The color white is a symbolizes peace, the color blue symbolizes calmness, and a heart symbolizes love. These are all examples of symbols. Symbols are used in many books and novels. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent certain ideas or qualities. Paulo Coelho uses symbolism many times in The Alchemist to describe actions, people, places, and words. In the alchemist Paulo Coelho uses the oasis, a revolver, a hawk, and dreams to symbolize different ideas or qualities.
In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho uses the oasis to symbolize water, refuge, and shade. In the novel, Paulo Coelho States, “Right now it signified shade, water, and a refuge from the war” (Coelho 88). The oasis is used as a place of safety during the wars, and how it is a place that is neutral. In the novel, the oasis is populated mostly by women and children, this is because women and children needed a place to stay while the men were fighting in desert. Tribes fought in the desert and left the oasis alone.
In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho uses the revolver to symbolize trust and safety. In the novel, Paulo Coelho states, “It helped me to trust I people” (Coelho 92). In the novel there was a man called the English man. The English man was not naturally born trusting. He used a revolver to trust that he can protect himself from other people. This relates to the 2nd amendment, which states that people have the rights to bear arms.
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In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho uses a hawk to symbolize aggression. In the novel, Paulo Coelho states, “Suddenly, one of the hawks made a flashing dive through the sky, attacking the others. As it did so, a sudden fleeting image came to the boy: an army with its swords at the ready” (Coelho 103). Hawks are aggressive, it is unheard of an army to attack the oasis, so this tells us that the hawk was sending a message of aggression. It is unheard of an army to attack the oasis because the oasis is a neutral place where all the tribes know not to fight in.
In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho uses a dreams to symbolize a form of communication. In the novel, Paulo Coelho states, “And dreams are the language of god. When he speaks out language, I can interpret what he has said. But if he speaks in the language of the soul, it is only you who can understand” (Coelho 15). Paulo is saying that when we have a dream, it’s basically god trying to communicate with us. She splits the two types of dreams into two groups, our language, and the language or the soul. The language of the soul is a type of language god talks to everyone individually and our language is a collective language where everyone understands.
In the alchemist Paulo Coelho uses the oasis, a revolver, a hawk, and dreams to symbolize different ideas or qualities. Paulo Coelho uses symbolism many times in The Alchemist to describe actions, people, places, and words. Symbols are used in many books and novels. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent certain ideas or qualities.
Works Cited
- Coelho, Paulo. The Alchemist. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998. Print.
