34
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter provides the analysis and elaboration to answer the three problems formulated in chapter one. The first is the description of Santiago, the main
character of Paulo Coelho ‟s The Alchemist. The second is the description of
Alchemy teachings in the novel. The third is the revelation of philosophical teachings of Alchemy tradition in the novel.
A. The Description of Santiago, the Main Character of Paulo Coelho’s The
Alchemist
Santiago is the main character of this novel, based on the intensity of appearance and significance of his role in all the moments in the story. He is a
shepherd boy from Andalusia, Spain. According to E.M Forster 1985 in Aspect of the Novel, there are two kinds of character; flat character and round character.
Santiago has round character. His character is dynamic. He demonstrates his capacity to change and to grow as he reacts to events and to other characters. It
means that Santiago‟s character changes within the story. There are some personalities which are found in Santiago:
1. Adventurous
Santiago‟s character of being adventurous is obviously described in the story through both the direct method and dramatic method. Through the direct
method, it is told in narrative way that Santiago studies about many things in
34
35
seminary, including Spanish, Latin and Theology. Nevertheless, the world outside seems to be more attracting him. Even if he knows that he attending the seminary
become the source of the pride o f the family, he doesn‟t want to continue studying
anything inside the seminary. He wants to be outside the wall of the seminary. The jacket had a purpose, and so did the boy. His purpose in life was to
travel….That he had attended a seminary until he was sixteen….But ever since he had been a child, he had wanted to know the world, and this was
much more important to him than knowing God and learning about mans sins. One afternoon, on a visit to his family, he had summoned up the
courage to tell his father that he didnt want to become a priest. That he wanted to travel. p. 4
In dramatic method, the author reveals Santiago‟s character by putting him in the situation in which his decision of going to Egypt for discovering the hidden
treasure in pyramid as he saw in his recurrent dream ends him up in a port city in Africa, where he loses all his money and actually has nothing left to keep going
on his journey except his faith. But instead of being sad of the misfortune he had in this foreign country, he keeps in his mind that it is just part of his adventure.
He looked around at the empty plaza again, feeling less desperate than before. This wasnt a strange place; it was a new one. After all, what he
had always wanted was just that: to know new places…..he realized that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief
and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure. Im an adventurer, looking for treasure, he said to himself. p.19
Flexibility is one‟s essential characteristic to facilitate people to adapt to circumstances during traveling. It is seen in one situation, that Santiago has such
flexibility that frequently supports him facing various circumstances during his journey, when he is about to complain about the unworthiness of carrying his
thick jacket along the field during the hot summer.” we have to be prepared for change, he thought, and he was grateful for the jackets weight and warmth.” p.4.
36
He remembers how it is so worthy to have that jacket during the cold times. He considers of adapting to various circumstances in both his mind and physic.
Therefore, this thought leads him appreciating the fact that he has that warm though heavy jacket. This decision of not leaving the jacket behind even if he is
not currently having need of it, prepares him for the very possibility of having cold times in the future that requires him to wear that heavy and thick jacket in
order to survive during his travelling as well shepherding on the pastures of Andalusia. Moreover, Santiago takes obstacles in shepherding as an excitement of
being a shepherd as shown in the following sentence, “But he decided to take a chance. A shepherd always takes his chances with wolves and with drought, and
thats what makes a shepherds life exciting. ” p.6
The wind is a symbol of freedom. Santiago pictures himself of being able to be as free as the wind and that there is nothing to hold him back except himself
shows that he is ready for the adventure, as seen in the following statement, “The boy felt jealous of the freedom of the wind, and saw that he could have the same
freedom. There was nothing to hold him back except himself.” p.43
2. Loving
Kategori