Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist" is a fantastical analogy of the struggle to follow one's dreams.

"Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is," King Melchizedek explains to Santiago.  "It is what you have always wanted to accomplish."  But achieving one's Personal Legend isn't just about finding the treasure, or becoming the best at something.  It is also about the journey, learning to trust yourself, learning to use your talents in new ways, learning when to trust others, and when not to.  This book is about Santiago's journey to achieve his Personal Legend, and it's kind of an instruction manual to the readers in how to achieve their own.


The journey Santiago makes is meant to be allegorical to the journeys we all take in striving for our dreams, but Paulo Coelho is sometimes quite literal with his story telling.  For example, while we colloquially use "dream" as a reference to an aspiration we've thought over, planned, and even day-dreamed about, Santiago has a dream in the middle of the night were he sees the great pyramids of Egypt (which he didn't know for certain of they did in fact exist), and a whispering voice telling him he will find great treasure there.  From what we know about Santiago thus far in the story, it seems like the adventure of traveling to Egypt would appeal to him, as he enjoys his time wandering from town to town with his flock of sheep, taking new paths each time and exploring the lands of his home in Andalusia, Spain. However, taking on a journey of that magnitude requires the promise of a reward greater than just getting to see a new place, especially if you're a humble shepherd, living from one trading center to the next, so the whispers of great treasure inspire him to act when he might have otherwise cast off the dream as pure fantasy.


King Melchizedek explains to Santiago that the Universe always conspires to help us achieve our Personal Legends.  However, Santiago finds that this does not happen in the way one might expect or hope for.  He rushes, fool-hearty, off to Morocco to begin his journey to the pyramids, and is instantly robbed.  He is forced to live in the coast town, working in a small crystal shop, in order to save up the money he would need to return home.  But just when he's ready to pack up, go home, and admit defeat, he hears of a caravan heading east, in the direction of the pyramids.  He thinks of all he's learned in over a year living in the coast town.  He's learned the local language, he's made contacts with the traveling merchants who go on the caravans, and he's learned that just because things go terribly wrong doesn't mean he can't find a way to make it work.  He had survived being robbed and stranded in a foreign country, and he could survive the next leg of the journey.


That is the true lesson of the book, learning to not give up.  Santiago is faced with multiple chances to give up on reaching the pyramids.  He could have stayed in an oasis town as advisor to the local magistrate, married to the woman he truly loved, Fatima.  But he knew he would not be happy if he had given up, and he knew that Fatima would not want to be the reason he gave up.  He could have turned back when he found himself caught between feuding tribes in the desert.  But he focused on why this journey was really so important to him (and it wasn't the promise of treasure) and pushed through.  He could have given up when he had actually reached the pyramids just to see that there was no treasure waiting for him to find.  But he waited and listened, and he was given a sign as to the final leg of his journey.


Patience, level-headedness, a slow tongue and a sharp mind were the true treasures Santiago gained from his journey (though there was a chest of gold in there as well).  The journey itself is the greatest treasure any of us will ever find.