How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"There are powerful forces on both sides, and the war is important to both armies. It's not a battle of good against evil. It's a war between forces that are fighting for the balance of power, and, when that type of battle begins, it lasts longer than others—because Allah is on both sides." (2.284)
Huh. This is a little weird, right? Usually you got the good guys and the bad guys, and you know who to root for. In The Alchemist, we never know who is fighting or why. Instead, we're expected to see war almost as a force of nature.
Quote #8
Suddenly, one of the hawks made a flashing dive through the sky, attacking the other. As it did so, a sudden, fleeting image came to the boy: an army, with its swords at the ready, riding into the oasis. (2.304)
Lots of stuff to unpack here in Santiago's vision, Shmoopers. First, hawks are birds of prey, so it's fitting that they're the ones showing the predatory army to the boy. Second, Santiago is an outsider, so it's not totally fitting that he's the one getting the message. Still, it's unheard of for the army to attack the oasis—so maybe it makes sense that the message would be given to an unheard-of person. Either way, we're definitely going to keep our eyes out for any suspiciously symbolic hawks.
Quote #9
The men of the oasis surrounded the horsemen from the desert and within half an hour all but one of the intruders were dead. (2.387)
Talk about bloodless violence. This is the most violent scene in the novel, and we don't get any blow-by-blow or clashing scimitars, just a "nothing to see here, folks." Maybe Coelho doesn't want to glorify war or violence—but we have to say, a little scimitar action would really kick things up a notch.