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Why does Coelho choose a crystal shop as an occupation in The Alchemist?
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Paulo Coelho chose a crystal shop in The Alchemist to symbolize the potential for achieving one's personal legend. The neglected shop reflects the merchant's dusty, unfulfilled dreams of traveling to Mecca. Santiago revitalizes the shop, demonstrating that dreams can be realized if pursued. The shop's luxurious nature symbolizes attainable riches, and Santiago's innovative ideas, like serving tea in crystal, teach him the importance of creativity and following omens.
This is an interesting question and not something that the author states explicitly. Perhaps Paulo Coelho chose a crystal shop as a way of saying that this is not some normal, everyday type of store, but rather one with the potential to help grant the crystal merchant's personal legend, if only he would allow it. Crystal is something only the wealthy can afford. It is a true luxury, and therefore it symbolizes the riches that one might be able to attain.
When Santiago first encounters the crystal shop, its merchandise has been neglected and is covered with dust. This is an apt metaphor for the crystal merchant. He once had great dreams of traveling to Mecca, but now those dreams are neglected and dusty as well. Santiago breathes new life into the shop and shows the crystal merchant that he can still attain his personal legend if he chooses to....
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His dreams are still within reach if he were to just dust them off. However, the merchant decides to continue with his shop, and his journey to Mecca remains just a dream for him.
The crystal shop was a good set up for an occupation for Santiago because it gave him a way in which to learn more about his enthusiasm. He did this by seeing ways that he could improve on the shop's situation. First, he improved the income of the shop by putting crystal on shelves outside of the shop to catch travelers' attention. Then, he capitalized on the crystal shop being at a major point on a hiking trail by serving tea in the crystal to thirsty hikers. This gave the hikers a different and unique experience. If the shop keeper had sold hookahs at that point on the trail, the demand would not have been strong at that location. If the shop were just another tea shop, it would not have been unique without the crystal. Among other lessons, it is through selling crystal that the boy practices his knowledge about following omens in order to capitalize on his creativity.