COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS OF “THE ALCHEMIST” BY

PAULO COELHO AND “THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS

FERRARI” BY ROBIN S. SHARMA

SUBMMITTED BY:- Group no - 02

DEEPAK THACKUR ....................................................................................(415)

RAJ SINGH..................................................................................................... (407)

RAUNAK DIXIT............................................................................................. (405)

SEWAK SINGH.............................................................................................. (417)

INTRODUCTION:-
(FIRST AUTHOR:-PAULO COELHO, Book:-The Alchemist)

(SECOND AUTHOR:-ROBIN S. SHARMA, Book:-The Monk who sold his Ferrari)

This project is the comparison between two novels, one is of PAULO COELHO’s “The
Alchemist” and the other one is of ROBIN S.SHARMA’s “The Monk who sold his Ferrari”.

• BACKGROUND OF AUTHOR:-
➢ PAULO COELHO:-
Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 24, 1947. He attended a
Jesuit school. Before becoming the most widely published Brazilian author of all time–
publishing close to 100 million books–he worked as a theatre director, an actor and a
journalist. In the 1970's, Coelho was also a successful songwriter whose songs were sung by
such well-known Brazilian singers.
Paulo Coelho and his wife, Christina Oiticica, are the founders of the Paulo Coelho Institute,
which provides support and opportunities for underprivileged members of the Brazilian
society, especially children and elderly. He was appointed special advisor to the UNESCO
program "Spiritual Convergences and Intercultural Dialogues" and he was appointed board
member of the Schwab Foundation for social entrepreneurship. He was the first non-Muslim
author to be invited to an exchange of ideas in Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Paulo Coelho has the Guinness World Record for most translations (53) of a single title (The
Alchemist) signed in one sitting (45 minutes).
AWARDS GIVEN TO “THE ALCHEMIST”
The Nielsen Gold Book Award 2004 for its outstanding sales in the UK retail market.
The Corine International Award 2002 for the best fiction in Germany.
The Golden Book Award 1995 and 1996 in Yugoslavia.
The Super Grinzane Cavour Book Award and Flaiano International Award 1996 in Italy.
The Grand Prix Litteraire of Elle 1995 in France.

➢ ROBIN S. SHARMA:-
Robin Sharma was born in the year 1965 .He grew up in PORT HAWKESBURY,
NOVA SCOTIA. Sharma holds two law degrees, including a Masters of Law, and has
 had a distinguished career as a litigation lawyer. He is the CEO of Sharma
Leadership International Inc., a global training firm whose clients include GE, Nike,
FedEx, NASA, Unilever, Microsoft, BP, IBM, Sun Microsystems, The Harvard
Business School and University. Till know he has written nine novels which are as
follows:-
i) The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
ii) Who will cry when you die
iii) The Greatness Guide
iv) The Greatness Guide 2
v) Leadership Wisdom from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
vi) Daily Inspiration
vii) Family Wisdom from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
viii) Discover Your Destiny with The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
ix) Mega living

Out of all these book his first novel i.e. “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” was the
most popular one, which recognize him in the world.

MAIN CHARACTERS:-
In First Author’s novel, there are three main characters one is of Santiago who was a shepherd,
second one is of Melchizedek who was the King of Salem and the most important one is of The
Alchemist who was the symbol of knowledge in the story. There are some more characters like The
Crystal Merchant who has helped Santiago in Africa, The Englishman to whom Santiago met on the
caravan across the desert, and Fatima who was a young girl at the oasis.

In Second Author’s novel, the main character of this novel is Julian Mantle.

DETAILED DECRIPTION OF CHARACTERS:-

THE ALCHEMIST:-

1) Santiago: - Santiago is the main character in “The Alchemist”. He is a young shepherd boy
who roams the countryside with his flock, traveling on new roads and seeing new things. And
he was happy as he always wanted this kind of life for himself. Sleeping under the stars one
night with his flock he has a dream that a child transports him to the Egyptian Pyramids and
tells him he’ll find a buried treasure there. First he didn’t believe that and decided not waste
his time in a treasure hunt but later with the influence of an old man he decided to go for the
search of treasure. And on his way he learned many things like about omens, the language of
silence etc. And became wiser.
2) Melchizedek:-He was an old man who was the king of Salem. He met with Santiago just after
his prophetic dream. He assists Santiago in making the decision to go searching for his
treasure, and although Santiago does not know it the old king is a God.
3) The Crystal Merchant: - The Crystal Merchant hires Santiago after he is robbed in Africa.
The merchant is a kindly man who is fair to Santiago, and even though he is afraid of change
he takes Santiago’s advice about the shop.
4) The Englishman:-He was a British man who met with Santiago on the caravan across the
desert. He spent many years and many fortunes in pursuit of his own Personal Legend to
learn alchemy, and is not on his way to find an alchemist at an oasis in the desert. He and
Santiago strike up a friendship on the way.
5) Fatima:-Fatima is a beautiful and young girl from oasis whom Santiago met during his
journey from deserts.
6) The Alchemist:-He is the most important character of this novel. He was a wizard who helps
Santiago on the second-half of his journey across the desert. He helps teach Santiago about
the Soul of the World. He also performs alchemy for Santiago just to show him it’s possible
to turn minerals into gold.

THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI:-

JULIAN MANTLE:-
He was a brilliant, hand-some and fearless trial attorney with dreams of greatness. Julian was
the firm’s young star, the rain-maker in waiting. Julian also walked his talk. He was tough,
hard-driving and willing to work eighteen-hour days for the success he believed was his
destiny. I heard through the grapevine that his grandfather had been a prominent senator and
his father a highly respected judge of the Federal court. It was obvious that he came from
money and that there were enormous expectations weighing on his Armani-clad shoulders.
He was determined to do things his own way-and he loved to put on a show. Julian’s
outrageous courtroom theatrics regularly made the front pages of the newspapers. The rich
and famous flocked to his side whenever they needed a superb legal tactician with an
aggressive edge.
 PLOT:-
THE ALCHEMIST:-

The story of The Alchemist revolves around Santiago who was a shepherd from Spanish countryside
of Andalusia. One day while sleeping in an abandoned church which had fallen in long ago and now
has an enormous sycamore tree growing on the spot where the sacristy once stood. There he has a
dream that reveals the location of a hidden treasure buried at the Egyptian Pyramids his simple life is
suddenly torn in two. Part of him wants to take the chance to go searching for it and the other part of
him wants to continue his easy life as a shepherd. In this chaos he decides to pay a Gypsy in the next
town to interpret his dream. She tells him that his dream is in the language of the world, and if he
goes to the Pyramids he’ll find a great treasure there. The boy is irritated and decides he’s not going
to believe in dreams anymore. He didn’t need to waste his time on the Gypsy with a lousy
interpretation. Later that day he met an old man Melchizedek who was The King of Salem, he tells
him that if the boy will give him 1/10 of his sheep, he’ll tell him how to find the hidden treasure. Of
course Santiago is amazed at this, since he never mentioned his dream to the man. The man tells
Santiago that he has succeeded in discovering his Personal Legend, and he must decide if he’s brave
enough to follow through on it. The man tells him that discovering one’s true purpose is a person’s
only real obligation in this world. Taking the biggest risk of his life, he decides to do it. He gives
1/10 of his sheep to the man and sells the rest. The man, who is a king, tells him he must follow the
omens to find his treasure. He gives Santiago two rocks, Urim and Thumim, which will help him
make decisions when he’s really stuck while on his path. The king wishes him luck, and then
Santiago is on his way. He arrived in Africa in place called Tangier where he found a bar and had a
drink. While he was in the bar he met a boy around his age. The stranger posed a question that
intrigued Santiago and the stranger was willing to help him find what he was looking for. After he
was finished, Santiago paid the owner and was on his way out when the owner grabbed his arm and
began to talk to him in an angry stream of words. Santiago wanting to retaliate, at that moment his
new friend pushed the owner aside and pulled Santiago outside with him. At this point Santiago
trusted the boy and gave him all his money to buy camels. They arrived in a big market place and
Santiago had momentarily got distracted by a beautiful sword and when he turned around his new
friend was gone. He wants to cry he’s so upset, but he quickly decides to look at the situation
differently. Yes, he’s left penniless, but he’s on a quest for his Personal Legend. As Santiago is
walking around the city he happens across a crystal merchant who has a shop at the top of a large
hill. Needing food, he offers to clean up the crystal glasses for the merchant so that people will want
to buy them. As he’s cleaning them, the merchant sells two glasses, and perceives that as a good
omen. He offers Santiago a job, and the boy tells the merchant about going to find his treasure in the
desert. He says he can only work for today because he has to cross the desert the next day. The
merchant laughs, and tells him it would take years for the boy to save up enough to cross the desert
because it’s thousands of kilometers away. Santiago’s world falls completely silent, and then he
agrees to go to work for the man. He tells him he has to use the money to buy some sheep. The boy
has been working in the crystal shop for a month, and he’s not very happy. He tries very hard not to
think of his treasure, or the Pyramids, at all. He’s only working to save enough money to get back
home and buy some sheep. And for this he put many ideas to increase the sail like to put a display
case to attract more costomers, and then he came to an idea of selling tea to people in crystal glasses
when they climb to the top of the hill, hot and thirsty. First the merchant refuses his every proposal
but later he accepted it. The merchant is selling more crystal than ever; the shop begins to get more
business than ever as word gets around about their new idea. One day while talking about dreams
over lunch one day, the merchant reveals to the boy that he’s had a dream since childhood to travel
to the holy city of Mecca. The merchant is different from the boy, he says, because he doesn’t want
to really realize his dream. It’s the thought of going to Mecca that keeps him alive, and he wants to
keep it a dream. The dream helps him get through his days at the crystal shop.

It has been 11 months, and Santiago decides it is time to go. He has enough money to buy
120 sheep, and as he leaves he asks the merchant to give him his blessing. Santiago tells the man that
now he has enough to realize his dream to go to Mecca, just as he has enough now to buy some
sheep. The man looks at him knowingly and tells him that he’s not going to go to Mecca any more
than the boy is going to go home and buy some sheep. As he walks through town he thinks a long
time about his future, and what his true path is. He decides to risk his journey again and go looking
for his treasure. He reasons that if he fails again, he can always make more money to go back home.
When he finally reaches this decision he’s tremendously happy, and goes off in search of a caravan
to take him across the desert. There he met The Englishman; he has spent fortunes and years of his
life searching for the language of the universe, and the mysterious Philosopher’s Stone. He has
studied and risked everything to find the answers behind his questions. He’s now heard tell of an
alchemist who may have the answers he’s looking for, and has decided to cross the desert to seek
him out. Later, because of the help of his omens he was able to meet with that alchemist who further
guided Santiago towards his goal and last he got his treasure.

THEME:-

Santiago arrives back at the abandoned church in Spain. Instead of having sheep, he had a shovel.
The boy smiled, and continued digging. Half an hour later, his shovel hit something solid. An hour
later, he had before him a chest of Spanish gold coins. There were statues embedded with jewels and
precious stones. Santiago seeing this realized that life is generous when you pursue your personal
legend. The author’s message in this novel is follow your dreams know matter what happens. This
applies to people in general because most people have a dream one time or another. But as some
people get older and reality kicks in, people defer their dream and some sadly never pursue them. I
think this applies to me because I have a dream and one day would like to see it become reality. I
would hate to have regrets at an old age of what could have happened.

THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI:-

The book is about Julian Mantle, a high-profile lawyer who collapses in the middle of a trial and
decides to find the purpose of life by travelling to the Himalayas where he meets a group of sages
who impart their wisdom to him via a fable. The fable starts in a magnificent garden with a
lighthouse in the middle of the grounds. Out of the lighthouse walks a 9 foot tall 900-pound Sumo
wrestler who is naked except for a pink wire cable covering his privates. He slips and falls on a
stopwatch that’s been lying on the floor and loses consciousness. However, the wrestler wakes up to
the fresh fragrance of yellow roses coming from a distance. He looks over and then discovers that
there is a diamond-studded pathway which he takes.

This is a sort of self-help book. The only difference is that it is written in a story form. The book
narrates the story of a successful attorney, Julian Mantle. At the peak of his hectic career, at the age
of fifty three, he gets a cardiac arrest. This becomes a turning point in his life. He heads off to India,
and while wandering in the villages and towns there, he meets a yogi, named Krishnan, who himself
a lawyer who left his career in search of ultimate truth. He becomes Julian's mentor. He further
directs Julian to "Sivana" (meaning oasis of enlightenment). After days of trk in the Himalayan
Mountains he reaches Sivana. Here he is enlightened and returns to America as a sage to teach the
busy Americans.
The main ideas of the book can be summarised into following heads: achieve mastery over one's
mind, follow ones purpose in life passionately, practice detachment, live with discipline, respect
one's time (since it reminds of shortness of life and one's eternal destiny) , serve others unselfishly,
and live in the present making the best out of it. These, steps would lead a modern man to achieve
tension free eternal youthfulness filled with courage, balance, abundance and joy. Author feels that
the present day crisis is due to the spiritual vacuum men and women face. The replace the spiritual
with the temporal search for wealth, power etc. These can never reach them fulfilment and
contentment in life. But instead, these only will lead them to heart attacks! The panacea for
overcoming the crisis is returning to the spiritual wisdom of the ancient .
Author has something to say to the modern man and he has said it interestingly. By the teachings that
author presents are not new, and has been told and re-told by religious sages of every religion of all
ages. The author thinks, a westerner has to come to the east to learn in order to find self-realisation.
One glaring thing that the book does not address is the question of divine. The path that author lay
out can become another crazy search if it is not motivated and powered by the power from above.
Self-realisation itself does not motivate. But then, the notion one has of the divine, supreme ideal,
makes the man. The underlying notions of the path set out by the author are not restricted to the East
alone. But one finds it as an amalgam of all the great traditions, be it Christianity, Islam or Judaism.

Comparison between Alchemist and the monk who sold his Ferrari:-

If we compare the alchemist and the monk who sold his Ferrari, we will find that approach of simple
living with greater balance, strength courage and abundance of joy, and other principle dealt with,
can be found in countless other books on self-help and spirituality. But there is a difference, in a way
of robin Sharma and Paulo Coelho has put the things together. This was the most concrete thought to
choose these two milestones in self-help genre.

As we compare between the ways both told the mantra of life, we would see that the way Paulo
Coelho told the things were implicit in the small and truffles of life the way Santiago lived his life.
Unlike the robin Sharma who directly told all the principle in the simple dialogue between Julia
Mantle and his ex assistant John. In the Alchemist we would need to read between the lines to get the
hidden philosophy but Robin Sharma said it so clearly.
It is very difficult for the person to leave his profession which is full-fledged and to go to find the
truth of life, but it is not at all difficult to find the joy in daily and small things which happens in
everyone’s life. One can go on treasure hunt and end of the journey he can find the way of
abundance of joy, love and self satisfaction. But none the less both books were successful in
imparting the principles of life.

In The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari eleven chapters meticulously planned and flow seamlessly from
one to next .The John who is friend as well as co-worker of Julian narrates the story. He begins the
story he begins by describing the Julian flamboyant lifestyle, and exaggerated courtroom theatrics.
Which regularly made to the front page of news paper and in late night to finest restaurant with
young models? Then one day Julian Mantle the great lawyer collapses in the courtroom, sweating
and shivering. His obsession has caused this heart attack. Julian Mantle refused to meet any of his
friends and colleagues at the hospital and then one fine day he quit his law firm and took off without
saying where he headed.

The alchemist is subtitled “A fable about following your dream” Fables are cautionary tales that have
a point to make . The universal point this story makes is that everyone has a special destiny, and yet
not everyone resolves to attain it because it takes hard work. Reaching one’s destiny requires leaving
behind familiar surroundings. It also demands persistence and ability to change. Like the title
character, most of the character in this story is not given names. In a traditional fable, characters are
often animal that represent a specific traits. The character here is human but they are only identified
by what they do or whom they represent.. The main character does have a name which is derivative.

At the end it could be concluded that although both authors succeed in what they wanted to do. But
unlike Paulo Coelho , Robin Sharma said what he wanted to, but Paulo Coelho in his alchemist
wrote what he wanted to, but left it to readers to grasp what they wanted to absorb to emancipate
them from sorrow and bring about abundance of joy and satisfaction.