The Alchemist: Plot Summary

Santiago is a young shepherd boy living in the Andalusian hills of Spain. He is good at tending to his sheep, and, at the beginning, he is seen making plans to settle down with a girl he had met a year ago. Sleeping under a sycamore tree near a church, Santiago dreams of a child directing him to visit the Egyptian pyramids where he would find a hidden treasure. Perturbed by this recurrent dream, he visits a gypsy woman who tells him that the dream is prophetic and he should follow the dream and embark on a journey to Egypt. Santiago, who is leading a contented life, is not too convinced and dismisses her interpretation.

Santiago’s next encounter is with an old man. He tells the old man about his dream and the man, like the gypsy woman, also urges him to pursue the dream. As a fee for interpreting his dream Santiago gives him ten percent of his flock of sheep. The man explains that finding this hidden treasure is his Personal Legend, his purpose in life. This old man, who seems to be able to read Santiago’s mind, introduces himself as Melchizedek, the king of Salem. He removes his cape and reveals a shining golden breastplate studded with stones. He gives Santiago two of those stones, Urim and Thummim, representing “yes” and “no.” He says that these stones will help Santiago study the omens during his journey.

Santiago is undecided for a brief while, but then resolves to follow his dream. He sells his flock of sheep and buys a ticket to Tangier in North Africa. Upon arriving at his first destination, he discovers that the people there speak a different language: Arabic. At a bar he meets a man who speaks Spanish, a language Santiago can comprehend, and this man promises to help him on his journey to the pyramids. He, however, turns out to be a thief who steals Santiago’s money. Santiago is distraught but later convinces himself that this mishap, too, must be a part of his adventure.

Santiago approaches a crystal merchant for work, and the merchant employs him. When Santiago tells him that he wants to earn enough money to continue his journey to the pyramids, the man reveals that the pyramids are in a land far away and Santiago would need to work for a year to earn enough money to resume his journey. Santiago is once again discouraged and decides that he will work till he has enough money to return to Spain and buy a new flock of sheep. He works diligently, and the merchant’s business flourishes. After working for eleven months in the shop, Santiago is at a crossroads. He wonders if he should head back home and once again embrace the life of a shepherd, or if he should continue his quest. The merchant tells him that he dreamt of going to Mecca, but could never fulfill this dream. Santiago, however, is urged to fulfill his. In fact, the merchant believes that Santiago is destined to continue his quest.

Santiago finally joins a caravan on its way to Egypt. On this journey across the vast Sahara desert, he meets an English fellow traveler. The man, it turns out, has studied alchemy for years and dreams of meeting the great alchemist who is rumored to live in the oasis of Al-Fayoum. He wants to learn the art of turning lead into gold from the alchemist. Along the journey, the Englishman is perpetually buried in his books and never looks around to take in the wondrous sights of the desert. Santiago interacts with the caravan driver and learns a lot about the desert from him. He tells the Englishman to pay attention to his surroundings, whereas the Englishman offers Santiago his books. After a while Santiago returns the books saying he could only imbibe little knowledge from them. The Englishman, too, had not gained much by looking at the desert.

The news of an imminent tribal war reaches the travelers, and a sense of fear prevails. The caravan finally reaches the oasis of Al-Fayoum. The oasis is a neutral land where one must surrender weapons before entering. Gradually, the tribal war gains momentum, and it becomes too unsafe for the caravan to abandon the safety of the oasis. When the caravan’s journey comes to an end, the Englishman requests Santiago to ask people about the alchemist, but no one seems aware of his whereabouts. Finally, Santiago meets Fatima, a beautiful woman of the desert. Soon enough, he falls in love with her. She eventually tells him where to find the famous alchemist. When the Englishman meets the alchemist, the latter, disappointingly, simply asks him to try to turn lead into gold, something the Englishman had been doing all along.

One day, watching two hawks fighting in the city sky, Santiago has a vision of an attack on the oasis. He duly informs the tribal chieftain. When the invasion actually takes place, the tribesmen are well-prepared to face the attack. Santiago is rewarded for his prophecy and is offered the position of tribal counselor. The alchemist, however, tells Santiago that it is time to continue on his path to the pyramids. He offers to accompany Santiago on the journey ahead beyond the desert. This would also mean that he would have to leave Fatima behind. However, being a woman of the desert, she understands the importance of the quest and does not stand in the way of Santiago fulfilling his Personal Legend.

As Santiago and the alchemist venture beyond the oasis, they enter an area of warfare. Very soon, both are held captive by the warring tribesmen who accuse them of being spies. The alchemist gives away Santiago’s gold to their captors and declares that Santiago will turn himself into the wind within three days. Should he fail to do so, Santiago would give up his life, the alchemist announces. Santiago is distressed with this claim and fears he is about to lose his life. The alchemist, however, is convinced that Santiago will be successful. Santiago then converses with the desert sands, the sun, and the wind. They promise to come to his aid, but he finds out that he can only achieve this miraculous feat if he prays to the creator, the “hand that made all.” Soon Santiago disappears with a sandstorm and then reappears far away on the other side of the camp. The tribesmen are taken by surprise and allow the two of them to proceed on their journey.

Both reach the Coptic Church, which is about three hours away from the Egyptian pyramids. It is here that the alchemist uses the Philosopher’s Stone to turn lead into gold. He then tells Santiago that he alone must proceed on the last leg of the journey, the most difficult part of his quest.

At long last, Santiago reaches the Egyptian pyramids. Once there, he sees a beetle at his feet and takes it to be a sign from the universe. He starts digging the ground at that very spot in search of the treasure. A few thieves come across Santiago and rob him of his gold. They ask him why he is digging the land and then force him to continue digging. However, the ground yields no treasure, and the thieves beat him up. When a severely hurt Santiago tells them about his dream, they dismiss him as a fool. The leader of the group also mentions that only a fool would believe in dreams. The leader then speaks of a similar dream he’d once had, of a treasure hidden under a sycamore tree near an abandoned church and how he did not give credence to this dream. Santiago immediately realizes that this is the church near his home back in Spain and the same sycamore tree under which he used to sleep.

Santiago goes back home and digs at the spot beneath the tree. And there it is, his treasure! He finds a chest buried long ago by a conquistador. At once he decides to pay the old gypsy lady and then travel to the oasis to join his love, Fatima.