Monday 10 May 2010

What does the interpreter tell Santiago about the language of dreams in The Alchemist?

The old woman tells Santiago
that dreams are the language of God.

Santiago is a shepherd on
a mission.  He is looking for the Language of the World.  He had a dream that he needed to look
for treasure, so he went to a gypsy palm reader.  The old woman tells him she can interpret
dreams, but with a caveat.

When he speaks in our 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. (1)

Santiago tells her that he has
dreamed of a boy who took him to the Egyptian pyramids to find a "hidden treasure."
 She tells him that he does not need to pay her, but needs to give her part of the treasure when
he finds it.  She also tells him that his dream is complicated and he is not wise enough to
understand it.

This is one of the reasons Santiago begins his search for his
personal legend.  He is a wanderer and a thinker.  Eventually he realizes that what he sought
was back where he began, but he learns a lot about himself along the way.


 

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