The thing that most people realized from this book, or the thing that is widely spoken of in all the conversation about the book, is the importance and necessity of the journey. Everyone is always talking about how you need to undergo the journey to get the reward. That is a very important insight from the book. That is not what I am going to talk about in this Essay.
This is not about the protagonist, who leads the story but of an NPC.
The Crystal Merchant
The Crystal Merchant is one of the few side characters in the book. I haven’t heard anyone mention him anywhere, I might not have stumbled upon it yet, so I have decided to write my thoughts.
The very first time I read the story I didn’t realize the importance of the journey. I realised it, but to me that was not the core theme of the book. To me the core theme was something else.
So a quick refresh.
The Alchemist will be working in a Crystal Shop on the slopes of the Mountain. The owner of the shop, the merchant, initially first started this shop to earn enough money to go on a pilgrim journey. He started the shop, he earned, he saved. Years passed, He had enough to go on his journey, but he didn’t.
He lived more in his dream than in the reality and when he was capable he never made any effort to start his journey. He was living his dream and his life was comfortable, no reason to change. So he never changed anything.
The funny part is, He didn’t let go of his dream as well. He held on to his dream, without ever making any effort to bring that in to reality.
The reason why this is the core theme that struck with me was because I suspect that I am very much like the crystal merchant. I have grand dreams, I have the potential to make them into reality, but since I don’t have any reason to disrupt my comfortable life I am terrified of making any efforts.