I would like to know other people's opinions for this. Of course, it's debatable but it would suffice if you could write 3 reasons to justify your answer.
I think that the whole personal legend thing is at the heart of this novel. Everone is on their own hero's quest in her own life. We all have mentor figures, oracle figures, challanges... Santiago must first accept his call to adventure, his call the the journey. I think the character of Melchizedek is one of the most impoertant ones in the book. Santiago dreams of a child showing him a treasure at the base of the Pyramids; when we first read of the dream, we are led to believe that Santiago has had it before. When he tells Melchizedek about this dream, he implores him to follow it, because, they argue, dreams are the language in which the Universe speaks. At the end of the book, it is the dream of the robber–which was the exact inverse of Santiago's dream, showing the treasure at the abandoned church–that sends Santiago back to Spain and to the treasure. The theme of dreams is linked, then, with the theme of fate, since dreams are the way in which people come to know their destiny.
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-alchemist-coelho/study-guide/major-themes/
