Siddhartha

A detailed Summary of Siddhartha

Religion plays a large part in everyone's life. In Herman Hesse's epic story Siddhartha the aspect of religion is taken apart and looked at from nearly every possible angle. There are many key concepts revolving around the main theme of religion, but three which seem to me to be the most important and powerful are the ideas of control of self and soul; that knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom; and the closely related ideas that time is not real and The Oneness of All Experience.

In Siddhartha the idea of Control of Self and Soul is very important, not only to religion but in the gaining of knowledge and wisdom. Once a woman tempts Siddhartha to make love with her, but he hardens his soul and moves on. Shortly thereafter he finds the courtesan Kamala who captivates him and with whom he later learns the art of love. He is then glad that he resisted temptation. Siddhartha becomes rich so that he may experience all of life, and when he becomes nauseous with the pointlessness of his wealthy life and tries to commit suicide, he stops himself and thinks about what he is doing. He soon realizes the folly of his action and starts his life anew. Siddhartha believes that anything can be overcome if one will control himself. he e

"He no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead he saw other faces, many faces, a long series, a continuous stream of faces---hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all Siddhartha. ..... He saw all these forms and faces in a thousand relationships to each other, all helping each other, loving, hating and destroying each other and becoming newly born. Each one was mortal, a passionate, painful example of all that is transitory. Yet none of them died, they only changed, were always reborn, continually had a new face: only time stood between one face and another."

I'm not sure if this is true, but it makes you wonder, it makes you think of the endless possibilities of life. Many books deal with the concept of the illusion of time, but I wonder if we will ever no the truth, if we will ever achieve Nirvana.

The one religious aspect I truly envy is the realization that time is not real. It would be wonderful if it were true, which it very well may be. I also love the control of spirit shown in the novel. The part were Siddhartha pushes outward with his soul and becomes other animals is fascinating.

The third key concept in Siddhartha is really two very closely related ideas. The idea that time is not real and the oneness of all experience. All experience is happening every moment. Everything exists all at once, and the only thing separating these existances is the illusion of time. When Siddhartha is sitting by the river Vasudeva comes up to h

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Approximate Word count = 1077
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English