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ultimate destination where the readers find out how the conflict will be resolved. This plot illustrates the moment when Santiago experiences the moment of
climax; “They made the boy continue digging, but he found nothing. As the sun
rose, the men began to beat the boy. He was bruised and bleeding, his clothing was torn to shreds, and he felt that death was near
” Coelho, 1993: 162.
Climax moment shows the result of the sudden height tension. The result is a new understanding from the conflict and it causes the tension that begins to
decrease. Santiago, in the climax moment, finds chaos and is desperate because of his failure in searching the treasure in the Pyramid. However, with his new
personality that he gets from the rebirth quality in The Supreme Ordeal, he resolves the crisis moment by interpreting the Arab-
man’s dream and ultimately he finds the treasure.
Finally, the boy screamed atthe men, Im digging for treasureAnd, although his mouth was bleedingand swollen, he told his attackers thathe
had twice dreamed of a treasurehidden near the Pyramids of EgyptCoelho, 1993: 162
…..And they disappeared.The boy stood up shakily, and lookedonce more at the Pyramids. They seemed to laugh at him, and he laughed back, his
heart bursting with joy. Because now he knew where his treasure was Coelho, 1993: 163.
The event above represents the last evidence of the phases of falling action and resolution. The researcher also found the plots of falling action and resolution
in the last feature of the novel which is the epilogue. The author includes an epilogue to support that the conflict of the story ends and has the resolution. It is
also marking the rules of stage Return with the Elixir. The epilogue shows that the hero transforms into a new personality and implements the lesson he has got.
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After Santiago gets the elixir which is the message of the treasure that he has got from interpreting
the man’s dream, Santiago returns to his former land of Spain to prove that his interpretation is right.
2. By Setting
Structuring a narrative in time and place is important because the sequence of the events in a text has to be developed to keep the story rolling. The time is
used to compare the events that the hero undergoes. The place is set to distinguish some events that are presented in the text. Both time and place which are
presented in a story are called the setting. In anlysing The Alchemist, the setting is useful to compare and distinguish stages between ordinary world act 1 or
Separation and special world act 2 or Initiation. The setting helps the readers to recognize the contrast among the two worlds. In the novel, the stages of ordinary
world or separation The Ordinary World, The Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, and Meeting with the Mentor are presented as the most delicate time and set
in a mundane or familiar environment. It also frames the hero –Santiago- in a
normal day along with his activities in the countryside of Andalusia. In contrast, the stages of the special world or initiation Test-Allies-Enemies, Approach to the
Inmost Cave, Suprme Ordeal, and Seizing the Reward are presented as the mysterious landscapes. When leaving his hometown in Andalusia to undertake the
journey, Santiago enters the unknown and mysterious world of Tangier, Africa. Thus the functions of setting are to show the readers
the main character’s way of life, to create a mood or atmosphere, to symbolize an idea, and to make
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action more real. In other words, the setting of the story is the pictures of series of incident that the hero undergoes as the part of his journey. That is why, the setting
is employed as a method for this research to reveal the stages of journey that the hero undergoes.
The narrative element of setting to decide if the story or data support the rules or characteristics of each stage, for, the setting provides the background of
the action and shapes the events. The setting of time is not always presenting time of year or day but it could be weather or events. Meanwhile, the setting of place is
not always presenting a specific region, state, or building but it could be scenery, modes of transportation, customs, dialects, or clothing. After examining the whole
setting of the novel, the story can be devided into 4 major places relating to the stages of archetype of hero’s journey. To help the readers get more visualization,
the following is the map of Santiago’s Journey.
Figure 3. Map of Santiago’s Journey
In the novel, Santiago visits several places. The numerical symbol on the map represents the places that have been passed, they are; 1 Tarifa- Andalusia,
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2 Tangier- Africa, 3 Al-Fayoum Oasis, and 4 Pyramids of Egypt. Act 1 of Separation or the realm of Ordinary World is presented in Tarifa- Andalusia. Act
2 of Initiation or the realm of Special World is presented in Tangier- Africa up to Al-Fayoum Oasis. Act 3 of Return or another realm of Ordinary World is
presented in the Pyramids of Egypt. The region of Andalusia and the city of Tarifa present such compelling
evidences of exposition or introduction about the story. These places signify the stages of The Ordinary World, The Call to adventure, Refusal of the Call, Meeting
with the Mentor, and Crossing the first Threshold. In exposing the moment the story takes time, the setting of time in the novel is not limited to a specific period.
However, it can be estimated that the time is after the Moors invasion. It was the time of day when all of Spain slept during the summer. .........he
had spoken to them about only one thing: the girl, the daughter of a merchant who lived in the village....The girl was typical of the region of
Andalusia, with flowing black hair, and eyes that vaguely recalled the Moorish conquerors.....he had attended a seminary until he was sixteen.
His parents had wanted him to become a priest,.....He had studied Latin, Spanish, and theology.But ever since he had been a child, he had
wanted...to travel. People from all over the world have passed through this village, son, said his father. They come in search of new things, but
when they leave they are basically the same people they were when they arrived. They climb the mountain to see the castle, and they wind up
thinking that the past was better than what we have now Coelho, 1993: 5- 9
The datum above presents the setting symbolizing an idea of time. The
story is set after the Moorish invades Spain. The narrator says that “the girl was
typical of the region of Andalusia, with flowing black hair, and eyes that vaguely recalled the Moorish conquerors”, this symbolizes that the Moorish people are the
ancestors of the Andalusian. In Cambridge dictionary, the Moors are the Muslim people who were the rulers of Spain from 711 to 1492. Since 1492, most of
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Andalusia has been under Spanish controlled by Catholic. The setting shows that Santiago attends a seminary because his parents want him to become a priest.
However, Santiago prefers to be a traveller . The line “they climb the mountain to
see the castle, and they wind up thinking that the past was better than what we have now” tells that there are tourists or travellers who come to visit a castle in
Andalusia, aweing the glories of the past. This supports the history of the Moorish people’s invasion. In Cordoba of Andalusia there is a catholic cathedral that
becomes a great mosque and has Moorish architecture, but it is originally built in the period of Visigoth kingdom before being conquered by Muslim.
The next place, Tangier of Africa represents the realm of Special World. The setting of a bar on which Santiago drops in, supports the characteristic of
stage Test-Allies-Enemies. The setting of the bar helps to create the tension that Santiago has entered the realm of unknown. For example:
“How strange Africa is, thought the boy. He was sitting in a bar very much like the other bars he had seen along the narrow streets of Tangier. Some
men were smoking from a gigantic pipe that they passed from one to the other. In just a few hours he had seen men walking hand in hand, women
with their faces covered, and priests that climbed to the tops of towers and chanted
—as everyone about him went to their knees and placed their foreheads on the ground Coelho, 1993: 33
This setting draws a drastic contrast to the realm of the Ordinary World. In the special world Santiago notices a new dialect, a new customs, even new clothing,
all represent that Santiago moves from the location of Andalusia to Africa. The continuance of the journey from Tangier to the Oasis of Al-Fayoum presents the
cycle of Initiation. This arena marks the stages of Approach to the Inmost Cave, Supreme Ordeal, and Seizing the Reward. Meanwhile, Egypt is the realm of
Return. The cycle of Return signifies that the hero returns to his homeland and
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continues the ultimate destination. The moment Santiago leaves the Coptic Monastery represents the stag
e of The Road Back. The Pyramids’ area is the area of the Stages of Resurrection and Return with the Elixir. Santiago encounters both
the climax and the Elixir in the Pyramids. However, the continuance of the last stage of Return with the Elixir is also presented in the Epilogue in which Santiago
returns to Spain and finds another treasure.
