6 construction of the East by the West and the ideological interest of the West in
The Alchemist. As the method of doing the analysis, this research uses inductive method.
Inductive method is the process of reasoning that is applied to conclude the subject matter. It means that “the discussion goes from particular to a whole group
of ideas, phenomena, or situations” Young, 1982: 10. Shaw 1972: 107 also states that “by doing an inductive method, it means that a movement of thought is
expressed or implied for the specific to the general”. This is the process of transforming idea to general beyond particular data related to the novel.
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CHAPTER 4. AN ANALYSIS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF ORIENTALISM IN PAULO COELHO’S
THE ALCHEMIST
This chapter is divided into three subchapters. The first subchapter discusses the representation of the West. The second subchapter discusses the representation of
the East. The last subchapter describes the ideological interest beyond orientalism constructed in the The Alchemist.
4.1 The Representation of the West
Discussing orientalism is like the process of recognizing the knowledge between two worlds. The world is divided into two important parts, the West and the
East. Actually, the representation of the West and the East are different. The former is shown as ordinate and the latter is subordinated one as well. Obviously, that
construction has been published since the World War II ended and became prevalent in the discourse. It is printed and published as a brand of new knowledge through the
mass media, books, communities, lives, and literary works. In The Alchemist, there are so many proofs about the West construction by Paulo Coelho as the writer of the
novel. The writer, who is part of the West, plays an important role in leading the story based on his experiences of his life. He also has the authority to represent everything
about the West and the East in the novel. There are several numbers of constructions of the West including the characters, settings, perceptions about the East and
stereotypes in the novel. Meanwhile, the construction of the West is divided into some categories. They are linked each other as a proof in the novel. This subchapter
explains how Paulo Coelho constructs the West in the novel and Edward said’s theory of orientalism is used in this research. Those categories in this subchapter
place into different sub-subchapters and all of them are explained with appropriate proofs taken from The Alchemist.
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4.1.1 Western Characters and Attitudes
The characters who are described in this sub-subchapter are Santiago and an English Man represented in the novel. As it is mentioned in the previous chapter,
according to Edward Said 1979: 7 the West is typically superior in one comparison with the orient or the East. This novel provides some characters that support the West
representation, or how the West should be constructed instead of their attitudes to the Orient. There are some characteristics of the West superiority when encountering the
orient in the novel. One of the West characteristics and attitudes is smart. The characters are not only constructed with a smart description but some books are also
brought by Santiago and the English Man in everywhere, as well as it is written in the novel. There are many proofs match with the statement that most of the West
characters in the novel are able to solve the problem and they always bring a book wherever they are.
Despite of what Said states about West superiority, that West subject assumes them as the perfect creature in this world because of their knowledge. The characters
such as Santiago and the English Man are smart. The quotation below shows the proof of western subject.
“Actually, he was thinking about shearing his sheep in front of the merchants daughter, so that she could see that he was someone
who was capable of doing difficult things. He had already imagined the scene many times; every time, the girl became
fascinated when he explained that the sheep had to be sheared from back to front. He also tried to remember some good stories
to relate as he sheared the sheep. Most of them he had read in books, but he would tell them as if they were from his personal
experience. She would never know the difference, because she didnt know how to read” Coelho, 1993:16.
The character in the novel shows his ability to tell a story and remembering something happened with his experience as a sphere boy. From that story, he wants
