THE ALCHEMIST - Paulo Coelho

73 Pages·2008·0.42 MB·English

DECISION MAKING IN PAULO COELHO’S
“THE ALCHEMIST”

A THESIS

Lily Hasanah
St N 120410627

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
AIRLANGGA UNIVERSITY
2008
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DECISION MAKING IN PAULO COELHO’S
“THE ALCHEMIST”

A THESIS
Submitted As Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement
For the Sarjana Degree of English Department
Faculty of Humanities
Airlangga University

Lily Hasanah
St N 120410627

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
AIRLANGGA UNIVERSITY
2008
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DECLARATION

This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any
other degree or diploma in any university. And to the best of this candidate’s
knowledge and belief, it contains no material which has been previously published
or written by other person except where due reference is made in the text of the
thesis.

Surabaya, 10th June 2008

Lily Hasanah

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To everyone whom I love...

Especially to
Mama and papa for your endless love
Mas Irul for your love and your patience
Mbah Kakung for showing me a meaningful life
Kiky, Andi, and Ani

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Alhamdulillahirobbil’alamiin. My biggest gratitude to Allah for giving me
high spirit to finish my thesis. My deepest gratefulness is also addressed to my
thesis advisor, Lina Puryanti, S.S., M.Hum, for your times to guide me writing
this thesis. I also thank you for sharing me your idea especially about the theory
applied in this thesis. I would like to thank Diah Ariani Arimbi, S.S., M.A., Ph.D.,
for guiding me to formulate my statement of problems. I also would like to thank
Listyono Santoso, S.S, M.Hum, for his times to discuss about existentialism
theory, particularly Søren Kierkegaard’s existentialism. I would like to thank to
Moses Glorino R. Pandin, S.S., M.Si, for the discussion about decision making.
This thesis is tribute to all of my family. My gratitude goes to Mama and
Papa for your endless love. Thank you to Mas Irul for understanding me during
my difficult times, including the process of writing this thesis. Thank you for Ibu,
Bapak, and my family in Pangkalan (especially Mbah Kakung, Mbah Uti, Budhe
Mardhiyah, Mbak Ros). Thanks also to my little brothers, Kiky and Andi, and my
little sister, Ani.
Thanks to all of my friends in the English Department class of 2004,
especially to PMDK class, especially to narsist: Bubyu lebai, Listy Miss stress,
Uwik, Ulik, Niak, Grestonk, Bom-Bomz, Keltz, Annoying Naya, Rini
(mail_to_rhini), Apnek, Ayumz, thank you for your friendship. Thanks to Irene
for your time being together with me to discuss Kierkegaard’s existentialism in
doing our thesis. Thanks also to Lidya for going with me to the Petra’s and
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Ubaya’s library, and also for your time to discuss one statement of Kierkegaard’s
existentialism. Thank you for Vivin for the discussion about Santiago in the novel
The Alchemist. Thank you also for Linda and Lady, I will miss the time when we
wait for Mrs. Lina.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Inside Cover Page ................................................................................................. i
Inside Title Page ................................................................................................... ii
Declaration Page ................................................................................................... iii
Dedication Page .................................................................................................... iv
Advisor’s Approval Page ...................................................................................... v
Examiner’s Approval Page .................................................................................... vi
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................... vii
Table of Contents .................................................................................................. ix
Abstract ................................................................................................................ xi
Epigraph ............................................................................................................... xii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1
1.1. Background of the Study .............................................................................. 1
1.2. Statement of the Problems ............................................................................ 5
1.3. Objective of the Study ................................................................................. 5
1.4. Significance of the Study ............................................................................. 5
1.5. Scope and Limitation ................................................................................... 6
1.6. Theoretical Background ............................................................................... 6
1.7. Method of the Study .................................................................................... 7
1.8. Definition of Key Terms .............................................................................. 8
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 10
2.1. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................ 10
2.1.1. Existentialism ............................................................................................ 10
2.1.1.1. Freedom ................................................................................................. 11
2.1.1.2. Dread ...................................................................................................... 11
2.1.1.3. ‘Truth is Subjectivity’ ............................................................................. 12
2.1.1.4. ‘The Crowd is Untruth’ ........................................................................... 12
2.1.1.5. The Community ...................................................................................... 13
2.2. Review of Related Studies ........................................................................... 15
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CHAPTER 3 ANALYSIS ..................................................................................... 17
3.1. Santiago’s Dilemmas ................................................................................... 17
3.1.1. Being a Shepherd ....................................................................................... 17
3.1.2. Looking for the Hidden Treasure in Africa ................................................ 20
3.1.3. Staying in Africa ....................................................................................... 24
3.1.4. Working at the Crystal Merchant’s Shop ................................................... 26
3.1.5. Continuing the Journey to the Pyramids ..................................................... 30
3.1.6. Leaving Al-Fayoum Oasis ......................................................................... 35
3.2. Santiago’s Decision Making Seen from Søren Kierkegaard’s
Existentialism .............................................................................................. 39
3.2.1. Freedom .................................................................................................... 39
3.2.2. Dread ....................................................................................................... 45
3.2.3. ‘Truth is Subjectivity’ and ‘the Crowd is Untruth’ ..................................... 47
3.2.4. The Community ......................................................................................... 52
CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 56
WORKS CITED ................................................................................................... 58
SYNOPSIS ........................................................................................................... 60
APPENDIX .......................................................................................................... 61

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