Character Development of Santiago by Paul Cohello
Character Development of Santiago by Paul Cohello
In the opening chapter of the book we are introduced to Santiago, a young shepherd in the regions of Andalucia, Spain. As a boy Santiago was sent to school by his parents as they thought an education would give him a better life, however, against his father’s wishes he decided to become a shepherd. This was because he had a dream to travel and he thought that becoming a shepherd was a perfect opportunity to do this. At this point we see that Santiago has a lot of determination but is also quite immature as he did not take on board his fathers opinion.
On his travels Santiago falls in love with a girl whom he met when selling wool to her father. He reads to her and she is impressed but bewildered by a shepherd that can read and write. Throughout the first chapter he continuously talks about the girl and is looking forward to returning to the village to meet her again.
This shows a caring side to Santiago and the innocence of first love.
One night Santiago has a dream about finding treasure in the pyramids of Egypt, but before he finds out where the treasure is buried he wakes up. Santiago becomes perturbed about this dream as he has had the dream twice before and it always occurred at the same place, in the grounds of an old ruined church. Santiago wonders if the dream is telling him to go and fulfil his destiny. This is probably the most important part of the book, as the rest of the book is based on the happenings on his trip. This part shows Santiago’s vivid imagination and his strong will.
As Santiago is on his way to go and see the girl, he goes through the small village of Tarifa and he remembers that there is a women there that can read peoples dreams. Santiago goes to see her but she tricks him in to telling her about the dream, but Santiago doesn’t realise. She takes no payment but insists that when he finds the treasure he must give her one tenth of it. Santiago stupidly agrees. However, he still was not convinced that he should look for the treasure. This shows Santiagos naievety by trusting an old gypsy. Santiago then meets an old man who...