Two Men Face the Same Challenges
A personal legend in definition is one’s destiny in life, but to truly understand a personal legend it needs to be exemplified. The Alchemist does this beautifully by showing how a young boy leaves his simple life behind and through chance after chance, sets out on a journey to discover his dream. In the novel everything seemed to lead to another, one bad omen lead to a rectifying experience, showing how life can take its turns but if you have faith and always believe you can still reach your goal, this being your personal legend, not necessarily your goal, but your journey to that goal, what essentially defines your life. In the story the king defines beginners luck as the principle of favorability; it shows up consistently throughout the novel, every time Santiago is going through a difficult time in his journey that would normally stop any other person from continuing it concludes that it only helped to further his journey. Such as when the boy that claimed he would help him find his treasure, Santiago trusted him with his money, and the boy turns out to be a thief and steals all of Santiago's life savings, leaving him with no money and no sheep in the middle of Africa. Sounds daunting, but if it wasn't for this even he never would have found the crystal merchant, who through sight of an omen hires him and once the boy starts working the shops business suddenly booms where he makes up all the money and more. Also while working the shop owner teaches him that giving up his personal legend would be the worst decision of his life and that Santiago still has the potential to fulfill his personal legend. This, although stretched out and hidden, is an amazing example of beginners luck, and that everything around an individual helps them achieve their legend.
Once Santiago reaches the Oasis he reads the flight of the birds and gets a vision of an attack. This sparks the interest of the Alchemist who tests the boys...