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problem. “His parents had wanted him to become a priest, and thereby a source of
pride for a simple farm family. They worked hard just to have food and water, like the sheep
” Coelho, 1993: 8. The fact that he is only an ordinary shepherd boy from a poor farmer family is the outer problem that forces him to explore only in
Andalusia region. Thus, this expression of inner and outer problem predisposes him to keep his desire of travelling the world. However, keeping desire is like a
time bomb that could explode any time. That’s why these problems will cause the
future result for the need of action and change. How did you learn to read? the girl asked at one point.
Like everybody learns, he said. In school. Well, if you know how to read, why are you just a shepherd?
The boy mumbled an answer that allowed him to avoid responding to her question. He was sure the girl would never understand. He went on telling
stories about his travels.... Coelho, 1993: 5-6 The datum above is a depiction of
the hero’s unconscious vulnerable moment because of the hidden wound that he has kept unconsciously for a long
time. The avoidance to explain to the girl about the fact that he is only a shepherd is indicating an old wound that he cannot be a real traveller. This wound is
induced by the lack of courage. His missing of quality of bravery hampers him to actualize his desire to be a real traveller.
c. Suggesting Dramatic Question of the Story
Although some problems and hidden wound have hamppered him, Santiago actually still dedicates his life with all his heart pursuing his dream to be
a traveller and explore the world. The fact that Santiago has strong-willed character, induces the emerging of dramatic question from the readers,
considering that some hampered-phenomena appear following that fact. One
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example of hampered-phenomena is the moment when Santiago is falling in love with a merchant daughter. This moment could induce a dramatic question,
because it might distract his passion of becoming a traveller. In the real world, love can be an obstacle. One knows what one wants to
do, but he or she is afraid of hurting those around and who love him or her, consequently, one prefers to abandon everything about the dream. Like Santiago,
he doesn’t realize that a genuine love will not stop him to achieve the goal instead of supporting him to take the journey
. “He recognized that he was feeling something he had never experienced before: the desire to live in one place forever.
With the girl with the raven hair, his days would never be the same again ”
Coelho, 1993: 6. Santiago’s fallacious thought suggests an idea to create a
dramatic question whether he will stop his travelling, live in one place, and get married to a merchant daughter or keep listening to his heart to be a traveller.
d. Exposing Hero’s Back-Story
The narration about Santiago’s father’s desire to be a traveller when the
father was young and the narration about Santiago’s decision to become a
shepherd are actually additional background and history of the hero or what is called as back-story. Coelho exposes the back-story gracefully to avoid those
narrations of becoming isolated or separate. The purpose is to give the readers more understanding about the hero and about the story. This datum is the
exposition of back-story in The Alchemist; He had studied Latin, Spanish, and theology. 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.
