Rethinking Fate or ‘Maktub’ in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist through Taoism

Abstract

Brazilian author Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is believed to be a work that inspires readers to reflect upon their dreams and pursue them. While it is a matter of discussion as to what makes the novel so, one of the apparent reasons is the compelling presence of philosophical ideas like Taoism. However, the presence of Taoism—the idea of going with the universe’s “flow” - contradicts Coelho’s use of the idea of “fate” or “Maktub” present in the same work. While Maktub stands for a pre-determined destiny, this research paper closely analyses how Taoist principles in The Alchemist contradict the author’s use of the concept of fate or destiny through the actions and dialogues of notable characters.

Keywords:

• fiction
• novel
• Paulo Coelho
• The Alchemist
• Taoism
• fate
• maktub
• philosophy

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

The research article delves into the profound philosophical clash between Taoism and Maktub (fate) within Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. Exploring the two conflicting ideologies present together in the same work, it aim to shed light on the complexity of the presence of two opposite philosophical ideas within the same context. Through meticulous analysis, the article navigates the protagonist’s transformative journey. It unravels the enigmatic relationship between the Taoist concept of harmonious alignment with the natural flow of life and Maktub’s assertion of predetermined destiny. Examining how these contrasting philosophies intersect and collide aims to provoke thought and inspire contemplation on the nature of personal agency, purpose, and the pursuit of one’s dreams.

1. Introduction

Taoism, also known as Daoism, can be loosely defined as a thought interested in intuitive wisdom rather than rational knowledge (Capra, 1982) Mistrust of traditional knowledge and reasoning is stronger in Taoism than in any other school of philosophy, based on the belief that the human intellect can never comprehend something called the “Tao” (Capra, 1982) “Tao” means a road, a way, a method, a principle or a truth (Ming-Dao, 2018). Taoism has been connected to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who, around 500 B.C.E., wrote the main book of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching (National Geographic Society, 2020).

As a branch of Chinese philosophy that helps humans undertake a new approach to life, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a novel that uses the core ideas of Taoism to narrate a fictional story. Set in an Egyptian context, the novel narrates the life of a young shepherd boy named Santiago, who progresses towards his dream treasure merely by trusting intuitions (known as “omens” - a phenomenon that is thought to predict the future and frequently heralds the start of change. Omens convey divine messages from the gods, a belief that was once widely held and is still held by some people) and random strangers. Looking at The Alchemist through Taoism becomes relevant in such a context. However, contrary to trusting intuitions, Santiago also attributes his life and various incidents to another concept called fate or “Maktub”, which believes everything is already pre-determined by the universe beforehand. Taoism in the novel thus contradicts Coelho’s use of the philosophical idea Maktub, as both ideas are used within the same context. This research paper closely analyses how one could observe two opposing ideas like Taoism and fate or Maktub together in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, limiting and contradicting the philosophical ideas disseminated throughout the novel.

2. Review of literature

The Alchemist represents man’s insatiable quest to find his place in the world and the ultimate search for the meaning of life and the universe (Raina, 2017). It uses one or more animals as symbols around which the story revolves (Lakshmi & Mani, 2018). The novel also uses the techniques of magical realism but endows them with a visionary quality, promoting the notion that each of us is destined for a treasure (Hart, 2010). Such a notion makes the novel symbolic, giving the protagonist’s journey a symbolic meaning. While Coelho expresses himself through the protagonist Santiago (Geetha & Thambi, 2018), the transformational journey of the self is also evident in the character of the Englishman (Mirafuentes et al., 2015). Coelho found words in sacred and profane books, in oriental legends and occidental epics (Arias , 2007), concocting a mixture of gospels and medieval magic books (Arias , 2007) to frame his works. However, reading symbols in The Alchemist is a mechanical process confined to specific forms or structures (Sebastian, 2022). The structure made The Alchemist a famous novel, provided the readers were already trained to think and read amidst that structure (Sebastian, 2022). Coelho’s plot setting could be identified through a journey where he structures the development of his protagonists (Jondhale, 2021). He positions his characters in imbalanced situations where they feel discontented and puts them through a struggle to obtain meaning out of meaninglessness (Jondhale, 2021). The existing pieces of research thus ascertain that Coelho’s works are known for their profound symbolism and philosophical ideas. However, no study has been done on the concept of fate and the presence of Taoism, though both philosophies have their roots in The Alchemist. Such a gap in the literature generates a need to study how both philosophical ideas acclaim their presence in the novel, ending up contradictory.

2.1. Taoism in the Alchemist

2.1.1. The protagonist becoming a Shepherd

The novel begins with the introduction of the protagonist Santiago, a young shepherd boy wanting to travel worldwide and earn money simultaneously. Though his parents wanted him to be a priest, Santiago was afraid never to find God through the priesthood, and his adventurous heart only wanted to travel. He eventually listened to his heart’s desires as a young boy with much of his life ahead to become a shepherd, trusting his intuition to do what he felt was the most appropriate. Becoming a shepherd was Santiago’s way of submitting himself to his heart’s desire and adjusting to what life had to offer. Since the submission of oneself to the universe is the core principle of Taoism, Santiago’s choice of trusting mere intuitions and becoming a shepherd depicts the same principle. Taoism also holds the core value that humans and other animals should live in balance with the Tao or the universe (Society), which could be seen in Santiago’s life as a shepherd and as a person who listened to his heart.

2.2. Spotting a butterfly

As the story progresses, Santiago spots a butterfly fluttering near him during a conversation with an old man named Melchizedek. Seeing the butterfly, he remembered his grandfather, who once told him butterflies were good “omens” (Coelho, 2014). The facet of butterfly symbolism is based upon its metamorphoses. Its chrysalis is the egg which contains the potentiality of being, and the butterfly which emerges from it is the symbol of resurrection, or one might rather say rising from the grave (Durand, 1999). Furthermore, the butterfly is sometimes associated with the chrysanthemum to symbolise autumn (Guénon, 1927). Another symbolic meaning associated with the butterfly is that of the soul freed from its covering of flesh, as in Christian symbolism to become both blessed and a blessing (Charbonneau-Lassay & Dooling, 1992). To the Aztecs, the butterfly symbolised the soul or the breath of life exhaled by the dying (Krickeberg & Jospin, 1962). Such an interpretation stems from the similarity between the flickering brightness of flame and the fluttering, coloured wings of the butterfly. Butterflies laying eggs are an expression of human reincarnation (Krickeberg & Jospin, 1962). Similarly, contemporary psychoanalysis sees the butterfly as a symbol of rebirth (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 2008, p. 141). The butterfly appeared between Santiago and Melchizedek while discussing the perusal of the treasure, and the boy’s grandfather had told him butterflies were good omens or signs. Though the butterfly has multiple connotative meanings, as given above, the Christian belief that the butterfly symbolises blessings could be considered the most relevant in the given scenario. Attributing the mere presence of an insect like a butterfly as a good sign shows how Santiago trusted the universe to help him through natural signs to affirm that he was on the right path. Though the importance of the butterfly as a sign was only made known to Santiago by his grandfather, the boy believed his grandfather to show his trust in the universe and get a positive reaffirmation of everything already done based on intuitions.

2.3. Melchizedek’s ideas

Identified as the King of Salem, Melchizedek later tells Santiago about the principle of favourability: one is almost sure to win when playing cards for the first time because of beginner’s luck (Coelho 27). He adds, “There is a force that wants you to realise your Personal Legend; it whets your appetite with a taste of success” (Coelho, 2014). When Melchizedek sees the book Santiago is reading, he says it is irritating because it describes people’s inability to choose their destinies. Melchizedek calls the idea of human life being controlled by fate the world’s greatest lie (Coelho, 2014). The same person also talks about a mysterious force, which, according to him, is a force that appears to be negative but shows one how to realise one’s destiny (Coelho, 2014). The onus lies on the force, and destiny results from the trust given to the force. Melchizedek also hands over two stones to Santiago, which he calls “Urim” and “Thummim”.

“Take these,” said the old man, holding out a white stone and a black stone that had been embedded at the centre of the breastplate. “They are called Urim and Thummim. The black signifies “yes,” and the white “no.” When you are unable to read the omens, they will help you to do so. Always ask an objective question. (Coelho, 2014)

After losing all his money to a thief, Santiago is seen using Urim and Thummim in Egypt. He wants to know whether Melchizedek’s blessing is still there with him and gets a “yes”. Santiago also uses the stones to know whether he will get his treasure, and both the stones fall together on the ground at that time from his pocket. The boy considers even that fall an omen and believes Melchizedek’s blessings to be still there, giving him the confidence to move forward in his search for treasure. The protagonist trusts his intuitions in all the above instances, and stones like “Urim and Thummim” and the presence of a butterfly became tools that helped him ensure he is on the right path. In a way, Santiago can be seen adjusting to everything around him, which asserts the Taoist idea of “going with the flow”.

2.4. Effortless action

Another well-known concept from Taoist philosophy is “Wu Wei”, a Chinese term loosely translated as non-action, effortless action or action of non-action (Einzelgänger, 2019). In Wu Wei or “the state of flow”, one must “take actions effortlessly”, surrendering mind and body to the universe. After reaching Egypt, Santiago is first seen working with a candy seller and then at a crystal shop (Coelho, 2014). He learns one of the most important lessons of his life from the candy seller, as Coelho writes through Santiago’s thoughts: “This candy merchant isn’t making candy so that later he can travel or marry a shopkeeper’s daughter. He is doing it because it is what he wants to do” (Coelho, 2014).

Santiago witnessed how a candy seller’s non-desire for results helps him submit himself to the universe. Similarly, the crystal merchant’s passion for running his shop helps him do everything effortlessly, or in other words, take the action of non-action. Santiago’s work at the crystal store proved a boon to himself and the merchant, who improved his business more than ever. Santiago wants to help the merchant more by giving him ideas like setting up a crystal display case and explaining how demanding more from life is also a part of one’s positive response to omens. Thus, Santiago relied on the omens he received from the universe and tried to use them best by surrendering his actions or non-actions to those omens.

Acclaiming the success of Santiago’s new idea, the crystal merchant permits Santiago to sell tea in crystal glasses, bringing the merchant profit he never expected. At the point of time when Santiago decides to quit his job as a glass seller to return to Spain and continue being a shepherd, the boy is rich enough to buy enough flocks of sheep, like the crystal merchant who becomes rich enough to afford his long-standing dream of going to Mecca. While Santiago works at the crystal shop to earn money for food, his job progresses well with time, and the merchant considers Santiago’s presence a good omen. Thus, the crystal merchant and Santiago accepts and surrenders themselves to the omens sent by the universe to demand more from them later, making it a boon.

2.5. The Englishman and wisdom

Santiago’s money paves the way for the revival of his old desire—to see the Pyramids for once. At that time, Coelho does not talk about the hidden treasure. Santiago continues his journey towards the Pyramids, overcoming various difficulties and obstacles under the self-assurance that he has enough money to return to Spain whenever he wants to and be a shepherd again. He meets another character addressed in the novel as an “Englishman” at that time, to whom he could relate many things.

“Everything in life is an omen”, said the Englishman, now closing the journal he was reading. “There is a universal language, understood by everybody but already forgotten. I am in search of that universal language, among other things” (Coelho, 2014)

The Englishman also believes in omens and, unlike Santiago, had spent 10 years at the university. He had studied Esperanto, understood significant religions, and unravelled the truths behind important questions (Coelho, 2014), making himself an “educated” person. However, The Englishman is unhappy with his knowledge and yields wisdom. For him, wisdom lies everywhere in the universe, but he needed an Alchemist to fetch it. He believed in omens and aimed to find the one true language of the universe with his life and studies (Coelho, 2014). The Englishman’s idea of wisdom lies in “transformation”, and he believes that one must submit oneself to the “language of the world” called omens to achieve wisdom (Coelho, 2014). Recalling Santiago’s achievements as a helper in the crystal shop, the Englishman says it was the principle governing everything (Coelho, 2014). Coelho further writes, “In alchemy, it’s called the soul of the world. When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the soul of the world” (75). He later tells Santiago that “The Soul of the World” allowed Alchemists to understand anything on the face of the earth because it was the language with which all things communicated (Coelho, 2014). The Englishman considers surrendering oneself to the universe as the greatest wisdom to achieve. He calls it the principle that governs everything, similar to the Taoist idea of surrendering to the universe. He also asserts the importance of “living in the moment”, which could be possible only when one is not anxious about the past or the future. Such an attitude to life, in turn, asserts the idea of submitting oneself to the universe.

“When I’m eating, that’s all I think about. If I’m on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other. I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man” (Coelho, 2014)

2.6. Fatima, vision and the Alchemist

Santiago joins the Englishman in his search for the Alchemist in an oasis where their caravan stops. During the search, Santiago meets a young woman whom he approaches to ask about the Alchemist.

At that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and the Soul of the World surged within him. When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke - the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. (Coelho, 2014)

Santiago considers the girl’s smile an omen he had been awaiting, without knowing he was, for all his life. It is an omen he had sought to find with his sheep and in his books, in the crystals and in the silence of the desert (Coelho, 2014).

It was the pure Language of the World. It required no explanation, just as the universe needs none as it travels through endless time. What the boy felt at that moment was that he was in the presence of the only woman in his life, and that, with no need for words, she recognised the same thing. (Coelho, 2014)

Thus, the girl’s smile also becomes an omen for Santiago, giving Santiago the intuitive wisdom that he is craving love as pure as what the girl he just met might give him. The omen of the smile leads Santiago to an inner treasure before he gets his hands on the material treasure he was searching for in the desert, only because he trusts his intuition regarding the same.

As the story progresses, Santiago sees a dream which he later believes to be a “vision”. Two hawks drift in the wind in his dream, and although their flight has no pattern, it makes sense to the boy (Coelho, 2014).

Suddenly, one of the hawks made a flashing dive through the sky, attacking the other. As it did so, a sudden, fleeting image came to the boy: an army, with its swords at the ready, riding into the oasis. The vision vanished immediately, but it had shaken him. (Coelho, 2014)

Based on his vision, Santiago warns the tribal chieftains of the oasis about a possible attack on them. The chieftains believe Santiago under the condition that their weapons would go on the boy if his prophecy turned false. Santiago’s vision later turns out to be true, asserting the importance of trusting omens and how it could risk one’s life if not careful. If not for his vision to come true, Santiago would have been killed instead of being rewarded with 50 gold coins and an opportunity to become the oasis counsellor (Coelho, 2014).

Santiago met an Alchemist afterwards, who opened the doors of wisdom for him. The Alchemist tells Santiago he wanted to see Santiago because of omens (Coelho, 2014). Though Santiago expected the Alchemist to teach him complex acts such that of alchemy, the Alchemist’s only teaching was about simplicity, asserting the importance of keeping everything simple. Similar to the philosophical viewpoints of King Melchizedek and the Englishman, the Alchemist talked about how the fundamental science behind alchemy can be engraved on the back of an emerald stone.

“In those times, the Master Work could be written simply on an emerald. But men began to reject simple things, and to write tracts, interpretations, and philosophical studies. They also began to feel that they knew a better way than others had. Yet the Emerald Tablet is still alive today”. (Coelho, 2014)

The Alchemist clears Santiago’s doubt of immersing oneself in the desert, saying that he needs to listen to his heart because it knows all things as it came from the “soul of the world”, and it will one day return there (Coelho, 2014). The Alchemist often corrects Santiago when Santiago questions his ability to follow his heart. He wants Santiago to listen to his heart and respond to omens so everything will fall into place. The Alchemist adds, “Even if you pretend not to have heard what it [heart] tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you are thinking about life and the world” (Coelho, 2014). Such advice helps Santiago overcome his fears, understand his heart’s dodges and tricks, and accept it as it is. It helps him overcome all the difficulties he faced before reaching the pyramids, makes him capable of turning himself into the wind and enables him to return to Spain once he gets his hands on the treasure. When Santiago asks the Alchemist why the heart should be listened to, the Alchemist replies that the treasure could be found wherever the heart is (Coelho, 2014).

“But my heart is agitated,” the boy said. “It has its dreams, it gets emotional, and it’s become passionate over a woman of the desert. It asks things of me, and it keeps me from sleeping many nights, when I’m thinking about her.” The Alchemist replied, “Well, that’s good. Your heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say” (Coelho, 2014)

Santiago gradually becomes used to listening to his heart to accept it as it is. He loses his fear and forgets his need to return to the oasis because, one afternoon, his heart tells him it is happy (Coelho, 2014).

Towards the novel’s end, when Santiago is about to search for his treasure after reaching the pyramids, he sees a scarab beetle which is a symbol of God according to Egyptian mythologies. Scarabs were found in religious rites, tomb hieroglyphics, drawings, amulets, commemoratives, and good luck charms, and hand-carved scarabs were buried with the dead. The ideas the Egyptians held about scarab beetles could be traced as far back in time as the building of the pyramids (2500 B.C.), and there is no doubt that they represented beliefs that even at that early period were very old (Cherry& Kritsky, 1985). Coelho might have directly used the Egyptian symbol of a scarab beetle to show the presence of God at that place or with Santiago in The Alchemist. He considers that as another omen and continues digging in the same place. Though his hands were abraded and exhausted, he listens to his heart which had told him to dig where his tears fell (Coelho, 2014). Santiago could not find the treasure where he was digging, and the same act attracted the attention of certain tribespeople from whom Santiago understood where his treasure lay. In the context of the situation, it was because Santiago trusted his heart that he came to know where his treasure was.

Hence, in all the above instances, Santiago is portrayed as a young, uneducated, ignorant boy who achieves many materialistic and spiritual things. Listening to the heart synonymise surrendering to the universe, asserting the core values and principles of Taoist philosophy.

2.7. Fate or ‘maktub’ in the Alchemist

While it initially appears that the novel essentially deals with the idea of listening to the heart and surrendering to the universe, what appears subtle yet relevant is the simultaneous presence of “Maktub”. Maktub, an Arabic word meaning “it is written”, deals with the philosophical idea of fate or destiny and is significantly incorporated into Islam. From a mystical point of view, it points to the fact that whatever happens is already known to the “One” (Sadiq, 2006), where God is usually addressed as the “One”. Thus, Maktub signifies the existence of destiny and ascertains everything is already known to God (Sadiq, 2006). It is rooted in determinism, the philosophical view that, given specific initial conditions, everything is bound to happen as it does and in no other possible way. Nothing in nature is contingent, nor is there room for human freedom (Jones & Marcoulesco, 2005).

The word “Maktub” first appears during a conversation between Santiago and the crystal merchant. The merchant considered meeting Santiago and allowing Santiago to work in his shop as a part of his and Santiago’s fate. When Santiago asks what the merchant meant by the term “Maktub”, he replies: “You would have to have been born an Arab to understand. But in your language, it would be something like ‘It is written’” (Coelho, 2014).

When Santiago is about to leave the crystal merchant’s shop, he asks the merchant to bless him.

”Will you give meyour blessing?” asked the boy.

”You have helped me.” The man continued to prepare his tea, saying nothing. Then he turned to the boy.

”I am proud of you,” he said.

You brought a new feeling into my crystal shop. But you know that I’m not going to go to Mecca. Just as you know that you’re not going to buy your sheep.

”Who told you that?” asked the boy, startled.

”Maktub,” said the old crystal merchant. And he gave the boy his blessing. (Coelho, 2014)

In a way, the merchant assumes what God had “written” for both of them, which in his view, would become a part of their respective futures.

As Santiago continues his journey towards the pyramids, he begins to understand that intuition is a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected. He thinks one can know everything because it is all written there (Coelho, 2014). Santiago attributes having intuitions to Maktub, remembering the crystal merchant (Coelho, 2014). A similar conversation between Santiago and one of the camel drivers of their caravan points out Maktub as a concluding word for the driver’s statement that “Once you get into the desert, there’s no going back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward. The rest is up to Allah, including the danger” (Coelho, 2014).

Santiago falls in love with Fatima at first sight and considers her smile an omen. Still, he attributes his feelings towards her to Maktub and to a supreme power that decides many things. Santiago thinks:

There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written by one hand only. It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, one’s dreams would have no meaning. Maktub, thought the boy. (Coelho, 2014)

Fatima is also seen attributing her love towards Santiago to Maktub, as she says:

The dunes are changed by the wind, but the desert never changes. That’s the way it will be with our love for each other. “Maktub,” she said. “If I am really a part of your dream, you’ll come back one day” (Coelho, 2014)

At the point of time when his life is in danger, Santiago tries to console himself, thinking everything depends on Maktub, as he thinks worrying is pointless when everything going to happen is already decided by some “mysterious” force. When Santiago and the Alchemist walk through the desert, they pass by the encampment of one of the tribes. Santiago thinks there is no danger as no one pays attention to the two travellers. However, the Alchemist sounds angry at Santiago's thoughts, saying, “Trust in your heart, but never forget that you’re in the desert” (129–130Coelho, 2014). The Alchemist wants to remind Santiago that even if they could trust their intuitions to move forward, they must be careful about certain “fixed” dangers that could be anticipated, especially in a place like the desert.

2.8. Purpose, future and destiny

The idea of fate has also been disseminated in the novel through synonymic terms such as “purpose”, “future” and “destiny”. Before starting his journey, Santiago contemplated his decision to become a shepherd when he felt that his purpose in life was to travel. Coelho then writes that everything has a purpose, even the jacket the boy had with him (Coelho, 2014).

The gipsy was predicting a definite future while reading Santiago’s hand, in which Santiago would find a treasure though it would be based on the actions he was going to take. Similarly, Melchizedek explains to Santiago that destiny is what people want to accomplish when they are young (Coelho, 2014). In Melchizedek’s view, the perusal of destiny occurs with the support of the entire universe.

The Englishman make Santiago understand that there is no such thing as coincidence and that everything happens as a series of related events (Coelho, 2014). Listening to the same thoughts, Santiago felt that the closer one gets to realising his destiny, the more that destiny becomes one’s true reason for being (Coelho, 2014).

The Alchemist told Santiago he was following his destiny in a strange land and did not change anything “that was written” but only predicted the same to the chieftains of the oasis based on the vision (Coelho, 2014). Santiago feels dying the next day was no worse than dying any other day when the chieftains of the oasis said arms would be drawn on Santiago if his prophecy turned out to be false. He thought every day was there to be lived or mark one’s departure from the world, as everything depended on Maktub (Coelho, 2014).

Similarly, though Santiago is sad to leave Fatima behind in the oasis, the Alchemist consoles him, saying, “Everything is written in the Soul of the World, and there it will stay forever” (Coelho, 2014). The Alchemist also brings in the concept of destiny when he says, “If a person is living out his destiny, he knows everything he needs to know” (Coelho, 2014). He also points to Santiago that the conversion of lead into gold was a part of the Alchemist’s destiny and not of Santiago’s (Coelho, 2014). In a similar line, he adds, “Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time” (Coelho, 2014).

3. Contrasting Taoism and Maktub

The above instances in the novel show Taoism as the dominant idea while Maktub acts as a part of the same. When the novel’s storyline is tracked from the beginning, Santiago decides to be a shepherd out of the will of his own heart, and in the end, it is mainly because Santiago is a shepherd that he finds the treasure. Every omen and intuition he encounters relates to his identity as a shepherd. If the fact that Santiago could find the treasure a part of his pre-determined destiny, then the intuition he has to become a shepherd ultimately leads him to the destiny “written” for him by God beforehand. It is also the case with Santiago following omens by symbolising a butterfly and using Urim and Thummim.

Coelho does not mention instances where characters apart from the Alchemist and the Gipsy woman who reads Santiago’s hand discuss following the heart and believing in fate together. The Englishman believes in following omens, while the crystal merchant talks only about Maktub. Similarly, Fatima believes in destiny, while Melchizedek advises Santiago about omens only. The candy seller tries “go with the flow” of his life, living in the present moment without thinking about the past or the future. Presented as a spiritually elevated personality, the Alchemist wants to meet Santiago because of omens but says the conversion of lead to gold is a part of his destiny. He accuses Santiago of someone trying to change God’s will but accepts Santiago’s justification that the visions he received because of his intuitions were also a part of the same God’s will. The Alchemist asks Santiago to trust his intuitions while in the desert to move forward without any trouble but also to be careful at the same time since they are in a place filled with dangers. Santiago believes in his intuitions to help the oasis defend against an attack, changing what would have been “written” about the oasis. He then justifies his actions as a part of the same destiny of the oasis. When the gipsy woman reads Santiago’s hand, she wants Santiago to promise her that he will give her one-tenth of the treasure if he finds it because she knows it was a part of the boy’s fate which, on the other hand, is revealed only through his heart in the form of a dream.

Santiago and the crystal merchant are engaged in a series of activities at the crystal shop. Santiago finds omens favouring him as things are happening positively, bringing prosperity. The crystal merchant also sensed the same, and together, they took the crystal glass business to new heights. Though the crystal merchant constantly talks about Maktub, he trusts omens to make the best use of it as much as possible. Moreover, Santiago considers his affection towards Fatima as an omen. At the same time, Fatima believes Santiago might be a part of her destiny only if it was meant to be under her destiny.

Altogether, Santiago is able to find a hidden treasure in the backyard of his house, meet the love of his life in a random oasis, witness the alchemical conversion of lead into gold, obtain and decipher visions, get offered power positions like that of a minister, converse with the wind, sun and desert and also gain wisdom from a King and an Alchemist because he trusted his intuitions in all those scenarios. If the occurrences mentioned above were a part of Santiago’s pre-written destiny, which is a legitimate possibility considering the implication of the idea called Maktub, then it could be put in such a way that it was the trust Santiago had in intuitions that showed him the path to those pre-determined life achievements.

4. Conclusion

Paulo Coelho ascertains in The Alchemist that the universe accounts for one’s destiny, and protagonist Santiago’s hardships and problems are presented to the readers as a part of his destiny. Santiago realised he could never know his destiny but believed it contained what was best for him. He is seen taking actions to reach the pre-written destiny, and those actions were automatically fulfilling the partial requirements of his “already written” destiny. Moreover, Coelho says that when Santiago tried overcoming all his hardships while searching for his destiny, the universe conspired to help him do the same. Santiago took actions or efforts to reach the pre-destined destiny by trusting intuitions or omens, and the use of intuitions or omens in the novel becomes associated with the initial efforts of Santiago and other characters. The idea called Maktub becomes the final result of the efforts to trust intuitions or follow omens. Thus, the idea called Maktub is associated with results, which is pre-written for Coelho. In contrast, trusting intuitions are associated with the initial efforts of the characters that lead them to the results.

Coelho also highlights that people’s actions are their responsibilities, including the difficulties accompanying them. One’s only concern must be the perusal of “what is written” wholeheartedly, seeking the universe’s help. However, Coelho does not suggest any ways to pursue that destiny. Santiago and other characters are seen doing it by trusting mere intuitions. They trust their intuitions, similar to Taoist principles, which focus on “non-action”. Contradictorily, Taoism as a branch of philosophy does not deal with the idea of a pre-destined future, destiny or fate. It only asserts the idea of “going with the flow of the universe” without leading to any pre-fixed destination. Thus, on the one hand, we have Santiago and other characters in the novel trusting their intuitions, considering them part of going with the flow of the universe. On the other, Coelho associates such a kind of intuitive wisdom to be part of the more critical philosophical idea called fate or Maktub.

One way of looking at the combined existence of both philosophies is by connecting them. Though Santiago and other characters were bound to act in alliance with the destiny pre-written for them, their trust in heart, omens or intuitions could be considered a way to reach that destiny. The connection then makes intuitions part of Maktub or fate, as following intuitions only leads the characters to their pre-destined fate. The connection can be considered as Coelho’s creative extension of Taoist principles. Coelho can be seen resorting to connecting two contradictory philosophical ideas in The Alchemist, focusing on the fact that Taoism lacks the idea of a pre-destined future and that the idea of Maktub believes in the concept of one.

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Notes on contributors

Rajat Sebastian

Rajat Sebastian is a Assistant Professor of English Studies at the Department of English and Cultural Studies, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, India. He holds an MA in English with Cultural Studies from the same university. Apart from being a freelance photographer, his academic interests focus on the relationship between symbols and their meanings through textual and philosophical approaches, especially semiotics. The extensive enquiry about the connection between symbolism and philosophy made Rajat keenly interested in exploring philosophical ideas, especially from a postmodern and interdisciplinary perspective.