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Santiago experiences a converse situation that brings him toward the former dream. Santiago has almost a year staying in Africa. He has saved enough
to get back to Spain and buy double the sheep he had the year before. When he tells the merchant that he i
s going to leave, he gets the merchant’s blessing. However, the merchant says that even though Santiago has enough money to get
to Mecca he will not go there. The merchant also knows that Santiago will not buy the sheep. Then, when Santiago packs up his stuff, Urim and Thummim fall out
from his pouch. He realizes that he has not thought about the old king in a year. He leaves the shop without saying goodbye because he doesnt want to cry.
Suddenly Santiago realizes that he can always go back to be a shepherd or be a crystal salesman again, but he has to keep chasing after his dream and learning
new things. This moment signifies that Santiago has faced the trials. Meanwhile, he is accumulating power in preparation of the ordeal.
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
The function of this stage is not only taking a rest in the safety place, but also geting ready for the ordeal, making plans, reorganizing team replace partner,
and doing reconnaissance of the enemy. In this stage, the hero enters to another little special world within the special world where he finds a little bit difference
circumstance and rule. This special world also signifies a new threshold for the consequence of getting some trials. Thus, the hero will meet another threshold
guardian as entering a new and different special world. Besides, this stage presents the courtship moment between the hero and the beloved and other
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obstacles as the means to prepare the hero’s mental for facing the supreme ordeal
ahead. This stage can be divided into three parts.
a. Another Special World, Threshold, and Guardian
This stage represents a zone of an “Approach” or near to the most
dangerous place where the ordeal will happen the Inmost Cave. The zone of approach is also called as a little another special world within the realm of special
world, for the hero will enter another strange land with different rules and values. The hero, Santiago, learns many things to get more understanding about the
“Inmost Cave” which is the Pyramid in Egypt. He also needs to get new companion and make plans, and at least he can take a rest in safety place. The
datum below illustrates how the zone of an approach is called as the little another special world:
Now everything was quite different from how it was that day they had set out: then, there had been confusion and shouting, the cries of children and
the whinnying of animals, all mixed with the nervous orders of the guides and the merchants. But, in the desert, there was only the sound of the
eternal wind, and of the hoofbeats of the animals. Even the guides spoke very little to one another Coelho, 1993: 73.
Santiago learns a lot from watching the desert and thinking about the way the caravan moves. Naturally, he makes friends with a camel driver, and they join
at night telling stories. In the novel, after getting a test of encountering the dangerous warning about the tribal war that happens in the desert, Santiago
fortunately arrives to the place where he has time to pause his journey. The terrain and circumstance of this place are little bit different from the passage along the
desert. Creepy and quiet situations change into joy and cheer once the caravan arrives at the oasis. The palm trees, tents, and busy activities of the tribe people in
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the oasis make this place look like a transit town. The oasis signifies the new threshold. The function of new threshold gives victory experience to the hero so
that he can feel the ring of power. This below datum is a reflection of how the hero enters the new threshold:
“The boy couldnt believe what he was seeing: the oasis, rather than being just a well surrounded by a few palm trees
—as he had seen once in a geography book
—was much larger than many towns back in Spain. There were three hundred wells, fifty thousand date trees, and innumerable
colored tents spre ad among them”Coelho, 1993: 87.
Before Santiago and his party approach to Oasis, the caravan starts to travel day and night because of the wars. At that moment, everyone seems to be
frightened and nervous. Then, they finally camp out within sight of the oasis, and everyone is really thrilled about this. The oasis is gigantic, bigger than most of the
towns that Santiago has seen. The people who live there are excited to see the newcomers, and Santiago learns that oases is considered neutral territory where
fighting is prohibited. In the Oasis, coincidentally, the boy meets an old alchemist; a man that the Englishman is looking for. From here, an old alchemist who is
actually the threshold guardian becomes the hero’s ally and mentor. The following
datum describes how Santiago faces the threshold guardian: The strange horseman drew an enormous, curved sword from a scabbard
mounted on his saddle. The steel of its blade glittered in the light of the moon. Who dares to read the meaning of the flight of the hawks? he
demanded, so loudly that his words seemed to echo through the fifty thousand palm trees of Al-Fayoum. Be careful with your
prognostications, said the stranger. When something is written, there is no way to change it.
All I saw was an army, said the boy. I didnt see the outcome of the battle.The stranger seemed satisfied with the answer. But he kept the
sword in his hand Coelho, 1993: 111.
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The story above describes how Santiago meets the Alchemist. Santiago on his way back to his tent meets a stranger who shows up on a white horse, with a
falcon on his shoulder and a sword in his hand. The stranger asks Santiago about who dares to interpret the flight of the hawks, and Santiago answers that he does.
Then the stranger also asks him what he is doing at the oasis. Santiago says that he is following his Personal Legend. Thus, the stranger says that he would test
Santiagos courage, because the courage is the most important quality for understanding the Language of the World. The stranger tells Santiago, if Santiago
is still alive tomorrow night, Santiago should visit him. Then, Santiago realizes that the stranger is the alchemist.
b. Courtship Moment
This stage can also be an arena to elaborate the courtship moment between the hero and another character whom the hero falls in love with. In this stage, a
romance may develop a close connection or a strong relationship, or in other words, a romance bonds the hero and the beloved before he encounters the main
ordeal. In the novel, there is a moment when Santiago meets a girl of Oasis and he recognizes that there is a language, neither word nor image, but it seems like a
sign that tells him about his feeling toward the girl. The sign is about falling in love. The following datum depicts how the hero is noticing his feeling toward the
girl: At that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and the Soul of the
World surged within him. When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most
important part of the language that all the world spoke —the language that
everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love.
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Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert Coelho, 1993: 92-93
Santiago is falling in love with a dark-eyed girl named Fatima who is an inhabitant of the Oase. The story tells the readers that what Santiago feels is love,
and love is a language that everyone has owned in their hearts and could speak. Santiago consciously admits and agrees that his feeling toward the girl is true.
Consequently, there is a moment of romance that develops into a strong relationship.
You have told me about your dreams, about the old king and your treasure. And youve told me about omens. So now, I fear nothing, because
it was those omens that brought you to me. And I am a part of your dream, a part of your Personal Legend, as you call it.
Thats why I want you to continue toward your goal. If you have to wait until the war is over, then wait. But if you have to go before then, go on in
pursuit of your dream. The dunes are changed by the wind, but the desert never changes. Thats the way it will be with our love for each other.
Maktub, she said. If I am really a part of your dream, youll come back one day Coelho, 1993: 97
Im a desert woman, and Im proud of that. I want my husband to wander as free as the wind that shapes the dunes. And, if I have to, I will accept
the fact that he has become a part of the clouds, and the animals and the water of the desert Coelho, 1993: 98
The story above tells that Santiago starts routine-visit to the well, waiting for Fatima. Thus, Santiago and Fatima talk every day. Fatima says that her
persistence to live at the desert Oasis, since the Oasis is the transit-place of passengers who ride across the desert, finally she meets Santiago as her lover. He
tells her about his dreams, the old king, and the omens. Fatima wants Santiago to continue looking for his treasure, even if he has to leave her. She knows that if
they are destined to be together, he will be back for her. She says that she is a desert woman, so she knows all about waiting. This situation induces another
