[As with any piece of art, it can be interpreted based
upon how it speaks to each person that comes in contact with it: this is only my
interpretation.]
In Paulo Coelho's The
Alchemist, the alchemist tells Santiago about two sons. For one son it
appears as if he will be long remembered because he is a great poet. However, when his
emperor (Tiberius) dies, the first son's poetry is eventually forgotten.
Ironically, it is the second son who is long remembered—and an
unlikely candidate. He is a Roman centurion. His servant is sick and so he personally
rides out to a well-known "rabbi" (Jesus) to ask if the rabbi might heal his
servant.
Along the way, he learned that the man he was
seeking was the Son of God. He met others who had been cured by him...And so, despite
the fact that he was a Roman centurion, he converted to their
faith.
The centurion
expresses his humility in the presence of the rabbi, as well as his strong belief that
if this great man will only wish it to be so, his servant will be
well again. Christ praises the man for his great faith, and the story of the centurion
is told over and again in the Scriptures—in the New Testament of the
Bible.
The alchemist
notes:
No
matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the
world. And normally he doesn't know
it.
In saying this, the
alchemist is not only alluding to the importance of the centurion's faith in teaching
others and setting an example that has been referred to countless times down through the
ages, but he also speaks of how any person and
every person can make an enormous difference in the world and not
even be aware of it.
This provides
Santiago with the knowledge that he has the
capacity to do great things that will change the face of the world,
and that simply by being himself and living his Personal Legend he can do so: it is that
easy.
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