Question

they want to realize their dreams. The desert symbolizes the dreams the crystal merchant has sacrificed for his shop. By keeping his trip to Mecca a dream, the desert symbolizes the cowardice and foolishness of the crystal merchant. By reflecting the courage of others, the desert symbolizes the life the crystal merchant could have had if he were braver.Read the passage. excerpt from The Alchemist by Paul Coelho "You dream about your sheep and the Pyramids, but you're different from me, because you want to realize your dreams. I just want to dream about Mecca. I've already imagined a thousand times crossing the desert, arriving at the Plaza of the Sacred Stone, the seven times I walk around it before allowing myself to touch it. I've already imagined the people who would be at my side, and those in front of me, and the conversations and prayers we would share. But I'm afraid that it would all be a disappointment, so I prefer just to dream about it." How does the symbol of the desert affect the meaning in this passage? The desert represents the struggles everyone must face if they want to realize their dreams. The desert symbolizes the dreams the crystal merchant has sacrificed for his shop. By keeping his trip to Mecca a dream, the desert symbolizes the cowardice and foolishness of the crystal merchant. By reflecting the courage of others, the desert symbolizes the life the crystal merchant could have had if he were braver.

Answer 1

The word desert means a dry, barren area of land, especially one covered with sand, that is characteristically desolate, waterless, and without vegetation. In this paragrpah this word affects the passage in the  way the author uses its meanings to represent the struggles everyone must face if they want to realize their dreams.

Answer 2

The correct answer and the way that the symbol of the desert affects the meaning in this passage of Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist" (1988) is The desert represents the struggles everyone must face if they want to realize their dreams.

The image of a desert brings to our mind the idea of harshness, of hardness, of an arid landscape and of the challenge of crossing a wasteland with the dangers that it entails if we are not prepared to do it.

In this context, the idea of the desert and the struggles that you must face to cross it, and in this excerpt achieve your dreams, is what prevents the crystal merchant to try and make his dreams real. If you want to fulfill your dreams, you must struggle and face the challenges of the symbolic desert that stand in your way.