An Analysis of the Discourse of Faith In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist
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Date
2018
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UNIVERSITY OF ABBES LAGHROUR-KHENCHELA
Abstract
Abstract
This study deals with the discourse of faith in The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho’s novel. The main problem is how faith exists in all the events of the novel. The researcher uses two approaches in order to address the problem: the discourse analysis approach, and the hermeneutic approach because the researcher needs to interpret certain words, sentences, events and symbols. At the end of the study, the researcher finds that the author depicts faith in different shapes; faith in God, faith in the other, faith in omens, faith in intuition, faith in intentions, faith in dreams and faith in the self. Also, Santiago experiences faith from the lessons and the feelings he witnesses during his own journey, not as a notion taught in seminaries. Furthermore, the results of the analysis, show that Paulo Coelho writes the event of the story with reflection to the basic foundation of alchemy as a science; through the character the alchemist, the old king, and the journey of Santiago. In addition, striking similarities were identified between Coelho’s own journey which he depicts in his novel The Pilgrimage, where Coelho starts a journey to find his sword, and in The Alchemist’s Santiago who starts an adventure to find a treasure. They both have a guide. They both achieve their treasure the inner one and the material one.