How does Santiago's character evolve from the beginning to the end of The Alchemist?

In some ways, Santiago does not change.  

But ever since he had been a child, he had wanted to know the world, and this was much more important to him than knowing God and learning about man's sins.

That quote is from early in the story.  It occurs right before Santiago tells his father that he wants to travel the world.  Santiago is full of wonder and curiosity about all kinds of things.  He's a seeker of new experiences.  That doesn't change by the end of the story.  

What does change is that bit about him not wanting to know God.  As the story progresses, Santiago learns to become one with the Soul of the World.  Ultimately, he learns to communicate with the wind, the sun, and the Hand That Wrote All.  That sounds a lot like knowing God to me.  

Another way that he changed was in his self-confidence.  For the first part of the story, Santiago is very similar to the sheep that he tends.  Sure, he goes off to seek treasure, but he's never confident in his own abilities.  That causes him real problems with people, and he gets taken advantage of quite frequently.  That's why he debates about returning home.  There was less trouble there.  But by the end of the story, he is no longer sheep-like.  He is a man that makes his own decisions based on his knowledge and ability to commune with the Soul of the World.  

What are Santiago's positive and negative traits in The Alchemist?

One character trait of Santiago's that could be both positive and negative is his sense of contentment. On one hand, Santiago is not content with his initial life situation, and that propels him to seek out ways to make it better. He is a restless spirit, and he is willing to put himself at risk to improve his life. On the other hand, Santiago's restlessness could be a negative thing. A reader could go so far as to say that Santiago might always struggle with being happy in whatever his current situation is. "A rolling stone gathers no moss" is a saying that praises a spirit of restlessness; however, that same rolling stone never allows itself to become an abiotic factor within an ecosystem. It never becomes a part of a community by being available as a shelter for animals or lichens.

A definitely positive trait of Santiago is that he is teachable. Santiago takes the advice and teachings of many people around him to heart, and he applies their lessons to his own life. Santiago knows that he does not have all of the answers, and he is humble enough to seek out the answers from other people. A reader can see this in as simple of an exchange as Santiago's interaction with the gypsy woman. He seeks out her wisdom, receives it well, and acts upon her teaching.

Who is Santiago's foil in The Alchemist?

In literature, the foil character is the character who exists, in part or primarily, to provide a contrast to the protagonist. If, for example, the protagonist character is wise, the foil character will be foolish. The foil character's foolishness would thus emphasize by contrast the protagonist's wisdom.

In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, the protagonist is Santiago, an adventurous, determined, and inquisitive shepherd boy who embarks upon a journey of spiritual awakening. The main foil character in The Alchemist is the Englishman. The Englishman hopes to acquire knowledge with which he can make money and satiate his own greed, whereas Santiago, at least by the end of the story, wants to acquire knowledge for spiritual fulfillment. The Englishman also looks for answers almost exclusively in books and always follows his head, whereas Santiago learns to look for knowledge in the world around him and to follow his heart. In short, the Englishman represents an intelligence which is narrow and limited and thus emphasizes by contrast the more open, adaptive emotional intelligence demonstrated by Santiago. The contrast between the two types of intelligence also serves to highlight the disadvantages of the former and, conversely, the advantages of the latter.

The Englishman's greed is evident when his friend tells him about the Arabian alchemist who can transform any metal into gold. The Englishman, after he hears this, can "not contain his excitement." The Englishman also later tells Santiago that he seeks the Philosopher's Stone because "a small sliver of stone can transform large quantities of metal into gold." Santiago initially sets out to seek personal wealth also, but he soon discovers that the real treasure is one's spiritual harmony with what he calls the soul of the world. He learns that "the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things."

Because they seek very different treasures, the Englishman often becomes impatient and disappointed, whereas Santiago becomes more content and at peace. Santiago, for example, is "at home with the silence of the desert, and . . . content just to look at the trees." The Englishman, on the other hand, becomes "disappointed" when he can't find the alchemist and thinks that he has "made the long journey for nothing."

Santiago also learns to follow his heart, in accordance with the alchemist's advice to "Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure." In contrast, the Englishman is weighed down with books, both literally and figuratively. He carries "several suitcases filled with books" and is always "immersed in reading his books." He does not follow his heart and, therefore, does not ever discover his treasure.

What are Santiago's good characteristics in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho?

In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, Santiago is a young man who notices a great deal, who doesn't easily give up and who is open to learning new things.

In the story, Santiago pays a great deal of attention to his sheep. He has learned where to graze them and when to move them. He is aware of how to keep them safe and where best to shelter them from weather or predators. He knows his sheep well, he cares for them and they trust him.

When Melchizedek encourages Santiago to pay attention to omens, Santiago realizes that this is something he has already been doing, based on advice given to him by his grandfather.

He remembered something his grandfather had once told him: that butterflies were a good omen.

In the same way, Santiago will see the hawks fighting over the oasis and be able to convey the message that soldiers are coming to attack the oasis—simply by reading the universal language of the desert.

When Santiago is robbed, like a child who has been hurt, he wants to run away and go home. However, he has no money so he is forced to take a job and wait until the money is made. During this time, the boy has a great deal of time to consider his options, and he learns from the crystal merchant for whom he works.

...people were passing my shop all the time, heading for Mecca. Some of them were rich pilgrims, traveling in caravans with servants and camels, but most of the people making the pilgrimage were poorer than I...All who went there were happy at having done so.

Santiago takes this story to heart and realizes that he does not want to turn around. He takes his money and signs on with a caravan which will make the long and dangerous journey across the desert to the oasis.

And Santiago is open to learning new things. He reads the Englishman's books in order to better understand the world: specifically, alchemy. He watches signs in the desert, looking for omens and discovering that he can speak the universal language. He allows himself to learn at the side of the alchemist, and accomplishes things he never thought himself capable of.

All of these characteristics are inspiring: we should all learn to watch things happening all around us; it is important to set goals and stick to them; and, it is paramount to never stop learning, and to never believe that learning takes place only in a classroom or by reading a book. These examples reflect worthwhile characteristics.

How do Santiago's perceptions about himself and the world change in The Alchemist?

Without a specific location in the book, this question could be asking about a couple of times in Santiago's life. Readers are told that Santiago wasn't always a shepherd. He was supposed to be a priest, but early on in his childhood, the desire to travel and see the world became a driving force in his life. Getting the courage up to tell his parents these feelings is a change in Santiago.

His parents had wanted him to become a priest, and thereby a source of pride for a simple farm family. [. . .] But ever since he had been a child, he had wanted to know the world, and this was much more important to him than knowing God and learning about man's sins. One afternoon, on a visit to his family, he had summoned up the courage to tell his father that he didn't want to become a priest. That he wanted to travel.

His dad actually gives Santiago his blessing and some money. His father also recommends becoming a shepherd because they are migrant by nature, and Santiago thinks that the job is wonderful.

The world was huge and inexhaustible; he had only to allow his sheep to set the route for a while, and he would discover other interesting things.

These feelings of contentment about his sheep and his job start to change after having dreams of treasure. The gypsy woman helps push Santiago toward belief in the treasure, and Melchizedek helps affirm the notion of going after a Personal Legend. Once his journey begins, Santiago's thoughts about himself waver back and forth about whether or not he actually can achieve his personal legend and the treasure. Santiago also believes through much of the story that the treasure is monetary; however, he will finally realize that the ultimate treasure is love, and he loves Fatima.

How has Santiago become wiser over the course of his journey in The Alchemist?

One way that Santiago has become a wiser person by the end of his journey is in his knowledge of the Soul of the World. While Santiago is pursuing his Personal Legend and treasure, his knowledge and understanding of the Soul of the World changes. At first, it is a mysterious force that simply exists as an entity separate from him; however, by the end of the story, Santiago has gained enough wisdom to understand that the Soul of the World is a part of him, and he is a part of it. Everything is connected, and he has the ability to tap into that soul and all of its power. This is fortunate because this knowledge allows Santiago to physically transform himself to escape an almost certain death.

The boy reached through to the Soul of the World, and saw that it was a part of the Soul of God. And he saw that the Soul of God was his own soul. And that he, a boy, could perform miracles.

Who occupies Santiago's mind in The Alchemist?

Santiago’s mind is occupied by a girl he met in a village he passed through before.

Santiago is a wanderer.  His purpose is to travel.  All he cares about is visiting different places and caring for his sheep.  He is deeply in tune to their needs, and he talks to them.

But for the past few days he had spoken to them about only one thing: the girl, the daughter of a merchant who lived in the village they would reach in about four days. (1)

When he had met the girl, he spent some time with her.  He told her about his life, and his travels.  He enjoyed talking to someone other than his sheep.  When the merchant returned, that was it.

He recognized that he was feeling' something he had never experienced before: the desire to live in one place forever. With the girl with the raven hair, his days would never be the same again. (1)

He had not thought of any other woman since.  After returning to the village, he meets a gypsy fortune teller and tells her about his dream of a child who led him to treasure in the Egyptian pyramids, and an old man who tells him about Personal Legends.

When Santiago meets the King of Salem, he decides to pursue his Personal Lengend.

If Santiago is the main character in The Alchemist, who is the foil and why?

Santiago is the main character, or the protagonist, in as much as he is in the story more than any other character and because it his story that we follow. We travel alongside him and watch him develop into a more mature, enlightened individual.

A foil character, who may also be at the same time a protagonist, is a character who is in one important way, at least, very different from the, or another, protagonist. The function of the foil character is to emphasize by contrast the opposite trait in the, or another, protagonist. For example, Eddard Stark in A Game of Thrones might be considered a foil character for Cersei Lannister because his honesty and honor emphasizes by contrast her dishonesty and lack of honor. In the same book, Arya and Sansa Stark are also at once foil characters and protagonists. They are foil characters for one another because the stereotypically boyish behavior of the former is, if you'll forgive the pun, in stark contrast to the stereotypically very girlish behavior of the latter.

In The Alchemist, the Englishman certainly demonstrates attributes which serve to emphasize, by contrast, the opposite traits in Santiago. While Santiago seeks knowledge for some kind of spiritual awakening, the Englishman seeks knowledge for the altogether less noble goal of acquiring riches through the art of alchemy. Santiago also has an emotional intelligence and knows when to follow his heart, in contrast to the Englishman, who buries his head in his books and never learns to look outside of them. In these ways, the Englishman can certainly be considered a foil character to Santiago, the protagonist.