Nicholas Xu
Ms. Levine
English 9H 3rd Period
September 6, 2014
The Alchemist Essay
Imagine a world where everything stayed the same. Would there be a purpose for living?
Would time even have a meaning? Change always comes, and when it does, “[people] have to be
prepared for [it]” (Coelho 8). In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a young Andalusian shepherd
boy named Santiago discovers that this firsthand as he makes his way to Africa and treks across
Xu 1
