Sunday, October 26, 2014

In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, please identify the conflict of man vs. society conflict. Be specific please!

In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist,
there are two specific situations that can be identified as man vs
society.


The first is when Santiago reaches the oasis. He
sees an omen in the desert that he believes indicates the approach of war, even though
the oasis is supposed to be a "neutral zone." Even with fear in his heart, Santiago
approaches the leaders of the oasis to tell them what he has seen and that he believes
danger approaches. Santiago is told that if he is wrong, he will be killed, but that
they will act on his advice and prepare...and war does come to the
oasis.


The second example is when Santiago goes with the
alchemist out into the desert and they are taken prisoner by a group of soldiers. This
is toward the end of the book. The alchemist tells the leader of their captors that
Santiago (the boy) can turn himself into the wind. At this point, Santiago cannot
believe that the alchemist would say such a thing: if the boy cannot turn himself into
the wind, he will be killed by the soldiers, and Santiago fully expects to die at the
hands of these men. Of course, Santiago ultimately does turn
himself into the wind, thereby being saved.


In both of
these examples, we see the conflict of man vs society.

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