Through my perspective, these first two chapters of Siddhartha set the cycle of moods along his journey. At the start of the story, as Hesse introduces the setting, such as “the shadow of the fig tree,” or “the sun on the riverbank,” his words induce a sense of peace. Soon after, however, Hesse compares Siddhartha to a falcon. Often times, birds have a connotation of freedom--being able to fly away from their original state. This metaphor about Siddhartha helps by foreshadowing Siddhartha’s decision to leave his parents and join the shramanas. Through this comparison, we realize that the peaceful mood that was set at the very beginning would not be everlasting, and instead, the eye of the storm. Later on, when Siddhartha joins the shramanas, he is filled with confidence in his beliefs, motivation, and grit. He overcomes seemingly impossible feelings, such as thirst and heat. Although he was required to endure pain, Siddhartha survived with his self-power. However, after staying with the shramanas for a good amount of time, Siddhartha again began to question his decisions. He asks himself if his decision to join the shramanas would lead to peace and enlightenment. As he debated with himself, he lost his sense of confidence, and progressed into doubt and unhappiness. This stage of the cycle of moods was previously experienced right before Siddhartha had decided to leave his home and join the shramanas. Through this cycle, the readers can induce that Siddhartha will most likely leave the shramanas and join Gotama. As Hesse introduces the beginning of Siddhartha’s journey, the readers discover Siddhartha’s cycle of moods- search and discovery, peace and contentment, and lastly, doubt and unhappiness.
You made a really good point about the symbol of birds, and I didn't think about the symbol of birds as being the decision to leave his parents to become a shramana. But I have a different reaction to your point about Siddhartha when he joins the shramanas. I think that once Siddhartha finally stepped out into other villages and wandered with the shramanas, he became hardened. I see this in the word choice of Hesse on pages 12 and 13, where he uses words such as "putrescence, decay, diminish, mortified, torment". I think that he really was a bit scared when he first joined and started to harden the longer he was with the shramanas.
I agree with your analysis of Siddhartha being described as "the young falcon" but I would not describe the first chapter of the book, The Brahman's Son, as peaceful. Siddhartha experiences a major internal conflict as he undergoes a "thirst" for understanding and enlightenment. This creates a tense tone as Siddhartha is torn between staying with his family and following Hinduism and embarking on his journey for enlightenment. Also, if I'm interpreting your meaning of cycle of moods correctly (Siddhartha is repeatedly experiencing the same emotions as he transitions from Hindus to Shramanas to Kamala, etc.) I agree with this point and find it interesting. I would like to piggyback off this and note how this characterizes Siddhartha as ironically impatient. Siddhartha can meditate for hours and persevere through hours of pain in Among the Shramanas, but cannot simply remain in the same place for much time at all. I believe that Hesse implements this into the novel to remind the reader that Siddhartha is still a child at this time and is not a perfect saint.
I agree with you that Hesse's comparison of Siddhartha to the young falcon foreshadows Siddhartha’s “flight” from home to join the samanas. Like a young bird, he’s (literally) leaving the nest! However, I also agree with Josh in that the mood of the chapter is not very peaceful. Siddhartha goes through many conflicts and life changes in this chapter. It’s true that birds are a good symbol of freedom and peace, but the birds typically associated with peace are gentle, pure birds such as doves. Falcons seem to symbolize dominance and power, on the opposite spectrum of peace and light; they’re fittingly called “birds of prey”.
In Siddhartha, the book begins by describing the magnificent son of the Brahmin, Siddhartha. In the first chapter, Herman Hesse uses many ways to praise Siddhartha, such as using examples from his father and mother. “Joy leaped in his father’s heart about the son.... Siddhartha, the strong, the beautiful boy, striding on slender legs, greeting her with perfect breeding” (page 3). It puts Siddhartha on a pedestal, making him seen as an incredible blessing that has been bestowed upon this world. And as the days went on, Siddhartha began to believe all of these words. However, these words were not said just to inflate his ego, because he is actually intelligent. Soon, his thirst for knowledge fully absorbs everything he could learn with his father, and with the sages of his hometown. He decides to leave home with his friend Govinda and live with the Samanas, a group of wandering ascetics, because he was convinced that he could learn more about enlightenment and inner peace. Hesse uses this as the beginning of Siddhartha's journey on his path to discovering what he wants to do with his life. By doing so, the reader gets to have more insight on how Sidhartha thinks, how he suffers, where his overbearing pride comes from, and why he thinks what he thinks. By as time goes on, Siddhartha leaves the Samanas because he realizes that the way of the Samana was not a life he wished to pursue, because “He will turn seventy and eighty, and you and I, we will get almost as old and we will practice, and we will fast and we will meditate. But we will never reach Nirvana, not he, not we” (Page 17). His dissatisfaction informs the reader that his goals are not something that can be obtained by simple meditation and fasting.
In this book, the first couple of pages highly praises Siddhartha. “ The beautiful brahims son”(pg 3) , “ A great sage and priest growing in him, a prince among the brahmins” , “ The strong, the beautiful”, and “ A delight to all” (pg 4). He truly was a blessing to everyone. Yet, despite bringing happiness to those around him, he himself wasn’t happy at all. He was thirsty for more knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. His heart, mind, and soul was not filled with content. And so, with his friend Govindas, they set out on a long journey. First step: to become Shramanas. The readers get insight on how difficult and determined one must be to fully understand the ways of a Shramana. Harsh, and ongoing teachings were practiced daily. On pages 11-12, his new outlook on society was that everything is all a lie, “putrescence and decay” and “life is pain”(pg 12). As Siddhartha controls his entire body at will emotionally and mentally, as well as overcoming hunger, thirst, cravings, and fatigue, the author shows us on this ongoing journey that Siddhartha is a seeker, thriving for the great mystery; ego overcome, all cravings gone, and of course, Nirvana. Us readers, just after merely two chapters, can already foresee, or get a good picture, that ahead of Siddhartha’s path and destiny, there will be many challenges in the future.
I agree with your statements about Siddhartha being a blessing. I, like you, see that there is the total cliche going on - everyone loves Siddhartha except himself. I think that this makes Siddhartha seem selfish and arrogant right off the bat. He has absolutely everything, but he just can't be happy. the "Life is pain" line on page 12 really stood out to me as well - it was a saddening line that came out of nowhere and caused the reader to ask many questions.
I, as well, agree with your statement about how Siddhartha is a blessing. As I was reading the first two chapters again, I realized why I liked this book the most out of the rest of them. It has a main character that doesn’t seem to understand that he is a godsend and the whole story is that he is trying to find his way in this world and trying to find out why he is here in the first place. I think that’s why I agreed with your statement as well, because it truly makes sense of everything that I feel about this book and Siddhartha himself.
I also agree with your statement saying how Siddhartha is a blessing. He starts out being a kind of cocky and knowing he has everything leaving him feel almost empty on the inside. It is confusing as to why he'd feel empty even when he has everything anyone could ask for, but I agree that he is looked up to as a role model by a lot of people and is viewed highly by lots, other than himself which is a sad thing to read about.
We both think that Siddhartha is presented as a blessing in the first two chapters, The Brahman's Son and Among the Shramanas, of the book. However I would like to further your point by saying that Siddhartha's condescending nature creates annoyance in the reader as Siddhartha believes he is superior than all, is completely and utterly egocentric, and pays little respect to beliefs other than his own. This characterization of Siddhartha changes vastly through the book as Siddhartha ends up on the river as a modest, humble person.
In these first two chapters of Siddhartha, I've noticed two different kinds of word choice - words that give the reader a feeling of bliss and calm (flowed, radiance, aglow, glittered, melted), and words that are rigid, mysterious, and questioning (indestructible, burning, devious, quenched). Both kinds pertain to Siddhartha himself- his outwardly appearance seems to be a religious, peaceful brahmin-to-be, but on the inside, he is dissatisfied with his life, and questioning everything he had been taught until the shramanas come to his village. I believe this dissatisfaction leads him to be awfully stubborn, as seen on pages 9 and 10, when Siddhartha convinces his father to let him leave the village to follow the shramanas. His stubbornness and selfishness during this beginning will probably lead to a major attitude change in the coming chapters. Another point I would like to talk about is on page 12, where Hesse writes, "A heron flew over the bamboo grove, and Siddhartha became one with the heron is his mind..." As we learned in class, flight usually means freedom, but in this case, I do not believe that is true, because of the following text on page 13. It tells the reader that putting his mind into other animals and creatures doesn't empty him, but instead gives him a deeper craving for enlightenment. So, in this case, the flight of the heron instead shackles Siddhartha from mental liberation, and reminds him of his discontent.
I agree with your point about how " A heron flew over the bamboo grove and Siddhartha became one with the heron in his mind..." is actually giving him deeper cravings. It seems like after one taste of becoming one with other creatures(?) makes him wanting more and more of getting out of his own mind and becoming something else. Quite confusing, but its definitely a craving.
Your point about Hesse’s contrasting diction and how it related to Siddhartha’s personality was compelling. I had never seen word choice from that angle before, so it was interesting of you to point that out. There was also another bird reference in the beginning of the novel, comparing Siddhartha to a falcon, as opposed to the heron. I imagine a falcon to symbolize someone straightforward with a certain vision in mind, someone who is determined and focused. On the other hand, I imagine a heron to symbolize someone slender and peaceful, someone who is much more relaxed. The two differ drastically, yet Hesse connects Siddhartha to both in just the first two chapters.
“Everyone loved Siddhartha in this way. He brought delight to everyone; to everyone he was a pleasure.”
“But he, Siddhartha, did not delight himself, he was no pleasure to himself. Ambling down the rosy paths of the fig garden, sitting in the bluish shade of the meditation grove, washing his limbs daily in the expiatory bath, making sacrifices in the deep shade of the mango forest, with perfect decorum in all his gestures, beloved by all, a joy to all, in his own heart he still bore no joy. (pg.6)”
Throughout the first few pages of Siddhartha, Herman Hesse explains how Siddhartha is viewed very highly by others. He is described as being a “delight to everyone” and “to everyone he was a pleasure.” This background sets the tone for the ironic reality of how everyone likes Siddhartha but himself. Siddhartha is not content with his routined, and privileged life. Hesse writes, “...making sacrifices in the deep shade of the mango forest, with perfect decorum in all his gestures, beloved by all, a joy to all, in his own heart he still bore no joy.” Like the mango forest, Siddhartha is “beloved by all” and “a joy to all” but despite living his life perfectly, he still is not satisfied. Also, the description of “deep shade of the mango forest” symbolizes the emptiness or loneliness Siddhartha feels. He longs for the emptiness to filled through his path towards enlightenment. By showing how others view Siddhartha verses how he views himself gives us, as readers, a better understanding as to how Siddhartha thinks and what he wants to achieve throughout his journey towards enlightenment. This passage also shows us that Siddhartha isn’t ordinary. Instead of living an unfulfilling life he wants to gain more knowledge and understanding which foreshadows the story. After Siddhartha leaves on his journey he realizes his goal to achieve the joy he longed for. Hesse says, “...to find the peace of the emptied heart. (pg.13)” Siddhartha realizes his goal to achieve peace through his already emptied heart. Later during the book we see Siddhartha’s journey to fill the emptiness through his quest towards enlightenment.
I agree with your statement, because while reading the first two chapters I felt the same way about the way others and Siddhartha viewed himself. Everyone looks up to him and views him as greatness, other than himself. He feels empty and not happy and decides to change that by going on a quest for enlightenment. After reading the chapters, I agree even more with your response and feel the same way about the way Siddhartha and others view him.
My idea is similar to your idea about Siddhartha's "does not like" himself. Primarily, I would like to disagree with your view that Siddhartha does not like himself. I presume that Siddhartha DOES feel empty, but at the same time he is extremely confident and cocky, so he does like himself. This feeling of emptiness led me to believe that this internal conflict of Siddhartha was created partially in order to allow the reader to connect with this "superior" figure as it is common within human nature to doubt part of oneself despite the compliments provided by others.
In the first two chapters of this book, I noticed the author used a couple different tones. In the first chapter, the author, Shermann Hesse, created a more loving, brilliant, infatuated feel with Siddartha. He seemed to be on top of the world, his life was great, everyone looked up to him, it seemed as if nothing could go wrong. This feeling completely changes in the second chapter of the book. Hesse creates a more eerie, gloomy, dissatisfied, secretive feel within Siddhartha. He goes about life in a completely different way, he doesn’t have any interest in living and has no happiness. A couple of examples to show this feeling is on page 12, “Everything pretended to meaning and happiness and beauty, but it was all only putrescence and decay. The taste of the world was bitter. Life was pain.” Hesse also writes, “Siddhartha had only one goal before him-to become empty, empty of thirst, empty of desire, empty of dreams, empty of joy and sorrow. To die away from himself, no longer be “I”, to find the peace of an empty heart, to be open to wonder within an egoless mind-that was his goal.” These passages relate to what we learned in class, the maxim, “Characters can be marked for greatness or marked from woe.” I feel this relates because Siddhartha is creating a mood where he feels bad for himself. He sulks and says how bad his life is or how he doesn’t have the desire to live, but he does nothing to try and better himself or his life for awhile, but then he decides to go on a quest to search for enlightenment and relieve his self-despair. He chose to become a character marked from woe instead of greatness, at first, but then decided to change his ways.
I too noticed the depressing tone set in the first two chapters of Siddhartha. However, I don’t necessarily agree with the pattern that you had pointed out. The first chapter, The Brahmin’s Son, does convey a discontented tone, where Siddhartha chooses to follow the out-of-touch shramanas, manifesting anger in his father. Readers would also be disgruntled by Siddhartha’s decision to join them, as Hesse had emphasized the glumness of the shramanas. Hence, there are parts in the first chapter where things are not as lighthearted as you had originally pointed out. Moreover, I do agree with how you pointed out the melancholy tone set in the second chapter. The beginning of the chapter even starts out by revealing the new, pitiful lifestyle of Siddhartha, saying, “He fasted for twenty-eight days. The flesh fell away from his cheeks and thighs. Fevered dreams flashed from his dilated eyes, the nails got long on his shriveled fingers… His eyes became hard as iron when he encountered women” (Hesse 11). The stark contrast in Siddhartha’s physical appearance after he joined the shramanas displays the depressing tone in the chapter that you had mentioned, so I do concur on that component of your analysis.
“One day some shramanas passed through Siddhartha's city, ascetics on pilgrimage, three gaunt, lifeless men, neither young nor old, with dust-coated, bleeding shoulders, nearly naked, sun-scorched, isolated and solitary, alien and outcast, misfits and scrawny jackals in the world of humans. A fevered atmosphere of silent fervor, wasting privation, and pitiless self-immolation hung over them.
In the evening, after the hour of contemplation, Siddhartha said to Govinda: ‘Tomorrow morning, my friend, Siddhartha will go to the shramanas. He will become a shramana” (7-8).
Undesirable is a word that would be used to describe the shramanas in the passage. Herman Hesse illustrates the sharamanas as a group that others would pity and avoid through negative word choice. Applying an ongoing list of words with negative connotations in order to depict the outliers of society created a disgusting and unpleasant tone. No reader would crave attention from injured and repulsive nomads, regardless of their cause. By employing such adverse vocabulary, Hesse invokes wonder in the reader when he reveals that Siddartha is joining the shramanas. How can someone who was so admired and destined for greatness stoop to a level so low by being among the shramanas? In doing so, Hesse also characterizes Siddartha as one who is slightly egocentric. Siddartha truly did not care for others’ feelings and did whatever he felt like would be most beneficial for him. His thirst for a greater knowledge and understanding of one’s self led to actions that hurt others, like leaving his father behind, yet he still followed through. This passage also signifies the beginning of Siddhartha's nomadic lifestyle. He leaves behind the only life that he actually knew for a lifestyle deemed insufferable. His new life was eclipsed by constant pain, hunger and dirt. Despite the extremely repugnant description of the shramanas in the passage, Siddartha voluntarily participates in this troublesome lifestyle. The passage depicts the intensity of Siddartha’s desire for more, for he craved fulfillment and satisfaction in his heart, soul, and mind.
I agree with your analysis of the juxtaposition between Siddhartha and the shramanas! Hesse’s unfavorable descriptions of the shramanas compared to egoistic Siddhartha invoked curiosity in me too. What impulsed Siddartha to make his decision to join the pilgrimage? I feel as though this type of juxtaposition has also been mimicked in lots of pieces of literature, such as in the Harry Potter series; coincidentally, "The Boy Who Lived" was neglected and bullied at home with the Dursley's, though he was viewed as a martyr and celebrity in the wizarding world. Maybe the author uses this to further enhance the greatness or destiny of the protagonist?
“His father was a pure, a learned, a supremely venerable man, admirable peaceful and noble in demeanor, pure in his life, wise in his words, refined and elevated in his thought. But even his father, who knew so much — did he live in holy bliss, and had he not found contentment? Was he, too, not only a seeker, still thirsting? Did he not have to slake his thirst again and again at the sacred springs — the rites, the books. The discourses of the brahmins? Why did he, blameless as he was, have to wash away his sins each day, perform purifications each day, each day again? Was atman not within him? Did the primordial spring not flow in his own heart? That is what had to be found — the primordial spring within one’s self; one had to become master of that! Anything else was a vain quest, a false direction, a misunderstanding. These were Siddhartha's thoughts. This was his thirst and pain” (Hesse 6-7).
While reading the first two chapters of Siddartha, I noticed the constant use of the symbol of water with words such as thirst, drop, and walking on water. In the passage, Hesse frequently uses the metaphor of thirst to compare the need to find atman and obtain bliss with the absolute biological necessity for water. This creates a tone of emptiness and discomfort and allows the reader, who is likely christian due to the book being written in Europe, to empathize and understand the societal desire for nirvana in India around the time of Buddha. Along with this, the established dearth of water is later fulfilled when Siddhartha settles on the river. This symbol of water, representing knowledge and understanding, comes in excess at this point. In this moment — Siddartha achieves a state of enlightenment and fulfillment. One other thing shown in this passage is Siddhartha's general disgust for pre-existent rules and leadership and his absolute drive to create his own path. This can be seen when Siddhartha essentially calls Hinduism a pointless waste of time: “a vain quest, a false direction, a misunderstanding.” This description also foreshadows Siddhartha's constant change in teachers as he later follows the Hindu’s, the shramanas, Gotama, and ultimately the river. Hesse uses frequent questions in this passage to express Siddhartha's questioning of Hinduism and to further the tone of discomfort along with some very short sentences like “This was Siddhartha’s thirst and pain” (7).
I never had realized your synthesis point, where the book was written in Europe, a primarily Christian society. Originally, I had thought that the book was written in India by a Buddhist, so that was an interest fact. Another concept you had introduced that I did not immediately recognize when I read Siddhartha over the summer is the water metaphor. Now, I can see the significance of water and how it, as a symbol, develops over the course of the novel, just like how Siddhartha grows as a person. It’s fascinating how something as simple as water and thirst can symbolize something so important, such as the journey a character goes through, in the story. The last thing that I had not formerly perceived was the short sentence structure technique applied by Hesse. I typically do not notice the sentence structure and its effect, but with your explicit analysis of this literary feature, I too understood the unpleasant tone that Hesse was attempting to convey.
In my perspective, these first two chapters of Siddhartha really bring out some of the more important parts in the story. For example, when Siddhartha tells his father his plans for his new path for his life, his dad is disappointed in what he has chosen and leaves the room, but he stood there all night until the next morning when his father walks back into the room and sees that Siddhartha has not moved from their conversation from the previous night. In my opinion, one of the biggest themes of Siddhartha is time or patience. This constantly shows throughout the book like the example given above. Another main theme for the book would be strength or furthermore, strength of man (Siddhartha) and nature (world). In the second chapter, there are many examples of the man and nature theme. One being when Siddhartha gives up his clothing and begins fasting for the majority of the day in order to help understand and discover the world around him. Through this fasting of everything, Hermann Hesse writes, ‘Silently, Siddhartha exposed himself to burning rays of the sun directly above, glowing with pain, glowing with thirst, and stood there, until he neither felt any pain nor thirst any more. Silently, he stood there in the rainy season, from his hair the water was dripping over freezing shoulders, over freezing hips and legs, and the penitent stood there, until he could not feel the cold in his shoulders and legs any more, until they were silent, until they were quiet. Silently, he cowered in the thorny bushes, blood dripped from the burning skin, from festering wounds dripped pus, and Siddhartha stayed rigidly, stayed motionless, until no blood flowed any more, until nothing stung any more, until nothing burned any more” (19) This shows both the strength and determination or patience.
Your themes provide interesting insight on the book. I would like further describe your first them by saying that time and patience bring knowledge. This can be seen as Siddhartha finds new strength for denying temptations during his frequent sessions of meditation. This theme also arises later in the book when Siddhartha settles on the river and finds enlightenment by listening to the river for extended periods of time. I find your mention of Siddhartha’s frequent strength and resilience in Among the Shramanas and I would like to further this idea by saying this only characterizes Siddhartha’s extreme thirst for enlightenment and perseverance of character for only someone this determined to achieve their goals would undergo such pain.
I’m interested by the fact that the theme was introduced so early in the storyline. While I believe that you could include more elaboration on how the first two chapters “really bring out some of the more important parts of the story”, I agree with the themes that you had discovered. The concept of patience is prevalent throughout Siddhartha, especially in the beginning of the novel, as you had pointed out. The patience that Siddhartha had learned from a young age was applied in many situations, such as when he studies the river and attempts to find enlightenment. I also agreed with your idea of strength of both man and nature as a theme, as Siddhartha must use up a lot of strength in order to refrain from certain things; the quote that you included is an excellent example of that.
“But one thing the teachings, so clear and so venerable, do not contain: they do not contain the secret of what the Exalted One himself experienced, he alone among the hundreds of thousands. This is the reason on account of which I intend to continue my journey-not to seek out some other, better instruction for I know there is none, rather to leave all teachings and all the teachers and alone attain my goals or else die (pg.30).”
The chapters Gautama and Awakening stood out to me a lot. These chapters are essentially the turning point for Siddhartha and his journey towards enlightenment. This quote stood out to me because it relates back to chapter 1 a bit. There seems to be a continuous cycle of Siddhartha breaking away from the norm and experiencing something new. In chapter 1, Siddhartha left his family and in this chapter he left Buddha. The cycle symbolizes Siddhartha’s independence. We could already tell from the first chapter that he’s unique and marches to the beat of his own drum. That theme reoccured in this chapter when he decided to “continue my (his) journey-not to seek out some other…” He has been sheltered and dependent all his life. The result of that makes him want to experience new things. Also I feel like this sparks the turning point of the book. He realizes he doesn’t want to follow the teachings of someone else’s quest and experience of enlightenment. He wants to create his own enlightenment which relates to the maxim “the real reason for a quest is always self knowledge.”
Also the feeling of loneliness seems to be an important role in Siddhartha’s journey. He felt lonely and unsatisfied with his sheltered life as the Brahmin’s son which urged him to leave. In the chapter Awakening, being alone is what opened his eyes. “This had been the last shudder of awakening, the final convulsion of birth. And instantly he had set out again, starting to walk quickly and impatiently, no longer towards home, no longer towards his father, no longer back (pg.36).”
Great analysis! I definitely agree with you on how we can already start to tell that Siddhartha is different and likes to "break away from the norm," but I was also wondering what the "norm" means to you in this book? Also, I wanted to add on that not only is the turning point when Siddhartha realizes he does not want to follow the teaching of someone else's quest, but also when he leaves his best friend, Govinda. Parting from Govinda is a valuable time in Siddhartha's life, because it's his first time when he's officially alone. He did leave his family behind, but he had his best friend following him, which at times is even better than a parent coming along. Him parting with Govinda not only helped Siddhartha grow as a person, but taught him the importance of empathy.
I completely agree with your idea of a continuous cycle, along with these two chapters being a turning point. In these first four chapters, Siddhartha has repeatedly left his current place in life to find another one, whether it was leaving his parents, the Shramanas, or Govinda. Leaving Govinda to be completely by himself is the most crucial turning point of them all. Not only did he realize that following a teaching will not help him reach enlightenment, he also understood that he had to reach this goal solely by himself. In addition, although I agree with your point that loneliness plays an important factor in his journey, I think that he was unintentionally trying to achieve loneliness. In all the times before, he had always been surrounded by people, whether it was his parents, the Shramanas, or Govinda. It was when he had left everyone behind, that he could truly start his journey towards enlightenment.
“He looked around him as though he were seeing the world for the first time. The world was beautiful, full of colors, strange and enigmatic. Here was blue, here yellow, here green, the sky was in movement and so was the river; the forest was fixed in place and so were the hills - all beautiful, all mysterious and magical. And in the middle of it all was Siddhartha, the awakened one, on the path to himself. All of it, all the yellow and blue, the river and the forest, entered Siddhartha for the first time through his eyes. It was no longer the magical deception of Mara, was no longer the veil of Maya, was no longer the meaningless and arbitrary multiplicity of the world of appearance contemptuously derided by deep-thinking brahmins, who scorned multiplicity and sought unity. Blue was blue, river was river, and even if in the blue and the river the divine and the one were alive in Siddhartha in a hidden way, it was still the divine way and intention to be yellow here, blue here, sky here, forest here, and Siddhartha here. Meaning and essence were not somewhere behind things, they were in them, in them all” (32).
Siddhartha had never truly been alone prior to the fourth chapter, Awakening. When he leaves the Jeta Grove, he permanently abandons a loyal friend, a seemingly flawless teacher, and “his life up to that time” (30). In doing so, Siddhartha has an abundant amount of time to reflect on his values and aims in life, realizing that only he, alone, would be able to reach the enlightenment and nirvana he so desperately seeks. Hesse beautifully illustrates the landscape where Siddhartha genuinely notices and observes the scenery around him for the first time through visual imagery. Simple things, such as color and the river, invoke a sense of calming passion in Siddhartha, as he realizes that he is at the center of it all. While it may sound egocentric, this realization leads Siddhartha to believe that he is in control of his own destiny. If he wants to achieve nirvana, only he would be able to get there. Siddhartha sees things through a different lens and his outlook on life changes after this point. He knows that he no longer needs a teacher and wastes no more time learning from one (excluding Kamala, but that’s later). This passage exemplifies a turning point in Siddhartha’s life, as he regards that there is meaning behind his life. His life has a purpose and he intends to fulfill it. Hesse conveys this turning point through the visual imagery and by emphasizing the new first that Siddhartha had just experienced. This was a life-changing moment for Siddhartha. It was a new moment where he realizes that he is alone and he is already changing for the better because of it. In the beginning of the novel, Siddhartha was so discontent and unhappy with life, but this passage displays how his life is beginning to turn around (except when he takes a detour to Kamala and succumbs to gambling).
"The slowly walking thinker came to a halt altogether, captured by this last thought, and immediately from this thought another sprang, a new thought, which was this: That I know nothing of myself, that Siddhartha remains so alien and unknown to me - there is one cause for this, just one: I was afraid of myself, I was running away from myself! I was looking for atman, I was looking for Brahman; I was determined to tear my ego apart, to peel it layer by layer in order to find its unknown innards the pith behind all the husks, atman, life, the divine, the ultimate. Bu tin the process I myself got lost." (31)
One major theme that stands out to me as I read this book is the theme of Inner Self vs. the Exterior Teachings. Siddhartha has spent most of his life in the shadow of other teachers, those who were supposed to guide him to enlightenment. By chapter four, 'awakening', Siddhartha realizes that it is only he who can guide himself to enlightenment. As I said in my last blog, I've noticed a lot of questioning diction throughout this first part of the novel. This diction is prominent throughout the fourth chapter, where Hesse uses words such as, "elude, halt, alien, departure, and mystery". On page 32, there is an important moment for Siddhartha, where he finally realizes "how deaf and dumb" he has been! There is a motherload of questioning diction in this moment, and it eventually fades towards the end of the chapter. Throughout the first and second paragraphs, there are rigid words, such as "deception, meaningless, contemptuously, scorned, and worthless". These words demonstrate the feeling of deception, as Siddhartha feels as though all this time he has been deceived by no one other than himself. These two chapters prove to the reader what the book is really about - self discovery.
“And that is my idea, O Exalted One--nobody attains enlightenment through a teaching. O Venerable One, you will not be able to express to anything through words and doctrine what happened to you in the moment of your enlightenment! Much is contained in the doctrine of the enlightened Buddha, much is taught in it--to live in an honest and upright way, to avoid evil. But there is one thing that is so clear and so venerable teaching does not contain; it does not contain the mystery of what the Exalted One himself experienced, he alone among hundreds of thousands. This is what I understood and realized when I listened to the teaching. This is the reason I am going to continue my wandering--not to find another or a better teaching, for I know that one does not exist, but in order to leave behind all teachings and all teachers and to attain my goal on my own or die.”
During these two chapters- “Gotama” and “Awakening,” Siddhartha truly begins to understand how to achieve enlightenment. As Siddhartha first experienced Gotama, he took in all of The Perfect One’s perfection, from his fingers to the aura that surrounded him (23-24). Even as Siddhartha conversed with Gotama, he refers to Gotama’s world as a “perfect chain” that is “as clear as a crystal.” This level of perfection only applies to Gotama, for he has reached peace and enlightenment. However, at the same time, Siddhartha had found a flaw in The Perfect One’s seemingly perfect teaching (26-27). Although Gotama listens intently to Siddhartha’s argument, he does not acknowledge or agree with the existence of a flaw in his teaching. As one believes in the existence of a flaw while the other doesn’t, this becomes a battle of perspective. The Exalted One believes that his teaching is flawless because he had experienced his teaching for himself; he had traveled through the journey to reach enlightenment. On the other hand, Siddhartha, one who has not reached peace and enlightenment, could not possibly fully understand Gotama’s perspective. This occurrence also leads to Siddhartha’s next statement, in which he argues that he will continue to search for enlightenment by himself, and not through better teachings (28). I believe that this is the moment where Siddhartha truly apprehends how to achieve enlightenment. Although his previous actions-leaving his home and the Shramanas- meant searching for more meaningful teachings on his own, this realization clarified that not only should he find enlightenment on his own, but also that it should never be found through another’s experience or teaching. This moment of epiphany may be considered the actual beginning of his journey to achieving peace and enlightenment.
In the next two chapters, Gotama and Awakening major milestones are reached within Siddhartha. He has a change in mind about his life and being so miserable, he decides to change his attitude and perspective on everything and try going on a quest for enlightenment. The Gotama chapter also really shows Siddhartha’s real character and personality traits, he decides to leave his childhood friend behind and part their ways to go down different paths crushing Govinda’s heart. For example on page 25, Hesse writes “Siddhartha laid his hand on Govinda’s shoulder. ‘You did not listen to my words of aspiration for you and my blessing. I will repeat it. May you follow this path to the end. May you attain liberation!’ In this moment, Govinda realized his friend had left him, and he began to cry.” Siddhartha’s true colors show through this quote because he decided to leave his friend and be selfish and go on his own journey instead of supporting and going along with his friend whom he made tag along in the first place. I feel that this is very selfish of him and he isn’t being a good friend. On page 29, another side of Siddhartha is shown. He says to himself, “...Truly only a person who has penetrated to the inmost part of his self gazes and walks like that. I, too, shall surely try to penetrate to the inmost part of myself”. Along with that, on page 31 he says, “It was the ego whose meaning and essence I wanted to learn. It was the ego that I wanted to get rid of, to overcome”. Here his mindset has completely changed from being totally miserable and feeling bad for himself to admiring someone who is above him and being determined to be just like him and making a better life for himself. This relates to the maxim we learned in class of, “the real reason for a quest is always self knowledge.” Siddhartha finally realizes how sheltered and blessed his life is and how he has a big ego. He wants to change that and decides to go on a journey for enlightenment to try and fix his flaws and find inner peace.
“As Siddhartha left the grove, leaving the Buddha, the Perfect One, behind, leaving Govinda, he had the feeling he was also leaving behind in the grove his life up to that time and separating himself from it. He pondered this feeling, which completely filled him, as he slowly made his way. He pondered deeply, sinking down into the depths of this feeling as through deep water, until he reached the point where the causes lie — for to know the causes, so it seemed to him, that is what thinking is, and only in this way do feelings become knowledge instead of being wasted; in this way they become meaningful and begin to radiate what is within them” (Hesse 30).
Siddhartha’s “awakening” after he leaves Gotama and his friend, Govinda, marks a pivotal point in the development of Siddhartha's character. This is the moment when Siddhartha completely commits to his dream to become enlightened, and abandons his previous life. The metaphor. relating to Siddhartha’s pondering, “sinking down into the depths of this feeling as through deep water,” creates introspection within the reader and makes them view their life and emotions in a deterministic sense. Siddhartha’s belief that knowing the cause of something equates to gained knowledge provides great insight to his character. This shows how Siddhartha is extremely cautious and fragile at this point and has poured his complete mental attention into discovering meaning in all so that knowledge is not wasted. In many cases, someone who behaves in such a perfectionist manor has a breakdown of some sort. Thus this forecasts Siddhartha’s later “break down” when he regresses to giving into temptations. Adding on to this, the symbol of water is used during this passage as Siddhartha sinks through deep water. When placed into context, this shows that instead of absorbing understanding and achieving enlightenment at this moment in the story, Siddhartha is drowning in his absolute desperation. Siddhartha appears to be so extremely focused and devoted to reaching his goal that he is actually bringing himself further away. Similarly, this can be seen in the example of a student who works so extremely hard on everything that they cannot physically nor emotionally undergo the struggle any longer.
I agree with your point about Siddhartha's "break down" and him giving into his temptations later in the book. Siddhartha’s mind-set seems to be more fixed than Govinda’s, who reminds Siddhartha in the third chapter that they will always have something more to learn and improve from the samanas. “Govinda said: ‘We have learned much, Siddhartha. There still remains much to learn. We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.’” (Hesse 18) He seems to be struggling in his wanting to already be enlightened and wanting to learn, which relates to his desperation and struggle to make a choice. The continuation of the symbolism of water is also very interesting, and it’s fascinating to see what it can tell us about the state of Siddhartha’s mind.
“Siddhartha saw a tribe of apes moving through the forest vaults, in the high branches, and heard a wild litany of lust. Siddhartha saw a ram pursue a ewe and mate with her. Siddhartha saw a pike hunting in a reedy lake in its evening hunger, and the fearful young fish propelling themselves out of the water, fluttering and flashing, in swarms before him. And force and passion rose urgently out of the rushing whirlpools the impetuous hunter created.” (38).
In “Kamala” and “Among the Child People,” Siddhartha journeyed into the materialistic world, and many puzzle pieces were hidden along his journey to help foreshadow his entrance into that world. The first puzzle piece is what is conveyed with the passage above. As Siddhartha finally opens his eyes and observes the nature around him, he notices the numerous sexual relationships around him. This occurrence helps to foreshadow his own sexual relationship with Kamala in the future. By acknowledging the existence of sexual relationships, something he would not have done before his awakening, he discovers more about the world, specifically, physical enlightenment in contrast to spiritual enlightenment. Later in his journey, Siddhartha dreamt of Govinda transforming into a woman whom he explored with (39). The metamorphosis from Govinda to a woman may very well represent Siddhartha’s transition from being in the spiritual world, to being in the physical and materialistic one. He yearns to explore and learn about the physical world, so much so that it appears in his dreams. After Siddhartha departed from the ferryman, he encountered the young woman in the village (41). Siddhartha desired to understand pleasure, and the young woman was his opportunity to do so. However, he instantly stopped when his inner voice had said “No.” Why had he listened to his inner voice? More importantly, why did his inner voice tell him “No”? Through my viewpoint, I believe that his inner voice had told him “No” because being with the young woman would not advance his understanding of the physical and material world in any way. He had met the woman when she was “kneeling and washing clothes,” and later described her as “a rutting female animal.” Not only could she not give Siddhartha any meaningful teaching experiences, she wasn’t materialistic enough. Siddhartha’s inner voice chose Kamala over the young woman because Kamala was completely immersed in the materialistic world. She was a famous courtesan, one who could teach Siddhartha about sensual pleasure. However, before giving Siddhartha the opportunity to learn from her, she required him to also join the materialistic world, through her requirements of having “beautiful clothes, handsome shoes, plenty of money in his purse--and gifts for Kamala.”(44) Through the multiple puzzle pieces of observing relationships in nature, dreaming of a woman, denying a woman, and lastly, learning from Kamala, the picture is complete, for Siddhartha has completely submerged himself in the materialistic world.
I agree with your blog because I feel very similarly. His inner voice protects him from impulsive decisions when it comes to girls because Siddhartha needs to stay on track to finding spiritual and physical enlightenment. Meeting Kamala can either go very good or bad for Siddhartha and the most recent chapter hints that we will learn more about it in the future, but we do know that he desires her very much.
Starting with the chapter, Kamala, Siddhartha has changed enormously within himself. His feelings have shifted from being hopeless, miserable and depressed about his life to now realizing that the world is a beautiful place. He looks at things a whole new way and learns more about the beautiful Earth surrounding him. On page 37 this is described in the quote, “Siddhartha learned something new every step of the way. For the world had been transformed, and his heart was enraptured… All of this had always been there, and he had not seen it. He had not been there with it. Now he was there with it, and was part of it. Light and shadow passed through his eyes, the stars and moon through his heart.” He came to a realization that before his enlightenment, he had not experienced life and never actually found himself. Now, he is figuring out the relationship between spiritual and physical enlightenment by experiencing several situations where his ability to control himself and his desires are put to the test. He came across a woman who he wanted very badly, but his inner soul told him “no” and he listened and continued on. I feel that his inner soul told him this because if he were to pursue this woman, who would be his first, he wouldn’t learn any life lessons about waiting and being patient and she would distract him from his quest and journey to find inner peace. Siddhartha is now learning about love and relationships and dreaming of being with Kamala, whom he found breathtakingly beautiful. In the upcoming chapters we learn more about the two and their relationship making their interaction in the “Kamala” chapter a big part in the book, and preparing us for what may come in the future.
“I could see that myself,” said the ferryman , “I did not expect payment or any token from you. You will give me a gift some other time.” “Do you think so?” Siddhartha said with amusement. “Certainly. This too I have learned from the river. Everything returns! You, too Shramana, will come back. Now, farewell! May your friendship be my reward. Think of me when you sacrifice to the gods! (pg.42)”
In the chapter Kamala, we see Siddhartha finally start his journey towards enlightenment. In the beginning of the chapter, Siddhartha gets a ride from a ferryman who expresses his love for the river. Siddhartha thanks him for the ride, but apologizes for giving the ferryman nothing in return. The ferryman understands and says that he knows one day Siddhartha will repay him. The ferryman believes “everything returns” just like the river. Relating back to the first chapter, we see again how Siddhartha has an immediate effect on people. People constantly know that Siddhartha will one day achieve great things. The ferryman just appreciates Siddhartha’s “friendship” and he knows Siddhartha will “gift him some other time.” The gift could be the gift of Siddhartha’s teachings that he will spread in the future. Also I think it was refreshing for Siddhartha to meet such a grateful and calm being. The ferryman’s kindness reminded Siddhartha of Govinda. Govinda was very selfless and “thankful, though they themselves deserve thanks” just like the ferryman. They do not expect anything in return because they know Siddhartha will give them the gift of leadership and knowledge. Siddhartha relates Govinda and people like Govinda to children. Children are obsequious just like how Govinda was to Siddhartha. This could maybe foreshadow the book. Siddhartha will constantly meet meet that are selfless and obey Siddhartha as a leader.
This passage is definitely useful for foreshadowing. Through my perspective, the ferryman has already achieved enlightenment through the river, and uses his experience to determine Siddhartha's fate in returning. He can recognize that Siddhartha is also attempting to achieve enlightenment, and one day would return to the river for guidance. Instead of the ferryman obeying Siddhartha as a leader, I think the ferryman is more of a guide to Siddhartha, one who is above him spiritually, but does not look down upon him. At the same time, I don't think the ferryman relies on Siddhartha to give them the gift of leadership and knowledge, rather the opposite. Just like Siddhartha at the end of the book, the ferryman has reached enlightenment on his own and is willing to share it with anyone who desires it.
“The worldly life is easy, thought Siddhartha. There is nothing difficult in it. Everything was hard, and in the end, hopeless, when I was a shramana. Now everything is easy, easy like the kissing lesson that Kamala gave me. I need clothes and money, and that is all. Those are trivial, easily fulfilled goals, nothing worth losing sleep over” (48).
When Siddhartha meets Kamala, his new ideals and values are a stark contrast from what they were before, when he was a shramana. In the above passage, Siddhartha desires materialistic things that he used to not care for. In the chapter “With the Shramanas”, Siddhartha looks at the well-dressed citizens, women, and the town as a whole with disdain, considering it to all be a lie. He explains his own aspirations, saying, “Siddhartha had one single goal before him - to become empty, empty of thirst, empty of desire, empty of dreams, empty of joy and sorrow. To die away from himself, no longer to be ‘I,’ to find the peace of a empty heart to be open to wonder within an egoless mind - that was his goal” (12). But now, he longs for these items in order to please Kamala. Siddhartha’s goals take a 180 degree turn, from craving simplicity to coveting attire and riches. Siddhartha seems completely oblivious to the fact that his new goals are exactly what he had previously scorned. Hesse conveys this striking difference with the usage of dramatic irony. This plot twist invokes an angered and betrayed feeling within the reader, as Siddhartha’s initial values and inner voice begin to fade. How can someone who seems so intelligent and has such strong goals move towards something that they had once considered to be meaningless? While it is true that people change, the complete modification in Siddhartha’s aspirations as exhibited by dramatic irony is shocking.
I agree with your statement that Siddhartha's new ideals and values definitely contrast with his old ones, but I believe that those new beliefs came about before Kamala did, as seen in the beginning of "Kamala". This can be seen in the detailed imagery on page 37, where Siddhartha has seemingly been reborn, which takes place in the previous chapter. "He no longer pursued the essence or looked toward the beyond. The world was beautiful when one just looked at it without looking for anything, just simply, as a child"(pg 38). Though his encounter with the ferryman was brief, Siddhartha learned quite a bit from him before Kamala.
"Wondrous hours he spent in the company of the beautiful and intelligent virtuoso. He became her student, her lover, and her friend. Here with Kamala lay at the time the value and meaning of his life, not in Kamaswami's business." (pg 53)
The motif of love evolves heavily throughout Siddhartha, and in 'Kamala' and 'Among the Child People', the reader can see the new beliefs that Siddhartha is forming about love, through his new 'teacher', Kamala. In the chapters leading up these moments with Kamala, Siddhartha sees many different forms of love through his journey for enlightenment. At first, there is the love that he was supposed to have for his father, who Siddhartha later rejected in order to begin his quest. This leads him into his downward spiral as a shramana, where he further rejects love in order to become empty. When Govinda and Siddhartha go to see the Buddha, Siddhartha believes that, "...never had he loved a person as much as he loved this one"(pg 23). After speaking directly to the Buddha and Govinda leaves him, Siddhartha realizes that his love for the Buddha is not one he needs, because he does not agree with his teachings of achieving enlightenment. He does take away from the Buddha a loving of himself, as seen in 'Awakening', where he realizes his new beliefs of the self. This love of his self continues into the next chapters read in this segment, where Siddhartha simply seems more enthusiastic and optimistic, as compared to 'With the Shramanas'. Once Siddhartha meets Kamala, it looks like love at first sight. He learns all about love through Kamala, both mentally and physically, through Kamala's teachings; "You can beg love, buy it, receive it as a gift, or find it on the street, but you cannot steal it"(pg 45). As Siddhartha becomes one with Kamaswami's business, Kamala falls more deeply in love with Siddhartha, but the reader can see at the end of the chapter "Among the Child People", he does not love her back, mostly because of the mental block he encounters, "People of our type are perhaps incapable of love. The child people are capable of it; that is their secret"(pg 58). Siddhartha has become so uninterested with the world that he is blinded, and cannot see what the world has to offer him.
I agree that the motif of love is strongly present throughout Siddhartha. There are definitely many times when Siddhartha is exposed to the varying kinds of love. However, I think don’t think the love he displayed for Buddha is necessarily wrong for him. His love for the Buddha was very warm and compassionate in a form of admiration towards him. In addition, the purpose of the teachings from the Buddha weren’t necessarily for enlightenment, but to alleviate others from pain. Siddhartha leaves because he knows the Buddha cannot teach him what he must go out and experience. When he meets Kamala, I thought it seemed more like lust at first sight as all he wanted was to experience her love and learn about it. I agree that Siddhartha cannot currently experience love, but I think he wishes to. In ‘Among the Child People,” he states how he wishes he could experience things the same way the child people could. It’s ironic how even though he loves himself, he seems to hate himself for not being able to express any love or passion.
“In a golden cage Kamala had a small, rare songbird. He dreamed about the bird. He dreamed the bird, who otherwise always sang in the morning, was silent. Noticing this, he went over to the cage and looked inside. The little bird was dead and lay stiff on the bottom of the cage. He took it out, weighed it a moment in his hand, then threw it away onto the street outside. That moment a terrible fight took hold of him and his heart pained him as though with this dead bird he had thrown away everything valuable and good” (Hesse 64).
In this passage, the songbird symbolizes Siddhartha’s inner voice that led him to begin his quest for enlightenment and that was so extremely strong and overpowering at the beginning of the story. Hesse uses a songbird to symbolize Siddhartha’s innervoice because songbirds are usually very loud, just like how Siddhartha’s innervoice was/should be. A bird also expresses freedom as it can fly away from its restraints like Siddhartha did. Hesse describes the bird as small and rare to show the rarity of Siddhartha’s absolute thirst for enlightenment. The bird is then described as dead to represent Siddhartha’s loss of his inner voice as he gave in to the pleasures of the child people like “perfumed baths” and money. In this depiction of the songbird, the cage represents pleasure, temptation, and the preconceived notions of Siddhartha that he had set off to escape from; in order for Siddhartha to achieve enlightenment and find atman, his songbird must escape from this cage. Thus, the throwing away of the songbird shows Siddhartha’s complete transition into a child person as he completely lost his inner voice. Luckily though, a tone of hope is provided by Hesse when he writes, “his heart pained him” and “thrown away everything valuable and good.” Both of these quotes show how Siddhartha is aware of his regression and foreshadows his later rebound from being a child person and later finding of enlightenment.
wow. You really went into depth of understanding about the songbird. I as well agree that a bird indeed does express freedom, and that when it flies, it flies away from restraints just like siddhartha always does.
In the chapter “Kamala”, siddhartha abandons the path of being a shramana, and ventures out into the city, and finds the most beautiful women he has ever laid eyes on, kamala. Kamala has requirements in order for her to teach siddhartha love; having money and must give gifts to kamala. In the chapter “Among The Child People” Siddhartha gets a job from Kamaswami, and goes from being a poor man with absolutely no possessions, to a rich man with possessions. Quite the drastic change. Pages 52-53, 57-58 Herman Hesse shows us that Kamala indeed does teach Siddhartha love. But, lust and love are two different things; and when siddhartha said that both himself and kamala were incapable of love, it made me think that what Kamala and Siddhartha were doing, was lust instead of the love. When kamala let go of the songbird, I think that it not only symbolized freedom, but also of Siddhartha. Siddhartha, wherever he went, he always left, never to be seen again. And kamala knew that one day he would disappear. So when she let go of the bird, I think she was letting go of siddhartha.
I also connected Kamala's bird to freedom, but I thought it was very interesting that you also connected it to Siddhartha and that Kamala letting go of the bird actually represented her letting go of Siddhartha. I thought the bird flying away related more to Siddhartha leaving on his own in search of something better because he lost himself instead of Kamala losing him
In the chapters Samsara and By the River, several new symbols were introduced that played a big role in Siddhartha’s enlightenment. Throughout the Samsara chapter, Siddhartha had a rude awakening about himself and his behaviors, he went from reducing his ego, to feeding it again with riches and being arrogant. Later on, he finds a songbird in Kamala’s cage that is lying dead on the floor. This bird is symbolism because it represents Siddhartha’s spirit/morals. Since he is obsessed with being the center of attention and not caring about anyone other than himself, his spiritual values are dead just like the bird he found on the ground. He realized that he had been so focused on the material world, he let his morals and values that he’s been working on slip and let his ego inflate once again. Hesse writes, “Waking suddenly from this dream, he was enveloped in profound sadness. It was all worthless! It seemed to him that he had led his life in a worthless and meaningless way. He was left with nothing alive, nothing in any way precious or worth holding on to. He was alone and destitute, like a shipwreck victim cast up on the shore”. Here, Siddhartha is realizing that he has been focusing on the wrong things in his life and not appreciating the little things in the world. In the next chapter, Siddhartha knows the bird is dead literally and metaphorically because he, also, feels dead inside and doesn’t feel like living. He realizes that he needs to change his life around again and refocus on what really matters in life. Siddhartha has been letting girls, gambling, and other riches take over his life to try and hide his despair of his own truly tragic world.
My blog was very similar to yours, although I elaborated more on another event- his dream with Kamala, as he realized how close “love’s pleasure is to death.” I think that Siddhartha definitely has always perceived himself as the center of all attention, and views himself as superior to others. However, in these two chapters, he stepped back and evaluated his life, realizing that he had become one of the child people himself, and no longer had the right to feel superior spiritually. By having this awakening, he determines that he needs to return back to his life, the moments after he had left Govinda and Gotama. It was back then when he saw the world in color, when the world was vibrant. Siddhartha feels as if “worldliness and lethargy were pushing into Siddhartha’s soul,” producing an emotion where one feels trapped, as if he/she were in the referenced birdcage. Siddhartha realizes that it’s time to leave the materialistic world and fly free.
“But now as Govinda felt his gaze, opened his eyes and looked at him, Siddhartha saw that Govinda did not recognize him. Govinda was happy to find him awake, apparently he had been sitting here a long time and waiting for him to awaken, even though he did not know him” (pg.72). “Govinda gazed long at the friend of his youth, with doubt in his eyes. Then he saluted him as one salutes a member of nobility, and he went his way” (pg.74).
In the beginning of the chapter By the River, Siddhartha began having negative thoughts. He felt lost and wanted to end his misery. Then he got knocked out and Siddhartha fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke from his slumber, he noticed “a monk in a yellow robe with a shaved head” sitting beside him. Later, Siddhartha came to realize that the monk was Govinda. Govinda did not recognize his childhood friend at first. Since Govinda has such a caring nature to him he sat with Siddhartha until he awoke. Govinda later recognized Siddhartha. They reminisced about their lives since they departed. Govinda then left to join his brothers. Even though Siddhartha and Govinda have parted ways, Govinda still shows to be Siddhartha’s follower. Govinda has the continuous instinct to care for Siddhartha. When Siddhartha saw Govinda, his face spoke “of diligence.” Govinda has a constant loyalty to Siddhartha. Also, Siddhartha seems to attract care from Govinda and others. As much as Siddhartha likes to think he’s independent, he’s secretly not. Siddhartha needs help in order to be successful. He needed Buddha’s help to decide to be a follower or not, he needed the ferryman’s help to cross the river, and now he needed Govinda’s help. Despite his constant need for care, he needs to feel like a leader. The theme of a leader and a follower is shown throughout the book. Even though Govinda left Siddhartha to follow someone else, he still shows his loyalty of being a follower. When Govinda “saluted him as one salutes a member of nobility” it shows Govinda respects Siddhartha as a leader. Also from this passage, we see how Govinda and Siddhartha share an unbreakable bond despite becoming old men living away from each other. This could suggest that it was fate their paths crossed. In addition, the reuniting of Govinda and Siddhartha relates to the river symbol in the chapter Kamala. The river symbolizes a cycle and how everything returns like how Govinda returned to Siddhartha.
I agree with your point of Siddhartha needing to feel like a leader. He likes to feel superior than others. I also agree with your point of saying that Govinda still respects Siddhartha, and that the river symbolizes a cycle.
“Never was it clearer to Siddhartha how closely related love’s pleasure is to death. Then he lay by Kamala’s side with her face close to his, and around her eyes and the corners of her mouth he read plainly as never before a timid script, a script of fine lines and faint furrows, a script that recalled autumn and old age and also reminded Siddhartha of himself. He was in his forties now, and had here and there noticed gray hairs among the black. Fatigue was written on Kamala’s beautiful face, the fatigue of a long journey that has no happy destination, fatigue and a suggestion of fading, and also a concealed, not-yet-expressed, perhaps not-yet-conscious alarm: fear of old age, fear of autumn, fear of having to die. Sighing, eh had bid her farewell, his soul filled with malaise and hidden fear.” (63)
Siddhartha’s meaningful dream in “Samsara” plays a significant role to his departure of the materialistic world. This dream served as a warning to him. Through the vision, it came to his realization that sexual pleasure is dangerous to his soul, through the metaphor of “love’s pleasure is to death.” (63) When Siddhartha truly comprehended how much the toxicity of the materialistic had affected him, especially on one who attempts to find spiritual enlightenment, he realizes that Kamala was correct. Just as before, when his dream and inner voice had pushed him to join the materialistic world, his dream is again conveying to him that his time in this world is over, for he had become a child person himself. As Hesse evaluated Siddhartha’s personality changes, he commented, “Only gradually and imperceptibly,...did his disdain begin to slacken and his sense of superiority begin to become quiescent.” (61) Siddhartha had become so involved in the materialistic world, that he failed to realize that he had become one of the people he disdained-the child people- himself. As he takes a step back, the materialistic world had taught him an important lesson- to not look down on others, particularly since he had become one of the people he had originally disdained. Although it is beneficial to him to experience this form of the world, his destiny is to follow the path of spiritual enlightenment. Before this dream, there were many foreshadowing elements that also contributed to his leave of the world. Siddhartha had experienced freedom in the days “following the separation from Govinda.” (59) He had previously seen the vibrant world- “beautiful, full of colors, strange and enigmatic.” (32) As he reminisced the past memories of his life, he also contrasted them with his current life- a life that is lacking of color and one that is choking. It was as if “worldliness and lethargy were pushing into siddhartha’s soul...making it heavy and tired.”(60) His life “had grown old” and “lost its color and luster.” (61) He had become trapped in his own life, and needed to be released like the bird in his second dream. Although caging a bird is not good, by releasing it after it is caged will allow the bird to experience true freedom and appreciation. Siddhartha had been trapped in the materialistic world, a world that he didn’t belong in. However, as he is trapped, he is able to reminisce the times he was free and appreciate his journey to enlightenment after he leaves the materialistic world.
I agree that his dream greatly influenced Siddhartha's spirit and urged him to continue on his journey to find enlightenment. The materialistic world had taken over his life and he felt trapped, which is why I agree with your last statements about the bird as well.
“It took me many years of that to lose my connection with mind, to lose the ability to think, to forget unity. Is it not true that slowly and by long circuitous ways I changed from a man to a child, from a thinker to one of the child people? But still this journey was good, and still the bird in my breast did not die. But what a journey that was! I had to pass through so much ignorance, so much vice, such great misunderstanding, so much revulsion and disappointment and misery - just to become a child again and start over. But it was right. My heart affirms it. My eyes laugh upon it. I had to experience despair, I had to sink to the level of the stupidest thoughts, the thought of suicide, in order to be able to experience grace, to hear om again, to sleep properly again and be able to awaken properly. I had to become a fool to find atman in myself again. I had to sin to be able to live again. Where can my way lead now? It is a foolish way, one has to drag oneself along it; maybe it is circular. But let it be as it pleases, I will follow it” (75).
Siddhartha’s thinking exemplifies a dramatic monologue. Nearly the whole page is taken up by Siddhartha reflecting on his life and how ironic it is that he has gone through a cycle; from child to man to a thinker to “the child people” and back to a newly awakened child. The dramatic monologue, though it is thought rather than spoken, reveals the impact that all of the significant events in Siddhartha’s life has left. Both emotionally and physically, Siddhartha has endured an immense amount of change. He believes that he has just begun to find enlightenment when he loses himself to the materialistic goods and wealth that he had earlier shamed. Although he nearly commits suicide because he had felt so lost, the dramatic monologue conveys the gratefulness Siddhartha feels for having experienced such a greedy lifestyle. With the usage of a dramatic monologue, Hesse conveys Siddhartha’s adaptability to life and how he has grown to be an optimist. Siddhartha takes a heinous experience where he strayed from his inner values and makes the best of it. In the passage above, Siddhartha describes how the poor occurrence led him to an awakening, exhibiting the newfound enthusiastic take he has on life. In previous chapters, Siddhartha had looked at “the children” who lived in a world surrounded by possessions and wealth with contempt. Once he had experienced this lifestyle, he realized that it was a necessity to sin and he had learned from this experience. The dramatic monologue displays the learning experience Siddhartha went through and the key part that it played in him finally beginning to find himself.
"His sleep was deep and dreamless. It had been a long time since he had had such a sleep. When he awoke after many hours, it was as though ten years had passed. He heard the soft rushing of the water and did not know where he was, who had brought him to this place. He opened his eyes and looked with amazement at the trees and sky above him. The past seemed veiled, infinitely far away, remote, infinitely unimportant." (pg 70)
The idea of the cycle of rebirth is an important factor in Buddhism. Along with that idea, water is usually an important symbol for life. In Christianity, a person is baptized by being dunk in water, which 'cleans sins away'. So, Siddhartha trying to kill himself by drowning in the river is a very interesting metaphor for life and religion. If the reader thinks along the "life" thought process, the river gives life and takes life. It makes sense for Siddhartha to die right there (sometimes I wish he did), but something stops him. The realization of life's meaning is caused by Siddhartha attempting to kill himself in the river. On the other hand, the reader could go along the "religion" thought process and see that there is a mix of culture at this point. It is almost a mix of Buddhism and Christianity. Siddhartha could have almost been 'baptized' by the river and came out 'reborn' a new man.
Your point of " siddhartha could have almost been 'baptized' by the river and came out 'reborn' as a new man" I actually agree with your point. He was reborn into a totally different man. From greedy and selfish man, he became into a joyful and appreciative person.
“ Where are you getting this happiness from? Is it really coming from that long, good sleep that did me so much good? Or is it from the word OM that i uttered? Or does it come from the fact that i have skipped out, i have made good escape, I am finally free again like a child under the sky? Oh, how good it is to have gotten away, to be free!”( pg 76 ) In the beginning of the chapter By The River, Siddhartha was thinking negative thoughts of death. He seemed hopeless and worthless. But then deep in his soul, the word OM seemed to have emerged, and he fell into a deep sleep. After awakening, he seems to have become into a whole new person. He felt happy, joyful, and appreciative of things around him. He reflected back on himself thinking it as stupid and foolish. “ something else in him had died, something that had been longing to die for a long time” (pg 77). Siddhartha had been awakened into a whole new person, and his ego filled-selfish-greedy self had died. It almost seems like in order for siddhartha to reach closer to fulfillment in his heart etc.. he must’ve endured everything in the previous chapters in order to learn who he truly is and what his destiny is. When he left kamala and the city, he was going towards a new journey with a different form of himself.
“Siddhartha wandered in the forest. He was already far from the city. He knew only one thing— that he could not go back, that the life he had led for many years was over and gone. He had sucked it and drained it to the point of revulsion. The songbird of his dream was dead. He was profoundly enmeshed in samsara. He had sucked nausea and death into himself from every side, as a sponge sucks up water until it is full. He was bloated with excess, with misery, with death. There was nothing left in the world that could attract him, nothing that could bring him pleasure or console him” (Hesse 68).
Hesse begins the chapter by the river with “Siddhartha wandered in the forest.” The connotation of wandered usually means that someone walks around without purpose and is lost. This description of Siddhartha evokes a very sad tone as Siddhartha has fallen short of all of his dreams. Hesse once again brings up the symbol of the songbird to further the idea that Siddhartha is completely lost and his inner voice has been lost or gone dormant. When Hesse writes “He was profoundly enmeshed in samara,” Hesse is discussing the Hindu cycle of life and rebirth in which Siddhartha is trying to escape by finding enlightenment. The use of enmeshed suggests that Siddhartha is trapped along his path and needs freeing, which foreshadows the later convenience freeing that comes in the form of Vazudeva and the symbol of the river. Hesse metaphorically compares Siddhartha to a sponge to further the development of the water symbol. Throughout the story, Siddhartha constantly complains about how he wants to become void of “thirst” or understanding to find enlightenment. For example, Hesse writes, “Siddhartha had one single goal before him— to become empty, empty of thirst, empty of desire, empty of dreams, empty of joy and sorrow” (Hesse 12). Ironically, the opposite occurs to Siddhartha as he gives in to his thirst and becomes to full of water that he is in pain; He had absorbed so much water that he could absorb no more and could take on no more pleasure. This furthers the idea that, in order to achieve enlightenment, Siddhartha must once again start over, or be reborn, and purify himself of all the pleasure in his life. This entire passage builds upon the theme that in order to succeed and learn, one most hit rock bottom and fall from their goal completely.
“No longer knowing if time existed, whether this vision had lasted a second or a hundred years, no longer knowing whether such a thing as a Siddhartha or a Gotama or an I-and-you existed, as though wounded at the quick by a divine arrow whose wound tasted sweet, befuddled and unstrung deep in his inmost being, Govinda remained bent over Siddhartha’s still face — which he had just finished kissing, which had just been the scene of all form, all becoming, all being — for a little while longer. That countenance was unchanged, its surface having released over the depths of thousandfold multiplicity. Siddhartha smiled quietly, smiled mildly and gently, perhaps with kindness, perhaps quite disdainfully, precisely as the Exalted One had smiled (116).”
The last page(s) in the story is filled with emotion. The mention of the “divine arrow” is closely related to the “bow-shot arrow” mentioned on page 8. Hesse writes, “... he read in his friend’s face a resolve as impossible to divert as a bow-shot arrow” (Hesse 8). The symbol of the arrow represents Siddhartha on his path. As Siddhartha’s destiny, the path of the arrow which is “impossible to divert,” is fulfilled, the symbol of the arrow is described as divine, showing Siddhartha’s enlightenment. Very vivid visual and gustatory imagery is used by Hesse to bring the intense emotion of nostalgia to words. Hesse describes the wound created from this bow as sweet to express the nostalgic feeling that Siddhartha and Govinda are experiencing. This allows the reader to connect with Siddhartha and evokes an astoundingly strong tone of happiness that remains with the reader until the end of the story. Siddhartha kissing Govinda is similar to a king blessing a baby by kissing it. In this sense, Siddhartha’s transformation in to an enlightened person is completed at this point in the story as he is closely associated with someone holy. Hesse furthers this by directly comparing Siddhartha to Gotama himself. Siddhartha’s becomes Gotama when he smiles the exact same way Gotama smiles. As the reader finishes the story, they are left with a sense of completion and happiness. Finally, the theme that time is an illusion is promoted when Hesse writes “No longer knowing if time existed, whether this vision had lasted a second or a hundred years…”
“...and the reflection of his face reminded him of something, something he had forgotten, and brooding over it, he realized: this face resembled another he once knew and loved and also feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin.”(pg.103) “Had not his father also suffered the same pain over him as he now was suffering over his son?”(pg.103) “Was it not a comedy, was there not something strange and stupid about this repetition, this running in a fatal circle?”(pg.103)
In the chapter, OM, Siddhartha went to look for his son, When he was in the river he noticed that the river was laughing. He bent down to look at the river and he noticed his reflection. The face in the reflection “resembled another he once knew,” his father. A wave of empathy for his father immersed Siddhartha. Both Siddhartha’s father and Siddhartha had their sons leave them because their sons did not want to become like their fathers. Siddhartha did not want to become a Brahmin and Siddhartha’s son does not want to become “just as pious, just as soft, just as wise.” Siddhartha realized this was a continuous cycle. The river, which symbolizes a cycle, was laughing because “everything not suffered through to the end and resolved, the same woes were suffered again and again.” The “fatal circle” of fatherhood gave Siddhartha more wisdom. He realized that there was nothing he could do about his son’s departure. This is one of the very few times we do not see Siddhartha as controlling. Throughout the book Siddhartha is seen as a leader to many and he has had to only make decisions for himself, but in this situation he had to think about what was best for his son. Although Siddhartha’s wound was not yet healed, he felt hope that his feelings were steering him in the right direction.
I didn't think of the fiver and its reflection like you did, but I agree with you. Seeing his reflection brought back memories that made him miss his father, but realized that he wanted to be nothing like his dad, and didn't want his son to be either.
“Siddartha bent over, picked up a stone off the ground, and weighed it in his hand.
‘This,’ he said playfully, ‘is a stone, and after a certain length of time, it will perhaps be earth, and from the earth a plant will come, or an animal or a person. Formerly I would have said: ‘This is just a stone, it is worthless, part of the world of Maya. But in the cycle of transformations it can also become human and spirit, and so I attribute value to it.’ That is perhaps how I used to think. But today I think: ‘This stone is a stone, it is also a beast, it is also God, it is also Buddha.’ I do not venerate and love it because someday it may become this or that but because it long since is and ever will be everything - and just on this account: that it is a stone, that it appears to me here and now as a stone - just because of that I love it and see value and meaning in its veins and pits, in its yellow, in its gray, in its hardness, in the sound it makes when I give it a knock, in the dryness or moistness of its surface. There are stones that feel like oil or soap, others that feel like leaves, others that feel like sand, and each one is unique and prays the om in its own way. Each one is Brahman, but at the same time and just as much, it is a stone, oily or soapy - and just that is what pleases me and seems wonderful to me, worth of veneration” (111-112).
Siddhartha’s mindset was modified after every significant event in his life and the effect that each event impressed upon his mind is evident in this passage. While speaking to Govinda, Siddhartha compares his old mindset with his new one. He conveys this alteration in his mentality through the symbolism of the stone. The stone had once represented to Siddhartha a cycle of life, but now Siddhartha believes that the past, present, and future are all existent in one’s current state. Siddhartha attains true nirvana and peacefulness once he learns from the river. He relates his new outlook on life to the water, how the water in the river is present everywhere, whether it be the mouth of the river, or the end of the river. It doesn’t matter where it is, the same water is running everywhere. He conveys this new stance to Govinda by relating it to the stone. This blatant symbol that is pointed out by Siddhartha aids the characterization of him as a character. Readers recognize the change in Siddhartha’s personality, as this is near the end of the novel, and see how at peace with his life he currently is. He finally reaches his goal and it is prevalent in this passage. The symbol of the stone effectively conveys the serenity Siddhartha has finally attained. The stone is smooth, small and simple, similar to how Siddhartha intends to live for the rest of his life. Although the stone may seem unadorned and boring, the complex layers that may be found within the rock is identified by Siddhartha. To him, the stone is more than just a stone. The stone has an endless amount of potential and value, and each and every stone in the world is unique. The same simplicity and complexity can be found in Siddhartha. He is composed of his past, present, and future self, all of those shaping his current-day behaviour. Despite this complexity, Siddhartha lives modestly and simply, just as plain as the stone itself.
I think this was a very in-depth analysis of the stone. The symbolism of the stone is very effective in that it is simply an inanimate object, but can also be considered to represent Siddhartha- something that is very complex. It's interesting to think that the layers of the stone represents significant turning points in Siddhartha's life. A stone is often very weathered, eroded, and a combination of different minerals. Just like the stone, Siddhartha has traveled through a long, draining journey, experiencing both love from Kamala, and loss from his son. Although Siddhartha's experiences may have been in the past, his current self is the representation of the unity of everything he has encountered.
“And when Siddhartha listened attentively to the thousandfold song of the river, when he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing, when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego--when he listened to all of the, the whole, when he perceived the unity, then the great song of thousand voices formed one single world: Om, perfection.” (105)
From the symbolism of the smile to the irony of Siddhartha’s wound, Hesse illustrates Siddhartha’s final step towards enlightenment. In “Om,” Siddhartha analyzes Vasudeva’s face, one containing harmony, knowledge, unity, and most importantly, a smile (101). This physical feature has been constantly used to represent genuine happiness and applies to Vasudeva because of his achievement of spiritual enlightenment. Vasudeva possesses the most superior level of happiness--a smile-- because he acknowledges the unity in life. However, as Siddhartha pours his soul out in front of Vasudeva, he finds himself to be an equal. Siddhartha discovers that “he himself hardly differed from Vasudeva anymore,” implying that he has also achieved the enlightenment (103). Previously, Siddhartha had viewed Vasudeva as a god, someone who is superior than himself. As time passed and Siddhartha learned from the river, he became Vasudeva. He became a God- one who has attained enlightenment. For Siddhartha to understand enlightenment, he also had to grasp the concept of the cycle and unity of life. As Siddhartha suffers from his own inability to keep his son, the river laughs at him (102). In this event, the personification of the river was used in order to convey the irony of the situation. Siddhartha had left his father as a child to benefit himself, and years later, Siddhartha’s son had done the same. His actions had come back to him, putting him in the position of his father. The river attempts to teach that life always runs in circles. Later in the day, as Vasudeva instructs Siddhartha to listen intently to the river, Siddhartha observes that the river itself is also a cycle itself (104). The river becomes a part of the sky as it evaporates, but also a part of the earth when it rains. Everything is interwoven- the river, the voices, and life as a whole. Hesse describes the combination of the voices of the river as a thousandfold song. Through this metaphor, a lyrical quality is given to these voices. It is as if each of the voices were people in an acapella, and the resulting sound represented unity. Most importantly, the resulting sound amalgamated to become Om. In this final moment of Siddhartha’s journey, the crucial departure of Siddhartha’s son taught him the cycle of life and the unity that is created within, in order for Siddhartha to achieve the sacred smile.
I like how your analysis connected the personification of the river to convey the situational irony. The river is a frequent symbol throughout the book, in this chapter it showed how the past repeated itself like a cycle. In addition to the river symbolizing a cycle within life, it's a cycle within its self. I never really noticed the quote where Vasudeva explains that the river becomes part of the sky, evaporates, then comes apart of the earth when it rains as a cycle. I also agree with your statement that everything is tied together-the river, the voices and life in general. In addition, I realized that Siddhartha was considered below Vasudeva and then once Vasudeva taught Siddhartha about the river he became equal. This is another cycle including the river. Vasudeva gave knowledge he had to Siddhartha so he too could achieve enlightenment.
“The wound continued to burn for a long time. Siddhartha had to take many travellers across the river who had a son or a daughter with them, and he never laid his eyes on one of them without feeling envy, without thinking:’so many people, so many thousands possess this most wonderful of happinesses, why not I? Bad people, even thieves and bandits, have children, love them, and are loved by them in return, only not me.” So simple were his thoughts now, so without understanding. That is how much he had come to resemble the child people.” Hesse writes this to explain how Siddhartha has changed his perspective on life. In the beginning of the book, Siddhartha’s ego was beyond himself, he felt above everyone and was bathed in riches. Now, he suffers from feeling lonely and isn’t happy because he has nobody to love or care about him. He wants what others have, the feeling of family and support from others because his own father had neglected him. In these last two chapters, he has changed his look on his own life, he sees the people around him and realizes he’s just like them. They understand Siddhartha, which is something he’s never experienced before. He now enjoys life and doesn’t let his ego overrule his lifestyle. I feel that these people represent his inner voice, the one telling him to open his eyes and realize the good that’s surrounding him, which includes his son who he went looking for in this chapter. His mindset has changed for the good because now he puts his son and his feelings in front of his own, when in the beginning of the book, he would’ve never done that.
“And everything together, all the voices, all the goals, all the striving, all the suffering, all the pleasure-everything together was the river of what is, the music of life. And when siddhartha listened attentively to the thousand fold song of the river, when he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing, when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego-when he listened to all of them, the whole, when he perceived the unity, then the great song of a thousand voices formed one single word: om, perfection” (Hesse 105)
At last, on Siddhartha's journey, he has finally reached true enlightenment. Siddhartha’s recognition of the word om makes him realize the moments of enlightenment and spiritual awareness and growth on his journey. Om, meaning perfection and unity through you and the universe. When Siddhartha attained enlightenment, he does so through the word om by realizing what his journey is about. Each time he uses the word “om”, it sparks a change within him. For example, when Siddhartha is contemplating life or death by the side of the river, he hears om and realizes that life is actually indestructible. In a similar way, the river also represents unity. Through the word om and the river, Siddhartha realizes that he can’t force his life on a certain path, it has to flow like the river, which represents a part of the path to enlightenment. As the story draws to an end, the river and om end up being Siddhartha's final instructors on the path to enlightenment.
In the very last chapter of Siddhartha, in my opinion, I do believe that he had reached Enlightenment. “The mask was smiling, and the mask was siddhartha’s smiling face, which he, govinda, was touching the lips in this self-same instant. Thus govinda saw the smile of the mask, the smile of unity over the flowing forms, the smile of simultaneity over the same, resembled exactly still, refined, impenetrable perhaps-kind-perhaps-disdainful, wise, thousandfold smile of gotama the buddha, just as himself, awestruck, had seen it a hundred times. So Govinda knew this is the way the Perfect Ones Smile.” In this moment Govinda realized that Siddhartha was not Siddhartha anymore: He had reached Enlightenment, and became one of the “Perfect Ones”. In this book, the river, bird, and the word “OM”, were the things that helped siddhartha reach towards Enlightenment.
Through my perspective, these first two chapters of Siddhartha set the cycle of moods along his journey. At the start of the story, as Hesse introduces the setting, such as “the shadow of the fig tree,” or “the sun on the riverbank,” his words induce a sense of peace. Soon after, however, Hesse compares Siddhartha to a falcon. Often times, birds have a connotation of freedom--being able to fly away from their original state. This metaphor about Siddhartha helps by foreshadowing Siddhartha’s decision to leave his parents and join the shramanas. Through this comparison, we realize that the peaceful mood that was set at the very beginning would not be everlasting, and instead, the eye of the storm. Later on, when Siddhartha joins the shramanas, he is filled with confidence in his beliefs, motivation, and grit. He overcomes seemingly impossible feelings, such as thirst and heat. Although he was required to endure pain, Siddhartha survived with his self-power. However, after staying with the shramanas for a good amount of time, Siddhartha again began to question his decisions. He asks himself if his decision to join the shramanas would lead to peace and enlightenment. As he debated with himself, he lost his sense of confidence, and progressed into doubt and unhappiness. This stage of the cycle of moods was previously experienced right before Siddhartha had decided to leave his home and join the shramanas. Through this cycle, the readers can induce that Siddhartha will most likely leave the shramanas and join Gotama. As Hesse introduces the beginning of Siddhartha’s journey, the readers discover Siddhartha’s cycle of moods- search and discovery, peace and contentment, and lastly, doubt and unhappiness.
ReplyDeleteYes! Really good points! Feel free to include even more textual reference! :)
DeleteMs. Ballard
You made a really good point about the symbol of birds, and I didn't think about the symbol of birds as being the decision to leave his parents to become a shramana. But I have a different reaction to your point about Siddhartha when he joins the shramanas. I think that once Siddhartha finally stepped out into other villages and wandered with the shramanas, he became hardened. I see this in the word choice of Hesse on pages 12 and 13, where he uses words such as "putrescence, decay, diminish, mortified, torment". I think that he really was a bit scared when he first joined and started to harden the longer he was with the shramanas.
DeleteI agree with your analysis of Siddhartha being described as "the young falcon" but I would not describe the first chapter of the book, The Brahman's Son, as peaceful. Siddhartha experiences a major internal conflict as he undergoes a "thirst" for understanding and enlightenment. This creates a tense tone as Siddhartha is torn between staying with his family and following Hinduism and embarking on his journey for enlightenment. Also, if I'm interpreting your meaning of cycle of moods correctly (Siddhartha is repeatedly experiencing the same emotions as he transitions from Hindus to Shramanas to Kamala, etc.) I agree with this point and find it interesting. I would like to piggyback off this and note how this characterizes Siddhartha as ironically impatient. Siddhartha can meditate for hours and persevere through hours of pain in Among the Shramanas, but cannot simply remain in the same place for much time at all. I believe that Hesse implements this into the novel to remind the reader that Siddhartha is still a child at this time and is not a perfect saint.
DeleteI agree with you that Hesse's comparison of Siddhartha to the young falcon foreshadows Siddhartha’s “flight” from home to join the samanas. Like a young bird, he’s (literally) leaving the nest! However, I also agree with Josh in that the mood of the chapter is not very peaceful. Siddhartha goes through many conflicts and life changes in this chapter. It’s true that birds are a good symbol of freedom and peace, but the birds typically associated with peace are gentle, pure birds such as doves. Falcons seem to symbolize dominance and power, on the opposite spectrum of peace and light; they’re fittingly called “birds of prey”.
DeleteIn Siddhartha, the book begins by describing the magnificent son of the Brahmin, Siddhartha. In the first chapter, Herman Hesse uses many ways to praise Siddhartha, such as using examples from his father and mother. “Joy leaped in his father’s heart about the son.... Siddhartha, the strong, the beautiful boy, striding on slender legs, greeting her with perfect breeding” (page 3). It puts Siddhartha on a pedestal, making him seen as an incredible blessing that has been bestowed upon this world. And as the days went on, Siddhartha began to believe all of these words. However, these words were not said just to inflate his ego, because he is actually intelligent. Soon, his thirst for knowledge fully absorbs everything he could learn with his father, and with the sages of his hometown. He decides to leave home with his friend Govinda and live with the Samanas, a group of wandering ascetics, because he was convinced that he could learn more about enlightenment and inner peace. Hesse uses this as the beginning of Siddhartha's journey on his path to discovering what he wants to do with his life. By doing so, the reader gets to have more insight on how Sidhartha thinks, how he suffers, where his overbearing pride comes from, and why he thinks what he thinks. By as time goes on, Siddhartha leaves the Samanas because he realizes that the way of the Samana was not a life he wished to pursue, because “He will turn seventy and eighty, and you and I, we will get almost as old and we will practice, and we will fast and we will meditate. But we will never reach Nirvana, not he, not we” (Page 17). His dissatisfaction informs the reader that his goals are not something that can be obtained by simple meditation and fasting.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it turns the reader off to have him on such a pedestal??
ReplyDeleteMs. Ballard
In this book, the first couple of pages highly praises Siddhartha. “ The beautiful brahims son”(pg 3) , “ A great sage and priest growing in him, a prince among the brahmins” , “ The strong, the beautiful”, and “ A delight to all” (pg 4). He truly was a blessing to everyone. Yet, despite bringing happiness to those around him, he himself wasn’t happy at all. He was thirsty for more knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. His heart, mind, and soul was not filled with content. And so, with his friend Govindas, they set out on a long journey. First step: to become Shramanas. The readers get insight on how difficult and determined one must be to fully understand the ways of a Shramana. Harsh, and ongoing teachings were practiced daily. On pages 11-12, his new outlook on society was that everything is all a lie, “putrescence and decay” and “life is pain”(pg 12). As Siddhartha controls his entire body at will emotionally and mentally, as well as overcoming hunger, thirst, cravings, and fatigue, the author shows us on this ongoing journey that Siddhartha is a seeker, thriving for the great mystery; ego overcome, all cravings gone, and of course, Nirvana. Us readers, just after merely two chapters, can already foresee, or get a good picture, that ahead of Siddhartha’s path and destiny, there will be many challenges in the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statements about Siddhartha being a blessing. I, like you, see that there is the total cliche going on - everyone loves Siddhartha except himself. I think that this makes Siddhartha seem selfish and arrogant right off the bat. He has absolutely everything, but he just can't be happy. the "Life is pain" line on page 12 really stood out to me as well - it was a saddening line that came out of nowhere and caused the reader to ask many questions.
DeleteI, as well, agree with your statement about how Siddhartha is a blessing. As I was reading the first two chapters again, I realized why I liked this book the most out of the rest of them. It has a main character that doesn’t seem to understand that he is a godsend and the whole story is that he is trying to find his way in this world and trying to find out why he is here in the first place. I think that’s why I agreed with your statement as well, because it truly makes sense of everything that I feel about this book and Siddhartha himself.
DeleteI also agree with your statement saying how Siddhartha is a blessing. He starts out being a kind of cocky and knowing he has everything leaving him feel almost empty on the inside. It is confusing as to why he'd feel empty even when he has everything anyone could ask for, but I agree that he is looked up to as a role model by a lot of people and is viewed highly by lots, other than himself which is a sad thing to read about.
DeleteWe both think that Siddhartha is presented as a blessing in the first two chapters, The Brahman's Son and Among the Shramanas, of the book. However I would like to further your point by saying that Siddhartha's condescending nature creates annoyance in the reader as Siddhartha believes he is superior than all, is completely and utterly egocentric, and pays little respect to beliefs other than his own. This characterization of Siddhartha changes vastly through the book as Siddhartha ends up on the river as a modest, humble person.
DeleteIn these first two chapters of Siddhartha, I've noticed two different kinds of word choice - words that give the reader a feeling of bliss and calm (flowed, radiance, aglow, glittered, melted), and words that are rigid, mysterious, and questioning (indestructible, burning, devious, quenched). Both kinds pertain to Siddhartha himself- his outwardly appearance seems to be a religious, peaceful brahmin-to-be, but on the inside, he is dissatisfied with his life, and questioning everything he had been taught until the shramanas come to his village. I believe this dissatisfaction leads him to be awfully stubborn, as seen on pages 9 and 10, when Siddhartha convinces his father to let him leave the village to follow the shramanas. His stubbornness and selfishness during this beginning will probably lead to a major attitude change in the coming chapters. Another point I would like to talk about is on page 12, where Hesse writes, "A heron flew over the bamboo grove, and Siddhartha became one with the heron is his mind..." As we learned in class, flight usually means freedom, but in this case, I do not believe that is true, because of the following text on page 13. It tells the reader that putting his mind into other animals and creatures doesn't empty him, but instead gives him a deeper craving for enlightenment. So, in this case, the flight of the heron instead shackles Siddhartha from mental liberation, and reminds him of his discontent.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point about how " A heron flew over the bamboo grove and Siddhartha became one with the heron in his mind..." is actually giving him deeper cravings. It seems like after one taste of becoming one with other creatures(?) makes him wanting more and more of getting out of his own mind and becoming something else. Quite confusing, but its definitely a craving.
DeleteYour point about Hesse’s contrasting diction and how it related to Siddhartha’s personality was compelling. I had never seen word choice from that angle before, so it was interesting of you to point that out. There was also another bird reference in the beginning of the novel, comparing Siddhartha to a falcon, as opposed to the heron. I imagine a falcon to symbolize someone straightforward with a certain vision in mind, someone who is determined and focused. On the other hand, I imagine a heron to symbolize someone slender and peaceful, someone who is much more relaxed. The two differ drastically, yet Hesse connects Siddhartha to both in just the first two chapters.
Delete“Everyone loved Siddhartha in this way. He brought delight to everyone; to everyone he was a pleasure.”
ReplyDelete“But he, Siddhartha, did not delight himself, he was no pleasure to himself. Ambling down the rosy paths of the fig garden, sitting in the bluish shade of the meditation grove, washing his limbs daily in the expiatory bath, making sacrifices in the deep shade of the mango forest, with perfect decorum in all his gestures, beloved by all, a joy to all, in his own heart he still bore no joy. (pg.6)”
Throughout the first few pages of Siddhartha, Herman Hesse explains how Siddhartha is viewed very highly by others. He is described as being a “delight to everyone” and “to everyone he was a pleasure.” This background sets the tone for the ironic reality of how everyone likes Siddhartha but himself. Siddhartha is not content with his routined, and privileged life. Hesse writes, “...making sacrifices in the deep shade of the mango forest, with perfect decorum in all his gestures, beloved by all, a joy to all, in his own heart he still bore no joy.” Like the mango forest, Siddhartha is “beloved by all” and “a joy to all” but despite living his life perfectly, he still is not satisfied. Also, the description of “deep shade of the mango forest” symbolizes the emptiness or loneliness Siddhartha feels. He longs for the emptiness to filled through his path towards enlightenment. By showing how others view Siddhartha verses how he views himself gives us, as readers, a better understanding as to how Siddhartha thinks and what he wants to achieve throughout his journey towards enlightenment. This passage also shows us that Siddhartha isn’t ordinary. Instead of living an unfulfilling life he wants to gain more knowledge and understanding which foreshadows the story.
After Siddhartha leaves on his journey he realizes his goal to achieve the joy he longed for. Hesse says, “...to find the peace of the emptied heart. (pg.13)” Siddhartha realizes his goal to achieve peace through his already emptied heart. Later during the book we see Siddhartha’s journey to fill the emptiness through his quest towards enlightenment.
I agree with your statement, because while reading the first two chapters I felt the same way about the way others and Siddhartha viewed himself. Everyone looks up to him and views him as greatness, other than himself. He feels empty and not happy and decides to change that by going on a quest for enlightenment. After reading the chapters, I agree even more with your response and feel the same way about the way Siddhartha and others view him.
DeleteMy idea is similar to your idea about Siddhartha's "does not like" himself. Primarily, I would like to disagree with your view that Siddhartha does not like himself. I presume that Siddhartha DOES feel empty, but at the same time he is extremely confident and cocky, so he does like himself. This feeling of emptiness led me to believe that this internal conflict of Siddhartha was created partially in order to allow the reader to connect with this "superior" figure as it is common within human nature to doubt part of oneself despite the compliments provided by others.
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ReplyDeleteIn the first two chapters of this book, I noticed the author used a couple different tones. In the first chapter, the author, Shermann Hesse, created a more loving, brilliant, infatuated feel with Siddartha. He seemed to be on top of the world, his life was great, everyone looked up to him, it seemed as if nothing could go wrong. This feeling completely changes in the second chapter of the book. Hesse creates a more eerie, gloomy, dissatisfied, secretive feel within Siddhartha. He goes about life in a completely different way, he doesn’t have any interest in living and has no happiness. A couple of examples to show this feeling is on page 12, “Everything pretended to meaning and happiness and beauty, but it was all only putrescence and decay. The taste of the world was bitter. Life was pain.” Hesse also writes, “Siddhartha had only one goal before him-to become empty, empty of thirst, empty of desire, empty of dreams, empty of joy and sorrow. To die away from himself, no longer be “I”, to find the peace of an empty heart, to be open to wonder within an egoless mind-that was his goal.” These passages relate to what we learned in class, the maxim, “Characters can be marked for greatness or marked from woe.” I feel this relates because Siddhartha is creating a mood where he feels bad for himself. He sulks and says how bad his life is or how he doesn’t have the desire to live, but he does nothing to try and better himself or his life for awhile, but then he decides to go on a quest to search for enlightenment and relieve his self-despair. He chose to become a character marked from woe instead of greatness, at first, but then decided to change his ways.
ReplyDeleteI too noticed the depressing tone set in the first two chapters of Siddhartha. However, I don’t necessarily agree with the pattern that you had pointed out. The first chapter, The Brahmin’s Son, does convey a discontented tone, where Siddhartha chooses to follow the out-of-touch shramanas, manifesting anger in his father. Readers would also be disgruntled by Siddhartha’s decision to join them, as Hesse had emphasized the glumness of the shramanas. Hence, there are parts in the first chapter where things are not as lighthearted as you had originally pointed out. Moreover, I do agree with how you pointed out the melancholy tone set in the second chapter. The beginning of the chapter even starts out by revealing the new, pitiful lifestyle of Siddhartha, saying, “He fasted for twenty-eight days. The flesh fell away from his cheeks and thighs. Fevered dreams flashed from his dilated eyes, the nails got long on his shriveled fingers… His eyes became hard as iron when he encountered women” (Hesse 11). The stark contrast in Siddhartha’s physical appearance after he joined the shramanas displays the depressing tone in the chapter that you had mentioned, so I do concur on that component of your analysis.
Delete“One day some shramanas passed through Siddhartha's city, ascetics on pilgrimage, three gaunt, lifeless men, neither young nor old, with dust-coated, bleeding shoulders, nearly naked, sun-scorched, isolated and solitary, alien and outcast, misfits and scrawny jackals in the world of humans. A fevered atmosphere of silent fervor, wasting privation, and pitiless self-immolation hung over them.
ReplyDeleteIn the evening, after the hour of contemplation, Siddhartha said to Govinda: ‘Tomorrow morning, my friend, Siddhartha will go to the shramanas. He will become a shramana” (7-8).
Undesirable is a word that would be used to describe the shramanas in the passage. Herman Hesse illustrates the sharamanas as a group that others would pity and avoid through negative word choice. Applying an ongoing list of words with negative connotations in order to depict the outliers of society created a disgusting and unpleasant tone. No reader would crave attention from injured and repulsive nomads, regardless of their cause. By employing such adverse vocabulary, Hesse invokes wonder in the reader when he reveals that Siddartha is joining the shramanas. How can someone who was so admired and destined for greatness stoop to a level so low by being among the shramanas? In doing so, Hesse also characterizes Siddartha as one who is slightly egocentric. Siddartha truly did not care for others’ feelings and did whatever he felt like would be most beneficial for him. His thirst for a greater knowledge and understanding of one’s self led to actions that hurt others, like leaving his father behind, yet he still followed through. This passage also signifies the beginning of Siddhartha's nomadic lifestyle. He leaves behind the only life that he actually knew for a lifestyle deemed insufferable. His new life was eclipsed by constant pain, hunger and dirt. Despite the extremely repugnant description of the shramanas in the passage, Siddartha voluntarily participates in this troublesome lifestyle. The passage depicts the intensity of Siddartha’s desire for more, for he craved fulfillment and satisfaction in his heart, soul, and mind.
I agree with your analysis of the juxtaposition between Siddhartha and the shramanas! Hesse’s unfavorable descriptions of the shramanas compared to egoistic Siddhartha invoked curiosity in me too. What impulsed Siddartha to make his decision to join the pilgrimage? I feel as though this type of juxtaposition has also been mimicked in lots of pieces of literature, such as in the Harry Potter series; coincidentally, "The Boy Who Lived" was neglected and bullied at home with the Dursley's, though he was viewed as a martyr and celebrity in the wizarding world. Maybe the author uses this to further enhance the greatness or destiny of the protagonist?
Delete“His father was a pure, a learned, a supremely venerable man, admirable peaceful and noble in demeanor, pure in his life, wise in his words, refined and elevated in his thought. But even his father, who knew so much — did he live in holy bliss, and had he not found contentment? Was he, too, not only a seeker, still thirsting? Did he not have to slake his thirst again and again at the sacred springs — the rites, the books. The discourses of the brahmins? Why did he, blameless as he was, have to wash away his sins each day, perform purifications each day, each day again? Was atman not within him? Did the primordial spring not flow in his own heart? That is what had to be found — the primordial spring within one’s self; one had to become master of that! Anything else was a vain quest, a false direction, a misunderstanding.
ReplyDeleteThese were Siddhartha's thoughts. This was his thirst and pain” (Hesse 6-7).
While reading the first two chapters of Siddartha, I noticed the constant use of the symbol of water with words such as thirst, drop, and walking on water. In the passage, Hesse frequently uses the metaphor of thirst to compare the need to find atman and obtain bliss with the absolute biological necessity for water. This creates a tone of emptiness and discomfort and allows the reader, who is likely christian due to the book being written in Europe, to empathize and understand the societal desire for nirvana in India around the time of Buddha. Along with this, the established dearth of water is later fulfilled when Siddhartha settles on the river. This symbol of water, representing knowledge and understanding, comes in excess at this point. In this moment — Siddartha achieves a state of enlightenment and fulfillment. One other thing shown in this passage is Siddhartha's general disgust for pre-existent rules and leadership and his absolute drive to create his own path. This can be seen when Siddhartha essentially calls Hinduism a pointless waste of time: “a vain quest, a false direction, a misunderstanding.” This description also foreshadows Siddhartha's constant change in teachers as he later follows the Hindu’s, the shramanas, Gotama, and ultimately the river. Hesse uses frequent questions in this passage to express Siddhartha's questioning of Hinduism and to further the tone of discomfort along with some very short sentences like “This was Siddhartha’s thirst and pain” (7).
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DeleteI never had realized your synthesis point, where the book was written in Europe, a primarily Christian society. Originally, I had thought that the book was written in India by a Buddhist, so that was an interest fact. Another concept you had introduced that I did not immediately recognize when I read Siddhartha over the summer is the water metaphor. Now, I can see the significance of water and how it, as a symbol, develops over the course of the novel, just like how Siddhartha grows as a person. It’s fascinating how something as simple as water and thirst can symbolize something so important, such as the journey a character goes through, in the story. The last thing that I had not formerly perceived was the short sentence structure technique applied by Hesse. I typically do not notice the sentence structure and its effect, but with your explicit analysis of this literary feature, I too understood the unpleasant tone that Hesse was attempting to convey.
DeleteIn my perspective, these first two chapters of Siddhartha really bring out some of the more important parts in the story. For example, when Siddhartha tells his father his plans for his new path for his life, his dad is disappointed in what he has chosen and leaves the room, but he stood there all night until the next morning when his father walks back into the room and sees that Siddhartha has not moved from their conversation from the previous night. In my opinion, one of the biggest themes of Siddhartha is time or patience. This constantly shows throughout the book like the example given above. Another main theme for the book would be strength or furthermore, strength of man (Siddhartha) and nature (world). In the second chapter, there are many examples of the man and nature theme. One being when Siddhartha gives up his clothing and begins fasting for the majority of the day in order to help understand and discover the world around him. Through this fasting of everything, Hermann Hesse writes, ‘Silently, Siddhartha exposed himself to burning rays of the sun directly above, glowing with pain, glowing with thirst, and stood there, until he neither felt any pain nor thirst any more. Silently, he stood there in the rainy season, from his hair the water was dripping over freezing shoulders, over freezing hips and legs, and the penitent stood there, until he could not feel the cold in his shoulders and legs any more, until they were silent, until they were quiet. Silently, he cowered in the thorny bushes, blood dripped from the burning skin, from festering wounds dripped pus, and Siddhartha stayed rigidly, stayed motionless, until no blood flowed any more, until nothing stung any more, until nothing burned any more” (19) This shows both the strength and determination or patience.
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DeleteYour themes provide interesting insight on the book. I would like further describe your first them by saying that time and patience bring knowledge. This can be seen as Siddhartha finds new strength for denying temptations during his frequent sessions of meditation. This theme also arises later in the book when Siddhartha settles on the river and finds enlightenment by listening to the river for extended periods of time. I find your mention of Siddhartha’s frequent strength and resilience in Among the Shramanas and I would like to further this idea by saying this only characterizes Siddhartha’s extreme thirst for enlightenment and perseverance of character for only someone this determined to achieve their goals would undergo such pain.
DeleteI’m interested by the fact that the theme was introduced so early in the storyline. While I believe that you could include more elaboration on how the first two chapters “really bring out some of the more important parts of the story”, I agree with the themes that you had discovered. The concept of patience is prevalent throughout Siddhartha, especially in the beginning of the novel, as you had pointed out. The patience that Siddhartha had learned from a young age was applied in many situations, such as when he studies the river and attempts to find enlightenment. I also agreed with your idea of strength of both man and nature as a theme, as Siddhartha must use up a lot of strength in order to refrain from certain things; the quote that you included is an excellent example of that.
Delete“But one thing the teachings, so clear and so venerable, do not contain: they do not contain the secret of what the Exalted One himself experienced, he alone among the hundreds of thousands. This is the reason on account of which I intend to continue my journey-not to seek out some other, better instruction for I know there is none, rather to leave all teachings and all the teachers and alone attain my goals or else die (pg.30).”
ReplyDeleteThe chapters Gautama and Awakening stood out to me a lot. These chapters are essentially the turning point for Siddhartha and his journey towards enlightenment. This quote stood out to me because it relates back to chapter 1 a bit. There seems to be a continuous cycle of Siddhartha breaking away from the norm and experiencing something new. In chapter 1, Siddhartha left his family and in this chapter he left Buddha. The cycle symbolizes Siddhartha’s independence. We could already tell from the first chapter that he’s unique and marches to the beat of his own drum. That theme reoccured in this chapter when he decided to “continue my (his) journey-not to seek out some other…” He has been sheltered and dependent all his life. The result of that makes him want to experience new things. Also I feel like this sparks the turning point of the book. He realizes he doesn’t want to follow the teachings of someone else’s quest and experience of enlightenment. He wants to create his own enlightenment which relates to the maxim “the real reason for a quest is always self knowledge.”
Also the feeling of loneliness seems to be an important role in Siddhartha’s journey. He felt lonely and unsatisfied with his sheltered life as the Brahmin’s son which urged him to leave. In the chapter Awakening, being alone is what opened his eyes. “This had been the last shudder of awakening, the final convulsion of birth. And instantly he had set out again, starting to walk quickly and impatiently, no longer towards home, no longer towards his father, no longer back (pg.36).”
Great analysis! I definitely agree with you on how we can already start to tell that Siddhartha is different and likes to "break away from the norm," but I was also wondering what the "norm" means to you in this book? Also, I wanted to add on that not only is the turning point when Siddhartha realizes he does not want to follow the teaching of someone else's quest, but also when he leaves his best friend, Govinda. Parting from Govinda is a valuable time in Siddhartha's life, because it's his first time when he's officially alone. He did leave his family behind, but he had his best friend following him, which at times is even better than a parent coming along. Him parting with Govinda not only helped Siddhartha grow as a person, but taught him the importance of empathy.
DeleteI completely agree with your idea of a continuous cycle, along with these two chapters being a turning point. In these first four chapters, Siddhartha has repeatedly left his current place in life to find another one, whether it was leaving his parents, the Shramanas, or Govinda. Leaving Govinda to be completely by himself is the most crucial turning point of them all. Not only did he realize that following a teaching will not help him reach enlightenment, he also understood that he had to reach this goal solely by himself. In addition, although I agree with your point that loneliness plays an important factor in his journey, I think that he was unintentionally trying to achieve loneliness. In all the times before, he had always been surrounded by people, whether it was his parents, the Shramanas, or Govinda. It was when he had left everyone behind, that he could truly start his journey towards enlightenment.
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ReplyDelete“He looked around him as though he were seeing the world for the first time. The world was beautiful, full of colors, strange and enigmatic. Here was blue, here yellow, here green, the sky was in movement and so was the river; the forest was fixed in place and so were the hills - all beautiful, all mysterious and magical. And in the middle of it all was Siddhartha, the awakened one, on the path to himself. All of it, all the yellow and blue, the river and the forest, entered Siddhartha for the first time through his eyes. It was no longer the magical deception of Mara, was no longer the veil of Maya, was no longer the meaningless and arbitrary multiplicity of the world of appearance contemptuously derided by deep-thinking brahmins, who scorned multiplicity and sought unity. Blue was blue, river was river, and even if in the blue and the river the divine and the one were alive in Siddhartha in a hidden way, it was still the divine way and intention to be yellow here, blue here, sky here, forest here, and Siddhartha here. Meaning and essence were not somewhere behind things, they were in them, in them all” (32).
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha had never truly been alone prior to the fourth chapter, Awakening. When he leaves the Jeta Grove, he permanently abandons a loyal friend, a seemingly flawless teacher, and “his life up to that time” (30). In doing so, Siddhartha has an abundant amount of time to reflect on his values and aims in life, realizing that only he, alone, would be able to reach the enlightenment and nirvana he so desperately seeks. Hesse beautifully illustrates the landscape where Siddhartha genuinely notices and observes the scenery around him for the first time through visual imagery. Simple things, such as color and the river, invoke a sense of calming passion in Siddhartha, as he realizes that he is at the center of it all. While it may sound egocentric, this realization leads Siddhartha to believe that he is in control of his own destiny. If he wants to achieve nirvana, only he would be able to get there. Siddhartha sees things through a different lens and his outlook on life changes after this point. He knows that he no longer needs a teacher and wastes no more time learning from one (excluding Kamala, but that’s later). This passage exemplifies a turning point in Siddhartha’s life, as he regards that there is meaning behind his life. His life has a purpose and he intends to fulfill it. Hesse conveys this turning point through the visual imagery and by emphasizing the new first that Siddhartha had just experienced. This was a life-changing moment for Siddhartha. It was a new moment where he realizes that he is alone and he is already changing for the better because of it. In the beginning of the novel, Siddhartha was so discontent and unhappy with life, but this passage displays how his life is beginning to turn around (except when he takes a detour to Kamala and succumbs to gambling).
"The slowly walking thinker came to a halt altogether, captured by this last thought, and immediately from this thought another sprang, a new thought, which was this: That I know nothing of myself, that Siddhartha remains so alien and unknown to me - there is one cause for this, just one: I was afraid of myself, I was running away from myself! I was looking for atman, I was looking for Brahman; I was determined to tear my ego apart, to peel it layer by layer in order to find its unknown innards the pith behind all the husks, atman, life, the divine, the ultimate. Bu tin the process I myself got lost." (31)
ReplyDeleteOne major theme that stands out to me as I read this book is the theme of Inner Self vs. the Exterior Teachings. Siddhartha has spent most of his life in the shadow of other teachers, those who were supposed to guide him to enlightenment. By chapter four, 'awakening', Siddhartha realizes that it is only he who can guide himself to enlightenment. As I said in my last blog, I've noticed a lot of questioning diction throughout this first part of the novel. This diction is prominent throughout the fourth chapter, where Hesse uses words such as, "elude, halt, alien, departure, and mystery". On page 32, there is an important moment for Siddhartha, where he finally realizes "how deaf and dumb" he has been! There is a motherload of questioning diction in this moment, and it eventually fades towards the end of the chapter. Throughout the first and second paragraphs, there are rigid words, such as "deception, meaningless, contemptuously, scorned, and worthless". These words demonstrate the feeling of deception, as Siddhartha feels as though all this time he has been deceived by no one other than himself. These two chapters prove to the reader what the book is really about - self discovery.
“And that is my idea, O Exalted One--nobody attains enlightenment through a teaching. O Venerable One, you will not be able to express to anything through words and doctrine what happened to you in the moment of your enlightenment! Much is contained in the doctrine of the enlightened Buddha, much is taught in it--to live in an honest and upright way, to avoid evil. But there is one thing that is so clear and so venerable teaching does not contain; it does not contain the mystery of what the Exalted One himself experienced, he alone among hundreds of thousands. This is what I understood and realized when I listened to the teaching. This is the reason I am going to continue my wandering--not to find another or a better teaching, for I know that one does not exist, but in order to leave behind all teachings and all teachers and to attain my goal on my own or die.”
ReplyDeleteDuring these two chapters- “Gotama” and “Awakening,” Siddhartha truly begins to understand how to achieve enlightenment. As Siddhartha first experienced Gotama, he took in all of The Perfect One’s perfection, from his fingers to the aura that surrounded him (23-24). Even as Siddhartha conversed with Gotama, he refers to Gotama’s world as a “perfect chain” that is “as clear as a crystal.” This level of perfection only applies to Gotama, for he has reached peace and enlightenment. However, at the same time, Siddhartha had found a flaw in The Perfect One’s seemingly perfect teaching (26-27). Although Gotama listens intently to Siddhartha’s argument, he does not acknowledge or agree with the existence of a flaw in his teaching. As one believes in the existence of a flaw while the other doesn’t, this becomes a battle of perspective. The Exalted One believes that his teaching is flawless because he had experienced his teaching for himself; he had traveled through the journey to reach enlightenment. On the other hand, Siddhartha, one who has not reached peace and enlightenment, could not possibly fully understand Gotama’s perspective. This occurrence also leads to Siddhartha’s next statement, in which he argues that he will continue to search for enlightenment by himself, and not through better teachings (28). I believe that this is the moment where Siddhartha truly apprehends how to achieve enlightenment. Although his previous actions-leaving his home and the Shramanas- meant searching for more meaningful teachings on his own, this realization clarified that not only should he find enlightenment on his own, but also that it should never be found through another’s experience or teaching. This moment of epiphany may be considered the actual beginning of his journey to achieving peace and enlightenment.
In the next two chapters, Gotama and Awakening major milestones are reached within Siddhartha. He has a change in mind about his life and being so miserable, he decides to change his attitude and perspective on everything and try going on a quest for enlightenment. The Gotama chapter also really shows Siddhartha’s real character and personality traits, he decides to leave his childhood friend behind and part their ways to go down different paths crushing Govinda’s heart. For example on page 25, Hesse writes “Siddhartha laid his hand on Govinda’s shoulder. ‘You did not listen to my words of aspiration for you and my blessing. I will repeat it. May you follow this path to the end. May you attain liberation!’ In this moment, Govinda realized his friend had left him, and he began to cry.” Siddhartha’s true colors show through this quote because he decided to leave his friend and be selfish and go on his own journey instead of supporting and going along with his friend whom he made tag along in the first place. I feel that this is very selfish of him and he isn’t being a good friend. On page 29, another side of Siddhartha is shown. He says to himself, “...Truly only a person who has penetrated to the inmost part of his self gazes and walks like that. I, too, shall surely try to penetrate to the inmost part of myself”. Along with that, on page 31 he says, “It was the ego whose meaning and essence I wanted to learn. It was the ego that I wanted to get rid of, to overcome”. Here his mindset has completely changed from being totally miserable and feeling bad for himself to admiring someone who is above him and being determined to be just like him and making a better life for himself. This relates to the maxim we learned in class of, “the real reason for a quest is always self knowledge.” Siddhartha finally realizes how sheltered and blessed his life is and how he has a big ego. He wants to change that and decides to go on a journey for enlightenment to try and fix his flaws and find inner peace.
ReplyDelete“As Siddhartha left the grove, leaving the Buddha, the Perfect One, behind, leaving Govinda, he had the feeling he was also leaving behind in the grove his life up to that time and separating himself from it. He pondered this feeling, which completely filled him, as he slowly made his way. He pondered deeply, sinking down into the depths of this feeling as through deep water, until he reached the point where the causes lie — for to know the causes, so it seemed to him, that is what thinking is, and only in this way do feelings become knowledge instead of being wasted; in this way they become meaningful and begin to radiate what is within them” (Hesse 30).
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha’s “awakening” after he leaves Gotama and his friend, Govinda, marks a pivotal point in the development of Siddhartha's character. This is the moment when Siddhartha completely commits to his dream to become enlightened, and abandons his previous life. The metaphor. relating to Siddhartha’s pondering, “sinking down into the depths of this feeling as through deep water,” creates introspection within the reader and makes them view their life and emotions in a deterministic sense. Siddhartha’s belief that knowing the cause of something equates to gained knowledge provides great insight to his character. This shows how Siddhartha is extremely cautious and fragile at this point and has poured his complete mental attention into discovering meaning in all so that knowledge is not wasted. In many cases, someone who behaves in such a perfectionist manor has a breakdown of some sort. Thus this forecasts Siddhartha’s later “break down” when he regresses to giving into temptations. Adding on to this, the symbol of water is used during this passage as Siddhartha sinks through deep water. When placed into context, this shows that instead of absorbing understanding and achieving enlightenment at this moment in the story, Siddhartha is drowning in his absolute desperation. Siddhartha appears to be so extremely focused and devoted to reaching his goal that he is actually bringing himself further away. Similarly, this can be seen in the example of a student who works so extremely hard on everything that they cannot physically nor emotionally undergo the struggle any longer.
I agree with your point about Siddhartha's "break down" and him giving into his temptations later in the book. Siddhartha’s mind-set seems to be more fixed than Govinda’s, who reminds Siddhartha in the third chapter that they will always have something more to learn and improve from the samanas. “Govinda said: ‘We have learned much, Siddhartha. There still remains much to learn. We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.’” (Hesse 18) He seems to be struggling in his wanting to already be enlightened and wanting to learn, which relates to his desperation and struggle to make a choice. The continuation of the symbolism of water is also very interesting, and it’s fascinating to see what it can tell us about the state of Siddhartha’s mind.
Delete“Siddhartha saw a tribe of apes moving through the forest vaults, in the high branches, and heard a wild litany of lust. Siddhartha saw a ram pursue a ewe and mate with her. Siddhartha saw a pike hunting in a reedy lake in its evening hunger, and the fearful young fish propelling themselves out of the water, fluttering and flashing, in swarms before him. And force and passion rose urgently out of the rushing whirlpools the impetuous hunter created.” (38).
ReplyDeleteIn “Kamala” and “Among the Child People,” Siddhartha journeyed into the materialistic world, and many puzzle pieces were hidden along his journey to help foreshadow his entrance into that world. The first puzzle piece is what is conveyed with the passage above. As Siddhartha finally opens his eyes and observes the nature around him, he notices the numerous sexual relationships around him. This occurrence helps to foreshadow his own sexual relationship with Kamala in the future. By acknowledging the existence of sexual relationships, something he would not have done before his awakening, he discovers more about the world, specifically, physical enlightenment in contrast to spiritual enlightenment. Later in his journey, Siddhartha dreamt of Govinda transforming into a woman whom he explored with (39). The metamorphosis from Govinda to a woman may very well represent Siddhartha’s transition from being in the spiritual world, to being in the physical and materialistic one. He yearns to explore and learn about the physical world, so much so that it appears in his dreams. After Siddhartha departed from the ferryman, he encountered the young woman in the village (41). Siddhartha desired to understand pleasure, and the young woman was his opportunity to do so. However, he instantly stopped when his inner voice had said “No.” Why had he listened to his inner voice? More importantly, why did his inner voice tell him “No”? Through my viewpoint, I believe that his inner voice had told him “No” because being with the young woman would not advance his understanding of the physical and material world in any way. He had met the woman when she was “kneeling and washing clothes,” and later described her as “a rutting female animal.” Not only could she not give Siddhartha any meaningful teaching experiences, she wasn’t materialistic enough. Siddhartha’s inner voice chose Kamala over the young woman because Kamala was completely immersed in the materialistic world. She was a famous courtesan, one who could teach Siddhartha about sensual pleasure. However, before giving Siddhartha the opportunity to learn from her, she required him to also join the materialistic world, through her requirements of having “beautiful clothes, handsome shoes, plenty of money in his purse--and gifts for Kamala.”(44) Through the multiple puzzle pieces of observing relationships in nature, dreaming of a woman, denying a woman, and lastly, learning from Kamala, the picture is complete, for Siddhartha has completely submerged himself in the materialistic world.
I agree with your blog because I feel very similarly. His inner voice protects him from impulsive decisions when it comes to girls because Siddhartha needs to stay on track to finding spiritual and physical enlightenment. Meeting Kamala can either go very good or bad for Siddhartha and the most recent chapter hints that we will learn more about it in the future, but we do know that he desires her very much.
DeleteStarting with the chapter, Kamala, Siddhartha has changed enormously within himself. His feelings have shifted from being hopeless, miserable and depressed about his life to now realizing that the world is a beautiful place. He looks at things a whole new way and learns more about the beautiful Earth surrounding him. On page 37 this is described in the quote, “Siddhartha learned something new every step of the way. For the world had been transformed, and his heart was enraptured… All of this had always been there, and he had not seen it. He had not been there with it. Now he was there with it, and was part of it. Light and shadow passed through his eyes, the stars and moon through his heart.” He came to a realization that before his enlightenment, he had not experienced life and never actually found himself. Now, he is figuring out the relationship between spiritual and physical enlightenment by experiencing several situations where his ability to control himself and his desires are put to the test. He came across a woman who he wanted very badly, but his inner soul told him “no” and he listened and continued on. I feel that his inner soul told him this because if he were to pursue this woman, who would be his first, he wouldn’t learn any life lessons about waiting and being patient and she would distract him from his quest and journey to find inner peace. Siddhartha is now learning about love and relationships and dreaming of being with Kamala, whom he found breathtakingly beautiful. In the upcoming chapters we learn more about the two and their relationship making their interaction in the “Kamala” chapter a big part in the book, and preparing us for what may come in the future.
ReplyDelete“I could see that myself,” said the ferryman , “I did not expect payment or any token from you. You will give me a gift some other time.”
ReplyDelete“Do you think so?” Siddhartha said with amusement.
“Certainly. This too I have learned from the river. Everything returns! You, too Shramana, will come back. Now, farewell! May your friendship be my reward. Think of me when you sacrifice to the gods! (pg.42)”
In the chapter Kamala, we see Siddhartha finally start his journey towards enlightenment. In the beginning of the chapter, Siddhartha gets a ride from a ferryman who expresses his love for the river. Siddhartha thanks him for the ride, but apologizes for giving the ferryman nothing in return. The ferryman understands and says that he knows one day Siddhartha will repay him. The ferryman believes “everything returns” just like the river. Relating back to the first chapter, we see again how Siddhartha has an immediate effect on people. People constantly know that Siddhartha will one day achieve great things. The ferryman just appreciates Siddhartha’s “friendship” and he knows Siddhartha will “gift him some other time.” The gift could be the gift of Siddhartha’s teachings that he will spread in the future. Also I think it was refreshing for Siddhartha to meet such a grateful and calm being. The ferryman’s kindness reminded Siddhartha of Govinda. Govinda was very selfless and “thankful, though they themselves deserve thanks” just like the ferryman. They do not expect anything in return because they know Siddhartha will give them the gift of leadership and knowledge. Siddhartha relates Govinda and people like Govinda to children. Children are obsequious just like how Govinda was to Siddhartha. This could maybe foreshadow the book. Siddhartha will constantly meet meet that are selfless and obey Siddhartha as a leader.
This passage is definitely useful for foreshadowing. Through my perspective, the ferryman has already achieved enlightenment through the river, and uses his experience to determine Siddhartha's fate in returning. He can recognize that Siddhartha is also attempting to achieve enlightenment, and one day would return to the river for guidance. Instead of the ferryman obeying Siddhartha as a leader, I think the ferryman is more of a guide to Siddhartha, one who is above him spiritually, but does not look down upon him. At the same time, I don't think the ferryman relies on Siddhartha to give them the gift of leadership and knowledge, rather the opposite. Just like Siddhartha at the end of the book, the ferryman has reached enlightenment on his own and is willing to share it with anyone who desires it.
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ReplyDelete“The worldly life is easy, thought Siddhartha. There is nothing difficult in it. Everything was hard, and in the end, hopeless, when I was a shramana. Now everything is easy, easy like the kissing lesson that Kamala gave me. I need clothes and money, and that is all. Those are trivial, easily fulfilled goals, nothing worth losing sleep over” (48).
ReplyDeleteWhen Siddhartha meets Kamala, his new ideals and values are a stark contrast from what they were before, when he was a shramana. In the above passage, Siddhartha desires materialistic things that he used to not care for. In the chapter “With the Shramanas”, Siddhartha looks at the well-dressed citizens, women, and the town as a whole with disdain, considering it to all be a lie. He explains his own aspirations, saying, “Siddhartha had one single goal before him - to become empty, empty of thirst, empty of desire, empty of dreams, empty of joy and sorrow. To die away from himself, no longer to be ‘I,’ to find the peace of a empty heart to be open to wonder within an egoless mind - that was his goal” (12). But now, he longs for these items in order to please Kamala. Siddhartha’s goals take a 180 degree turn, from craving simplicity to coveting attire and riches. Siddhartha seems completely oblivious to the fact that his new goals are exactly what he had previously scorned. Hesse conveys this striking difference with the usage of dramatic irony. This plot twist invokes an angered and betrayed feeling within the reader, as Siddhartha’s initial values and inner voice begin to fade. How can someone who seems so intelligent and has such strong goals move towards something that they had once considered to be meaningless? While it is true that people change, the complete modification in Siddhartha’s aspirations as exhibited by dramatic irony is shocking.
I agree with your statement that Siddhartha's new ideals and values definitely contrast with his old ones, but I believe that those new beliefs came about before Kamala did, as seen in the beginning of "Kamala". This can be seen in the detailed imagery on page 37, where Siddhartha has seemingly been reborn, which takes place in the previous chapter. "He no longer pursued the essence or looked toward the beyond. The world was beautiful when one just looked at it without looking for anything, just simply, as a child"(pg 38). Though his encounter with the ferryman was brief, Siddhartha learned quite a bit from him before Kamala.
Delete"Wondrous hours he spent in the company of the beautiful and intelligent virtuoso. He became her student, her lover, and her friend. Here with Kamala lay at the time the value and meaning of his life, not in Kamaswami's business." (pg 53)
ReplyDeleteThe motif of love evolves heavily throughout Siddhartha, and in 'Kamala' and 'Among the Child People', the reader can see the new beliefs that Siddhartha is forming about love, through his new 'teacher', Kamala. In the chapters leading up these moments with Kamala, Siddhartha sees many different forms of love through his journey for enlightenment. At first, there is the love that he was supposed to have for his father, who Siddhartha later rejected in order to begin his quest. This leads him into his downward spiral as a shramana, where he further rejects love in order to become empty. When Govinda and Siddhartha go to see the Buddha, Siddhartha believes that, "...never had he loved a person as much as he loved this one"(pg 23). After speaking directly to the Buddha and Govinda leaves him, Siddhartha realizes that his love for the Buddha is not one he needs, because he does not agree with his teachings of achieving enlightenment. He does take away from the Buddha a loving of himself, as seen in 'Awakening', where he realizes his new beliefs of the self. This love of his self continues into the next chapters read in this segment, where Siddhartha simply seems more enthusiastic and optimistic, as compared to 'With the Shramanas'. Once Siddhartha meets Kamala, it looks like love at first sight. He learns all about love through Kamala, both mentally and physically, through Kamala's teachings; "You can beg love, buy it, receive it as a gift, or find it on the street, but you cannot steal it"(pg 45). As Siddhartha becomes one with Kamaswami's business, Kamala falls more deeply in love with Siddhartha, but the reader can see at the end of the chapter "Among the Child People", he does not love her back, mostly because of the mental block he encounters, "People of our type are perhaps incapable of love. The child people are capable of it; that is their secret"(pg 58). Siddhartha has become so uninterested with the world that he is blinded, and cannot see what the world has to offer him.
DeleteI agree that the motif of love is strongly present throughout Siddhartha. There are definitely many times when Siddhartha is exposed to the varying kinds of love. However, I think don’t think the love he displayed for Buddha is necessarily wrong for him. His love for the Buddha was very warm and compassionate in a form of admiration towards him. In addition, the purpose of the teachings from the Buddha weren’t necessarily for enlightenment, but to alleviate others from pain. Siddhartha leaves because he knows the Buddha cannot teach him what he must go out and experience. When he meets Kamala, I thought it seemed more like lust at first sight as all he wanted was to experience her love and learn about it. I agree that Siddhartha cannot currently experience love, but I think he wishes to. In ‘Among the Child People,” he states how he wishes he could experience things the same way the child people could. It’s ironic how even though he loves himself, he seems to hate himself for not being able to express any love or passion.
“In a golden cage Kamala had a small, rare songbird. He dreamed about the bird. He dreamed the bird, who otherwise always sang in the morning, was silent. Noticing this, he went over to the cage and looked inside. The little bird was dead and lay stiff on the bottom of the cage. He took it out, weighed it a moment in his hand, then threw it away onto the street outside. That moment a terrible fight took hold of him and his heart pained him as though with this dead bird he had thrown away everything valuable and good” (Hesse 64).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, the songbird symbolizes Siddhartha’s inner voice that led him to begin his quest for enlightenment and that was so extremely strong and overpowering at the beginning of the story. Hesse uses a songbird to symbolize Siddhartha’s innervoice because songbirds are usually very loud, just like how Siddhartha’s innervoice was/should be. A bird also expresses freedom as it can fly away from its restraints like Siddhartha did. Hesse describes the bird as small and rare to show the rarity of Siddhartha’s absolute thirst for enlightenment. The bird is then described as dead to represent Siddhartha’s loss of his inner voice as he gave in to the pleasures of the child people like “perfumed baths” and money. In this depiction of the songbird, the cage represents pleasure, temptation, and the preconceived notions of Siddhartha that he had set off to escape from; in order for Siddhartha to achieve enlightenment and find atman, his songbird must escape from this cage. Thus, the throwing away of the songbird shows Siddhartha’s complete transition into a child person as he completely lost his inner voice. Luckily though, a tone of hope is provided by Hesse when he writes, “his heart pained him” and “thrown away everything valuable and good.” Both of these quotes show how Siddhartha is aware of his regression and foreshadows his later rebound from being a child person and later finding of enlightenment.
wow. You really went into depth of understanding about the songbird. I as well agree that a bird indeed does express freedom, and that when it flies, it flies away from restraints just like siddhartha always does.
DeleteIn the chapter “Kamala”, siddhartha abandons the path of being a shramana, and ventures out into the city, and finds the most beautiful women he has ever laid eyes on, kamala.
ReplyDeleteKamala has requirements in order for her to teach siddhartha love; having money and must give gifts to kamala. In the chapter “Among The Child People” Siddhartha gets a job from Kamaswami, and goes from being a poor man with absolutely no possessions, to a rich man with possessions. Quite the drastic change. Pages 52-53, 57-58 Herman Hesse shows us that Kamala indeed does teach Siddhartha love. But, lust and love are two different things; and when siddhartha said that both himself and kamala were incapable of love, it made me think that what Kamala and Siddhartha were doing, was lust instead of the love. When kamala let go of the songbird, I think that it not only symbolized freedom, but also of Siddhartha. Siddhartha, wherever he went, he always left, never to be seen again. And kamala knew that one day he would disappear. So when she let go of the bird, I think she was letting go of siddhartha.
I also connected Kamala's bird to freedom, but I thought it was very interesting that you also connected it to Siddhartha and that Kamala letting go of the bird actually represented her letting go of Siddhartha. I thought the bird flying away related more to Siddhartha leaving on his own in search of something better because he lost himself instead of Kamala losing him
ReplyDeleteIn the chapters Samsara and By the River, several new symbols were introduced that played a big role in Siddhartha’s enlightenment. Throughout the Samsara chapter, Siddhartha had a rude awakening about himself and his behaviors, he went from reducing his ego, to feeding it again with riches and being arrogant. Later on, he finds a songbird in Kamala’s cage that is lying dead on the floor. This bird is symbolism because it represents Siddhartha’s spirit/morals. Since he is obsessed with being the center of attention and not caring about anyone other than himself, his spiritual values are dead just like the bird he found on the ground. He realized that he had been so focused on the material world, he let his morals and values that he’s been working on slip and let his ego inflate once again. Hesse writes, “Waking suddenly from this dream, he was enveloped in profound sadness. It was all worthless! It seemed to him that he had led his life in a worthless and meaningless way. He was left with nothing alive, nothing in any way precious or worth holding on to. He was alone and destitute, like a shipwreck victim cast up on the shore”. Here, Siddhartha is realizing that he has been focusing on the wrong things in his life and not appreciating the little things in the world. In the next chapter, Siddhartha knows the bird is dead literally and metaphorically because he, also, feels dead inside and doesn’t feel like living. He realizes that he needs to change his life around again and refocus on what really matters in life. Siddhartha has been letting girls, gambling, and other riches take over his life to try and hide his despair of his own truly tragic world.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great symbol--any others that really spoke to you??
DeleteMy blog was very similar to yours, although I elaborated more on another event- his dream with Kamala, as he realized how close “love’s pleasure is to death.” I think that Siddhartha definitely has always perceived himself as the center of all attention, and views himself as superior to others. However, in these two chapters, he stepped back and evaluated his life, realizing that he had become one of the child people himself, and no longer had the right to feel superior spiritually. By having this awakening, he determines that he needs to return back to his life, the moments after he had left Govinda and Gotama. It was back then when he saw the world in color, when the world was vibrant. Siddhartha feels as if “worldliness and lethargy were pushing into Siddhartha’s soul,” producing an emotion where one feels trapped, as if he/she were in the referenced birdcage. Siddhartha realizes that it’s time to leave the materialistic world and fly free.
Delete“But now as Govinda felt his gaze, opened his eyes and looked at him, Siddhartha saw that Govinda did not recognize him. Govinda was happy to find him awake, apparently he had been sitting here a long time and waiting for him to awaken, even though he did not know him” (pg.72).
ReplyDelete“Govinda gazed long at the friend of his youth, with doubt in his eyes. Then he saluted him as one salutes a member of nobility, and he went his way” (pg.74).
In the beginning of the chapter By the River, Siddhartha began having negative thoughts. He felt lost and wanted to end his misery. Then he got knocked out and Siddhartha fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke from his slumber, he noticed “a monk in a yellow robe with a shaved head” sitting beside him. Later, Siddhartha came to realize that the monk was Govinda. Govinda did not recognize his childhood friend at first. Since Govinda has such a caring nature to him he sat with Siddhartha until he awoke. Govinda later recognized Siddhartha. They reminisced about their lives since they departed. Govinda then left to join his brothers. Even though Siddhartha and Govinda have parted ways, Govinda still shows to be Siddhartha’s follower. Govinda has the continuous instinct to care for Siddhartha. When Siddhartha saw Govinda, his face spoke “of diligence.” Govinda has a constant loyalty to Siddhartha. Also, Siddhartha seems to attract care from Govinda and others. As much as Siddhartha likes to think he’s independent, he’s secretly not. Siddhartha needs help in order to be successful. He needed Buddha’s help to decide to be a follower or not, he needed the ferryman’s help to cross the river, and now he needed Govinda’s help. Despite his constant need for care, he needs to feel like a leader. The theme of a leader and a follower is shown throughout the book. Even though Govinda left Siddhartha to follow someone else, he still shows his loyalty of being a follower. When Govinda “saluted him as one salutes a member of nobility” it shows Govinda respects Siddhartha as a leader. Also from this passage, we see how Govinda and Siddhartha share an unbreakable bond despite becoming old men living away from each other. This could suggest that it was fate their paths crossed. In addition, the reuniting of Govinda and Siddhartha relates to the river symbol in the chapter Kamala. The river symbolizes a cycle and how everything returns like how Govinda returned to Siddhartha.
I agree with your point of Siddhartha needing to feel like a leader. He likes to feel superior than others. I also agree with your point of saying that Govinda still respects Siddhartha, and that the river symbolizes a cycle.
Delete“Never was it clearer to Siddhartha how closely related love’s pleasure is to death. Then he lay by Kamala’s side with her face close to his, and around her eyes and the corners of her mouth he read plainly as never before a timid script, a script of fine lines and faint furrows, a script that recalled autumn and old age and also reminded Siddhartha of himself. He was in his forties now, and had here and there noticed gray hairs among the black. Fatigue was written on Kamala’s beautiful face, the fatigue of a long journey that has no happy destination, fatigue and a suggestion of fading, and also a concealed, not-yet-expressed, perhaps not-yet-conscious alarm: fear of old age, fear of autumn, fear of having to die. Sighing, eh had bid her farewell, his soul filled with malaise and hidden fear.” (63)
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha’s meaningful dream in “Samsara” plays a significant role to his departure of the materialistic world. This dream served as a warning to him. Through the vision, it came to his realization that sexual pleasure is dangerous to his soul, through the metaphor of “love’s pleasure is to death.” (63) When Siddhartha truly comprehended how much the toxicity of the materialistic had affected him, especially on one who attempts to find spiritual enlightenment, he realizes that Kamala was correct. Just as before, when his dream and inner voice had pushed him to join the materialistic world, his dream is again conveying to him that his time in this world is over, for he had become a child person himself. As Hesse evaluated Siddhartha’s personality changes, he commented, “Only gradually and imperceptibly,...did his disdain begin to slacken and his sense of superiority begin to become quiescent.” (61) Siddhartha had become so involved in the materialistic world, that he failed to realize that he had become one of the people he disdained-the child people- himself. As he takes a step back, the materialistic world had taught him an important lesson- to not look down on others, particularly since he had become one of the people he had originally disdained. Although it is beneficial to him to experience this form of the world, his destiny is to follow the path of spiritual enlightenment. Before this dream, there were many foreshadowing elements that also contributed to his leave of the world. Siddhartha had experienced freedom in the days “following the separation from Govinda.” (59) He had previously seen the vibrant world- “beautiful, full of colors, strange and enigmatic.” (32) As he reminisced the past memories of his life, he also contrasted them with his current life- a life that is lacking of color and one that is choking. It was as if “worldliness and lethargy were pushing into siddhartha’s soul...making it heavy and tired.”(60) His life “had grown old” and “lost its color and luster.” (61) He had become trapped in his own life, and needed to be released like the bird in his second dream. Although caging a bird is not good, by releasing it after it is caged will allow the bird to experience true freedom and appreciation. Siddhartha had been trapped in the materialistic world, a world that he didn’t belong in. However, as he is trapped, he is able to reminisce the times he was free and appreciate his journey to enlightenment after he leaves the materialistic world.
I agree that his dream greatly influenced Siddhartha's spirit and urged him to continue on his journey to find enlightenment. The materialistic world had taken over his life and he felt trapped, which is why I agree with your last statements about the bird as well.
Delete“It took me many years of that to lose my connection with mind, to lose the ability to think, to forget unity. Is it not true that slowly and by long circuitous ways I changed from a man to a child, from a thinker to one of the child people? But still this journey was good, and still the bird in my breast did not die. But what a journey that was! I had to pass through so much ignorance, so much vice, such great misunderstanding, so much revulsion and disappointment and misery - just to become a child again and start over. But it was right. My heart affirms it. My eyes laugh upon it. I had to experience despair, I had to sink to the level of the stupidest thoughts, the thought of suicide, in order to be able to experience grace, to hear om again, to sleep properly again and be able to awaken properly. I had to become a fool to find atman in myself again. I had to sin to be able to live again. Where can my way lead now? It is a foolish way, one has to drag oneself along it; maybe it is circular. But let it be as it pleases, I will follow it” (75).
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha’s thinking exemplifies a dramatic monologue. Nearly the whole page is taken up by Siddhartha reflecting on his life and how ironic it is that he has gone through a cycle; from child to man to a thinker to “the child people” and back to a newly awakened child. The dramatic monologue, though it is thought rather than spoken, reveals the impact that all of the significant events in Siddhartha’s life has left. Both emotionally and physically, Siddhartha has endured an immense amount of change. He believes that he has just begun to find enlightenment when he loses himself to the materialistic goods and wealth that he had earlier shamed. Although he nearly commits suicide because he had felt so lost, the dramatic monologue conveys the gratefulness Siddhartha feels for having experienced such a greedy lifestyle. With the usage of a dramatic monologue, Hesse conveys Siddhartha’s adaptability to life and how he has grown to be an optimist. Siddhartha takes a heinous experience where he strayed from his inner values and makes the best of it. In the passage above, Siddhartha describes how the poor occurrence led him to an awakening, exhibiting the newfound enthusiastic take he has on life. In previous chapters, Siddhartha had looked at “the children” who lived in a world surrounded by possessions and wealth with contempt. Once he had experienced this lifestyle, he realized that it was a necessity to sin and he had learned from this experience. The dramatic monologue displays the learning experience Siddhartha went through and the key part that it played in him finally beginning to find himself.
"His sleep was deep and dreamless. It had been a long time since he had had such a sleep. When he awoke after many hours, it was as though ten years had passed. He heard the soft rushing of the water and did not know where he was, who had brought him to this place. He opened his eyes and looked with amazement at the trees and sky above him. The past seemed veiled, infinitely far away, remote, infinitely unimportant." (pg 70)
ReplyDeleteThe idea of the cycle of rebirth is an important factor in Buddhism. Along with that idea, water is usually an important symbol for life. In Christianity, a person is baptized by being dunk in water, which 'cleans sins away'. So, Siddhartha trying to kill himself by drowning in the river is a very interesting metaphor for life and religion. If the reader thinks along the "life" thought process, the river gives life and takes life. It makes sense for Siddhartha to die right there (sometimes I wish he did), but something stops him. The realization of life's meaning is caused by Siddhartha attempting to kill himself in the river. On the other hand, the reader could go along the "religion" thought process and see that there is a mix of culture at this point. It is almost a mix of Buddhism and Christianity. Siddhartha could have almost been 'baptized' by the river and came out 'reborn' a new man.
Your point of " siddhartha could have almost been 'baptized' by the river and came out 'reborn' as a new man" I actually agree with your point. He was reborn into a totally different man. From greedy and selfish man, he became into a joyful and appreciative person.
Delete“ Where are you getting this happiness from? Is it really coming from that long, good sleep that did me so much good? Or is it from the word OM that i uttered? Or does it come from the fact that i have skipped out, i have made good escape, I am finally free again like a child under the sky? Oh, how good it is to have gotten away, to be free!”( pg 76 )
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the chapter By The River, Siddhartha was thinking negative thoughts of death. He seemed hopeless and worthless. But then deep in his soul, the word OM seemed to have emerged, and he fell into a deep sleep. After awakening, he seems to have become into a whole new person. He felt happy, joyful, and appreciative of things around him. He reflected back on himself thinking it as stupid and foolish. “ something else in him had died, something that had been longing to die for a long time” (pg 77).
Siddhartha had been awakened into a whole new person, and his ego filled-selfish-greedy self had died. It almost seems like in order for siddhartha to reach closer to fulfillment in his heart etc.. he must’ve endured everything in the previous chapters in order to learn who he truly is and what his destiny is. When he left kamala and the city, he was going towards a new journey with a different form of himself.
“Siddhartha wandered in the forest. He was already far from the city. He knew only one thing— that he could not go back, that the life he had led for many years was over and gone. He had sucked it and drained it to the point of revulsion. The songbird of his dream was dead. He was profoundly enmeshed in samsara. He had sucked nausea and death into himself from every side, as a sponge sucks up water until it is full. He was bloated with excess, with misery, with death. There was nothing left in the world that could attract him, nothing that could bring him pleasure or console him” (Hesse 68).
ReplyDeleteHesse begins the chapter by the river with “Siddhartha wandered in the forest.” The connotation of wandered usually means that someone walks around without purpose and is lost. This description of Siddhartha evokes a very sad tone as Siddhartha has fallen short of all of his dreams. Hesse once again brings up the symbol of the songbird to further the idea that Siddhartha is completely lost and his inner voice has been lost or gone dormant. When Hesse writes “He was profoundly enmeshed in samara,” Hesse is discussing the Hindu cycle of life and rebirth in which Siddhartha is trying to escape by finding enlightenment. The use of enmeshed suggests that Siddhartha is trapped along his path and needs freeing, which foreshadows the later convenience freeing that comes in the form of Vazudeva and the symbol of the river. Hesse metaphorically compares Siddhartha to a sponge to further the development of the water symbol. Throughout the story, Siddhartha constantly complains about how he wants to become void of “thirst” or understanding to find enlightenment. For example, Hesse writes, “Siddhartha had one single goal before him— to become empty, empty of thirst, empty of desire, empty of dreams, empty of joy and sorrow” (Hesse 12). Ironically, the opposite occurs to Siddhartha as he gives in to his thirst and becomes to full of water that he is in pain; He had absorbed so much water that he could absorb no more and could take on no more pleasure. This furthers the idea that, in order to achieve enlightenment, Siddhartha must once again start over, or be reborn, and purify himself of all the pleasure in his life. This entire passage builds upon the theme that in order to succeed and learn, one most hit rock bottom and fall from their goal completely.
“No longer knowing if time existed, whether this vision had lasted a second or a hundred years, no longer knowing whether such a thing as a Siddhartha or a Gotama or an I-and-you existed, as though wounded at the quick by a divine arrow whose wound tasted sweet, befuddled and unstrung deep in his inmost being, Govinda remained bent over Siddhartha’s still face — which he had just finished kissing, which had just been the scene of all form, all becoming, all being — for a little while longer. That countenance was unchanged, its surface having released over the depths of thousandfold multiplicity. Siddhartha smiled quietly, smiled mildly and gently, perhaps with kindness, perhaps quite disdainfully, precisely as the Exalted One had smiled (116).”
ReplyDeleteThe last page(s) in the story is filled with emotion. The mention of the “divine arrow” is closely related to the “bow-shot arrow” mentioned on page 8. Hesse writes, “... he read in his friend’s face a resolve as impossible to divert as a bow-shot arrow” (Hesse 8). The symbol of the arrow represents Siddhartha on his path. As Siddhartha’s destiny, the path of the arrow which is “impossible to divert,” is fulfilled, the symbol of the arrow is described as divine, showing Siddhartha’s enlightenment. Very vivid visual and gustatory imagery is used by Hesse to bring the intense emotion of nostalgia to words. Hesse describes the wound created from this bow as sweet to express the nostalgic feeling that Siddhartha and Govinda are experiencing. This allows the reader to connect with Siddhartha and evokes an astoundingly strong tone of happiness that remains with the reader until the end of the story. Siddhartha kissing Govinda is similar to a king blessing a baby by kissing it. In this sense, Siddhartha’s transformation in to an enlightened person is completed at this point in the story as he is closely associated with someone holy. Hesse furthers this by directly comparing Siddhartha to Gotama himself. Siddhartha’s becomes Gotama when he smiles the exact same way Gotama smiles. As the reader finishes the story, they are left with a sense of completion and happiness. Finally, the theme that time is an illusion is promoted when Hesse writes “No longer knowing if time existed, whether this vision had lasted a second or a hundred years…”
“...and the reflection of his face reminded him of something, something he had forgotten, and brooding over it, he realized: this face resembled another he once knew and loved and also feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin.”(pg.103)
ReplyDelete“Had not his father also suffered the same pain over him as he now was suffering over his son?”(pg.103)
“Was it not a comedy, was there not something strange and stupid about this repetition, this running in a fatal circle?”(pg.103)
In the chapter, OM, Siddhartha went to look for his son, When he was in the river he noticed that the river was laughing. He bent down to look at the river and he noticed his reflection. The face in the reflection “resembled another he once knew,” his father. A wave of empathy for his father immersed Siddhartha. Both Siddhartha’s father and Siddhartha had their sons leave them because their sons did not want to become like their fathers. Siddhartha did not want to become a Brahmin and Siddhartha’s son does not want to become “just as pious, just as soft, just as wise.” Siddhartha realized this was a continuous cycle. The river, which symbolizes a cycle, was laughing because “everything not suffered through to the end and resolved, the same woes were suffered again and again.” The “fatal circle” of fatherhood gave Siddhartha more wisdom. He realized that there was nothing he could do about his son’s departure. This is one of the very few times we do not see Siddhartha as controlling. Throughout the book Siddhartha is seen as a leader to many and he has had to only make decisions for himself, but in this situation he had to think about what was best for his son. Although Siddhartha’s wound was not yet healed, he felt hope that his feelings were steering him in the right direction.
I didn't think of the fiver and its reflection like you did, but I agree with you. Seeing his reflection brought back memories that made him miss his father, but realized that he wanted to be nothing like his dad, and didn't want his son to be either.
Delete“Siddartha bent over, picked up a stone off the ground, and weighed it in his hand.
ReplyDelete‘This,’ he said playfully, ‘is a stone, and after a certain length of time, it will perhaps be earth, and from the earth a plant will come, or an animal or a person. Formerly I would have said: ‘This is just a stone, it is worthless, part of the world of Maya. But in the cycle of transformations it can also become human and spirit, and so I attribute value to it.’ That is perhaps how I used to think. But today I think: ‘This stone is a stone, it is also a beast, it is also God, it is also Buddha.’ I do not venerate and love it because someday it may become this or that but because it long since is and ever will be everything - and just on this account: that it is a stone, that it appears to me here and now as a stone - just because of that I love it and see value and meaning in its veins and pits, in its yellow, in its gray, in its hardness, in the sound it makes when I give it a knock, in the dryness or moistness of its surface. There are stones that feel like oil or soap, others that feel like leaves, others that feel like sand, and each one is unique and prays the om in its own way. Each one is Brahman, but at the same time and just as much, it is a stone, oily or soapy - and just that is what pleases me and seems wonderful to me, worth of veneration” (111-112).
Siddhartha’s mindset was modified after every significant event in his life and the effect that each event impressed upon his mind is evident in this passage. While speaking to Govinda, Siddhartha compares his old mindset with his new one. He conveys this alteration in his mentality through the symbolism of the stone. The stone had once represented to Siddhartha a cycle of life, but now Siddhartha believes that the past, present, and future are all existent in one’s current state. Siddhartha attains true nirvana and peacefulness once he learns from the river. He relates his new outlook on life to the water, how the water in the river is present everywhere, whether it be the mouth of the river, or the end of the river. It doesn’t matter where it is, the same water is running everywhere. He conveys this new stance to Govinda by relating it to the stone. This blatant symbol that is pointed out by Siddhartha aids the characterization of him as a character. Readers recognize the change in Siddhartha’s personality, as this is near the end of the novel, and see how at peace with his life he currently is. He finally reaches his goal and it is prevalent in this passage. The symbol of the stone effectively conveys the serenity Siddhartha has finally attained. The stone is smooth, small and simple, similar to how Siddhartha intends to live for the rest of his life. Although the stone may seem unadorned and boring, the complex layers that may be found within the rock is identified by Siddhartha. To him, the stone is more than just a stone. The stone has an endless amount of potential and value, and each and every stone in the world is unique. The same simplicity and complexity can be found in Siddhartha. He is composed of his past, present, and future self, all of those shaping his current-day behaviour. Despite this complexity, Siddhartha lives modestly and simply, just as plain as the stone itself.
I think this was a very in-depth analysis of the stone. The symbolism of the stone is very effective in that it is simply an inanimate object, but can also be considered to represent Siddhartha- something that is very complex. It's interesting to think that the layers of the stone represents significant turning points in Siddhartha's life. A stone is often very weathered, eroded, and a combination of different minerals. Just like the stone, Siddhartha has traveled through a long, draining journey, experiencing both love from Kamala, and loss from his son. Although Siddhartha's experiences may have been in the past, his current self is the representation of the unity of everything he has encountered.
Delete“And when Siddhartha listened attentively to the thousandfold song of the river, when he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing, when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego--when he listened to all of the, the whole, when he perceived the unity, then the great song of thousand voices formed one single world: Om, perfection.” (105)
ReplyDeleteFrom the symbolism of the smile to the irony of Siddhartha’s wound, Hesse illustrates Siddhartha’s final step towards enlightenment. In “Om,” Siddhartha analyzes Vasudeva’s face, one containing harmony, knowledge, unity, and most importantly, a smile (101). This physical feature has been constantly used to represent genuine happiness and applies to Vasudeva because of his achievement of spiritual enlightenment. Vasudeva possesses the most superior level of happiness--a smile-- because he acknowledges the unity in life. However, as Siddhartha pours his soul out in front of Vasudeva, he finds himself to be an equal. Siddhartha discovers that “he himself hardly differed from Vasudeva anymore,” implying that he has also achieved the enlightenment (103). Previously, Siddhartha had viewed Vasudeva as a god, someone who is superior than himself. As time passed and Siddhartha learned from the river, he became Vasudeva. He became a God- one who has attained enlightenment. For Siddhartha to understand enlightenment, he also had to grasp the concept of the cycle and unity of life. As Siddhartha suffers from his own inability to keep his son, the river laughs at him (102). In this event, the personification of the river was used in order to convey the irony of the situation. Siddhartha had left his father as a child to benefit himself, and years later, Siddhartha’s son had done the same. His actions had come back to him, putting him in the position of his father. The river attempts to teach that life always runs in circles. Later in the day, as Vasudeva instructs Siddhartha to listen intently to the river, Siddhartha observes that the river itself is also a cycle itself (104). The river becomes a part of the sky as it evaporates, but also a part of the earth when it rains. Everything is interwoven- the river, the voices, and life as a whole. Hesse describes the combination of the voices of the river as a thousandfold song. Through this metaphor, a lyrical quality is given to these voices. It is as if each of the voices were people in an acapella, and the resulting sound represented unity. Most importantly, the resulting sound amalgamated to become Om. In this final moment of Siddhartha’s journey, the crucial departure of Siddhartha’s son taught him the cycle of life and the unity that is created within, in order for Siddhartha to achieve the sacred smile.
I like how your analysis connected the personification of the river to convey the situational irony. The river is a frequent symbol throughout the book, in this chapter it showed how the past repeated itself like a cycle. In addition to the river symbolizing a cycle within life, it's a cycle within its self. I never really noticed the quote where Vasudeva explains that the river becomes part of the sky, evaporates, then comes apart of the earth when it rains as a cycle. I also agree with your statement that everything is tied together-the river, the voices and life in general. In addition, I realized that Siddhartha was considered below Vasudeva and then once Vasudeva taught Siddhartha about the river he became equal. This is another cycle including the river. Vasudeva gave knowledge he had to Siddhartha so he too could achieve enlightenment.
Delete“The wound continued to burn for a long time. Siddhartha had to take many travellers across the river who had a son or a daughter with them, and he never laid his eyes on one of them without feeling envy, without thinking:’so many people, so many thousands possess this most wonderful of happinesses, why not I? Bad people, even thieves and bandits, have children, love them, and are loved by them in return, only not me.” So simple were his thoughts now, so without understanding. That is how much he had come to resemble the child people.” Hesse writes this to explain how Siddhartha has changed his perspective on life. In the beginning of the book, Siddhartha’s ego was beyond himself, he felt above everyone and was bathed in riches. Now, he suffers from feeling lonely and isn’t happy because he has nobody to love or care about him. He wants what others have, the feeling of family and support from others because his own father had neglected him. In these last two chapters, he has changed his look on his own life, he sees the people around him and realizes he’s just like them. They understand Siddhartha, which is something he’s never experienced before. He now enjoys life and doesn’t let his ego overrule his lifestyle. I feel that these people represent his inner voice, the one telling him to open his eyes and realize the good that’s surrounding him, which includes his son who he went looking for in this chapter. His mindset has changed for the good because now he puts his son and his feelings in front of his own, when in the beginning of the book, he would’ve never done that.
ReplyDelete“And everything together, all the voices, all the goals, all the striving, all the suffering, all the pleasure-everything together was the river of what is, the music of life. And when siddhartha listened attentively to the thousand fold song of the river, when he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing, when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego-when he listened to all of them, the whole, when he perceived the unity, then the great song of a thousand voices formed one single word: om, perfection” (Hesse 105)
ReplyDeleteAt last, on Siddhartha's journey, he has finally reached true enlightenment. Siddhartha’s recognition of the word om makes him realize the moments of enlightenment and spiritual awareness and growth on his journey. Om, meaning perfection and unity through you and the universe. When Siddhartha attained enlightenment, he does so through the word om by realizing what his journey is about. Each time he uses the word “om”, it sparks a change within him. For example, when Siddhartha is contemplating life or death by the side of the river, he hears om and realizes that life is actually indestructible. In a similar way, the river also represents unity. Through the word om and the river, Siddhartha realizes that he can’t force his life on a certain path, it has to flow like the river, which represents a part of the path to enlightenment. As the story draws to an end, the river and om end up being Siddhartha's final instructors on the path to enlightenment.
In the very last chapter of Siddhartha, in my opinion, I do believe that he had reached Enlightenment.
ReplyDelete“The mask was smiling, and the mask was siddhartha’s smiling face, which he, govinda, was touching the lips in this self-same instant. Thus govinda saw the smile of the mask, the smile of unity over the flowing forms, the smile of simultaneity over the same, resembled exactly still, refined, impenetrable perhaps-kind-perhaps-disdainful, wise, thousandfold smile of gotama the buddha, just as himself, awestruck, had seen it a hundred times. So Govinda knew this is the way the Perfect Ones Smile.” In this moment Govinda realized that Siddhartha was not Siddhartha anymore: He had reached Enlightenment, and became one of the “Perfect Ones”.
In this book, the river, bird, and the word “OM”, were the things that helped siddhartha reach towards Enlightenment.