Do I believe that "When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it."?

1. On page 24, the king of Salem tells Santiago, "When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it." Do you believe that this is true? Why or why not?

This statement is very optimistic. It shows the earth's good side and not the rest. To me, this statement translates to: when you want something, it will, most likely, come true. What I mean by this is that this statement is both true and false. First of all, when you want something, you need to work for it. Maybe, this is different in a world where magic and reality are intermingled like the one The Alchemist is set in. In the real world, this is not always the case. When you work for something, and you try your absolute hardest to achieve it, there will always be something fighting against you to prevent you from reaching that goal. It's even been taught in books and stories that are completle fantasy. All characters in magical- fiction based books have to fight some sort of opposing force to get what they have been trying to get, the entire time. It isn't always a bad thing though. By having that small delay in receiving what you desperately want, makes you want it all the more. The waiting enhances our want for that thing, it makes us stronger.  Now, sometimes, things may seem like they are simply being handed to you. This is, however, extremely rare for people who live in a non- fictional universe. If work never existed, I think miracles, and wishes always coming true with 100% costomer satisfaction would be quite common on planet earth. In the real world, you would have to have a bit of both self motivation, and help. If you had self motivation, and no help, bigger wishes like Santiago's wish to travel, would have a larger chance of failing than working out. If he hadn't come across the old man who motivated him to continue traveling, he would have given up and have been stuck tending to a flock of sheep. If you had to simply pick between self motivation and help, then, you would have a harder time achieving your goal. If things just worked out immediately, that's great, but that sort of stuff doesn't exist in the real world. The true part of The King of Salem's saying it that, yes, the universe "conspires to help you", but, nothing would be complete without the wisher doing at least half of the work it takes to achieve their wish.  

The Alchemist: What do Santiago's sheep symbolize?

On page 9, reread the passage that begins, "The only things that concerned the sheep were the food and water," and ends with, "They trust me, and they've forgotten how to rely on their own instincts, because I lead them to nourishment." Do you think that the sheep symbolize something? If so, what? 

Santiago has not spent a significant amount of time with actual people. Since this is the case, he feels like he has no real power or place with civilization. When he said " they've forgotten how to rely on their own instincts..." he was saying they have been living one way for such a long time, that they have forgotten to do things for themselves. This symbolizes Santiago's want to live in a place where there are people like him, to not roam all over and not stay in one place. He has been living by that rule for so long, that his thoughts and actions follow that rule, making him incapable of doing anything he wants to do that is different from sheepherding. Also, he is feeling powerless and contemplates slaughtering the sheep at this time. This would make him feel, and know that he has some sort of control over something.  

What I hope to gain from ELA this year

I hope to improve my grammar when writing. Last year, I found that I tangled all of the things I learned about punctuation into one. This obviously resulted in a paper that took points away from me, due to the constant grammar errors that needed fixing. This year, I wish to memorize most, if not all, of the different types of punctuation that kept me from impressing not only the teacher, but myself as well.