day. A couple of riders attempt to turn the traveler's back but the Alchemist dominates them with his eyes, and later reveals to Santiago that the strength of the soul can be glimpsed from the eyes. Santiago asks about the process of turning lead to gold when they are two days from the pyramid. The alchemist explains how everything in the world evolves from one form to the other, and gold was considered to be the most evolved substance, and this had made it a source of conflict. Many alchemists had been able to create the philosopher's stone by studying in laboratories, while others had stumbled upon the stone, and yet others had sought it only for gold. The alchemist reminds Santiago that all things are one, and so can be transformed from one form to the other, just like the desert had once been the sea.

Near sunset, the boy's heart warns of danger, and not much later, they are found by a large army of tribesmen. They are suspected of being spies and are taken to the general of the army. The Alchemist talks to the chief and tells him that they aren't spies but rather that he is a guide for Santiago who is an Alchemist. He claims that Santiago has brought gold for the army, and causes him to part with the gold coins that he had collected from the chief of the oasis. The Alchemist tells the chief that Santiago will show them all his power by turning into the wind. He requests three days for the preparation. When they are alone, Santiago tells the alchemist that he doesn't know how to become wind, and the alchemist replies that he would need to learn to survive. There is a battle on the first day, and the boy watches soldiers die and be replaced, he realizes that death doesn't change anything. He still hasn't figured out how to become wind, and as the day sets, he finds the Alchemist feeding his falcon. The Alchemist explains to the boy that alchemy involved bringing spiritual perfection into contact with the material plane. The Alchemist discloses that he already knows how to become the wind. On the second day, the boy climbs a cliff and spends time looking over the endless dunes of the desert and listening to his heart. He realizes that his heart and the desert both speak the same language.

The next day, the chief and the alchemist come to the cliff along with the other tribal leaders, and the boy tells them to sit and wait since it might take him a little time. As Santiago returns to gaze at the desert, the Desert speaks to him. It asks him what he wants, and Santiago tells it that he wants to see the person he loves. The desert doesn't understand love, and Santiago explains that love is like the flight of the falcon, and gives other examples of love. The desert agrees to help the boy see the woman he loves, but tells him that he will need the wind's help. A breeze begins to blow, and since the winds know everything, Santiago asks the wind for help. The wind asks Santiago where he had learned the universal language, and he replies that it was his heart that had taught him. Santiago wants the wind to make him wind for a few moments but it doesn't know how and it tells him to talk to the sun. It blows harder to cover the sun with sand so that the boy can look to the heavens without being blinded. Some of the tribe leaders grow wary and wish to stop the boy but the chief wants to see the glory of Allah and lets the boy continue.

The sun tells the boy that it loves the world from a distance, and knows well the soul of the world. It believes that creation should have finished on the fifth day for only the minerals and the vegetables understood the soul of the world. The boy tells the sun that it doesn't understand love and talks about Alchemy. Alchemists prove that when we strive to become better everything around us becomes better. Love has the power to transform the soul of the world. He asks the sun to make him into the wind, but the sun is incapable. It tells the boy to speak to the hand that created all things, and Santiago turns to God. He feels the universe fall silent, and he begins to pray. He makes a prayer without words and pleas. He sees that the Soul of the world is a part of the Soul of God and that it is the same as his own soul. He sees that he has the power to create miracles. The Simum wind blows like never before so that generations of Arabs remember the boy who became the wind. When the wind had subsided, the onlookers saw the boy had moved to a different part of the camp without moving. The chief and the Alchemist have smiles on their faces. The chief allows them both to go and provides them with men to escort them.

The Alchemist sends back the escort as they near a Coptic monastery, there he speaks to a monk and asks to use the kitchen. In the kitchen, he transforms lead into gold using the philosopher's stone. He does so to show Santiago that it could be done, although learning the process is not Santiago's Personal Legend. He takes the gold and breaks into quarters. He gives two to the monk, one as a reward for helping travelers and the other for Santiago in case he should require it. He keeps one for himself and the last he gives to Santiago. Before they part, the Alchemist tells Santiago a story about dreams. The story is of a good man from the roman empire during the reign of Emperor Tiberius. The man was told in his dreams that his son's words would be remembered for ages. The man had two sons, one in the military and the other a much-beloved poet. The man dies while saving someone, and is brought to heaven. He meets the angle from his dreams and asks to be shown his son's words. He learns that it wasn't the poet whose words had outlived generations but rather the son who had been in the military. That son had sought the help of a Rabi in curing his servant, and on his way to find the Rabi he had learned that this Rabi was said to be the Son of God. Upon meeting him, the son had said. “My lord, I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof. But only speak a word and my servant will be healed.” The Alchemist leaves after telling the boy the story.

Santiago rides towards the Pyramids, and his heart tells him that his treasure would be at the place where he would be brought to tears. The boy climbs a dune, and for the first time sees the pyramids. The beautiful sight brings him to tears, and the full moon shows that it has been a month since he left the oasis. His tears fall on a scarab beetle, and Santiago recognizes it as another omen given the sacred status of the beetle in Egypt. He begins to dig at the spot and is soon discovered by a group of refugees from the Tribe war. They steal his gold, and beat him, thinking that he has more gold hidden beneath. The boy tells them that he had dreamed that there would be treasure here and so had come to find it. The refugees give up and leave, but one of them returns and tells the boy not to be a fool. He tells him that at that very spot he had dreamed there was a treasure hidden under a sycamore tree in an abandoned Spanish church. He says that he would never have been fool enough to believe in the dream. Once he has left, the bruised and beaten boy laughs for he has finally understood where his treasure lies.

The boy returns to the abandoned church with a shovel instead of a flock, he drinks wine and thinks of his long journey. In the morning he digs, and as he does so, he uses the wind to talk to his mentor, the Alchemist. The Alchemist had known what would happen, and so had left the boy extra gold for his return journey, he had wanted the boy to go to the Pyramids so that he could see how beautiful they were. The boy finds a treasure chest with precious stones, gold coins, and many other valuables. The Levanter wind brings him a scent of a perfume he well knew, and a kiss from the woman that waited for him.

Analysis

The change in setting from the safe oasis to the harsh desert indicates progress towards the completion of Santiago's Hero journey. Santiago needs to face adversity to continue his progress towards his Personal Legend. There is the development of the theme of oneness as the Alchemist and Santiago cross the desert. They can travel in silence as they are both able to tap into the universal language, while Santiago's understanding yet remains underdeveloped, the Alchemist is fluent in it. They don't feel the need to communicate with another as they absorb the omens of the desert, for instance, the breeze carries the scent of freshly fought battles as they journey through the perilous desert. The symbol of Alchemy represents not only the transformation of lead into gold but the transformation of Santiago in discovering his personal legend. Just as the lead needs to be heated to burn away the impurities, in the same manner, Santiago has to purify himself. He does so by enduring the trials that are set before him and by learning to listen to his heart to attain his personal legend.

Santiago's attempt to turn himself into the wind represents the atonement with the father in his journey of becoming a hero. The father is represented here in the form of the Alchemist. The climax of the book lies in Santiago's struggle to become the wind to save his life. He attempts to become the wind by talking to the Desert, the Wind, the Sun, and finally the soul of God. Unlike the Englishman, Santiago does not search for knowledge in books but instead immerses himself in the language of the world.

The author purposefully leads Santiago back to the church in Spain, it can be argued that if he were to find the treasure in Egypt then the value of the journey would be diminished. Santiago has to travel back home to get the physical treasure but he is aware that the true treasure lay in the experience of his journey and not the riches. His return marks the completion of the Ultimate boon or the crossing of the threshold stages of his hero's journey.