The Alchemist

2.Why does the king tell his story to be the boy before leaving? What relevance does it have to your life and Santiago’s?
Before Santiago departs, the king engages in a profound conversation with him about the universal, human purpose of life: to complete our own "Personal Legend." The Personal Legend is something each one of us personally has yearned to accomplsih and fulfill our entire lives. Based on what we have learned so far about the setting of the story, following individual passions and desires was extremely uncommon. Men and women were intended to settle down into the stations expected of them from their elders and parents. For lower middle class citizens such as Santiago, the occupations were extremely generic and left little room for travel and exploration.

Santiago defied th expectations for him and listened to his internal longings. He had always wanted to travel, and by doing so he had completed his own personal legend. The king respected Santiago for this quality. The king was wise and believed that is one was to abandon their dreams for the future, they were abandoning their personal legend. Santiago was greatly infatuated with a girl with a somewhat boring station in life. It is my opinion that the king feared that Santiago would forget his Personal Legend and settle down to a typical domestic lifestyle with the girl. The king told Santiago about Personal Legends so the boy would know how lucky he is to have fullfilled his desires and accomplished his goals.

The king mght have felt that Santiago was at risk of losing his Personal Legend if he settled down, so he wanted to make him appreciate it. I also feel he might have told Santiago the story of the Baker as a warning. He wanted Santiago to know the consequences of losing your personal legends and how a temporay decision can impact you for the rest of your life. He was certainly encouraging Santiago to go on the quest to Egypt.

Now a days adolescents have more freedom to make decisions. The concept of Personal legend is probobly much more respected nowadays because people can choose their own profession. Santiago would probobly thrive much more in the 21st century because kids growing up like me do have oppurtunities to travel, read, and explore. I see myself in Santiago because of his passion for culture and worlldliness. The time he was growing up in obviously did not suit his own desires. The king's words really move me because I'm a school student, and schools are very structured institutions. It can be difficult to be determined and motivated by your own personal desires in a school structure.