Santiago conveys one of the lessons of the alchemist when he tells the desert that love is
“what makes the game become the falcon, the falcon become the man, and man, in his turn,
the desert. It’s what turns lead into gold, and makes the gold return to the earth.” The desert
replies: “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Is the desert simply being obtuse, or
is this a lesson about intimacy between the spiritual and material worlds that only humans
need to understand? What is the connection that the alchemist makes between alchemy and
evolution? Between evolution and love?