CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
The Brazilian author Paulo Coelho was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature, he worked as
theatre director and actor, lyricist and journalist. In 1982 Coelho published his first book, Hell Archives, which was
far from any kind of impact. In 1985 he contributed to the Practical Manual of Vampirism, although he later tried to take it off the shelves, since he considered
it “of bad quality”. In 1986, Paulo Coelho did the pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella, an experience which then to be documented in his book The
Pilgrimage. In the following years, Coelho published The Alchemist. Slow
initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time.
The Alchemist is one of the most important literary phenomena of the 20th century. It reaches the first place in bestselling lists in 74 countries,
and so far it has sold for 35 million copies. This book also brought the author in 2008 the Guinness World Record for the most translated book in the world
67 languages
1
1
http:www.paulocoelho.comenglbioshtml., Accessed on 11 October 09 1
The Alchemist is a story about a dream that was first published in 1997. It tells about Santiago as the main character, a herd of sheep who follows
the sound of his heart taking a travel to get his dream. He often dreams of a pyramid where there is treasure trove. Traveling to Tangier brings him to the
desert of Egypt, and in there he meets with Alchemist which will lead him to the treasure, and teaches him about the soul of the world, life, love, patience,
and persistence. The travel also makes him finding his true love; Fatima, a desert girl who is faithfully waiting for his return.
Before the journeys Santiago got some dreams repeatedly, and he continues to wonder what it means. Santiago tries to understand his dreams. In
the middle of his search of his identity as a shepherd, he tried to decipher the reflexions in his dream.
Along his way toward the pyramid, Santiago faces various obstacles, like when he and Alchemist through the desert. They meet some
tribe members with blue apparel and brought to the tribe’s leader in some military camp. The tribe leader accused Santiago and Alchemist as enemy spies
and take all their money. Alchemist told the tribe leaders that Santiago can change him into a wind and can blew the tent away if he wants to. Santiago
was listening without any word came out from his mouth. Scared, Santiago thinks how come he can change himself into the wind, he didn’t even
understand the language of wind. This thing pushed Santiago’s psyche to learn how to become a wind so he and Alchemist can continue the journey to the
pyramid. Three days later he can understand the language of nature, he spoke
with the wind, sand, and sun. His ability makes the wind surround him and cover him with blustery winds which also blow away some of the tents. That
thing saved them from death and also gets them under guard as far as they want.
The main character in The Alchemist has the needs which must be fulfilled in his life. Maslow argues that human needs are divided into five
clusters in hierarchy. The first level is Physiological Needs; the second level is Safety Needs; the third level is Love and Belongingness; the fourth level is
Esteem Needs; and the fifth level is Self-actualization Needs as the peak of hierarchy. At the first level, Physiological Needs such as: hunger, thirst, and
sex, the main character of The Alchemist can fulfill the needs without the barrier and obstacle. It does not matter for him to fulfill the needs.
Furthermore, at the level Safety Needs, at the level Love and Belongingness, and at the level Esteem Needs he gets the barrier and obstacle in fulfilling the
needs because his journey towards the Pyramids and he did not met Fatima yet until he come to the Oases. The condition does not make him give up fulfilling
the needs. Because of his effort and his process of his life, he can fulfill when he meets his affection, Fatima.
Therefore, the behavior that the main character appears in the process of searching reveals the needs that he must fulfill. It is mentioned the
earlier that character in stories can be treated like human character. In order to understand what needs he must fulfill, the writer applied the concept Hierarchy
of Human Needs of Abraham H. Maslow’s Theory.
B. The Scope and Limitation