Reading Response: The Alchemist

This one's a keeper. Today I picked up The Alchemist, a novel about a young shepherd who discovers himself as he journeys to Egypt to search of a treasure that appeared to him in his dreams. Though it sounds a bit cheesy, the novel is highly philosophical. It analyzes people's lives, motives, and what they need to do to keep from living with regret.

It's an age old question: what makes life interesting? The book has its own answer. "It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting." Consider it. Dreams give people something to hope for, something to strive for. If there was no hope, no chance of happiness, what would be the point of life? The reason we drag ourselves to school every day is so that we can learn, get smarter, hopefully go to college, and one day fulfill our dreams.

The main character of The Alchemist, Santiago, has many dreams. His parents sent him to a monastery in hopes that he would become a priest they could be proud of. When he was sixteen though, he realized he didn't want to become a priest. He dreamt of traveling the world, so he dropped everything he was doing and became a shepherd. As a shepherd, he has no responsibilities but to lead his sheep to food and water. He can travel from town to town, city to city, and the sheep don't even notice a difference. Because he had the courage to change his life and risk disappointing other people, he is able to live his dream. Maybe if we all followed his example and did what we really wanted to in life, we'd all be a little happier. I look forward to reading this book to the end to see what else it has to say.