Throughout history the story of a hero and the quest has been around for many years. In most cultures, the hero goes though the same phases that all other heroes have been through for thousands of years, such as Beowulf, Superman and Troy. Just like all other heroes, Santiago from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, is also a hero because he follows the stages of the hero’s journey. Santiago fallows the path of a hero and quest archetype because he goes through the process of Separation, Initiation and Return. When he finds his personal legend, meets a supernatural being and earns the freedom to live.  

            To begin, Santiago lives through the first moments of his life in separation, which is the first stage in a hero. Separation is the instance in the character where he is introduced with a quest and accepts it. Santiago goes through separation in the beginning of the novel when he chooses to move away from his family to become a shepard. During his work, he dreams of a child playing with his sheep, “…and suddenly, the child took [him] by both hands and transported [him] to the Egyptian pyramids…the child said to [him], ‘If you come here, you will find a hidden treasure’” (13). Here he receives his “call to adventure” because he is introduced to his quest and now had the choice to accept it. Santiago has now completed his separation phase and now is truly on his way to become a hero.

            Subsequently, Santiago goes on to start the initiation phase in his journey in the next step to become a hero by going to Africa. The initiation phase is the major challenge the hero faces; these challenges shape the character. During his expedition across the desert, he encounters tribesmen that take him prisoner. For his freedom, the Tribesmen want to witness Santiago turn himself into the wind. Very unsure about himself, Santiago decides to talk the wind. He asks the wind to turn him into the wind, however, the wind says,”You can’t be the wind…We’re two very different things” (146). He achieves to summon a supernatural being and receives some help. Here in the story he encounters a challenge and overcomes it with the help of higher being. At last, Santiago reaches the pyramids and discovers that his treasure was in his hometown all along. Santiago’s encounters and accomplishment of finding the treasure shows that he is a hero.