Tangled Green Thoughts

I've finished reading Slaughter-House-Five, halfway through Naked Lunch and halfway through The Alchemist, but the only one I want to talk about is The Alchemist. Keep in mind that I have not finished reading the story so I could be wrong in the end, but I think I know where this book is heading with its story. To me, I feel that although stories, in general, should serve to help society in some way, this story really goes out of its way to teach something. The message is so clear and unfettered by literary complications that to me it almost seems as a lecture: go out and fulfill your dreams. It writes how when we're young we have dreams and aspirations, but as we grow older obstacles abound (like bills, girlfriends, family circumstances) and we lose sight of our dreams and settle. You're probably thinking, it's sending out a nice, sweet message right? How can Joe be criticizing someone who encourages us to follow our dreams.

I'm not against the message to follow our dreams. I'm not even going to argue how we have to be a realist and understand that we have other obligations like the bills, girlfriends, and family circumstances and to drop everything for our dreams is selfish. What I don't like is this obsessive preaching of following and always reaching out for our dreams stops us from being satisfied with the present and what we have now. The pursuing of our dreams is great, and so is being ambitious, but I look around the world and I see a world full of people unsatisfied. It's like how rich people always want to be richer, or successful people more successful.

For example at the start of the story, the hero is a shepherd and he's happy being a shepherd and he's excited about meeting a girl he met a year ago, suddenly he drops everything to go look for some treasure in the pyramids that is supposed to metaphorically represent his personal legend or his destiny. Always thinking that you'll be happy when you reach this goal or dream is nothing unless you can see that you can be happy where you are. Be happy with the now. Be happy with what you got. He was happy already, let him stay that happy shepherd.