Section 4: 128 - 171

Signposts:

1. Theme Tracker - Again, (because its a theme), we see the interconnectedness of everything. This time though, instead of just including beliefs, Coelho adds objects too. Beginning on page 149, Santiago begins a conversation about what love truly is, that includes talking to the dessert, the wind, the sun, the hand that wrote all, until he reached the Soul of the World and found the Soul of God also. This part of the book shows the interconnectedness of physical objects, such as the dessert and the sun, with beliefs, such as alchemy and the Soul of the World, with religions and feelings, like love. It ties all (or most) of Santiago's lessons together, and puts what he has learned into the real world for him to really begin to learn about the Soul of the World. 
2. Other Things to Notice: Character Development - I thought it was interesting to see how Santiago dealt with setbacks in the beginning of the book verses at the end. In the beginning, when he is robbed by the thief, he is very upset and contemplates giving up and going home before he sees it as an omen, although he is still sad. At the end, Santiago is robbed again, for the third time in the story, on page 167. This time, he is (obviously) upset to be getting beat up, but as soon as his attackers leave, he is bright and cheerful and happy. He recognized the omen to go back to Spain much quicker than he did the previous omen, and it showed how through the book he has become more trusting of the idea that everything happens for a reason and how he follows the omens he sees. 

Reflection:

I wish the author had included more detail about the plot. The story began to sound more step to step, lesson to lesson, and did not seem to have the flowy plot most books do. The lessons in the book are very important, and I see why Coelho spent so much time on Santiago learning them, but I wish he had expanded more on the plot. I think it would have made the story more interesting, instead of, like I said, just being a way to get from Lesson A to Lesson B. Besides that, and the fact that some of the symbolism and lessons in the story went whizzing over my head, the book was pretty good. It was definitely not the most terrible one we have read so far.

Discussion Questions:

• Why does Coelho chose lessons about love to be the key to unlocking the Soul of the World?
• What were your feelings about / Did you like the ending, where Santiago's treasure was actually buried?
• Purely hypothetical, do you thing Santiago visited Fatima on his way back to his treasure? Or did he take another route?