siddhartha
Siddhartha is one of Herman Hesse’s most finely written books. He wrote it during what some critics call his psychoanalytic period. It addresses the spiritual journey of a man. When Siddhartha is a young man, he and his friend, Govinda, decide to leave their Brahmin community. They go on a quest to obtain wisdom and spiritual knowledge. They believed that Samanic suffering might lead them to the goal they were reaching for. Although Siddhartha and Govinda did the scourge, neither found salvation. They both leave again and encounter Gotama, a righteous teacher. Govinda decides to stay and follow the teachings of Gotama, but Siddhartha yet again moves on. He crosses the river and on the boat ride meets Vasudeva, whom he befriends. After crossing the river, he goes to the city of Samsara, where he meets Kamala, a whore, and Kamaswami, a prosperous businessman. He soon grows weary of this, too, and leaves to live with Vasudeva. While he is being taught by Vasudev!a to listen to the river, Kamala comes to him. She soon dies and Siddhartha is left to care for their child. The child soon leaves, because he is not used to this ascetic life. Soon after, Siddhartha realizes the
er distinguish the different voices- the merry voice from the weeping voice, the childish voice from the manly voice. They all belonged to each other…They were all interwoven and interlocked, entwined in a thousand ways…And all the voices, all the goals, all the yearnings, all the sorrows all the pleasures, all the good and evil, all of them together was the world…the music of life.” (109-110) One of the themes of the novel is stated clearly on page 32. “Meaning and reality were not hidden somewhere behind things, they were in them, in all of them.” Siddhartha at first tried to rid himself of all possessions. He thought that they were hindering him in his journey toward transcendence. As he grows in his spiritual walk, it becomes clear to him that his goal could not be reached by not allowing himself to have material possessions or by ignoring that which was around him. Throughout this novel, many different elements are used to emphasize important points. Among the most crucial elements are setting, characterization, and themes. This essay analyzes each of these essential elements. Siddhartha is a carefully and well-written novel. It tactically approaches issues that people face throughout their entire life journey. Hesse expertly addresses these topics in a philosophical and straightforward manner using elements such as setting, characterization, and themes. Siddhartha is the main character and the hero of this novel. Siddhartha was the name of a historical Buddha, and roughly translates to “he who finds the goal.” The story follows him through three stages of his life. The first represents the time of the mind (wandering with the Samanas and listening to Gotama), the second represents the time of the flesh (learning the art of love with Kamala and the art of business with Kamaswami), and the third phase represents the time of his ultimate enlightenment (the time spent in tutorage by the river with Vasudeva). By naming the character Siddhartha and by leading him through three phases of life similar to the historical Buddha, Hesse portrays Siddhartha as a Buddha. Siddhartha is also representative, in some ways, of Hesse. Hesse decided to choose a career different from what his father had wanted, much in the same way Siddhartha
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Approximate Word count = 1563
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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