Writing Resources
Imagery in the first words Dusk was falling as the boy arrived with his herd at the abandoned church The roof had fallen in long ago and an enormous sycamore had grown on the spot where the sacristy had once stood Coelho 5 The opening lines the The Alchemist paint a detailed picture of an old abandoned church with a young shepherd resting inside The setting sun in the background gives the scene a more dramatic image Instead of a peaceful image of a rising sun representing birth and creation the reader is presented with the image a setting sun representing death Now the reader imagines a broken church with death looming in the background and the large sycamore trying to push out an image of life from the sacristy of the church The reader is only left to wonder what the multiple images a death and destruction mean for the young shepherd and why there is so little life left in a place once built to celebrate life itself The reader can try to interpret what the author was implying by this opening use of imagery and they may as I have conclude that the shepherd has either lost someone or something deeply important to him or that he will lose something later down the line that will greatly affect the outcome of his story
