Priest-turned-ShepherdSantiago is probably one of those guys with a map over his bed full of pins on every place he's been—and he definitely can't stop talking about his semester abroad. Santiago...

This is one job description you're not going to find in Shmoop Careers. An alchemist is someone who can turn lead and other base metals into gold. Sound too good to be true? It is; that's why most...

The Bible, Part DeuxMelchizedek, a.k.a. the King of Salem, is the first "Warrior of Light" that Santiago meets and the one who changes his destiny forever. But it doesn't exactly get off to a good...

Hip, hip, cheerio, don't you know?Well, even if the Englishman doesn't talk that way, we can't help but caricature him because pretty much all we know about him is that he's a man and he's English....

Fatima is the girl that almost distracts Santiago from his dream of reaching the pyramids and his treasure. She's so pretty, and he's so in love with her, that he almost decides to just stay at the...

Talk about wishy-washy. The crystal merchant is one of those people you want to pick up and shake into taking some action to make their lives better. The problem is that he doesn't want his life to...

The gypsy woman only appears for a few paragraphs in the book, but she certainly makes it worth her while. All she does is interpret Santiago's straightforward dream about buried treasure at the py...