The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, is an internationally known bestseller about the journey a boy takes in order to find his hidden treasure. He starts off as a shepherd and is told to go to Egypt to the pyramids by the King of Salem, Melchizedek, to complete his Personal Legend, so he works for a long time with a crystal merchant, providing the business with a steady flow of ingenious ideas that allow them to increase the money they’re gaining. Once he finally earns enough to go to Egypt, he encourages the crystal merchant to realize his own life-long dream to go to Mecca. The boy joins a desert caravan and learns about alchemy. Once he meets a great alchemist, they travel together, having some adventures while they’re searching for the treasure. Finally, the boy is digging for the treasure when some thieves come to beat him up, but a stray remark tells the boy everything he needs to know, and he manages to find the treasure where he had had the dream. The crystal merchant however, had the choice to accept the boy’s ideas and suggestions, but he always objected to them because of his fear of change and his love of the present.
The crystal merchant first had the opportunity to accept Christopher, the boy, to clean the crystal in the window to attract more customers. Because most people would rather buy clean crystal that has been lovingly polished, this would have been a great business move, and would have probably allowed the crystal merchant to have started attracting much more customers. However, the crystal merchant objected in that he might break the glasses, and that would definitely be bad for business. Eventually, he gave in and permitted Christopher to clean, and while he was cleaning, two people came in and bought some crystal glasses, showing how successful the cleaning had already been. The crystal merchant made an extremely smart decision and asked Christopher to work for him, because the two men coming in was an omen that the crystal merchant listened to, knowing that Christopher would be a profitable investment from the omen. The crystal merchant was a kind man, but he is too anxious and nervous and likes how his business is currently doing, nice and small. However, Christopher was innovative and came up with new ideas that increased business.
The crystal merchant also could have accepted Christopher’s offer and suggestion to build a display case for the crystal glasses, which would have increased the amount of people coming because they could see how beautiful the glasses were. This would have been a great way to show off the crystal glasses and prompt people to come view the purchasable crystal at the top of the hill, instead of just hoping some people climbed the hill. The crystal merchant said that people were very clumsy and they would jostle the case, shattering it and wasting good crystal. But his business was already not going very well, and he needed something to help bolster the sales. He had to take risks, and Christopher knew he should because he had used his experience as a shepherd to understand how it could help. Christopher’s idea panned out, and he built the display case himself, and it attracted many customers, making the shop more successful. The crystal merchant started understanding more about risk and change, and how it wasn’t always bad. The crystal merchant’s contentment with how things already were and his reluctance to change were the reasons why he fought against Christopher’s ideas.
Christopher had another idea to help allure people to purchase some of the glasses, by serving tea to thirsty travelers climbing up the hill, people would see the beauty of the crystal and buy it. This plan was very intelligent and strategic, because it utilized how beauty is the great seducer of men. The crystal merchant thought about this longer than he had thought about the other ideas, and instead of rejecting it outright like usual, he talked about his past. His objection to this idea was that he didn’t want to change anything, neither his way of life, his shop, or his business. Christopher had shown him how immense his horizons could be, and given him ways to become a wealthy man, but he still wasn’t as open to change as he could have been. He knows how much he can do, how much he could accomplish, now that Christopher has shown him, but he just doesn’t want to. He allows Christopher to continue with his idea, knowing it is his destiny. As the crystal merchant experienced more and more change from Christopher’s ideas, he became more and more open and receptive to bettering his life, instead of just being completely complacent as he had been before. The crystal merchant finally understood that accepting Christopher’s offers and changing wouldn’t be a bad thing, it would benefit him.
The crystal merchant always had a choice, yet he had always been reluctant to change no matter whether it was positive or not. However, in The Alchemist, he eventually understood how expansion and change would be positive and help his lifestyle, rather than harming or hurting it in any way. The possibility of change had always been ignored by him, yet Christopher was bringing it to him and revealing all the ways he could change things and accomplish great things. The crystal merchant objected to Christopher’s ideas in a futile attempt to avoid change even longer, and once he understood how pointless it was, he continued onward, letting Christopher build his business up so much he hired more employees. The crystal merchant’s doubts were assuaged once he learned about how successful his business had become after he let Christopher make his changes, the cleaner glasses, display case, and the tea all helped make him wealthy and successful. The Alchemist is an amazing book that helps teach us the theme of change in the world and features a terrific cast of characters including Christopher and the crystal merchant.
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