Setting
In The Alchemist, the main character, Santiago, travels through may places. The story first begins in the fields of Spain. There is a ruined church and a huge sycamore tree where the sacristy had once been. The setting then changes to a place called Tarifa. The author, Paulo Coelho, mentions that there is an old fort that was constructed by the Moors on the highest peak in Tarifa. There is a plaza and gates that lead to the city. In the plaza, there are many busy townspeople and there are also shops such as a bakery. Santiago then travels to Africa and arrives in Tangier. The language that was mostly spoken in the country was Arabic. In Tangier there is a market and many bars. The streets in Tangier are narrow. On top of a hill there are a few small shops such as a crystal shop and a small café. Santiago then travels through the Sahara desert in order to reach Egypt. Then, he reaches the Saharan oasis of Al-Fayoum where there are a lot of date trees, wells, and the people live in tents. During Santiago’s voyage, there are tribal wars in the desert; therefore, he has to stay in the oasis for protection. In the desert, Santiago sees many animals such as camels, hawks, a falcon, and a cobra. Santiago then decides to continue his journey to the pyramids so he leaves the oasis. Throughout their travel through the desert, Santiago and the alchemist encounter soldiers from both sides of the war and a tribe of Arab soldiers holds them captive in a military camp until Santiago produced a powerful sandstorm as a suggestion from the alchemist to save his life. The soldiers let them go and they once again continued their journey through the desert. The alchemist and Santiago arrive at a Coptic monastery. In the back of the monastery there is a kitchen and the people speak in Coptic. The alchemist and Santiago each go their own way and Santiago finally reaches the pyramids. He does not find the treasure buried in the sand, instead he realizes that the treasure is back in Spain buried near the ruined church, therefore, he travels back. He finds his treasure and mentions that he will go back to the oasis.