Review of Related Studies

28 it, which no one knows but he that hath it. In brief, it is the divine nature; it is God himself, whose essential property it is to assimilate all things with him. Or in the scripture phrase, to reconcile all things to him whether they are in heaven or in earth; and all by means of this divine elixir, whose transforming power and efficacy nothing can withstand. In reading such passages, written by an Alchemist, a reader of alchemical books readily thinks of the language employed upon a certain Mercury extracted from Saturn, or antimony, c., in which is sown a certain philosophical gold, and readily concludes, that, while the first refers to an awakening of the conscience which withdraws the subject of it from the entanglements of a merely worldly life, the second is the divine love engrafted upon it which binds the soul eternally to God. pp.132-135

B. Review of Related Studies

Paulo Coelho‟s The Alchemist is not enough to be read once or twice. Since it contains so many morals and values, interpretation on it will be different each time reading this novel in different mood and situation. In a Korean man blog, Kevin 321‟s weblog, who also enjoyed reading the novel, it is briefly described as a book about following your dream. The culture exposed by the author in the novel fells so distant for him as a Christian Korean. For instance, when a beggar asks for food, people are required to feed them with the best food. When walking in the street, you are forbidden to start a conversation with a lady wearing black clothes, because it is a sign that she is married. Furthermore, believing in the 29 “Soul of the World”, “Personal Legend”, “Maktub”, and omens all seemed very distant from a Christian‟s perspective. Studies on the novel had been conducted several times by students of Sanata Dharma University. One of them was the study on the influence of the minor characters on Santiago‟s motivation in realizing his dream was conducted by Lia Kristi Ningrum, who was a student in English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University, in 2010. This study reveals Santiago‟s character as an intelligent, critical, religious, independent and determined. In the study, there are four minor characters that influence Santiago‟s motivation; they are Melchizedek, the crystal merchant, Fatima and the Alchemist. Being influenced by Melchizedek, Santiago is considered as a pawn person, who has extrinsic motivation. The mutual interaction enables the crystal merchant to influence Santiago with his conservative thought. Another extrinsic motivation to realize the dream also comes from Fatima, the girl he is in love, who supports him to continue the journey when he decides to stay in oasis. At the last, the alchemist wise advice motivates Santiago who is hopeless in the journey because he always thinks about Fatima. This kind of motivation is concluded in the study as a motivation which is associated with extrinsically motivated behavior.

C. Theoretical Framework