Wednesday, 23 December 2009

How does Narcissus die in The Alchemist?

Narcissus died because he was
looking at his reflection too long and fell into the lake.

The
alchemist finds a book that describes the legend of Narcissus.


The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth who knelt daily beside a lake to
contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the
lake and drowned. ()

The alchemist thinks the storys
ending is interesting because it describes a goddess who asks the lake why it weeps, and learns
that the lake weeps because it can no longer look into Narcissuss eyes and see its own beauty
reflected. 

The alchemist clearly sees thein the story.  The lake where
Narcissus drowned turned out to be just as vain as he was.  This also reflects one of the main
themes of the story, that if we get too focused on one thing we lose track of what's really
important.  

This is what happened to Santiago when he went looking for the
treasure in his dream, only to realize that when looking for his Personal Legend and treasure,
when really all he needed in life was what he had all along.

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