In the first passage of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, the author gives the readers a view inside the life of a Brahmin and his inner struggle for enlightenment. The author uses various forms of abstract diction to describe the ‘thirst’ developing within Siddhartha’s mind. When Hesse writes “Siddhartha had started to nurse discontent in himself, he had started to feel that the love of his father and the love of his mother, and also the love of his friend, Govinda, would not bring him joy for ever and ever, would not nurse him, feed him, satisfy him.” (Hesse,p. 5 ) the reader is able to see the developing hunger for satisfaction of love, knowledge, and inner peace. Later on, the author writes “... they did not heal the spirit’s thirst, they did not relieve the fear in his heart. The sacrifices and the invocation of the gods were excellent-- but was that all?...”. Here, the reader is able to deduce the fact that Siddhartha ‘thirst’ extends to his soul (heart) and that his current religious lifestyle does not satisfy him spiritually- he expects more. The motif of spiritual thirst is important to the reader because it transports the early characterization of Siddhartha to another level and gives the reader a pure sense of his struggle. Additionally, Hermann Hesse uses various examples of concrete diction depict the changing relationship between Siddhartha and his Father. By this point, the author established the Siddhartha’s endless thirst to achieve ‘wholeness’, and as a result, tensions begin to develop. “The first light of day shone into the room.. The Brahmin saw that Siddhartha was trembling softly in his knees. In Siddhartha’s face he saw no trembling, his eyes were fixed on a distant spot. Then his father realized that even now Siddhartha no longer dwelt with him in his home, that he had already lost him.” (p. 7-8). In this passage, the audience is able to see the determination and integrity of Siddhartha for the pursuit of enlightenment to the point of abandoning his family, title, and respect.
I agree with your argument that Siddhartha is not satisfied with what he believes in for that matter, he see's something much bigger waiting for him in this world and he thinks he is lucky that he has found a way out. He doesn't believe that there is only one destiny for him, for he believes his soul is not full. For example the author writes, “...that they had already poured their fullness into his waiting vessel, and the vessel was not yet full, his mind was not contented…” (Hesse pg. 5). Due to the fact that Siddhartha feels his soul and heart is not yet full he believes that the journey and adventure ahead awaits his every footstep and he feels he is eager to depart.
Many of the things you said were very interesting. I liked the way you talked about Sidartha’s thirst for enlightenment and that he is not “whole” on the inside even though it looked like he had everything. He believes that his current path to enlightenment is not working for him. He believes he has to leave his old life behind and has to find the correct path to enlightenment. You saying “thirst” reminds me of my own blog. One thing that i did that you can do is to compare Sidartha’s thirst for awakening to Govinda’s thirst for awakening. By comparing these two you are able to express Sidartha’s indomitable “thirst” towards awakenment.
Herman Hesse’s first chapter of the novel, Siddhartha, completes a masterful job of establishing various details, the likes of which will not become important until much later in the story. The first sentence is a perfect example of this, as it describes the setting as “In the shadow of the house, in the sun on the riverbank by the boats, in the shadow of the sal-tree forest, in the shadow of the fig tree…” (Hesse 3). This sentence is a great example of the form of the story: it has no form. This is just a wandering, seemingly endless description of where Siddhartha lay seated at the time, and at the time of reading, it most likely will not strike someone as interesting or particularly notable. However, it is anything but: a later examination shows that this wandering description is just a big part of the novel’s main idea: focusing on the surroundings, the journey, the minuscule pixels in the giant image, instead of having a targeted focus. Similarly, readers meet the contradictory, competing idea of a focused, stern goal with the verse Siddhartha utters while meditating under the banyan tree: “Om is the bow, the arrow is the soul, Brahman is the arrow’s target. One should strike it without wavering.” Again, at the time, this is but a simple meditative verse, something to repeat while contemplating. Yet, it ends up being much more, tying back to that central theme, the notion that the journey is more important than the goal, by introducing the two contradictory ideas, albeit subtly, within just the first chapter. It is by this that Hesse so elegantly sets the stage for Siddhartha’s travels and trek for enlightenment, all while setting the readers up to come along for the ride.
In the beginning of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, Hesse explains to us readers that Siddhartha, the Brahmin’s son, is well on his way to becoming a wonderful and talented Brahmin. Well you see, Siddhartha does not want to become a Brahmin for he is not thrilled to become one, like the thousand other ones that have walked the Earth before him. Siddhartha did not find pleasure in becoming a Brahmin and seemed he wanted to find contentment in something else. For example the author writes, “But Siddhartha did not bring joy to himself, he did not delight himself” (Hesse pg. 4). This explains to us readers that the story will be going in the direction of adventure and trying to find one’s true self. It also shows us the readers that following in one’s footsteps or following the “mainstream” of things isn’t always going to make us complete and happy with our lives. Even Siddhartha is giving us insight on his life four pages into the book, that being a follower and stepping outside those safety boundaries isn’t such a bad thing after all.
Along with this argument that being a Brahmin isn’t his path, the author tells us, “Ah, but no one knew it, not his father, not the teachers and sages, not the holy sacrificial chants! They knew everything, the Brahmins and their holy books, they knew everything, they had concerned themselves with everything and with more than everything: the creation of the world, the genesis of speech, of food, of inhaling, of exhaling, the orders of the senses, the deeds of the gods‒—they knew an infinite amount. But was it worthwhile knowing all this if you did not know the One and Only, the most important, the only important thing?” (Hesse pg. 6). In my opinion the main idea from this passage is that Siddhartha respects the Brahmin but they do not have everything that he needs. He wants so much more than that and that’s why he chooses to leave with his friend, Govinda. Perspective is everything and Siddhartha needed a whole different one. He shows us that changing your views and how needed something is sometimes better than living up to others expectations.
I agree with your point on how it seems like Siddhartha respects the Brahmin and at the same time, I also see this through his idea of leaving the life of a shramana. He gives the same excuse that he isn't learning from these men and that his thirst for knowledge isn't being fulfilled. It makes you wonder if he will ever live a fulfilled life; one that truly makes him happy. He also brings up the idea that nirvana is not reachable. This idea coming from him presents Siddhartha as a someone who doesn't really see hope in life. The idea of having no hope is extremely present when the author talks about Siddhartha because this character seems to not have the ability to look for the bright side in a situation or look for the positive in the future.
I agree with your analysis and how Siddhartha wants to gain more knowledge outside the teachings of the Brahmins. He just needs to experience more in order to feel fulfilled. That kind of shows us that he's not a follower, he's more of a leader. I feel like within those first few pages it foreshadows how he will handle situations and the rest of his journey in general.
The novel opens up with some background information about Siddhartha and his best friend Govinda in ancient India. The starting passage of the book is littered with the word "shadow" as a small sign to say that the two men will grow into something more powerful and brighter as the novel progresses. The use of the word implicates to us, the reader, that there is something to expect later on in the novel and slips a sliver of foreshadowing when the word "shadow" is replaced with jubilant diction, using words like "radiance," "clear-thinking," and "leaped" to describe not only the future path to Siddhartha's self-enLIGHTenment, but also to describe Siddhartha in the eyes of his society.
Though the novel clearly stated that ".. everyone loved Siddhartha. He aroused joy in everyone, he was a delight to all." (Hesse, 4) the next few passages takes a gloomy turn when the reader finds out that Siddhartha is not satisfied with what he has been given, which makes the reader "turned off," with the Brahmin's son, as he gives off this bratty and selfish vibe. Even the glory and praise from his parents and Govinda could not quench Siddhartha's quest for more knowledge, which brings me to my next (and also previous) point that the novel already shows what the book is going to be about: Siddhartha's water, in this case, self-enlightenment.
The desperation for knowledge comes out with thirst/water diction, revealing to the reader that Siddhartha is so dehydrated that it's causing him pain, but he does not wish to accept anything else for quenching his thirst, except the power of becoming one with oneself as shown in the quote, "Was he [Siddhartha's father], too, not only a seeker, still thirsting?.. Did the primordial spring not flow in his own heart? This is what had to be found----..." (Hesse, 6). In this passage, the reader is able to tell the doubt with Siddhartha and the rest of the Brahmans, especially his father. Siddhartha's heart is discontent, and his embark for enlightenment is very clear with the decisions he makes as the pages of the novel keep turning.
I thought it was interesting how you viewed his discontent as selfish. I had a different take on it. As I wrote in my own blog post, I felt that it was more of a kind of "typical teenage rebellion" type thing. He was challenging the beliefs of this parents and decided that that was not what he felt would help him achieve true enlightenment. Doesn't everyone at some point question their beliefs and decide whether or not to continue believing what they have been raised to believe, or to choose something else? I know I have, at least, after all up until probably recently we have all been heavily influenced by the beliefs of our parents. Isn't he just unhappy with where he is in life and choosing to believe in something else in hopes that he will find enlightenment there? He believed that he would be able to transcend if he became a Samana, "Siddhartha had a goal, a single one: to become empty... To die away from himself, no longer be open to miracles in unselfed thinking: that was his goal," (13).
There were quite a few things that I found interesting in these first couple of chapters. One thing I noticed is that Hesse uses long, wordy sentences with peaceful diction to create a dream like atmosphere. The visual imagery provides a peaceful and scenic environment, “In the shade of the house, in the sunshine near the boats on the riverbank, in the shade of the sal forest, in the shade of the fig tree, Siddhartha grew up…,” (Hesse 3). This type of diction is almost rhythmic and lyrical and gives off a the sense that it makes everything feel perfect and without worry. The chapter then continues to introduce the main character, Siddhartha, and describes how he is well liked in his town and by his parents. The way the words are put together almost makes it seem as if his destiny is clear cut and everyone expected Siddhartha to go on and become a Brahmin. Yet, Siddhartha is not content with his life, “But Siddhartha did not bring joy to himself, he did not delight himself… loved by all, a joy to all, he nevertheless bore no joy in his heart,” (4). Siddhartha is trying to figure out where he is in his life and what it is he wants to do in him life. He is young and wants to find out what his purpose is, what the meaning of life is. This can be very much related to a person's high school experience. When in high school one is finally venturing out and trying out different things. Teenagers contemplate what it is they want to do with their life (i.e. go to college, where to go to college, go into the military, etc.). Everyone goes on a journey in life and at some point make decisions on where they are and whether or not they are happy and content with what they are doing and we all question what it is we believe in. Siddhartha's discontent in life is no different. He is a young man who realized that he did not particularly agree with his parents views, he believed that there was another way to achieve enlightenment and he wants to find out what the meaning of life is. Which introduces a major theme in the book about what it means and what does it take to find enlightenment and true happiness in one's life.
Your comparison of Siddhartha's mentality at that point to that of a high schooler is a really good way to think about it. At this point in his life he is facing a very big decision and possibly the first big decision he has to make independently. Siddhartha is finally getting the chance to do what he wants and what will make him happy. An important scene that Hesse added was when he had to ask his father’s permission to leave which ties in nicely with the high school analogy. Many people in their late teens have to do something similar in getting their parents’ support in a major lifestyle change.
I really enjoy the way you portrayed Sidartha’s journey. It gave me a whole new perspective looking at Sidartha’s decision to go on the journey. Rather than looking at him as being a selfish ******* (not a bad word) you could see that he is taking initiative to reach the next chapter in his life. This gave Sidartha a more relatable feeling to him. The fact that everyone in this class is a junior and taking the next step in our lives. We are going to be leaving our friends and families to reach the next chapter in our lives, just like Sidartha is doing.
As I was reading the first chapter of Siddhartha one part really stood out to me; In the scene where Siddhartha approaches his father and asks if he could leave the house and become a semana the word choice from that moment until the end of the chapter really stood out. In the beginning, Hesse writes, “Then the father said: ‘It is not fitting for a Brahmin to speak angry and violent words. But indignation moves my heart. I do not wish to hear that request a second time from your lips. ” (Hesse, 9) Siddhartha’s father is clearly not happy with this choice Siddhartha is making, and it’s honestly making him quite angry. As the passage continues, Siddhartha’s father can’t sleep, and every hour he looks out the window and sees his son standing in the next room. Every time the father would get up and go back to bed Hesse uses the same way to describe the way he is feeling every time; “..... in his heart.” Earlier, he says. “...indignation moves my heart.” Then after he sees his son standing there Hesse writes that he had “...distress in his heart,” then “anxiety”. Many hours later, after seeing the same thing over and over it, “...filled his heart with anger, filled his heart with apprehension, filled his heart with fear, filled it with sorrow.”(Hesse, 10) I don’t know why but I think it’s interesting that Hesse says “heart” to convey how Siddhartha’s father felt. His emotions went from anger to anxiety, to fear, to sadness. As a reader, this makes me feel like Siddhartha’s father really does love and care about him and his choices and wants the best for his son, even though he seemed very stubborn at first. The emotions that Siddhartha’s father felt were not ones that a father who didn’t care about his son's opinion would have if he didn’t care he wouldn’t feel anxious, or sorrowful. But the point is that he did feel those emotions, and to me, he has a whole lot of love in his heart. Siddhartha’s father really understands that his son has such a strong will, and because of this he lets his son become a semana. This marks the beginning of Siddhartha’s spiritual journey.
I agree with you when you talk about Siddhartha’s father not feeling for his son as he should, but I don’t think Siddhartha feeling anxious and scared is good evidence for that. Many people feel scared and anxious when revealing something big like this to a parent, even if their parents love them unconditionally. This section of the chapter shows that Siddhartha’s father is not proud of him for wanting to leave behind a life in which he would prosper and carry on his father’s legacy as being a prominent member of the community. Siddhartha’s father wants what is best for his son but they disagree on what that is. When his father lets him join the semanas it is because he knows he does not have a choice, not because he agrees with it.
At the start of the book, Hesse describes Siddhartha’s relationships with his family, and most importantly his best friend Govinda. Govinda understood his friend’s unhappiness with the Brahmin lifestyle. He knew he was meant for more. “And someday, when Siddhartha becomes a god, someday, when he will join the radiant ones, then Govinda would follow him, as his friend, as his companion, as his servant, as his lance bearer, his shadow.” (Hesse 4). This quote truly shows Govinda’s loyalty and support towards his friend, as well as cleverly foreshadowing the end of the book. Neither of the friends knew the journey they were about to embark on, but Govinda knew he would go wherever his friend’s ambitions took them. His friend saw the potential for greatness in him. Even before Siddhartha knew he wanted to leave this lifestyle, Govinda was ready to support whatever decision he made. Hesse’s foreshadowing of Siddhartha’s journey was very interesting because at that time in the book, it seemed like Govinda was just dreaming big and that Siddhartha becoming god-like was unrealistic. However, in the end this became true when Siddhartha reached enlightenment and had Govinda as his first follower, even though Govinda was unaware of his identity. This quote really allows the reader to understand how deeply Govinda cares about Siddhartha. It also gives the reader hope that Govinda and Siddhartha will find happiness or enlightenment. In all of Siddhartha’s unhappiness with the Brahmin lifestyle, Govinda remains happy and hopeful for his friend. This is Hesse’s way of keeping things pleasant when Siddhartha struggles to find what he is looking for.
Within the first pages of Siddhartha, the syntax used by author Hermann Hesse offers the reader a first impression of Siddhartha. This first impression can be later compared to other pivotal points of his growth.
“And in the final hour of night, before the day began, he returned, stepping into the room, and saw the youth standing there, and he looked big and foreign. ‘Siddhartha,’ he said, ‘what are you waiting for?’ ‘You know what.’ ‘Will you keep standing and waiting until the day becomes noon, becomes evening?’ ‘I will stand and wait.’ ‘You will grow tired, Siddhartha.’ ‘I will grow tired.’ ‘You will fall asleep, Siddhartha.’ ‘I will not fall asleep.’ ‘You will die, Siddhartha.’ ‘I will die.’ ‘And would you rather die than obey your father?’ ‘Siddhartha has always obeyed his father.’ ‘Then you will give up your plan?’ ‘Siddhartha will do what his father will say.’” (10)
Hesse’s utilization of declarative sentences contribute to Siddhartha’s overall childishness and youth at this point in the story. Before Siddhartha begins his pilgrimage with the samanas and Govinda, he is simply inexperienced and has lived a sheltered life beneath his father. He has not felt much emotion; he is not aware of sadness, lust, or enlightenment, though he later achieves all of these and many more in his lifelong journey as he ages in mind and body.
A declarative sentence is one that concisely states a fact or argument. This is evident in all of Siddhartha's responses to his father. Though he is just repeating most of what his father is saying to him, he says his words in a finite way to show his father that he is stubborn and will not stop waiting until he is allowed to go and join the samanas. In this passage, his short, decisive words mock his father, and create a puerile and immature tone, exaggerating he would rather condemn himself to death than submit to his father. Siddhartha’s rebellious act of standing in the room with crossed arms and a pout on his face creates an image that closely resembles a bratty toddler. Although his behavior here introduces a stubborn quality that endures throughout the story, it is also one of the first marks in his character development.
The comparison between Siddhartha and a toddler is a very strong one. His physical actions are, to me, the most convincing, since he visibly crosses his harms and pouts, a sort of calmer temper tantrum. I agree with the notion that the declarative sentence structure plays a major impact on this; his abrupt, narrow responses show he isn't open to a discussion or, frankly, anything other than a "Yes." The consequence of this is that, of course, Siddhartha gains permission to join the Samanas, but establishing this feature of him really does enable readers to observe his development in terms of maturity and his handling of himself.
In chapter three, Siddhartha and Govinda meet the Buddha. Govinda is immediately fascinated by his teachings and agrees to follow him. Siddhartha wishes him well, but does not wish to follow the same path.Govinda begs him to stay, but he refuses. He believes he has heard everything the Buddha has to say, and does not believe enlightenment can be reached through a teaching. “The Buddha has robbed me, thought Siddhartha, he has robbed me, yet he has given me more. He has robbed me of my friend, my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him--my friend, who was my shadow and is now Guatama’s shadow. But he has given me Siddhartha, has given me myself.” (Hesse 34). In this quote from the end of the chapter, Siddhartha is summing up his experience with the Buddha and what he will take away from it. He is heartbroken to lose his friend, but he knows that this is what is best for both of them. However, Siddhartha has new hope of finding his path and eventually reaching enlightenment. When he says that the Buddha has given himself back, he’s referring to his ambition and drive towards spirituality. He has new thoughts and ideas, and will become his own teacher. Siddhartha would not accept any one else to help him reach enlightenment. In this quote he refers to the Buddha as nearly an equal to himself. He is starting a new chapter of his life. He does not know where he is headed or where this journey will take him, but he knows he will either reach enlightenment or die trying.
In the third chapter, Gautama, Hesse writes, “But his face and his steps, his silently lowered gaze, his silently hanging arm, and every last finger on his silently hanging hand spoke of peace…” (Hesse pg 27). Hesse repeats this word “silently” three times to get the point across to us readers that this person is calm, relaxed, peaceful, etc. The author explains the Buddha as this holy, yet peaceful human that is immune to the cruel world around him. He is like a gardenia flower, floating completely still in a glass box. They can not be disturbed with anything going on around them because they are so at peace with themselves that not one thing can make them react in any ridiculous matter. As Hesse was describing The Buddha during this passage I relaxed my muscles as the words that were strewn across the page just flowed so smoothly together that it just made me at peace with this world.
I think Siddhartha believed this as well but didn’t feel as though this was the route that he shall take. That is why he explains to Govinda that he needed to continue on his journey. The author explains this by saying, “Siddhartha did not respond. He was not very curious about the Teaching; he did not believe it could teach him anything new…” (Hesse pg 27). I feel like Govinda was also disappointed by the news Siddhartha was giving him because Govinda saw Siddhartha as this amazing person that he would follow to the ends of the Earth just to please him. Govinda was also his best friend, so finding out that your best friend does not think that the Teaching was the right path, most likely saddened him immensely.
I agree with what you said about Govinda being disappointed. You can kind of tell that even though they are best friends, they couldn't be more different. Govinda is attached to the idea that Gotama is the teacher of all teachers and that you should follow him if you want to reach enlightenment. Siddhartha on the other hand has communicated that you cannot reach enlightenment though what someone has told you. You can only reach enlightenment through your own path and journey to get there because it is different for everyone. Govinda was definitely more affected when it came to Siddhartha leaving than Siddhartha was. It is very evident when Govinda was questioning Siddhartha's choice to leave.
Chapters 3 and 4 of Siddhartha promote a common idea: Siddhartha’s discovery of the value within one’s self. By attending Gotama’s lesson and hearing his words, Siddhartha finds more joy in seeing and witnessing the person rather than the words he actually says; as Hesse writes, “He was little interested in the teaching” (23). Rather, Siddhartha used Gotama’s teachings to learn a very different lesson: he had little to gain from another’s words. He still admired Gotama; Hesse tells that “never had he loved a person as he loved this one” (23). Gotama was the goal towards which Siddhartha strived: enlightened, self-aware, fulfilled. There was nothing more Siddhartha could want, but it was by learning from such a man he realized he truly could not learn from him. Siddhartha’s talk with Gotama after the lesson shows the beginnings of his realization, as, despite dodging the point of his question much so as to not offend Gotama, he presents the notion: “nobody attains enlightenment through a teaching” (28). Naturally, Gotama points to several consequences of such a belief, Siddhartha agrees for the time being, and their talk ceases. Despite the conclusion of their discussion, Siddhartha nevertheless pursues this line of thinking. This is why he does not leave with Govinda to follow Gotama; this is why he wanders on his own. Siddhartha has reached a milestone in his quest to achieve fulfillment. With this, he will invalidate what he has been told, prescribed methods of enlightenment. So, if what has been done and what is told will not work, what does? During his walk in the forest, Siddhartha finds the answer: the one true source of knowledge is the self. A focus on himself, a ego of sorts, is the way to learn most about what presents to him the most knowledge, that being his own person. He notes that “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.” This is his enlightening thought. A focus on solely what is a goal, what you are told, what is around you gets you nowhere. True enlightenment comes from awareness, from knowledge you gain from a search within yourself. Selfishness has always been taught to be bad; an egotistical focus was always shunned. Even today, this rings true. It’s an expectation to be selfless, to focus beyond yourself, to not concern yourself with your person so much as a sort of whole entity. Siddhartha, however, finds the real reasoning behind this: it is a synthesis. Synthesizing selfishness with selflessness is the only way to attain true awareness, true enlightenment. One must be selfless enough so as to not be arrogant or inconsiderate, yet selfish enough to learn from and care for yourself. This synthesis is what Siddhartha will track for the remainder of the novel, with this being his enlightening point.
I totally agree with what you're saying about Siddhartha believing that he can't learn from anyone except himself. Like you said, unlike Govinda, he chose to follow his own path and pursue his own line of thinking, and he chose to not be a follower of the Buddha. A good example that supports your thinking is on page 34, Hesse writes, “I have seen one man, though Siddhartha, one single man in front of whom I had to cast down my eyes. I will cast down my eyes in front of no one else, no one. No other teaching will entice me since this man’s Teaching has not enticed me.” He’s saying that if he can’t learn enlightenment from the Buddha, he can’t learn enlightenment from anyone. The only person Siddhartha had to turn to for enlightenment was himself.
In chapters 3 and 4 of Siddhartha, the one part that stood out to me the most was on page 37. The imagery used sets an amazing tone and paints a beautiful picture of Siddhartha’s awakening. Hesse writes, “He looked around as if seeing the world for the first time. Beautiful was the world, colorful was the world, bizarre and enigmatic was the world! There was blue, there was yellow, there was green.”(Hesse 37) Siddhartha feels as if he’s being reborn, seeing the world finally in color, as if he’d been blind to the world around him up until that moment. The diction used conveys just how happy and free Siddhartha felt, as well as how the simplest of things like color appear in a way he had never seen before. Use of the words “bizarre” and “enigmatic” create a feeling of rebirth, like a baby being exposed to a strange and mysterious new world. Continuing, Hesse writes, “Sky flowed and the river, forest jutted and mountain: everything beautiful, everything enigmatic and magical. And in the midst of it he, Siddhartha, the awakening man, was on the way to himself.” The visual imagery used is very vivid and powerful, everything seems so mysterious and foreign to him. What I keep coming back to when I read this quote is a baby opening its eyes for the first time, almost as if Siddhartha felt like he’s been asleep, unaware of the world around him, and now he is finally waking up. With this awakening, Siddhartha is beginning the path to finding himself.
A newborn is a really good way to look at Siddhartha in this part. He has started a new time in his life after a huge moment of clarity. He has started looking at the world with a new set of eyes, he has a whole new perspective on what he wants to do and how to achieve the goal of enlightenment. Hesse’s use of words in this part really helped convey this message, like you said. It paints a very clear picture on how Siddhartha’s mind has shifted into this new way of thinking. Siddhartha can now clearly see the path ahead of him with what he wants to do.
I agree with your point about how Buddha has given Siddhartha back spiritually. He gave Siddhartha more drive to pursue the path towards enlightenment and to find it. Buddha's story of enlightenment inspired Siddhartha but Siddhartha obviously didn't want to follow another person's path, he wanted to create his own path and his own enlightenment experience. However I don't know if Siddhartha considers himself as an equal to Buddha. I understand what you mean, I just interpreted it as Buddha kind of "robbed" Siddhartha's life in a way. Like how Govinda decided to follow Buddha after years of following Siddhartha.
The third chapter of Siddhartha marks another pivotal point in his personal growth, where he realizes that he must create his own path and seek fulfillment himself, not through the wise words and footprints of another.
“I have never seen a man look and smile, sit and walk like that, he thought. I, also, would like to look and smile, sit and walk like that, so free, so worthy, so restrained, so candid, so childlike and mysterious. A man only looks and walks like that when he has conquered his Self. I also will conquer my Self… The Buddha has robbed me, thought Siddhartha. He has robbed me, yet he has given me something of greater value. He has robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him; he was my shadow and is now Gotama’s shadow. But he has give to me Siddhartha, myself.” (Hesse 35-36)
In this passage, Siddhartha is blatantly envious of Gotama. He sees the face of fulfillment on Gotama’s face and glowing within his soul, and wants it for himself. In an earlier chapter, Siddhartha describes himself as having a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for finding his own Self. When he abandoned home with Govinda to live with the samanas, Siddhartha was stuck in a limbo between living and surviving. Though Siddhartha followed their conducts, fasted, and meditated the same as the many others, he knew that achieving Nirvana would be hopeless. He was frustrated because he did not feel any different or enlightened by following a predestined path. Govinda argued that their paths were a never ending spiral, and they would continue to learn and grow. However, Siddhartha just felt trapped in circles that had no way out.
When he speaks with the Buddha, Siddhartha tells him he believes it is impossible to reach salvation through any kind of teaching, that it’s impossible to convey what it’s like to experience enlightenment and how to. At this point, Siddhartha is no longer Siddhartha the Brahmin’s Son, or Siddhartha, follower of the samanas. When he says “...he has give to me Siddhartha, myself.” (36), he has come to the realization that he will not follow anyone else’s destiny but his own, and seek enlightenment and fulfillment through his experiences, not by the teachings of others. He is simply Siddhartha.
I completely agree with all of what you said! These two chapters have shown a pivotal theme that will occur throughout the novel. Siddhartha is a forever changing character, and when he finally talks to Gotama about his conclusion for self-enlightenment at the very end of the chapter, he is completely amazed at how Gotama reached his enlightenment by the way he smiled and acted, and therefore wishes he could be like the Buddha. This in itself supports the idea that the only way to receive self-enlightenment is by going on your own journey, and although Gotama "robbed" Siddhartha of Govinda, Siddhartha will have no one to distract him from reaching his goals on his own since he has no community to argue his beliefs with, ultimately making his reward much grander and quicker.
A profound point within the chapters “Gotama” and “Awakening” in the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse was the contrasting relationship between Govinda and Siddhartha. The purpose of the relationship shown within the third and fourth chapters was to intentionally compare, contrast, and characterize Siddhartha and Govinda. After the Buddha (Siddhartha Gotama) leads a teaching on a guide to escent from suffering by following the teaching, many are already convinced of his wisdom, including Govinda. The Buddha is complete, he has achieved total enlightenment and reached Nirvana; the perfect example. However, this is the primary reason why no one should pursue the teaching of Buddha. The importance of Govinda functioning as a secondary character in attaining a form of Nirvana is to function as Siddhartha’s shadow and an example of following the masses like a sheep. Govinda is delayed to realize that windom (as we learn at their reunion later on) and total Enlightenment doesn’t come from years of study and learning; on the other hand, Siddhartha is quick to realize that Buddha’s bath cannot be taken twice. As the famous Kanye West once wrote in his song ‘New Slaves’, “You see it’s leaders and it’s followers, But I’d rather be a d*** than a swallower.” This quote is a perfect example of the transcending message the Siddhartha provides for the reader. Siddhartha is choosing to not be a follower, but to follow the Self, the only teacher capable of explaining what cannot be explained. The relationship between Siddhartha and Govinda could also be seen as a concrete example of Buddha’s teaching of the world’s connectedness and unity and the idea of The Chain of Living Things. By this point in the novel, the reader knows that Govinda and Siddhartha both began from the same point in life as young boys offering one another a sense of companionship and support, but are coming to a parting of ways. Later on, we discover that they reunite after having traveled their unique paths and Siddhartha helps Govinda to take the last step to his complete enlightenment.
I agree with your point about enlightenment, and its unattainability. It’s impossible to learn and achieve something without attempting it yourself. However, I don’t fully agree that Govinda and Siddhartha started from the same place in life when they were younger. Even when they lived in the village together, Govinda was already a follower to Siddhartha’s leader. He deeply admired Siddhartha and even suggested that he could be a god (and that he would want to be his follower). This is evident in the first chapter of Siddhartha, “Govinda, his friend, the Brahmin’s son, loved him more than anybody else. He loved Siddhartha’s eyes and clear voice. He loved the way he walked, his complete grace of movement; he loved everything that Siddhartha did and said, and above all he loved his intellect, his fine ardent thoughts, his strong will, his high vocation.” (Hesse 4)
Cody, Your ideas are good, but how could say it without quoting a line from a a song which might be offensive to some readers???? We need to be cognizant about your readership since you're posting online. Please work on that in the future. Ms. Ballard
The third and fourth chapters, Gautama and Awakening, are mainly concerned with finding enlightenment, which I would argue is a major theme in this novel. Siddhartha is fixated on knowledge, find out more about this world and is always on a quest for it (as shown by this long journey he takes). These two chapters are quite pivotal to this story, as this is when Siddhartha realizes that he has no need for Gautama’s teachings, “He was not very curious about the Teaching; he did not believe it could teach him anything new; after all… he has heard the contents of the Buddha's Teaching over and over…,”(Hesse 27). Siddhartha does not completely disregard the Teachings, he believes that they are very helpful, but that that is not the way he can reach enlightenment. He went into the forest to be with the samanas and did not find enlightenment by completely rejecting his “ego”. However, Siddhartha also figures out a “gap” in the Buddha's Teachings, or quite frankly something that he could not quite make sense of, “The Teaching of the illuminated Buddha contains a great deal, it teaches many how to live righteously, avoid evil. But there is one thing that the so clear, so venerable Teaching does not contain: it does not contain the secret of what the Sublime One himself has experienced, he alone among the hundreds of thousands,” (32-33). Siddhartha therefore believes that you can share your knowledge about something, or share knowledge about how to find enlightenment, but that does not mean that everyone will experience the same thing as you. The Buddha teaches and shares what he knows based off of his experience, making Siddhartha believe that he cannot find enlightenment with his philosophies. In other words, you can share wisdom, but not experience. He realizes that it is impossible to rely solely on one person's experience to define what it means to find enlightenment and he does not wish to be separated from himself. Later on while he is still talking to the Buddha he talks about another concern he had, “One, I fear that my ego would find peace and deliverance only as a figment, as a delusion. I fear that my ego would actually live on and grow big, for I would then have made the Teaching, made my following, made my love for you made the fellowship of the monks into my ego,” (33). This brings up just a general question, or concern about religious. As someone who is not quite religious that brings up the question if we believe in something or someone, what happens if it turns out to not be real, or if it doesn't exist? And what happens if it does? Because on one hand you can believe in something and if it exists then congratulations and if it doesn't then all you do is waste a few hours on your life on a Sunday, this of course is not generally referring to Buddhism and Hinduism, but I thought that was just something curious about this quote. I think Siddhartha is also contemplating this idea, on basically whether or not its worth it to believe in a religious philosophy, after all he did say that he believed Nirvana could not be reached.
I agree with you when you talk about Siddhartha realizing that the only reason the Buddha reached enlightenment was because he found what worked for him. This is why Siddhartha realizes that he cannot stay with Govinda and Guatama. He needs to be his own teacher if he wants to reach enlightenment. I really liked when you said “you can share wisdom, but not experience”, that puts Siddhartha’s thoughts into words very well. He experienced the Buddha’s teaching, but his wisdom won’t help him get any closer to enlightenment. Siddhartha needs to go back out into the world to gain knowledge and experiences to reach enlightenment.
Chapters 3 and 4 of the novel really struck psychological strings as Hesse points out the true meaning of self-fulfillment. Hesse is known for incorporating psychological concepts and ideas into many of his works, and Siddhartha did not stray away from that incorporation at all. At the very end of chapter three, Siddhartha comes to a certain conclusion that will motivate him more than anything: Reaching your own self-value cannot ever be taught by someone else, the only way to reach self-enlightenment is through your own journey. When Siddhartha spoke of the way to self-enlightenment to the Buddha Gotama, he received Man Crush Monday for the very first time. "I have never seen anyone with such a gaze, I have never seen anyone smile, sit and walk in such a way, he thought... 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" (29). Gotama was praised and gossiped about highly in the shramana community, and this quote bolsters the fact that Gotama is truly an awe-inspiring character. This quote makes the reader feel amazed at the Buddha's presence, because, if it made Siddhartha, a flip-flopping character that is never satisfied with what he has, so impacted in such a way that he comes to a conclusion about how to achieve his one true goal in life, it definitely makes the reader feel amazed at the abilities Gotama has, especially when he did nothing more but smile and leave Siddhartha in a pool of self-indulgence. Even though Gotama gave Siddhartha a whole new light on the value of self, Siddhartha continues to be a negative Nancy and criticizes Gotama for taking his best friend away. "He robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and now believes in him, who was my shadow and is now Gotama's shadow" (29) in this case, it will actually help Siddhartha in the end because if he has no community to distract him from learning how to achieve enlightenment by himself, he will end up achieving his reward much faster.
I definitely agree that this chapter is a major psychological turning point for Siddhartha. When he notes that Gotama "gave me myself" (Hesse 29), it really reinforces that concept of both his utter admiration for Gotama and, more importantly, that he had rediscovered himself. His infatuation with not just Gotama but the concept, the idea of him played a key role in finding himself as a source of enlightenment, showing him to, as he eloquently posed, observe the letters and symbols of life's book, rather than skimming for the main ideas. This development is key to his expeditions throughout the remaining parts of the novel, highlighting this as a major turning point for his intellectual quest.
While reading the chapter Among the Child People, the first conversation between Siddhartha and Kamaswami stood out to me. The passage says:
“Very good. And what is it that you have to give? What is it that you have learned how to do?” “I can think. I can wait. I can fast.” “That is all?” “I believe it is all!” “And what use is it? For example, fasting- what good does it do?” “It is very good, sir. If a person has nothing to eat, then fasting is the wisest thing he can do. If, for instance, Siddhartha has not learned how to fast, he would have to accept any service today, whether with you or someone else, for hunger would force him to do so. But now Siddhartha can calmly wait, he knows no impatience, he knows no plight. He can stave off hunger for a long time and he can laugh at it. That, sir, is what fasting is good for.” (Hesse 58)
To me this passage is about more than just fasting. Siddhartha talks about thinking and waiting, to people like Kamala and Kamaswami those skills don’t really count for anything. But to Siddhartha those things are his best skills because he is able to “calmly wait, he knows no impatience…” unlike many others. But what is really interesting is Siddhartha’s interpretation of the purpose of fasting, which I found very ironic. Most religions include fasting for one main purpose, to discipline yourself and demonstrate self-control of a need for worldly desires, and getting closer to God in the process. What’s funny is that Siddhartha is pursuing all these worldly desires like nice clothes, shoes, and most importantly money all for Kamala, a woman he’s lusting over. How does he expect to reach enlightenment when he’s pursuing all these worldly pleasures?
Siddhartha believes that he needs to learn about this type of lifestyle from Kamala, and the only way to do that is if he has money and riches. Otherwise, Kamala would not have accepted him as her student. In order to reach enlightenment, Siddhartha believes he needs many teachers so that he can gain different experiences. Siddhartha is using what he has learned from the samanas to be successful in this lifestyle. This lifestyle of pleasure is the complete opposite of the samanas, but it is important that Siddhartha understands it and can learn from it. It takes discipline to learn from something you may not agree with.
In the chapter ‘Kamala’, Siddhartha finds himself in the outskirts of a city in a fenced garden meeting a beautiful woman after riding across a river with a ferryman. The importance of the river is a significant symbol throughout the rest of the book, especially in these chapters. The River in this case is able to represent unity and the great eternity of all things in the universe, as well as marking important transitions within Siddhartha’s story. At this moment, the river is marking a moment in Siddhartha’s life where Kamala and Kamaswami are going to teach him aspects of understanding that the material world will never satisfy him. Kamala represents some aspects that Siddhartha is trying to get rid of, such as lust and desire. We are able to see Siddhartha’s initial emotions toward her art when the author uses sexual diction like longing, desire, and pleading. Later on, Siddhartha is able to learn that the material world that Kamala is part of isn’t enough to satisfy his inner Self, additionally, Siddhartha learns that he isn’t able to love the same as other people are- he sees it only as an emotion, not as a connection between two people- “I am like you. You also do not love- how else could you practice love as a craft? Perhaps, people of our kind cannot love…” (Hesse, 73)
I completely agree with the importance of the river in this instance. Meeting Kamala is a major event for Siddhartha; it will come to define his actions, feelings, and goals for a long while. As such, it's a collection of obstacles that signify an important part of the story, and what better way to mark this than by including the river? The river, as you put it, signifies unity in the universe, representing a flow of life, energy, what is. As such, its inclusion in this scene seems wholly intentional, as tying this in with the flow of Siddhartha's journey and consequentially, the story, plays a big part in the river's meaning and the scene's significance.
Chapters 5-7 represent the point in the book where Siddhartha isn’t fond of anything he experiences spiritually and starts to test the “earthly” pleasures to see if anything the world had to offer could give him any sort of fulfillment. Towards the end of Samsara, the book explains that “For many long years, with no high goal, no thirst, no exaltation, [Siddhartha] had been content with minor pleasures and yet never satisfied!” (Hesse 74) This chapter ends in a huge transition for Siddhartha; he has fully given up his life in the materialistic world. His wealth, the love he experiences from Kamala, the clothes he wears, the property he owns, and the food he eats all hold very little value to him at that point. Even though he is superior to others in terms of what he has, he never felt fully satisfied by his qualities. Kamala releasing the songbird at the end of the chapter also represents Siddhartha undergoing a huge change, which leads me to acknowledging that birds symbolize change, a turning point, or a realization that could lead one to change. When Siddhartha dreams of the dead songbird, he realizes that he has complete spiritual emptiness, and that if he doesn’t change, then the current path he is following will lead him into a deeper hole that will be hard to climb out of. Kamala releasing the songbird toward the ends of the chapter shows that Siddhartha has fled his life of the upper class and is embarking on something new. At this time the book states that Siddhartha was in his forties, a time where many adults have experienced and tasted things and life but aren’t too old to still search for what they desire most.
Siddhartha has met Kamala, and become her student after gaining what he needs to meet her approval. He feels that Kamala understands him better than anyone else ever has, including Govinda. Siddhartha feels a deep connection with her. “You are like me, you are different from most people. You are Kamala, nothing else, and inside you there is a stillness, a sanctuary that you can enter at anytime and be at home in, just as I can inside myself. Few people have that, and yet all people could have it.” (Hesse 64). That inner sanctuary comes from accepting life as it is, and just being. It is possible that they both have this because neither of them can love and they are content experiencing life without relying on others. This is one reason why Kamala was such an important part of Siddhartha's life and his journey towards enlightenment. At this point in their relationship, they both accept each other. Even though their relationship is based off of the art of love, they continue to grow together and support each other like good friends. In the last part of the quote, Siddhartha talks about how all people have the ability to have this inner peace but that they are too concerned with the little things to find it in themselves. They also point out that having an inner sanctuary or not is not determined by intelligence. Someone does not have to be smart to find happiness, they just have to be accepting.
In the chapter aptly named “Kamala,” Siddhartha encounters a manifestation of temptation, one that embodies Siddhartha’s biggest obstacle along the path to fulfill himself. Disguised as a woman named Kamala, she represents everything from which Siddhartha is trying to escape: the value of tradition, of wealth, of possession. In his first discussion with Kamala, after proposing that she teach him what she can, Kamala responds by declaring that Siddhartha “is not good enough yet” (Hesse 44). This passage is an excellent explanation for what exactly Kamala is, what exactly stands to show. Her statement continues, requiring that Siddhartha “must have clothes, beautiful clothes, handsome shoes, plenty of money in his purse” (Hesse 44) and, of course, “gifts for Kamala.” This is exactly what Kamala is: a depiction of the values of society, values that promote ownership and the aim of wealth. Kamala is more than just a simple depiction, of course; in the grand scheme of things, she is a brilliant symbol of the forces against which Siddhartha must work. In his search for fulfillment, Siddhartha is actively combating forces innate within humans. He has to move beyond his natural demands for wealth, power, and pleasure. Kamala, however, is a single being that possesses and can provide all three. Her actions lead Siddhartha to Kamaswami, giving him wealth. She can lift his social standing, class, and potency, giving him power. And she gives him pleasure in the most sexual of intentions often, awarding what Siddhartha refers to, although creepily as it may be, as a ‘lesson.’ Because of this, Kamala is all things desire, and all things temptation. She transcends a mere person or character, however, when the whole of the story is considered. Siddhartha finds her amidst just the beginning of his wandering journey, and what more of an appropriate time to meet hardship? She sets the ideal tone for the entire adventure. She is, in a way, a manifestation of Siddhartha’s main enemy throughout the plot: himself. Upon meeting Kamala, Siddhartha is captivated, feeling the urge to even “thank you for your beauty” (Hesse 43). This is, in fact, exactly what Siddhartha will be opposing as readers traverse the pages of Siddhartha: the weakness within himself. It is within the remaining chapters, however, that the true clash with these obstacles will be seen.
As part one ends and part two begins with Kamala, Siddhartha begins to view the world as a better brighter place rather than a dark and grey one. The author tells us that Siddhartha’s journey has taken him to bigger and life changing spots. He begins to see the world as the world is, if that makes sense. For example the author writes, “He saw trees, stars, animals, clouds, rainbows, rocks, herbs, flowers, brooks, and rivers, dew glittering on the morning bushes, high and distant mountains blue and wan, birds sang and bees, wind wafted silvery in the rice paddy” (Hesse pg 43). This shows us, the readers, that Siddhartha starts to truly open up his eyes and take off his blinders to see this world that he has seemed to be looking for all this time. I think that’s why Hesse puts this at the beginning of the chapter of part two. Hesse writes it here to signify that it's a new chapter of Siddhartha’s life, so he can try and figure out his way in this world, without a care in this world or a responsibility that he has to take of. Siddhartha seems to have a whole different opinion on the world at the moment, and thinks he is finally heading in the right direction. So as part two begins, our opinion on this stubborn, selfish Siddhartha may change and I predict that Siddhartha begins to finally find himself in this large world where we all seem to be walking aimlessly trying to find the right path to walk down.
I agree with your statement on how Siddhartha is entering a new chapter in his life. He realizes that he may not find enlightenment from religion and attempts other methods of achieving this. In this case, he find the oh so beautiful Kamala, and is now trying to find enlightenment in pleasure and desire. He is on this huge quest for knowledge and once he learns everything he can from a teacher he leaves. Which is exactly why he leaves Kamala, because he is once again discontent and wants to find out more. I, however, started to believe that Siddhartha was becoming selfish in these few chapters. He completely disregards his previous morals from the samanas, which can be seen through his acquired wealth, and then he becomes a bit greedy with that fact, and then he leaves Kamala without telling her, he just completely looses his sense of self. But at the same time I am not so sure if one becomes selfish if they lose their sense of self, maybe everyone is just selfish.
In the next three chapters (Kamala, Among The Child People, and Samsara), Siddhartha becomes separated from the “spiritual” world and enters the so called material world on his quest for knowledge. This idea is explored early in the beginning of the second part, when Siddhartha is wandering around, “Siddhartha learned something new at every step along his path, for the world was transformed, and his heart was enchanted,” (Hesse, 43). Siddhartha is fascinated by his new findings, and becomes interested in desire and love. He tries to find something else that could possibly enlighten him, and he decides that Kamala might be able to teach him something as Siddhartha very much . He is instantly drawn to Kamala for her beauty, and is fascinated by her art, and even though he has nothing much to offer her, asks if she could teach him the art of love. The name Kamala comes from Kama, which is a Hindu god of love. Siddhartha is now allowing himself to explore other aspects of life, but he soon becomes bored with this, and comes to the conclusion that he has no ability to love, “... ‘I am like you. You do not love either-how else could you practice love as an art? Perhaps people like us cannot love. The child people can; that is their secret,” (65). Siddhartha has become so lost in his own desires and the things he has that he cannot truly find meaning in what he is doing now, he has become discontent once more. He started out with nearly nothing, as he came from the forest, and at that point he has gained much wealth and had his own house and could successfully run a business at that point, Siddhartha has basically forgotten, or disregarded, all of his previous morals. Because of this, he has sort of lost his sense of self, and feels trapped. This feeling of being trapped can be symbolized by the bird that Kamala had, “... she stepped over to the window, where she kept a rare songbird in a gold cage. She opened the door of the cage and took out the bird, and let it fly,” (76). When Kamala releases the songbird, Siddhartha had already made the decision to leave town, by setting the bird free it symbolizes that Siddhartha no longer feels trapped and that he is ready to move on to the next thing in life, whatever that may be, even though he leaves Kamala, and more importantly leaves her pregnant with his child which becomes a major conflict later on.
Part Two of Siddhartha initiates with Siddhartha opening up his own eyes to a whole new world. He takes in the visible vastness of the world in and begins to realize simple magnificence was right in front of him, but did not choose to see it for himself. "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." (Hesse, 37-38). With Siddhartha's realization of gratitude for the world, the readers are signaled that this is the time where Siddhartha begins his journey. Hesse's use of descriptive and beautiful visual imagery immediately after Siddhartha decides to take his own path to enlightenment makes the start of Siddhartha's journey much more clear and meaningful than ever. The chapters Kamala, Among The Child People, and Samsara all show Siddhartha's first experiences and lessons throughout his journey to enlightenment. In Kamala, so rightfully titled, Siddhartha meets a dazzling woman named Kamala. Though he has his hatred for teachers, Kamala is his exception because of her smokin' hot looks (.-.). Kamala begins to teach Siddhartha about the marvelous wonders of the libido and materialistic things, and in doing so throws out Siddhartha's morals and beliefs straight out the window. We the readers begin to notice that Kamala is much more than just a person who lives the high life through her medlar and materials. Instead, she resembles the temptations of Siddhartha, and through his kisses with Kamala, Siddhartha gives into those temptations with great joy, ultimately pulling his selfishness to the next level. "'I knew that you would help me--with the first look you gave me at the entrance to the grove, I knew it already.' 'And if I had not been willing?' 'You were willing. See here, Kamala:...'" (49). This quote shows Siddhartha's every growing tenacity, and also his ever growing discontent. Throughout his meetings with Kamala, he began to slowly fall into the truths of the materialistic world, eventually landing himself with an apprentice job to make money for Kamala, because his ever-changing mind is incapable of the love that normal people share. Siddhartha leaves Kamala because he has learned all he needed to know about love, just like he does everyone else. But in the end, the both of them learned and benefited from each other. Kamala is left with mind-blowing thoughts and sayings from a "stupid shramana from the forest", and Siddhartha is left with windows of opportunities as he is desperately finding the path towards enlightenment on his own.
Part two of Siddhartha quickly begins with Siddhartha’s “freedom” from the life of the samanas and disattachment from Govinda; it is the beginning of Siddhartha and his own path to enlightenment.
“He saw trees, stars, animals, clouds, rainbows, rocks, weeds, flowers, brook and river, the sparkle of dew on bushes in the morning, distant high mountains blue and pale; birds sang, bees hummed, the wind blew gently across the rice fields. All this, colored and in a thousand different forms, had always been there, The sun and moon had always shone; the rivers had always flowed and the bees had hummed, but in previous times all this had been nothing to Siddhartha but a fleeting and illusive veil before his eyes, regarded with distrust, condemned to be disregarded and ostracized from the thoughts, because it was not reality, because reality lay on the other side of the visible.” (45)
This passage and its use of graceful, naturalistic diction convey to the reader how Siddhartha is seeing the small wonders of the world for the first time under his own terms. He is no longer restrained by a lack of emotion and Self he felt with the samanas, and no longer has the conscious shadow of Govinda ever since he chose to follow the Buddha. What was once a bland and lifeless, emotionless world to him now unveiled to a world of vibrant color, sounds, and feelings. Hesse’s use of soft-sounding words such as “gently” and “hummed” lull the reader into relaxation, as well as his description of the clouds and dew drops creating a peaceful setting. It’s not until Siddhartha has lived the simple life with the samanas that he can have this wondrous regard for nature and the beauty of the world. Earlier in the story, before he leaves to join the pilgrimage with Govinda, Siddhartha is part of another beautiful, natural setting, though he cannot appreciate it due to the discontent lying deep in himself. “But Siddhartha was not happy. Wandering along the rosy paths of the fig garden, sitting in contemplation in the bluish shade of the grove, washing his limbs in the daily bath of atonement, offering sacrifices in the depths of the shady mango wood with complete grade of manner, beloved by all, a joy to all, there was yet no joy in his own heart.” (5) Similar to emotions such as happiness and sadness, he was unable to appreciate either until he had experienced both extremes. At the beginning of the story, Siddhartha upheld expectations and was loved by many. When he abandons the samanas and is left by Govinda, he is unknown and does not feel the same discontent as he did when he was younger. He is now embracing his surroundings, unhindered by expectation or reputation, and is on the path to finding his own enlightenment.
Towards the end of the chapter ,Samsara, Siddhartha is beginning to realize the wrongfulness of the life path he has chosen. After Siddhartha wakes up from a bad dream Hesse writes:
“Jumping up from his dream, he felt a profound sadness. He had, it seemed to him, been leading a worthless life, worthless and senseless; no living thing, no precious thing, nothing worth keeping have remained in his hands. He stood alone and empty like a castaway on a shore” (Hesse 73)
Hesse is trying to convey that in this moment Siddhartha feels like there is nothing worth living for anymore, he feels alone and sorrowful. Words like “worthless” and “senseless” create a pitiful tone, and the image of a “castaway on a shore” helps the reader to really understand how alone and lost Siddhartha feels. In the next paragraph, Hesse writes, “... (Siddhartha) sat and sensed everything withering inside him, dying inside him, coming to an end.” Clearly, Siddhartha feels like all the good in his life is gone, his feels that his soul is dying. What I really compare this to is what happened in one of the previous chapters, Awakening, when Siddhartha felt reborn, and he was going to lead a new life, and the imagery in that scene. The big contrast between those two moments is that earlier Siddhartha felt spiritually reborn, and the imagery used was so beautiful and vivid. Now Siddhartha feels like he’s spiritually dying, and the imagery used is very sorrowful and dreary, like a withering, dead plant, or a castaway on a shore. But with both these transformations, comes a big change is Siddhartha’s life.
Siddhartha has left his life as a rich man and found himself on the bank of a river he crossed many years before. After contemplating throwing himself to the river to drown, he sleeps for many hours under a tree. When he wakes up he is greeted by his old friend Govinda. When they part again, Siddhartha begins his journey downstream to find the ferryman just like after the last time he and Govinda parted. The ferryman remembers him and welcomes him into his home as his friend and apprentice. Siddhartha wishes to learn from the river. While gazing into it’s flowing water, Siddhartha realized that life was the same way and that time is an illusion. “Nothing was, nothing will be; everything is, everything has being and is present.” (Hesse 94). The quote is saying everything is constantly changing, but everything is the same as it will always be. This means that the people and places may change but the circumstances will always remain unchanged. Siddhartha finds this important because no matter where he was in life, he now knew he was always Siddhartha. He could change his lifestyle as much as he wants but he will always be himself. Siddhartha is defined by his experiences and should not try to erase them to live up to this new person he has made himself out to be. Everything is part of the same whole and can not be changed. This realization was very important to Siddhartha’s journey towards enlightenment. Sometimes the best teacher isn’t a teacher at all.
I agree with your interpretation of that quote. Everything is constantly changing and evolving. Some things change for better, others for worse. Siddhartha changes a lot throughout the course of this novel, and to some extent I think that he just had to "go through the motions". Everyone goes through good times and bad times, and these things shape our experience and who we are as people, these experiences sometimes forces people to change. And I think that his idea of our past and our experiences is very important to these couple of chapters as Siddhartha finally confronts his past and accepts his experiences as a part of him.
One of the most interesting things in the chapter ‘By the River’ was the reintroduction of the motif of the “Om”. The Om is an important feature in this chapter because it shows a drastic change in Siddhartha’s character. The first time the reader was introduced to the Om was when Siddhartha was first meditating and reflecting whether or not he should leave his family at the beginning of the story. Siddhartha struggled with the concept and the importance of the Om since he was only taught was it should mean. However, in this chapter, Siddhartha hears Om again when he is standing by the river and contemplating the thought to ‘destroy the unsuccessful structure of his life’ but the meaning of Om becomes apparent. Siddhartha learns that Om couldn’t be searched for or purposefully seeked through teaching and experience. Only when Siddhartha has lost everything and has lost all motivation to the point of suicide that Om reveals itself. Om, the inner self, allows Siddhartha to finally realize that life and suffering is indestructible. Another feature of Om that I noticed was its extreme similarity with the symbol of the river throughout the novel. Both ideas have the same concept that there is a oneness and a unity of all things in the universe. Additionally, the Om and the River represent a sense of time. When Siddhartha is showed the Om, he finally is able to experience that all things are existing in the same moment.
I agree that Om is a very important theme throughout the book. It can also relate back to Siddhartha’s life growing up as a Brahmin and being taught their ways and beliefs. This helps show the illusion of time because he is using something from a life he left behind to help him progress towards enlightenment while living a completely different lifestyle. Siddhartha needs to use all of his experiences from his past instead of trying to ignore them because it is not the way he lives anymore. Om is used to show a turning point in Siddhartha’s life, but it also shows how his life is one thing that is not broken up into pieces.
The symbol of the river is very much present in the chapter By The River. At this point in time, Siddhartha had reached his all time low, “In the water a dreadful emptiness mirrored a fearful emptiness in his soul,” (Hesse, 78). Siddhartha is feeling completely empty because he has lost his sense of self due to giving in to lust and desire. He felt as if suicide was the only way out of his so called misery, “... he could have gone on living for years in that gentle, well cushioned hell-if this had not come: the moment of utter hopelessness and helplessness, that extreme moment, when he had hung over the rushing water and had been ready to destroy himself,” (86). He was so lost, and depressed with his life, that he had not been able to find enlightenment, even with all the knowledge he has. The river symbolizes a sort of rebirth, as when he is under the water, trying to drown himself, he hears the om and is able to pull himself out of it. Once he comes back up from the water he feels as if he is a brand new person, and is able to reconnect with him ‘self’, or his ego. Siddhartha realizes all this life he has been trying to find enlightenment by disregarding his ego and that he must accept the past in order to continue moving forward in his life. For this reason, he says that he was not able to love before, “That was the enchantment that had happened to him in his sleep and through the om: he now loved everything and everyone, he was full of cheerful love for anything he saw. And it seemed to him now that he had been so ill earlier because he had been able to love nothing and no one,” (83). This is, obviously, a very different statement to what he told Kamala, and then this comes back to, quite frankly, bite him in the butt. But another thing I thought was very interesting this chapter is the topic about teaching versus experience, which we have discussed in class, “I had to experience despair, I had to sink down to the most foolish of all thoughts, to the thought of suicide, in order to experience grace, to hear om again, to sleep properly again to awaken properly again. I had to become a fool in order to find atman in me again. I had to sin in order to live again. Where will my way lead me now? This is foolish, it runs in loops, it may run in a circle. Let it run as it will, I will follow it,” (85). I thought this was a really interesting quote, what do you guys think? I think, the last part of the quote is the most interesting part because Siddhartha is literally saying that you have to let life happen, and let it take you wherever it may. Additionally that life goes through ups and downs and that everyone has to experience those ups and downs in order to understand one's purpose and one’s self, in order to find peace in yourself and to find enlightenment.
I definitely find the quote interesting, as well. While reading, it struck me as a really interesting point: is Siddhartha, the man of self will, self control, saying that to reach enlightenment, we have to hit rock bottom, we have to let life do to us what it will? I certainly thought he was. The most powerful part for me was the statement "I had to experience despair, I had to sink down to the most foolish of thoughts" (Hesse 85), the quote you used in your analysis as well, because it was a recognition by him that his frivolous endeavors with Kamala, Kamaswami, and wealth as a whole were actually not a mistake but a key part of learning and growing, a key to achieving enlightenment.
As the chapter By the River starts, the author starts to hint at symbolism of water. In the very beginning of the chapter Siddhartha finds himself at the river yet again. He watches water seeing his reflection look back at him. The author writes, “In the water a dreadful emptiness mirrored a fearful emptiness in his soul” (Hesse pg 78). This quotes explains to us that Siddhartha looks at himself as an empty man with no passion or path to guide him to the next stage in his life. He believes this is the end of the road for him and believes that this means he has no soul to follow. Another explanation this quote tells us is that the river shows us things that we might not want the hear at the moment, yet the river or nature, in any aspect, is so brutally honest with us that it does not care about our emotional state. It is simply doing it’s job, which is showing us the reality in situations. As Siddhartha stares at himself in the water he see’s a man he did not want to become, therefor he wants to drown himself in the water. As he realizes that he has left these past lives behind him, he believes that he should not try and live another one because there is supposedly no more trails for him to travel down. It tells us, the readers, that some things in this world are not going to give us a pity card and does not give us sympathy, yet no matter how hard we try to break this image of us, it is always going to be there, staring back at us, telling us that this is not the right path for us and we should not venture down it, for it is not for our feet to be traveled upon.
The chapter, Samsara, holds great importance as it is the first time in the book we really get to see Siddhartha as what he would call a “child person.” The start of Samsara exposes readers to a Siddhartha “Wrapped in life’s comforts” (59), one that has truly embraced the child person lifestyle. Starting after Siddhartha truly got involved with both Kamala and his merchant career in the previous chapter, the descent into materialism and movement from his previous path truly becomes clear in this chapter, as we can clearly tell something is off. Siddhartha, quite frankly, spent most of the rest of the book ranting about his spite of people who focused on possession. “Child people” isn’t exactly a compliment, at all. The significance of this, therefore, is that there was such a reversal, and we clearly see that here. In addition, this is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate what a child person truly is, the irony being that Siddhartha is the one demonstrating it to readers. Described to us as one whom “had long possessed his own house and servants” (Hesse 59) and had no one “close to him apart from Kamala,” Siddhartha truly has become a man of wealth, of property, of love. All these he is, but he has drifted far from being a man of the self, or of inner reflection. What better description of child people can you find? He even describes that people “came to him when they needed money or advice” (Hesse 59), to which he was happy to oblige. That, of course, is almost exactly how he described the child people in the first place: happy to aid, finding pleasure in doing so. All the characteristics he previously listed may be found within, and that perhaps is the most interesting part of the chapter. This is not only a turning point in the story, but also a turning point in our perspective of Siddhartha, viewing how he truly does change so easily, ebbing and flowing at the whims of life’s obstacles.
Your connection to the child person and Siddhartha, as well as how it's demonstrated, is really interesting and certainly agreeable. When Siddhartha begins to lose his sense of self, he ends up unintentionally confiding in om, and through this word Siddhartha begins to find joy and beauty in the world. Though love is a strong word, it truly is the child people's secret. Love doesn't always have to be found in someone else, it can be found in other things as well. In Siddhartha's case, it was nature, which shines a spotlight on his child person tendencies. The fact that such a small two-letter word brought him to such a feeling definitely bolsters the fact that Siddhartha's views do change a lot, and it ends up being for the better.
In the chapter By The River, Siddhartha comes to a severe consequence of throwing all of his morals down the trash: He loses his connection to his own self and has to start back at square one. "No, there was no goal anymore, there was nothing left but a profound, painful longing to shake off this whole vile dream, to spew out this stale wine, to make an end to this wretched and disgraceful life" (Hesse, 69). At this point, the reader can begin to see the effects Siddhartha has to suffer through because he threw away his moral compass for the sake of being in the materialistic world, ultimately pulling himself further away from the unity of nature. Siddhartha begins to see the river (that gives him the meaning of life in the end of the novel) as a way out, as a way to die, but before he can do anything, Siddhartha falls into a deep sleep and speaks OM, the word that connected him to the natural world before he became a merchant. "'OM!' he said to himself, 'OM!' And he knew Brahman, realized the indestructibility of life, recognized once again the dimension of divinity he had forgotten" (70). Although Siddhartha says the word for just a split second, the reader can already tell the significance of om, how the word connects to the beauty of nature, and how the two combined connects Siddhartha to enlightenment. After meeting with his long lost pal, Govinda, Siddhartha looks back at the word om and realizes the greatness of starting back at square one, at becoming a clean slate once more. He realizes that risks have to be taken in order to successfully achieve his goals, and begins to find the beauty of the world around him. Siddhartha even looks at the river with gratitude and awe, and pulls himself back into the grace of nature. We as the reader can see how such small things, for example om, can make a huge impact on the life ahead of us, and through this realization the reader can take a moral out of this chapter. Not all lessons can be learned by someone else's teachings.
In earlier chapters, Hesse uses birds to symbolize Siddhartha and his current state of mind. Each of the different birds are representative of the many cycles in Siddhartha’s life. First, youthful Siddhartha was compared to a young falcon: robust, dominant, and full of life. After joining the samanas, he evolves into a heron: skeletal and solitudinous. “A heron flew over the bamboo wood and Siddhartha took the heron into his soul, flew over forest and mountains, became a heron, ate fishes, suffered heron hunger, used heron language, died a heron’s death.” (15) Living with the samanas, Siddhartha experienced discontent and frustration, as he was unable to achieve enlightenment and even expressed to Govinda that he believed the achievement was impossible through knowledge and teachings. During his stay with Kamala, Siddhartha was introduced to a life of lust, frivolous materialism, and luxury. Though he initially believed the wealth was enjoyable and took pleasure in the fine wines and perfumes, he eventually became sick of his life as a wealthy man, feeling ashamed of what his life had come to. Siddhartha wakes up one morning to find that Kamala’s songbird in the golden cage is dead. The songbird is representative of Siddhartha, his values and goodness. The golden cage it had been restrained by was similar to the material goods and wealth that had encaptured him while living as a rich man. Kamala’s release of another songbird from its cage is synonymous to Siddhartha being freed from his greed and wealth when he escapes the garden. In “By the River”, Siddhartha has come full circle back to the river. As he recounts his experiences, Hesse’s use of bird symbolism is present yet again.
“I went and learned the pleasures of love from Kamala and business from Kamaswami. I hoarded money, I squandered money, I acquired a taste for rich food, I learned to stimulate my senses. I had to spend many years like that in order o lose my intelligence, to lose the power to think, to forget about the unity of things. Is it not true, that slowly and through many deviations I changed form a man into a child? From a thinker into an ordinary person? And yet this path has been good and the bird in my breast has not died.” (96)
As is did with Kamala’s songbird in the golden cage, the bird represents Siddhartha’s goodness and virtue. Siddhartha states that although he has gone through many changes and experiences in his life, his bird and goodness in his heart is still present.
Siddhartha has reached enlightenment, and is sharing his thoughts with his old friend Govinda even though Siddhartha does not have a teaching. Govinda can see that he has become enlightened and wishes to do the same. In Siddhartha’s presence, he was able to do just that. "And Govinda saw that this mask-like smile, this smile of unity over the flowing forms, this smile of simultaneousness over the thousands of births and deaths-this smile of Siddhartha-was exactly the same as the calm, delicate, impenetrable, perhaps gracious, perhaps mocking, wise, thousand-fold smile of Gotama, the Buddha, as he perceived it with awe a hundred times. This, Govinda knew, was how the Perfect Ones smiled." (Hesse 131). By kissing Siddhartha’s forehead, Govinda is able to reach enlightenment. Govinda now sees everything, all life and rebirth. Time was being woven together and mixed, for it did not exist anymore. Both of them have joined the Perfect Ones. Govinda is saying that Siddhartha is the Buddha; he has gained the same peace that Gotama once had. Govinda reaching enlightenment shows that everybody takes a different path to get there, which supports Siddhartha saying it can not be taught. Like Gotama, Siddhartha and Govinda followed their own path toward enlightenment through teachers they believed in. Siddhartha believed in the river, and all it could teach him about life. For Govinda, the only reason he reached enlightenment is through his love and belief in Siddhartha and his wisdom. Govinda always knew Siddhartha would reach enlightenment, and he would follow him.
I agree with your analysis, however I don't think Govinda has reached enlightenment. I think that by Govinda kissing Siddhartha's forehead, he was able to see what is around him. Earlier in the chapter, Siddhartha talks about how stopping and looking at the things around are more important than seeking. Govinda was finally able to see what was around him and could finally stop seeking and start living his how life and follow his own life rather than follow the life of another person. His visions when kissing Siddhartha's forehead was more of a sign that he had just witnessed an enlightened figure and the new Buddha rather than him reaching enlightenment. Experiencing the presence of the Buddha will definitely help Govinda in his search for enlightenment because he was told that you need to follow your own path rather than following the paths of others.
Govinda’s presence has been acutely seen and felt over the course of Siddhartha, yet readers never truly understand his real role until the appropriately named “Govinda” chapter. His inclusion here completes a trifecta of roles that he plays. In the beginning, he is a sort of understudy to Siddhartha. In the middle, he serves as a protector, watching over him as he slumbers. And in the end, he finishes as a test for Siddhartha. He asks of him, “Will you not tell me something about it, your reverence?” (Hesse 108), testing Siddhartha to prove what he has learned. It is the combination of these roles, however, that is Govinda’s true purpose: a guide. There would be no path to enlightenment, no residence on the river, no leaving to become a shramana if not for Govinda. Being by the side of Siddhartha at the beginning gave him a support network, his closest friend allowing him to truly pursue what he wanted, to look for fulfillment. Later, there quite literally may have been no Siddhartha had Govinda not stood by him at the river, protecting him from what may come while he slumbered. And lastly, in a more symbolic sense, Govinda allowed Siddhartha to finally reflect upon his teachings, that “Certain people… must change a lot” (Hesse 108), all that he had learned over his endeavor. It stands to reason, therefore, that Govinda was a guide to Siddhartha’s enlightenment. Whether symbolically or literally, Govinda acted, in a way, as the path, showing up at the exposition, the climax, and the conclusion. Govinda, in a way, is the plot of Siddhartha’s story, and not just the book. The importance of the chapter, therefore, is finally fulfilling his role, opening up avenues of analysis previously closed off. The full reveal of this is quintessential to understanding his character and, really, Siddhartha’s path to enlightenment.
As the book Siddhartha starts to end and Hesse starts to wrap up the journey of Siddhartha we finally get an idea of how Govinda has been such a big part of this book. In the beginning of this book Govinda has been a simple shadow that has fallen behind Siddhartha and has walked in his footsteps thinking that Siddhartha was such an amazing person thinking that he had to follow him to find himself. Although Govinda wasn’t directly present at some parts towards the middle, he was still there watching over Siddhartha making sure he was making the right decisions. Govinda was his protector during this time frame. Towards the end Govinda asks Siddhartha, “Do you have a faith or knowledge that you follow, that helps you live and do right” (Hesse 123). Here Govinda is testing Siddhartha if he has found enlightenment and himself yet. He questions Siddhartha because he feels he has seen it just a smidgen. He has seen Siddhartha struggle and find hope yet again. If it wasn’t for Govinda from the very beginning, then there would be no adventure to enlightenment for Siddhartha at all. For it has been all because of Govinda that Siddhartha is where he is today, as a ferryman who has finally seemed to find himself in this unforgivable world. In a way Govinda might be the whole point or plot of this story rather than Siddhartha. Having the last chapter named, Govinda kind of proves that point as well. For it is Govinda that has opened this whole adventure for Siddhartha to venture down and finally in the end finding enlightenment.
I thought you had very good points and I agreed with what you said about Govinda being there for Siddhartha since the beginning and that he was the reason this whole journey began for him
I agree that Govinda has always consistently present throughout the novel, even if he was not physically present. Govinda was there through almost every major event in Siddhartha's life, and is able to see him grow. I thought that it was really interesting how it seemed as if Govinda were to find enlightenment much faster, or took the "easy way" there, but Siddharatha was able to find enlightenment before he was. I thought it was interesting how at the end, Govinda is still searching and seeking for the feeling of enlightenment, he still wants to reach Nirvana. It almost seems as if at that point he is just really desperate, so desperate that she goes to Siddhartha for any last hope of learning something about how to reach enlightenment. But Siddhartha then tells him that he just has to accept his past and be reflective of it and become wise from all the experiences in his life. It was not until then that Govinda has also reached enlightenment.
The last couple of chapters of this novel are all about experience. For one, Siddhartha finally reaches enlightenment, which was the entire point of this novel, so congratulations to Siddhartha. However, it was obviously not an easy journey and this is very much depicted in the last two chapters, more specifically in the chapter Om. Siddhartha's son had already left at this point, and so Siddhartha is greatly grieving this loss of a person he loved. He soon realized that he was trying to impose is knowledge on him and that he was not following his own path, “Had not his father suffered the same sorrow that Siddhartha was now suffering for his own son? Had his father not died long since, alone, without seeing his son again? Would Siddhartha not have to suffer the same fate? Was it not a comedy, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this running in a fateful circle?” (Hesse 115). SIddhartha realized that he had to let go of his son and let him carve his own path to become enlightenment, for he had tried to teach him the path to what he thought was a good life. This did not work on the child, and so the kid left. Siddhartha was able to sympathize with both his father and his son, because he too had left his family in order to become enlightened.Once he is able to realize this, he was able to let his son go, and find enlightenment himself, “As he spoke, on and on, and Vasudeva listened with a silent face, Siddhartha felt Vasudeva’s listening, felt it more intensely than ever before; he felt his own pains and anxieties flowing across to him, his secret hope flowing across and coming back,” (116). Siddhartha pours out his story to Vasudeva and then is told to listen to the river. By listening to the river Siddhartha was able to find peace with himself and with everything around him, he was able to find meaning in it. Once he becomes enlightened, Vasudeva leaves, which shows how he is almost like a spiritual guide, which would explain why Siddhartha describes him as being holy. Siddhartha then becomes, the enlightened one, the one who is very wise, he becomes a sort of spiritual leader. He becomes a sort of spiritual guide for Govinda in the last chapter. Govinda comes to the river seeking the wise ferryman to teach him how to find enlightenment, “‘It is true, I am old,’ said Govinda, ‘but I have not stopped seeking. Never will I stop seeking- this seems to be my destiny. You too, it seems to me, have sought. WIll you say a word to me, Honored One?’” (121). Govinda asks Siddhartha to teach him how to find enlightenment, for he is still trying to find it, and feels as if he will never stop seeking it. It goes to show that through teachings, finding enlightenment can be much more difficult. Siddartha continues to talk about how he cannot teach Govinda how to find enlightenment, but rather he must experience life as well, or be reflective of it. Wisdom cannot be transferred over to another person, but knowledge can be communicated. Siddhartha then guides Govinda and tells him to kiss his forehead. He is able to see everything from his past, just like the river did with Siddhartha. Ultimately it is learned that anyone is capable of achieving enlightenment, even if you are the worst sinner of them all, that no person can be excluded from that. If someone has the right will and power to experience life and is willing to accept your past, then anyone can become enlightened.
In the chapters “Om” and “Govinda”, Siddhartha reflects on his own past before enlightenment, before Kamala, and even before the samanas.
“His face resembled that of another person, whom he had once known and loved and even feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetics, how he had taken leave of him, how he had gone and never returned. Had not his father also suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son? Had not his father died long ago, alone, without having seen his son again? Did he not expect the same fare? Was it not a comedy, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this course of events in a fateful circle?” (132)
Like numerous other passages in Hesse’s story, this represents two significant aspects of Buddhism: karma and Samsara. When Siddhartha describes the “fateful circle”, he is suggesting towards both. Samsara is the endless cycle of life and has the connotation circuitous change. Everything will come back full circle and life will keep moving forward. This is evident in the potter’s wheel, prior to when Siddhartha leaves behind Kamala and the life of a rich man. The potter’s wheel, a round disc, keeps turning and turning. Although it slowed, symbolizing Siddhartha’s heaviness and weariness when he only valued wealth, it never stopped. In this passage, Siddhartha left his father barely in his youth, and never returned. He lived his life and experienced many ephemeral stages of Samsara, until he eventually returned to the beginning of the cycle, back to when he abandoned his father. This is where karma is apparent. In Buddhism, karma is the causes and effects of one’s actions and intentions. Good behavior and good intentions create good karma, while poor actions and behavior result in bad. It acts to balance one’s deeds and shape their fate. In this passage, the results of Siddhartha’s own poor actions comes back full circle. When he was younger, he had left his father without a trace and had never considered what sadness and suffering his father had felt until now, after his own son has left him.
I think it's a very interesting and cool notion to draw the connection between Siddhartha's reflection and the karma/Samsara aspect of Buddhism. Hesse, obviously, hid sincere Buddhist symbolism and connections throughout the novel -- the main character's name is Siddhartha, obviously -- and reflection upon the travels Siddhartha had is key to drawing that connection. I thought it was also an important part of the main idea, learning from the journey as a whole. The way I saw it, reflecting upon his past and his journey serviced this purpose, of learning from what he had done. In the grand scheme of things, these two objectives tie together quite eloquently, a spiritual way of learning via reflection. It's quite interesting to see just how Hesse managed to tie these ends together to build a satisfying, complete ending.
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In the first passage of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, the author gives the readers a view inside the life of a Brahmin and his inner struggle for enlightenment. The author uses various forms of abstract diction to describe the ‘thirst’ developing within Siddhartha’s mind. When Hesse writes “Siddhartha had started to nurse discontent in himself, he had started to feel that the love of his father and the love of his mother, and also the love of his friend, Govinda, would not bring him joy for ever and ever, would not nurse him, feed him, satisfy him.” (Hesse,p. 5 ) the reader is able to see the developing hunger for satisfaction of love, knowledge, and inner peace. Later on, the author writes “... they did not heal the spirit’s thirst, they did not relieve the fear in his heart. The sacrifices and the invocation of the gods were excellent-- but was that all?...”. Here, the reader is able to deduce the fact that Siddhartha ‘thirst’ extends to his soul (heart) and that his current religious lifestyle does not satisfy him spiritually- he expects more. The motif of spiritual thirst is important to the reader because it transports the early characterization of Siddhartha to another level and gives the reader a pure sense of his struggle.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Hermann Hesse uses various examples of concrete diction depict the changing relationship between Siddhartha and his Father. By this point, the author established the Siddhartha’s endless thirst to achieve ‘wholeness’, and as a result, tensions begin to develop. “The first light of day shone into the room.. The Brahmin saw that Siddhartha was trembling softly in his knees. In Siddhartha’s face he saw no trembling, his eyes were fixed on a distant spot. Then his father realized that even now Siddhartha no longer dwelt with him in his home, that he had already lost him.” (p. 7-8). In this passage, the audience is able to see the determination and integrity of Siddhartha for the pursuit of enlightenment to the point of abandoning his family, title, and respect.
FIRST!!
I agree with your argument that Siddhartha is not satisfied with what he believes in for that matter, he see's something much bigger waiting for him in this world and he thinks he is lucky that he has found a way out. He doesn't believe that there is only one destiny for him, for he believes his soul is not full. For example the author writes, “...that they had already poured their fullness into his waiting vessel, and the vessel was not yet full, his mind was not contented…” (Hesse pg. 5). Due to the fact that Siddhartha feels his soul and heart is not yet full he believes that the journey and adventure ahead awaits his every footstep and he feels he is eager to depart.
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DeleteMany of the things you said were very interesting. I liked the way you talked about Sidartha’s thirst for enlightenment and that he is not “whole” on the inside even though it looked like he had everything. He believes that his current path to enlightenment is not working for him. He believes he has to leave his old life behind and has to find the correct path to enlightenment. You saying “thirst” reminds me of my own blog. One thing that i did that you can do is to compare Sidartha’s thirst for awakening to Govinda’s thirst for awakening. By comparing these two you are able to express Sidartha’s indomitable “thirst” towards awakenment.
Yay! First! :) Good points! Tell me more about the abandoning respect part--I think that is really interesting!
ReplyDeleteHerman Hesse’s first chapter of the novel, Siddhartha, completes a masterful job of establishing various details, the likes of which will not become important until much later in the story. The first sentence is a perfect example of this, as it describes the setting as “In the shadow of the house, in the sun on the riverbank by the boats, in the shadow of the sal-tree forest, in the shadow of the fig tree…” (Hesse 3). This sentence is a great example of the form of the story: it has no form. This is just a wandering, seemingly endless description of where Siddhartha lay seated at the time, and at the time of reading, it most likely will not strike someone as interesting or particularly notable. However, it is anything but: a later examination shows that this wandering description is just a big part of the novel’s main idea: focusing on the surroundings, the journey, the minuscule pixels in the giant image, instead of having a targeted focus. Similarly, readers meet the contradictory, competing idea of a focused, stern goal with the verse Siddhartha utters while meditating under the banyan tree: “Om is the bow, the arrow is the soul, Brahman is the arrow’s target. One should strike it without wavering.” Again, at the time, this is but a simple meditative verse, something to repeat while contemplating. Yet, it ends up being much more, tying back to that central theme, the notion that the journey is more important than the goal, by introducing the two contradictory ideas, albeit subtly, within just the first chapter. It is by this that Hesse so elegantly sets the stage for Siddhartha’s travels and trek for enlightenment, all while setting the readers up to come along for the ride.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing masterful about Siddhartha other than how a man could make such a low quality work.
Delete-The Former King of Southridge
Low quality?! Never!
DeleteIn the beginning of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, Hesse explains to us readers that Siddhartha, the Brahmin’s son, is well on his way to becoming a wonderful and talented Brahmin. Well you see, Siddhartha does not want to become a Brahmin for he is not thrilled to become one, like the thousand other ones that have walked the Earth before him. Siddhartha did not find pleasure in becoming a Brahmin and seemed he wanted to find contentment in something else. For example the author writes, “But Siddhartha did not bring joy to himself, he did not delight himself” (Hesse pg. 4). This explains to us readers that the story will be going in the direction of adventure and trying to find one’s true self. It also shows us the readers that following in one’s footsteps or following the “mainstream” of things isn’t always going to make us complete and happy with our lives. Even Siddhartha is giving us insight on his life four pages into the book, that being a follower and stepping outside those safety boundaries isn’t such a bad thing after all.
ReplyDeleteAlong with this argument that being a Brahmin isn’t his path, the author tells us, “Ah, but no one knew it, not his father, not the teachers and sages, not the holy sacrificial chants! They knew everything, the Brahmins and their holy books, they knew everything, they had concerned themselves with everything and with more than everything: the creation of the world, the genesis of speech, of food, of inhaling, of exhaling, the orders of the senses, the deeds of the gods‒—they knew an infinite amount. But was it worthwhile knowing all this if you did not know the One and Only, the most important, the only important thing?” (Hesse pg. 6). In my opinion the main idea from this passage is that Siddhartha respects the Brahmin but they do not have everything that he needs. He wants so much more than that and that’s why he chooses to leave with his friend, Govinda. Perspective is everything and Siddhartha needed a whole different one. He shows us that changing your views and how needed something is sometimes better than living up to others expectations.
I agree with your point on how it seems like Siddhartha respects the Brahmin and at the same time, I also see this through his idea of leaving the life of a shramana. He gives the same excuse that he isn't learning from these men and that his thirst for knowledge isn't being fulfilled. It makes you wonder if he will ever live a fulfilled life; one that truly makes him happy. He also brings up the idea that nirvana is not reachable. This idea coming from him presents Siddhartha as a someone who doesn't really see hope in life. The idea of having no hope is extremely present when the author talks about Siddhartha because this character seems to not have the ability to look for the bright side in a situation or look for the positive in the future.
DeleteI agree with your analysis and how Siddhartha wants to gain more knowledge outside the teachings of the Brahmins. He just needs to experience more in order to feel fulfilled. That kind of shows us that he's not a follower, he's more of a leader. I feel like within those first few pages it foreshadows how he will handle situations and the rest of his journey in general.
DeleteThe novel opens up with some background information about Siddhartha and his best friend Govinda in ancient India. The starting passage of the book is littered with the word "shadow" as a small sign to say that the two men will grow into something more powerful and brighter as the novel progresses. The use of the word implicates to us, the reader, that there is something to expect later on in the novel and slips a sliver of foreshadowing when the word "shadow" is replaced with jubilant diction, using words like "radiance," "clear-thinking," and "leaped" to describe not only the future path to Siddhartha's self-enLIGHTenment, but also to describe Siddhartha in the eyes of his society.
ReplyDeleteThough the novel clearly stated that ".. everyone loved Siddhartha. He aroused joy in everyone, he was a delight to all." (Hesse, 4) the next few passages takes a gloomy turn when the reader finds out that Siddhartha is not satisfied with what he has been given, which makes the reader "turned off," with the Brahmin's son, as he gives off this bratty and selfish vibe. Even the glory and praise from his parents and Govinda could not quench Siddhartha's quest for more knowledge, which brings me to my next (and also previous) point that the novel already shows what the book is going to be about: Siddhartha's water, in this case, self-enlightenment.
The desperation for knowledge comes out with thirst/water diction, revealing to the reader that Siddhartha is so dehydrated that it's causing him pain, but he does not wish to accept anything else for quenching his thirst, except the power of becoming one with oneself as shown in the quote, "Was he [Siddhartha's father], too, not only a seeker, still thirsting?.. Did the primordial spring not flow in his own heart? This is what had to be found----..." (Hesse, 6). In this passage, the reader is able to tell the doubt with Siddhartha and the rest of the Brahmans, especially his father. Siddhartha's heart is discontent, and his embark for enlightenment is very clear with the decisions he makes as the pages of the novel keep turning.
I thought it was interesting how you viewed his discontent as selfish. I had a different take on it. As I wrote in my own blog post, I felt that it was more of a kind of "typical teenage rebellion" type thing. He was challenging the beliefs of this parents and decided that that was not what he felt would help him achieve true enlightenment. Doesn't everyone at some point question their beliefs and decide whether or not to continue believing what they have been raised to believe, or to choose something else? I know I have, at least, after all up until probably recently we have all been heavily influenced by the beliefs of our parents. Isn't he just unhappy with where he is in life and choosing to believe in something else in hopes that he will find enlightenment there? He believed that he would be able to transcend if he became a Samana, "Siddhartha had a goal, a single one: to become empty... To die away from himself, no longer be open to miracles in unselfed thinking: that was his goal," (13).
DeleteThere were quite a few things that I found interesting in these first couple of chapters. One thing I noticed is that Hesse uses long, wordy sentences with peaceful diction to create a dream like atmosphere. The visual imagery provides a peaceful and scenic environment, “In the shade of the house, in the sunshine near the boats on the riverbank, in the shade of the sal forest, in the shade of the fig tree, Siddhartha grew up…,” (Hesse 3). This type of diction is almost rhythmic and lyrical and gives off a the sense that it makes everything feel perfect and without worry. The chapter then continues to introduce the main character, Siddhartha, and describes how he is well liked in his town and by his parents. The way the words are put together almost makes it seem as if his destiny is clear cut and everyone expected Siddhartha to go on and become a Brahmin. Yet, Siddhartha is not content with his life, “But Siddhartha did not bring joy to himself, he did not delight himself… loved by all, a joy to all, he nevertheless bore no joy in his heart,” (4). Siddhartha is trying to figure out where he is in his life and what it is he wants to do in him life. He is young and wants to find out what his purpose is, what the meaning of life is. This can be very much related to a person's high school experience. When in high school one is finally venturing out and trying out different things. Teenagers contemplate what it is they want to do with their life (i.e. go to college, where to go to college, go into the military, etc.). Everyone goes on a journey in life and at some point make decisions on where they are and whether or not they are happy and content with what they are doing and we all question what it is we believe in. Siddhartha's discontent in life is no different. He is a young man who realized that he did not particularly agree with his parents views, he believed that there was another way to achieve enlightenment and he wants to find out what the meaning of life is. Which introduces a major theme in the book about what it means and what does it take to find enlightenment and true happiness in one's life.
ReplyDeleteYour comparison of Siddhartha's mentality at that point to that of a high schooler is a really good way to think about it. At this point in his life he is facing a very big decision and possibly the first big decision he has to make independently. Siddhartha is finally getting the chance to do what he wants and what will make him happy. An important scene that Hesse added was when he had to ask his father’s permission to leave which ties in nicely with the high school analogy. Many people in their late teens have to do something similar in getting their parents’ support in a major lifestyle change.
DeleteI really enjoy the way you portrayed Sidartha’s journey. It gave me a whole new perspective looking at Sidartha’s decision to go on the journey. Rather than looking at him as being a selfish ******* (not a bad word) you could see that he is taking initiative to reach the next chapter in his life. This gave Sidartha a more relatable feeling to him. The fact that everyone in this class is a junior and taking the next step in our lives. We are going to be leaving our friends and families to reach the next chapter in our lives, just like Sidartha is doing.
DeleteAs I was reading the first chapter of Siddhartha one part really stood out to me; In the scene where Siddhartha approaches his father and asks if he could leave the house and become a semana the word choice from that moment until the end of the chapter really stood out. In the beginning, Hesse writes, “Then the father said: ‘It is not fitting for a Brahmin to speak angry and violent words. But indignation moves my heart. I do not wish to hear that request a second time from your lips. ” (Hesse, 9) Siddhartha’s father is clearly not happy with this choice Siddhartha is making, and it’s honestly making him quite angry. As the passage continues, Siddhartha’s father can’t sleep, and every hour he looks out the window and sees his son standing in the next room. Every time the father would get up and go back to bed Hesse uses the same way to describe the way he is feeling every time; “..... in his heart.” Earlier, he says. “...indignation moves my heart.” Then after he sees his son standing there Hesse writes that he had “...distress in his heart,” then “anxiety”. Many hours later, after seeing the same thing over and over it, “...filled his heart with anger, filled his heart with apprehension, filled his heart with fear, filled it with sorrow.”(Hesse, 10) I don’t know why but I think it’s interesting that Hesse says “heart” to convey how Siddhartha’s father felt. His emotions went from anger to anxiety, to fear, to sadness. As a reader, this makes me feel like Siddhartha’s father really does love and care about him and his choices and wants the best for his son, even though he seemed very stubborn at first. The emotions that Siddhartha’s father felt were not ones that a father who didn’t care about his son's opinion would have if he didn’t care he wouldn’t feel anxious, or sorrowful. But the point is that he did feel those emotions, and to me, he has a whole lot of love in his heart. Siddhartha’s father really understands that his son has such a strong will, and because of this he lets his son become a semana. This marks the beginning of Siddhartha’s spiritual journey.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you talk about Siddhartha’s father not feeling for his son as he should, but I don’t think Siddhartha feeling anxious and scared is good evidence for that. Many people feel scared and anxious when revealing something big like this to a parent, even if their parents love them unconditionally. This section of the chapter shows that Siddhartha’s father is not proud of him for wanting to leave behind a life in which he would prosper and carry on his father’s legacy as being a prominent member of the community. Siddhartha’s father wants what is best for his son but they disagree on what that is. When his father lets him join the semanas it is because he knows he does not have a choice, not because he agrees with it.
DeleteAt the start of the book, Hesse describes Siddhartha’s relationships with his family, and most importantly his best friend Govinda. Govinda understood his friend’s unhappiness with the Brahmin lifestyle. He knew he was meant for more. “And someday, when Siddhartha becomes a god, someday, when he will join the radiant ones, then Govinda would follow him, as his friend, as his companion, as his servant, as his lance bearer, his shadow.” (Hesse 4). This quote truly shows Govinda’s loyalty and support towards his friend, as well as cleverly foreshadowing the end of the book. Neither of the friends knew the journey they were about to embark on, but Govinda knew he would go wherever his friend’s ambitions took them. His friend saw the potential for greatness in him. Even before Siddhartha knew he wanted to leave this lifestyle, Govinda was ready to support whatever decision he made. Hesse’s foreshadowing of Siddhartha’s journey was very interesting because at that time in the book, it seemed like Govinda was just dreaming big and that Siddhartha becoming god-like was unrealistic. However, in the end this became true when Siddhartha reached enlightenment and had Govinda as his first follower, even though Govinda was unaware of his identity. This quote really allows the reader to understand how deeply Govinda cares about Siddhartha. It also gives the reader hope that Govinda and Siddhartha will find happiness or enlightenment. In all of Siddhartha’s unhappiness with the Brahmin lifestyle, Govinda remains happy and hopeful for his friend. This is Hesse’s way of keeping things pleasant when Siddhartha struggles to find what he is looking for.
ReplyDeleteWithin the first pages of Siddhartha, the syntax used by author Hermann Hesse offers the reader a first impression of Siddhartha. This first impression can be later compared to other pivotal points of his growth.
ReplyDelete“And in the final hour of night, before the day began, he returned, stepping into the room, and saw the youth standing there, and he looked big and foreign.
‘Siddhartha,’ he said, ‘what are you waiting for?’
‘You know what.’
‘Will you keep standing and waiting until the day becomes noon, becomes evening?’
‘I will stand and wait.’
‘You will grow tired, Siddhartha.’
‘I will grow tired.’
‘You will fall asleep, Siddhartha.’
‘I will not fall asleep.’
‘You will die, Siddhartha.’
‘I will die.’
‘And would you rather die than obey your father?’
‘Siddhartha has always obeyed his father.’
‘Then you will give up your plan?’
‘Siddhartha will do what his father will say.’” (10)
Hesse’s utilization of declarative sentences contribute to Siddhartha’s overall childishness and youth at this point in the story. Before Siddhartha begins his pilgrimage with the samanas and Govinda, he is simply inexperienced and has lived a sheltered life beneath his father. He has not felt much emotion; he is not aware of sadness, lust, or enlightenment, though he later achieves all of these and many more in his lifelong journey as he ages in mind and body.
A declarative sentence is one that concisely states a fact or argument. This is evident in all of Siddhartha's responses to his father. Though he is just repeating most of what his father is saying to him, he says his words in a finite way to show his father that he is stubborn and will not stop waiting until he is allowed to go and join the samanas. In this passage, his short, decisive words mock his father, and create a puerile and immature tone, exaggerating he would rather condemn himself to death than submit to his father. Siddhartha’s rebellious act of standing in the room with crossed arms and a pout on his face creates an image that closely resembles a bratty toddler. Although his behavior here introduces a stubborn quality that endures throughout the story, it is also one of the first marks in his character development.
The comparison between Siddhartha and a toddler is a very strong one. His physical actions are, to me, the most convincing, since he visibly crosses his harms and pouts, a sort of calmer temper tantrum. I agree with the notion that the declarative sentence structure plays a major impact on this; his abrupt, narrow responses show he isn't open to a discussion or, frankly, anything other than a "Yes." The consequence of this is that, of course, Siddhartha gains permission to join the Samanas, but establishing this feature of him really does enable readers to observe his development in terms of maturity and his handling of himself.
DeleteIn chapter three, Siddhartha and Govinda meet the Buddha. Govinda is immediately fascinated by his teachings and agrees to follow him. Siddhartha wishes him well, but does not wish to follow the same path.Govinda begs him to stay, but he refuses. He believes he has heard everything the Buddha has to say, and does not believe enlightenment can be reached through a teaching. “The Buddha has robbed me, thought Siddhartha, he has robbed me, yet he has given me more. He has robbed me of my friend, my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him--my friend, who was my shadow and is now Guatama’s shadow. But he has given me Siddhartha, has given me myself.” (Hesse 34). In this quote from the end of the chapter, Siddhartha is summing up his experience with the Buddha and what he will take away from it. He is heartbroken to lose his friend, but he knows that this is what is best for both of them. However, Siddhartha has new hope of finding his path and eventually reaching enlightenment. When he says that the Buddha has given himself back, he’s referring to his ambition and drive towards spirituality. He has new thoughts and ideas, and will become his own teacher. Siddhartha would not accept any one else to help him reach enlightenment. In this quote he refers to the Buddha as nearly an equal to himself. He is starting a new chapter of his life. He does not know where he is headed or where this journey will take him, but he knows he will either reach enlightenment or die trying.
ReplyDeleteIn the third chapter, Gautama, Hesse writes, “But his face and his steps, his silently lowered gaze, his silently hanging arm, and every last finger on his silently hanging hand spoke of peace…” (Hesse pg 27). Hesse repeats this word “silently” three times to get the point across to us readers that this person is calm, relaxed, peaceful, etc. The author explains the Buddha as this holy, yet peaceful human that is immune to the cruel world around him. He is like a gardenia flower, floating completely still in a glass box. They can not be disturbed with anything going on around them because they are so at peace with themselves that not one thing can make them react in any ridiculous matter. As Hesse was describing The Buddha during this passage I relaxed my muscles as the words that were strewn across the page just flowed so smoothly together that it just made me at peace with this world.
ReplyDeleteI think Siddhartha believed this as well but didn’t feel as though this was the route that he shall take. That is why he explains to Govinda that he needed to continue on his journey. The author explains this by saying, “Siddhartha did not respond. He was not very curious about the Teaching; he did not believe it could teach him anything new…” (Hesse pg 27). I feel like Govinda was also disappointed by the news Siddhartha was giving him because Govinda saw Siddhartha as this amazing person that he would follow to the ends of the Earth just to please him. Govinda was also his best friend, so finding out that your best friend does not think that the Teaching was the right path, most likely saddened him immensely.
I agree with what you said about Govinda being disappointed. You can kind of tell that even though they are best friends, they couldn't be more different. Govinda is attached to the idea that Gotama is the teacher of all teachers and that you should follow him if you want to reach enlightenment. Siddhartha on the other hand has communicated that you cannot reach enlightenment though what someone has told you. You can only reach enlightenment through your own path and journey to get there because it is different for everyone. Govinda was definitely more affected when it came to Siddhartha leaving than Siddhartha was. It is very evident when Govinda was questioning Siddhartha's choice to leave.
DeleteChapters 3 and 4 of Siddhartha promote a common idea: Siddhartha’s discovery of the value within one’s self. By attending Gotama’s lesson and hearing his words, Siddhartha finds more joy in seeing and witnessing the person rather than the words he actually says; as Hesse writes, “He was little interested in the teaching” (23). Rather, Siddhartha used Gotama’s teachings to learn a very different lesson: he had little to gain from another’s words. He still admired Gotama; Hesse tells that “never had he loved a person as he loved this one” (23). Gotama was the goal towards which Siddhartha strived: enlightened, self-aware, fulfilled. There was nothing more Siddhartha could want, but it was by learning from such a man he realized he truly could not learn from him.
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha’s talk with Gotama after the lesson shows the beginnings of his realization, as, despite dodging the point of his question much so as to not offend Gotama, he presents the notion: “nobody attains enlightenment through a teaching” (28). Naturally, Gotama points to several consequences of such a belief, Siddhartha agrees for the time being, and their talk ceases. Despite the conclusion of their discussion, Siddhartha nevertheless pursues this line of thinking. This is why he does not leave with Govinda to follow Gotama; this is why he wanders on his own. Siddhartha has reached a milestone in his quest to achieve fulfillment. With this, he will invalidate what he has been told, prescribed methods of enlightenment.
So, if what has been done and what is told will not work, what does? During his walk in the forest, Siddhartha finds the answer: the one true source of knowledge is the self. A focus on himself, a ego of sorts, is the way to learn most about what presents to him the most knowledge, that being his own person. He notes that “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.” This is his enlightening thought. A focus on solely what is a goal, what you are told, what is around you gets you nowhere. True enlightenment comes from awareness, from knowledge you gain from a search within yourself. Selfishness has always been taught to be bad; an egotistical focus was always shunned. Even today, this rings true. It’s an expectation to be selfless, to focus beyond yourself, to not concern yourself with your person so much as a sort of whole entity. Siddhartha, however, finds the real reasoning behind this: it is a synthesis. Synthesizing selfishness with selflessness is the only way to attain true awareness, true enlightenment. One must be selfless enough so as to not be arrogant or inconsiderate, yet selfish enough to learn from and care for yourself. This synthesis is what Siddhartha will track for the remainder of the novel, with this being his enlightening point.
DeleteI totally agree with what you're saying about Siddhartha believing that he can't learn from anyone except himself. Like you said, unlike Govinda, he chose to follow his own path and pursue his own line of thinking, and he chose to not be a follower of the Buddha. A good example that supports your thinking is on page 34, Hesse writes, “I have seen one man, though Siddhartha, one single man in front of whom I had to cast down my eyes. I will cast down my eyes in front of no one else, no one. No other teaching will entice me since this man’s Teaching has not enticed me.” He’s saying that if he can’t learn enlightenment from the Buddha, he can’t learn enlightenment from anyone. The only person Siddhartha had to turn to for enlightenment was himself.
In chapters 3 and 4 of Siddhartha, the one part that stood out to me the most was on page 37. The imagery used sets an amazing tone and paints a beautiful picture of Siddhartha’s awakening. Hesse writes, “He looked around as if seeing the world for the first time. Beautiful was the world, colorful was the world, bizarre and enigmatic was the world! There was blue, there was yellow, there was green.”(Hesse 37) Siddhartha feels as if he’s being reborn, seeing the world finally in color, as if he’d been blind to the world around him up until that moment. The diction used conveys just how happy and free Siddhartha felt, as well as how the simplest of things like color appear in a way he had never seen before. Use of the words “bizarre” and “enigmatic” create a feeling of rebirth, like a baby being exposed to a strange and mysterious new world. Continuing, Hesse writes, “Sky flowed and the river, forest jutted and mountain: everything beautiful, everything enigmatic and magical. And in the midst of it he, Siddhartha, the awakening man, was on the way to himself.” The visual imagery used is very vivid and powerful, everything seems so mysterious and foreign to him. What I keep coming back to when I read this quote is a baby opening its eyes for the first time, almost as if Siddhartha felt like he’s been asleep, unaware of the world around him, and now he is finally waking up. With this awakening, Siddhartha is beginning the path to finding himself.
ReplyDeleteA newborn is a really good way to look at Siddhartha in this part. He has started a new time in his life after a huge moment of clarity. He has started looking at the world with a new set of eyes, he has a whole new perspective on what he wants to do and how to achieve the goal of enlightenment. Hesse’s use of words in this part really helped convey this message, like you said. It paints a very clear picture on how Siddhartha’s mind has shifted into this new way of thinking. Siddhartha can now clearly see the path ahead of him with what he wants to do.
DeleteI agree with your point about how Buddha has given Siddhartha back spiritually. He gave Siddhartha more drive to pursue the path towards enlightenment and to find it. Buddha's story of enlightenment inspired Siddhartha but Siddhartha obviously didn't want to follow another person's path, he wanted to create his own path and his own enlightenment experience. However I don't know if Siddhartha considers himself as an equal to Buddha. I understand what you mean, I just interpreted it as Buddha kind of "robbed" Siddhartha's life in a way. Like how Govinda decided to follow Buddha after years of following Siddhartha.
ReplyDeleteThis comment is for Haley
DeleteThe third chapter of Siddhartha marks another pivotal point in his personal growth, where he realizes that he must create his own path and seek fulfillment himself, not through the wise words and footprints of another.
ReplyDelete“I have never seen a man look and smile, sit and walk like that, he thought. I, also, would like to look and smile, sit and walk like that, so free, so worthy, so restrained, so candid, so childlike and mysterious. A man only looks and walks like that when he has conquered his Self. I also will conquer my Self… The Buddha has robbed me, thought Siddhartha. He has robbed me, yet he has given me something of greater value. He has robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him; he was my shadow and is now Gotama’s shadow. But he has give to me Siddhartha, myself.” (Hesse 35-36)
In this passage, Siddhartha is blatantly envious of Gotama. He sees the face of fulfillment on Gotama’s face and glowing within his soul, and wants it for himself. In an earlier chapter, Siddhartha describes himself as having a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for finding his own Self. When he abandoned home with Govinda to live with the samanas, Siddhartha was stuck in a limbo between living and surviving. Though Siddhartha followed their conducts, fasted, and meditated the same as the many others, he knew that achieving Nirvana would be hopeless. He was frustrated because he did not feel any different or enlightened by following a predestined path. Govinda argued that their paths were a never ending spiral, and they would continue to learn and grow. However, Siddhartha just felt trapped in circles that had no way out.
When he speaks with the Buddha, Siddhartha tells him he believes it is impossible to reach salvation through any kind of teaching, that it’s impossible to convey what it’s like to experience enlightenment and how to. At this point, Siddhartha is no longer Siddhartha the Brahmin’s Son, or Siddhartha, follower of the samanas. When he says “...he has give to me Siddhartha, myself.” (36), he has come to the realization that he will not follow anyone else’s destiny but his own, and seek enlightenment and fulfillment through his experiences, not by the teachings of others. He is simply Siddhartha.
I completely agree with all of what you said! These two chapters have shown a pivotal theme that will occur throughout the novel. Siddhartha is a forever changing character, and when he finally talks to Gotama about his conclusion for self-enlightenment at the very end of the chapter, he is completely amazed at how Gotama reached his enlightenment by the way he smiled and acted, and therefore wishes he could be like the Buddha. This in itself supports the idea that the only way to receive self-enlightenment is by going on your own journey, and although Gotama "robbed" Siddhartha of Govinda, Siddhartha will have no one to distract him from reaching his goals on his own since he has no community to argue his beliefs with, ultimately making his reward much grander and quicker.
DeleteA profound point within the chapters “Gotama” and “Awakening” in the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse was the contrasting relationship between Govinda and Siddhartha. The purpose of the relationship shown within the third and fourth chapters was to intentionally compare, contrast, and characterize Siddhartha and Govinda. After the Buddha (Siddhartha Gotama) leads a teaching on a guide to escent from suffering by following the teaching, many are already convinced of his wisdom, including Govinda. The Buddha is complete, he has achieved total enlightenment and reached Nirvana; the perfect example. However, this is the primary reason why no one should pursue the teaching of Buddha. The importance of Govinda functioning as a secondary character in attaining a form of Nirvana is to function as Siddhartha’s shadow and an example of following the masses like a sheep. Govinda is delayed to realize that windom (as we learn at their reunion later on) and total Enlightenment doesn’t come from years of study and learning; on the other hand, Siddhartha is quick to realize that Buddha’s bath cannot be taken twice. As the famous Kanye West once wrote in his song ‘New Slaves’, “You see it’s leaders and it’s followers, But I’d rather be a d*** than a swallower.” This quote is a perfect example of the transcending message the Siddhartha provides for the reader. Siddhartha is choosing to not be a follower, but to follow the Self, the only teacher capable of explaining what cannot be explained.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between Siddhartha and Govinda could also be seen as a concrete example of Buddha’s teaching of the world’s connectedness and unity and the idea of The Chain of Living Things. By this point in the novel, the reader knows that Govinda and Siddhartha both began from the same point in life as young boys offering one another a sense of companionship and support, but are coming to a parting of ways. Later on, we discover that they reunite after having traveled their unique paths and Siddhartha helps Govinda to take the last step to his complete enlightenment.
I agree with your point about enlightenment, and its unattainability. It’s impossible to learn and achieve something without attempting it yourself. However, I don’t fully agree that Govinda and Siddhartha started from the same place in life when they were younger. Even when they lived in the village together, Govinda was already a follower to Siddhartha’s leader. He deeply admired Siddhartha and even suggested that he could be a god (and that he would want to be his follower). This is evident in the first chapter of Siddhartha, “Govinda, his friend, the Brahmin’s son, loved him more than anybody else. He loved Siddhartha’s eyes and clear voice. He loved the way he walked, his complete grace of movement; he loved everything that Siddhartha did and said, and above all he loved his intellect, his fine ardent thoughts, his strong will, his high vocation.” (Hesse 4)
DeleteCody,
DeleteYour ideas are good, but how could say it without quoting a line from a a song which might be offensive to some readers???? We need to be cognizant about your readership since you're posting online. Please work on that in the future.
Ms. Ballard
The third and fourth chapters, Gautama and Awakening, are mainly concerned with finding enlightenment, which I would argue is a major theme in this novel. Siddhartha is fixated on knowledge, find out more about this world and is always on a quest for it (as shown by this long journey he takes). These two chapters are quite pivotal to this story, as this is when Siddhartha realizes that he has no need for Gautama’s teachings, “He was not very curious about the Teaching; he did not believe it could teach him anything new; after all… he has heard the contents of the Buddha's Teaching over and over…,”(Hesse 27). Siddhartha does not completely disregard the Teachings, he believes that they are very helpful, but that that is not the way he can reach enlightenment. He went into the forest to be with the samanas and did not find enlightenment by completely rejecting his “ego”. However, Siddhartha also figures out a “gap” in the Buddha's Teachings, or quite frankly something that he could not quite make sense of, “The Teaching of the illuminated Buddha contains a great deal, it teaches many how to live righteously, avoid evil. But there is one thing that the so clear, so venerable Teaching does not contain: it does not contain the secret of what the Sublime One himself has experienced, he alone among the hundreds of thousands,” (32-33). Siddhartha therefore believes that you can share your knowledge about something, or share knowledge about how to find enlightenment, but that does not mean that everyone will experience the same thing as you. The Buddha teaches and shares what he knows based off of his experience, making Siddhartha believe that he cannot find enlightenment with his philosophies. In other words, you can share wisdom, but not experience. He realizes that it is impossible to rely solely on one person's experience to define what it means to find enlightenment and he does not wish to be separated from himself. Later on while he is still talking to the Buddha he talks about another concern he had, “One, I fear that my ego would find peace and deliverance only as a figment, as a delusion. I fear that my ego would actually live on and grow big, for I would then have made the Teaching, made my following, made my love for you made the fellowship of the monks into my ego,” (33). This brings up just a general question, or concern about religious. As someone who is not quite religious that brings up the question if we believe in something or someone, what happens if it turns out to not be real, or if it doesn't exist? And what happens if it does? Because on one hand you can believe in something and if it exists then congratulations and if it doesn't then all you do is waste a few hours on your life on a Sunday, this of course is not generally referring to Buddhism and Hinduism, but I thought that was just something curious about this quote. I think Siddhartha is also contemplating this idea, on basically whether or not its worth it to believe in a religious philosophy, after all he did say that he believed Nirvana could not be reached.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you talk about Siddhartha realizing that the only reason the Buddha reached enlightenment was because he found what worked for him. This is why Siddhartha realizes that he cannot stay with Govinda and Guatama. He needs to be his own teacher if he wants to reach enlightenment. I really liked when you said “you can share wisdom, but not experience”, that puts Siddhartha’s thoughts into words very well. He experienced the Buddha’s teaching, but his wisdom won’t help him get any closer to enlightenment. Siddhartha needs to go back out into the world to gain knowledge and experiences to reach enlightenment.
DeleteChapters 3 and 4 of the novel really struck psychological strings as Hesse points out the true meaning of self-fulfillment. Hesse is known for incorporating psychological concepts and ideas into many of his works, and Siddhartha did not stray away from that incorporation at all. At the very end of chapter three, Siddhartha comes to a certain conclusion that will motivate him more than anything: Reaching your own self-value cannot ever be taught by someone else, the only way to reach self-enlightenment is through your own journey.
ReplyDeleteWhen Siddhartha spoke of the way to self-enlightenment to the Buddha Gotama, he received Man Crush Monday for the very first time. "I have never seen anyone with such a gaze, I have never seen anyone smile, sit and walk in such a way, he thought... 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" (29). Gotama was praised and gossiped about highly in the shramana community, and this quote bolsters the fact that Gotama is truly an awe-inspiring character. This quote makes the reader feel amazed at the Buddha's presence, because, if it made Siddhartha, a flip-flopping character that is never satisfied with what he has, so impacted in such a way that he comes to a conclusion about how to achieve his one true goal in life, it definitely makes the reader feel amazed at the abilities Gotama has, especially when he did nothing more but smile and leave Siddhartha in a pool of self-indulgence.
Even though Gotama gave Siddhartha a whole new light on the value of self, Siddhartha continues to be a negative Nancy and criticizes Gotama for taking his best friend away. "He robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and now believes in him, who was my shadow and is now Gotama's shadow" (29) in this case, it will actually help Siddhartha in the end because if he has no community to distract him from learning how to achieve enlightenment by himself, he will end up achieving his reward much faster.
I definitely agree that this chapter is a major psychological turning point for Siddhartha. When he notes that Gotama "gave me myself" (Hesse 29), it really reinforces that concept of both his utter admiration for Gotama and, more importantly, that he had rediscovered himself. His infatuation with not just Gotama but the concept, the idea of him played a key role in finding himself as a source of enlightenment, showing him to, as he eloquently posed, observe the letters and symbols of life's book, rather than skimming for the main ideas. This development is key to his expeditions throughout the remaining parts of the novel, highlighting this as a major turning point for his intellectual quest.
DeleteWhile reading the chapter Among the Child People, the first conversation between Siddhartha and Kamaswami stood out to me. The passage says:
ReplyDelete“Very good. And what is it that you have to give? What is it that you have learned how to do?”
“I can think. I can wait. I can fast.”
“That is all?”
“I believe it is all!”
“And what use is it? For example, fasting- what good does it do?”
“It is very good, sir. If a person has nothing to eat, then fasting is the wisest thing he can do. If, for instance, Siddhartha has not learned how to fast, he would have to accept any service today, whether with you or someone else, for hunger would force him to do so. But now Siddhartha can calmly wait, he knows no impatience, he knows no plight. He can stave off hunger for a long time and he can laugh at it. That, sir, is what fasting is good for.” (Hesse 58)
To me this passage is about more than just fasting. Siddhartha talks about thinking and waiting, to people like Kamala and Kamaswami those skills don’t really count for anything. But to Siddhartha those things are his best skills because he is able to “calmly wait, he knows no impatience…” unlike many others. But what is really interesting is Siddhartha’s interpretation of the purpose of fasting, which I found very ironic. Most religions include fasting for one main purpose, to discipline yourself and demonstrate self-control of a need for worldly desires, and getting closer to God in the process. What’s funny is that Siddhartha is pursuing all these worldly desires like nice clothes, shoes, and most importantly money all for Kamala, a woman he’s lusting over. How does he expect to reach enlightenment when he’s pursuing all these worldly pleasures?
Siddhartha believes that he needs to learn about this type of lifestyle from Kamala, and the only way to do that is if he has money and riches. Otherwise, Kamala would not have accepted him as her student. In order to reach enlightenment, Siddhartha believes he needs many teachers so that he can gain different experiences. Siddhartha is using what he has learned from the samanas to be successful in this lifestyle. This lifestyle of pleasure is the complete opposite of the samanas, but it is important that Siddhartha understands it and can learn from it. It takes discipline to learn from something you may not agree with.
DeleteIn the chapter ‘Kamala’, Siddhartha finds himself in the outskirts of a city in a fenced garden meeting a beautiful woman after riding across a river with a ferryman. The importance of the river is a significant symbol throughout the rest of the book, especially in these chapters. The River in this case is able to represent unity and the great eternity of all things in the universe, as well as marking important transitions within Siddhartha’s story. At this moment, the river is marking a moment in Siddhartha’s life where Kamala and Kamaswami are going to teach him aspects of understanding that the material world will never satisfy him. Kamala represents some aspects that Siddhartha is trying to get rid of, such as lust and desire. We are able to see Siddhartha’s initial emotions toward her art when the author uses sexual diction like longing, desire, and pleading. Later on, Siddhartha is able to learn that the material world that Kamala is part of isn’t enough to satisfy his inner Self, additionally, Siddhartha learns that he isn’t able to love the same as other people are- he sees it only as an emotion, not as a connection between two people- “I am like you. You also do not love- how else could you practice love as a craft? Perhaps, people of our kind cannot love…” (Hesse, 73)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the importance of the river in this instance. Meeting Kamala is a major event for Siddhartha; it will come to define his actions, feelings, and goals for a long while. As such, it's a collection of obstacles that signify an important part of the story, and what better way to mark this than by including the river? The river, as you put it, signifies unity in the universe, representing a flow of life, energy, what is. As such, its inclusion in this scene seems wholly intentional, as tying this in with the flow of Siddhartha's journey and consequentially, the story, plays a big part in the river's meaning and the scene's significance.
DeleteChapters 5-7 represent the point in the book where Siddhartha isn’t fond of anything he experiences spiritually and starts to test the “earthly” pleasures to see if anything the world had to offer could give him any sort of fulfillment. Towards the end of Samsara, the book explains that “For many long years, with no high goal, no thirst, no exaltation, [Siddhartha] had been content with minor pleasures and yet never satisfied!” (Hesse 74) This chapter ends in a huge transition for Siddhartha; he has fully given up his life in the materialistic world. His wealth, the love he experiences from Kamala, the clothes he wears, the property he owns, and the food he eats all hold very little value to him at that point. Even though he is superior to others in terms of what he has, he never felt fully satisfied by his qualities. Kamala releasing the songbird at the end of the chapter also represents Siddhartha undergoing a huge change, which leads me to acknowledging that birds symbolize change, a turning point, or a realization that could lead one to change. When Siddhartha dreams of the dead songbird, he realizes that he has complete spiritual emptiness, and that if he doesn’t change, then the current path he is following will lead him into a deeper hole that will be hard to climb out of. Kamala releasing the songbird toward the ends of the chapter shows that Siddhartha has fled his life of the upper class and is embarking on something new. At this time the book states that Siddhartha was in his forties, a time where many adults have experienced and tasted things and life but aren’t too old to still search for what they desire most.
ReplyDeleteLOL I'M SO SORRY
DeleteSiddhartha has met Kamala, and become her student after gaining what he needs to meet her approval. He feels that Kamala understands him better than anyone else ever has, including Govinda. Siddhartha feels a deep connection with her. “You are like me, you are different from most people. You are Kamala, nothing else, and inside you there is a stillness, a sanctuary that you can enter at anytime and be at home in, just as I can inside myself. Few people have that, and yet all people could have it.” (Hesse 64). That inner sanctuary comes from accepting life as it is, and just being. It is possible that they both have this because neither of them can love and they are content experiencing life without relying on others. This is one reason why Kamala was such an important part of Siddhartha's life and his journey towards enlightenment. At this point in their relationship, they both accept each other. Even though their relationship is based off of the art of love, they continue to grow together and support each other like good friends. In the last part of the quote, Siddhartha talks about how all people have the ability to have this inner peace but that they are too concerned with the little things to find it in themselves. They also point out that having an inner sanctuary or not is not determined by intelligence. Someone does not have to be smart to find happiness, they just have to be accepting.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter aptly named “Kamala,” Siddhartha encounters a manifestation of temptation, one that embodies Siddhartha’s biggest obstacle along the path to fulfill himself. Disguised as a woman named Kamala, she represents everything from which Siddhartha is trying to escape: the value of tradition, of wealth, of possession. In his first discussion with Kamala, after proposing that she teach him what she can, Kamala responds by declaring that Siddhartha “is not good enough yet” (Hesse 44). This passage is an excellent explanation for what exactly Kamala is, what exactly stands to show. Her statement continues, requiring that Siddhartha “must have clothes, beautiful clothes, handsome shoes, plenty of money in his purse” (Hesse 44) and, of course, “gifts for Kamala.” This is exactly what Kamala is: a depiction of the values of society, values that promote ownership and the aim of wealth.
ReplyDeleteKamala is more than just a simple depiction, of course; in the grand scheme of things, she is a brilliant symbol of the forces against which Siddhartha must work. In his search for fulfillment, Siddhartha is actively combating forces innate within humans. He has to move beyond his natural demands for wealth, power, and pleasure. Kamala, however, is a single being that possesses and can provide all three. Her actions lead Siddhartha to Kamaswami, giving him wealth. She can lift his social standing, class, and potency, giving him power. And she gives him pleasure in the most sexual of intentions often, awarding what Siddhartha refers to, although creepily as it may be, as a ‘lesson.’ Because of this, Kamala is all things desire, and all things temptation.
She transcends a mere person or character, however, when the whole of the story is considered. Siddhartha finds her amidst just the beginning of his wandering journey, and what more of an appropriate time to meet hardship? She sets the ideal tone for the entire adventure. She is, in a way, a manifestation of Siddhartha’s main enemy throughout the plot: himself. Upon meeting Kamala, Siddhartha is captivated, feeling the urge to even “thank you for your beauty” (Hesse 43). This is, in fact, exactly what Siddhartha will be opposing as readers traverse the pages of Siddhartha: the weakness within himself. It is within the remaining chapters, however, that the true clash with these obstacles will be seen.
As part one ends and part two begins with Kamala, Siddhartha begins to view the world as a better brighter place rather than a dark and grey one. The author tells us that Siddhartha’s journey has taken him to bigger and life changing spots. He begins to see the world as the world is, if that makes sense. For example the author writes, “He saw trees, stars, animals, clouds, rainbows, rocks, herbs, flowers, brooks, and rivers, dew glittering on the morning bushes, high and distant mountains blue and wan, birds sang and bees, wind wafted silvery in the rice paddy” (Hesse pg 43). This shows us, the readers, that Siddhartha starts to truly open up his eyes and take off his blinders to see this world that he has seemed to be looking for all this time. I think that’s why Hesse puts this at the beginning of the chapter of part two. Hesse writes it here to signify that it's a new chapter of Siddhartha’s life, so he can try and figure out his way in this world, without a care in this world or a responsibility that he has to take of. Siddhartha seems to have a whole different opinion on the world at the moment, and thinks he is finally heading in the right direction. So as part two begins, our opinion on this stubborn, selfish Siddhartha may change and I predict that Siddhartha begins to finally find himself in this large world where we all seem to be walking aimlessly trying to find the right path to walk down.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement on how Siddhartha is entering a new chapter in his life. He realizes that he may not find enlightenment from religion and attempts other methods of achieving this. In this case, he find the oh so beautiful Kamala, and is now trying to find enlightenment in pleasure and desire. He is on this huge quest for knowledge and once he learns everything he can from a teacher he leaves. Which is exactly why he leaves Kamala, because he is once again discontent and wants to find out more. I, however, started to believe that Siddhartha was becoming selfish in these few chapters. He completely disregards his previous morals from the samanas, which can be seen through his acquired wealth, and then he becomes a bit greedy with that fact, and then he leaves Kamala without telling her, he just completely looses his sense of self. But at the same time I am not so sure if one becomes selfish if they lose their sense of self, maybe everyone is just selfish.
DeleteIn the next three chapters (Kamala, Among The Child People, and Samsara), Siddhartha becomes separated from the “spiritual” world and enters the so called material world on his quest for knowledge. This idea is explored early in the beginning of the second part, when Siddhartha is wandering around, “Siddhartha learned something new at every step along his path, for the world was transformed, and his heart was enchanted,” (Hesse, 43). Siddhartha is fascinated by his new findings, and becomes interested in desire and love. He tries to find something else that could possibly enlighten him, and he decides that Kamala might be able to teach him something as Siddhartha very much . He is instantly drawn to Kamala for her beauty, and is fascinated by her art, and even though he has nothing much to offer her, asks if she could teach him the art of love. The name Kamala comes from Kama, which is a Hindu god of love. Siddhartha is now allowing himself to explore other aspects of life, but he soon becomes bored with this, and comes to the conclusion that he has no ability to love, “... ‘I am like you. You do not love either-how else could you practice love as an art? Perhaps people like us cannot love. The child people can; that is their secret,” (65). Siddhartha has become so lost in his own desires and the things he has that he cannot truly find meaning in what he is doing now, he has become discontent once more. He started out with nearly nothing, as he came from the forest, and at that point he has gained much wealth and had his own house and could successfully run a business at that point, Siddhartha has basically forgotten, or disregarded, all of his previous morals. Because of this, he has sort of lost his sense of self, and feels trapped. This feeling of being trapped can be symbolized by the bird that Kamala had, “... she stepped over to the window, where she kept a rare songbird in a gold cage. She opened the door of the cage and took out the bird, and let it fly,” (76). When Kamala releases the songbird, Siddhartha had already made the decision to leave town, by setting the bird free it symbolizes that Siddhartha no longer feels trapped and that he is ready to move on to the next thing in life, whatever that may be, even though he leaves Kamala, and more importantly leaves her pregnant with his child which becomes a major conflict later on.
ReplyDeletePart Two of Siddhartha initiates with Siddhartha opening up his own eyes to a whole new world. He takes in the visible vastness of the world in and begins to realize simple magnificence was right in front of him, but did not choose to see it for himself. "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." (Hesse, 37-38). With Siddhartha's realization of gratitude for the world, the readers are signaled that this is the time where Siddhartha begins his journey. Hesse's use of descriptive and beautiful visual imagery immediately after Siddhartha decides to take his own path to enlightenment makes the start of Siddhartha's journey much more clear and meaningful than ever. The chapters Kamala, Among The Child People, and Samsara all show Siddhartha's first experiences and lessons throughout his journey to enlightenment. In Kamala, so rightfully titled, Siddhartha meets a dazzling woman named Kamala. Though he has his hatred for teachers, Kamala is his exception because of her smokin' hot looks (.-.). Kamala begins to teach Siddhartha about the marvelous wonders of the libido and materialistic things, and in doing so throws out Siddhartha's morals and beliefs straight out the window.
ReplyDeleteWe the readers begin to notice that Kamala is much more than just a person who lives the high life through her medlar and materials. Instead, she resembles the temptations of Siddhartha, and through his kisses with Kamala, Siddhartha gives into those temptations with great joy, ultimately pulling his selfishness to the next level. "'I knew that you would help me--with the first look you gave me at the entrance to the grove, I knew it already.' 'And if I had not been willing?' 'You were willing. See here, Kamala:...'" (49). This quote shows Siddhartha's every growing tenacity, and also his ever growing discontent. Throughout his meetings with Kamala, he began to slowly fall into the truths of the materialistic world, eventually landing himself with an apprentice job to make money for Kamala, because his ever-changing mind is incapable of the love that normal people share.
Siddhartha leaves Kamala because he has learned all he needed to know about love, just like he does everyone else. But in the end, the both of them learned and benefited from each other. Kamala is left with mind-blowing thoughts and sayings from a "stupid shramana from the forest", and Siddhartha is left with windows of opportunities as he is desperately finding the path towards enlightenment on his own.
Part two of Siddhartha quickly begins with Siddhartha’s “freedom” from the life of the samanas and disattachment from Govinda; it is the beginning of Siddhartha and his own path to enlightenment.
ReplyDelete“He saw trees, stars, animals, clouds, rainbows, rocks, weeds, flowers, brook and river, the sparkle of dew on bushes in the morning, distant high mountains blue and pale; birds sang, bees hummed, the wind blew gently across the rice fields. All this, colored and in a thousand different forms, had always been there, The sun and moon had always shone; the rivers had always flowed and the bees had hummed, but in previous times all this had been nothing to Siddhartha but a fleeting and illusive veil before his eyes, regarded with distrust, condemned to be disregarded and ostracized from the thoughts, because it was not reality, because reality lay on the other side of the visible.” (45)
This passage and its use of graceful, naturalistic diction convey to the reader how Siddhartha is seeing the small wonders of the world for the first time under his own terms. He is no longer restrained by a lack of emotion and Self he felt with the samanas, and no longer has the conscious shadow of Govinda ever since he chose to follow the Buddha. What was once a bland and lifeless, emotionless world to him now unveiled to a world of vibrant color, sounds, and feelings. Hesse’s use of soft-sounding words such as “gently” and “hummed” lull the reader into relaxation, as well as his description of the clouds and dew drops creating a peaceful setting. It’s not until Siddhartha has lived the simple life with the samanas that he can have this wondrous regard for nature and the beauty of the world. Earlier in the story, before he leaves to join the pilgrimage with Govinda, Siddhartha is part of another beautiful, natural setting, though he cannot appreciate it due to the discontent lying deep in himself. “But Siddhartha was not happy. Wandering along the rosy paths of the fig garden, sitting in contemplation in the bluish shade of the grove, washing his limbs in the daily bath of atonement, offering sacrifices in the depths of the shady mango wood with complete grade of manner, beloved by all, a joy to all, there was yet no joy in his own heart.” (5) Similar to emotions such as happiness and sadness, he was unable to appreciate either until he had experienced both extremes. At the beginning of the story, Siddhartha upheld expectations and was loved by many. When he abandons the samanas and is left by Govinda, he is unknown and does not feel the same discontent as he did when he was younger. He is now embracing his surroundings, unhindered by expectation or reputation, and is on the path to finding his own enlightenment.
Are there any specific words which foreshadow that??
ReplyDeleteTowards the end of the chapter ,Samsara, Siddhartha is beginning to realize the wrongfulness of the life path he has chosen. After Siddhartha wakes up from a bad dream Hesse writes:
ReplyDelete“Jumping up from his dream, he felt a profound sadness. He had, it seemed to him, been leading a worthless life, worthless and senseless; no living thing, no precious thing, nothing worth keeping have remained in his hands. He stood alone and empty like a castaway on a shore” (Hesse 73)
Hesse is trying to convey that in this moment Siddhartha feels like there is nothing worth living for anymore, he feels alone and sorrowful. Words like “worthless” and “senseless” create a pitiful tone, and the image of a “castaway on a shore” helps the reader to really understand how alone and lost Siddhartha feels. In the next paragraph, Hesse writes, “... (Siddhartha) sat and sensed everything withering inside him, dying inside him, coming to an end.” Clearly, Siddhartha feels like all the good in his life is gone, his feels that his soul is dying. What I really compare this to is what happened in one of the previous chapters, Awakening, when Siddhartha felt reborn, and he was going to lead a new life, and the imagery in that scene. The big contrast between those two moments is that earlier Siddhartha felt spiritually reborn, and the imagery used was so beautiful and vivid. Now Siddhartha feels like he’s spiritually dying, and the imagery used is very sorrowful and dreary, like a withering, dead plant, or a castaway on a shore. But with both these transformations, comes a big change is Siddhartha’s life.
Siddhartha has left his life as a rich man and found himself on the bank of a river he crossed many years before. After contemplating throwing himself to the river to drown, he sleeps for many hours under a tree. When he wakes up he is greeted by his old friend Govinda. When they part again, Siddhartha begins his journey downstream to find the ferryman just like after the last time he and Govinda parted. The ferryman remembers him and welcomes him into his home as his friend and apprentice. Siddhartha wishes to learn from the river. While gazing into it’s flowing water, Siddhartha realized that life was the same way and that time is an illusion. “Nothing was, nothing will be; everything is, everything has being and is present.” (Hesse 94). The quote is saying everything is constantly changing, but everything is the same as it will always be. This means that the people and places may change but the circumstances will always remain unchanged. Siddhartha finds this important because no matter where he was in life, he now knew he was always Siddhartha. He could change his lifestyle as much as he wants but he will always be himself. Siddhartha is defined by his experiences and should not try to erase them to live up to this new person he has made himself out to be. Everything is part of the same whole and can not be changed. This realization was very important to Siddhartha’s journey towards enlightenment. Sometimes the best teacher isn’t a teacher at all.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your interpretation of that quote. Everything is constantly changing and evolving. Some things change for better, others for worse. Siddhartha changes a lot throughout the course of this novel, and to some extent I think that he just had to "go through the motions". Everyone goes through good times and bad times, and these things shape our experience and who we are as people, these experiences sometimes forces people to change. And I think that his idea of our past and our experiences is very important to these couple of chapters as Siddhartha finally confronts his past and accepts his experiences as a part of him.
DeleteOne of the most interesting things in the chapter ‘By the River’ was the reintroduction of the motif of the “Om”. The Om is an important feature in this chapter because it shows a drastic change in Siddhartha’s character. The first time the reader was introduced to the Om was when Siddhartha was first meditating and reflecting whether or not he should leave his family at the beginning of the story. Siddhartha struggled with the concept and the importance of the Om since he was only taught was it should mean. However, in this chapter, Siddhartha hears Om again when he is standing by the river and contemplating the thought to ‘destroy the unsuccessful structure of his life’ but the meaning of Om becomes apparent. Siddhartha learns that Om couldn’t be searched for or purposefully seeked through teaching and experience. Only when Siddhartha has lost everything and has lost all motivation to the point of suicide that Om reveals itself. Om, the inner self, allows Siddhartha to finally realize that life and suffering is indestructible. Another feature of Om that I noticed was its extreme similarity with the symbol of the river throughout the novel. Both ideas have the same concept that there is a oneness and a unity of all things in the universe. Additionally, the Om and the River represent a sense of time. When Siddhartha is showed the Om, he finally is able to experience that all things are existing in the same moment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Om is a very important theme throughout the book. It can also relate back to Siddhartha’s life growing up as a Brahmin and being taught their ways and beliefs. This helps show the illusion of time because he is using something from a life he left behind to help him progress towards enlightenment while living a completely different lifestyle. Siddhartha needs to use all of his experiences from his past instead of trying to ignore them because it is not the way he lives anymore. Om is used to show a turning point in Siddhartha’s life, but it also shows how his life is one thing that is not broken up into pieces.
ReplyDeleteMeant to be a reply to cdoy J.
DeleteThe symbol of the river is very much present in the chapter By The River. At this point in time, Siddhartha had reached his all time low, “In the water a dreadful emptiness mirrored a fearful emptiness in his soul,” (Hesse, 78). Siddhartha is feeling completely empty because he has lost his sense of self due to giving in to lust and desire. He felt as if suicide was the only way out of his so called misery, “... he could have gone on living for years in that gentle, well cushioned hell-if this had not come: the moment of utter hopelessness and helplessness, that extreme moment, when he had hung over the rushing water and had been ready to destroy himself,” (86). He was so lost, and depressed with his life, that he had not been able to find enlightenment, even with all the knowledge he has. The river symbolizes a sort of rebirth, as when he is under the water, trying to drown himself, he hears the om and is able to pull himself out of it. Once he comes back up from the water he feels as if he is a brand new person, and is able to reconnect with him ‘self’, or his ego. Siddhartha realizes all this life he has been trying to find enlightenment by disregarding his ego and that he must accept the past in order to continue moving forward in his life. For this reason, he says that he was not able to love before, “That was the enchantment that had happened to him in his sleep and through the om: he now loved everything and everyone, he was full of cheerful love for anything he saw. And it seemed to him now that he had been so ill earlier because he had been able to love nothing and no one,” (83). This is, obviously, a very different statement to what he told Kamala, and then this comes back to, quite frankly, bite him in the butt. But another thing I thought was very interesting this chapter is the topic about teaching versus experience, which we have discussed in class, “I had to experience despair, I had to sink down to the most foolish of all thoughts, to the thought of suicide, in order to experience grace, to hear om again, to sleep properly again to awaken properly again. I had to become a fool in order to find atman in me again. I had to sin in order to live again. Where will my way lead me now? This is foolish, it runs in loops, it may run in a circle. Let it run as it will, I will follow it,” (85). I thought this was a really interesting quote, what do you guys think? I think, the last part of the quote is the most interesting part because Siddhartha is literally saying that you have to let life happen, and let it take you wherever it may. Additionally that life goes through ups and downs and that everyone has to experience those ups and downs in order to understand one's purpose and one’s self, in order to find peace in yourself and to find enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteI definitely find the quote interesting, as well. While reading, it struck me as a really interesting point: is Siddhartha, the man of self will, self control, saying that to reach enlightenment, we have to hit rock bottom, we have to let life do to us what it will? I certainly thought he was. The most powerful part for me was the statement "I had to experience despair, I had to sink down to the most foolish of thoughts" (Hesse 85), the quote you used in your analysis as well, because it was a recognition by him that his frivolous endeavors with Kamala, Kamaswami, and wealth as a whole were actually not a mistake but a key part of learning and growing, a key to achieving enlightenment.
DeleteAs the chapter By the River starts, the author starts to hint at symbolism of water. In the very beginning of the chapter Siddhartha finds himself at the river yet again. He watches water seeing his reflection look back at him. The author writes, “In the water a dreadful emptiness mirrored a fearful emptiness in his soul” (Hesse pg 78). This quotes explains to us that Siddhartha looks at himself as an empty man with no passion or path to guide him to the next stage in his life. He believes this is the end of the road for him and believes that this means he has no soul to follow. Another explanation this quote tells us is that the river shows us things that we might not want the hear at the moment, yet the river or nature, in any aspect, is so brutally honest with us that it does not care about our emotional state. It is simply doing it’s job, which is showing us the reality in situations. As Siddhartha stares at himself in the water he see’s a man he did not want to become, therefor he wants to drown himself in the water. As he realizes that he has left these past lives behind him, he believes that he should not try and live another one because there is supposedly no more trails for him to travel down. It tells us, the readers, that some things in this world are not going to give us a pity card and does not give us sympathy, yet no matter how hard we try to break this image of us, it is always going to be there, staring back at us, telling us that this is not the right path for us and we should not venture down it, for it is not for our feet to be traveled upon.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter, Samsara, holds great importance as it is the first time in the book we really get to see Siddhartha as what he would call a “child person.” The start of Samsara exposes readers to a Siddhartha “Wrapped in life’s comforts” (59), one that has truly embraced the child person lifestyle. Starting after Siddhartha truly got involved with both Kamala and his merchant career in the previous chapter, the descent into materialism and movement from his previous path truly becomes clear in this chapter, as we can clearly tell something is off. Siddhartha, quite frankly, spent most of the rest of the book ranting about his spite of people who focused on possession. “Child people” isn’t exactly a compliment, at all. The significance of this, therefore, is that there was such a reversal, and we clearly see that here.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, this is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate what a child person truly is, the irony being that Siddhartha is the one demonstrating it to readers. Described to us as one whom “had long possessed his own house and servants” (Hesse 59) and had no one “close to him apart from Kamala,” Siddhartha truly has become a man of wealth, of property, of love. All these he is, but he has drifted far from being a man of the self, or of inner reflection. What better description of child people can you find? He even describes that people “came to him when they needed money or advice” (Hesse 59), to which he was happy to oblige. That, of course, is almost exactly how he described the child people in the first place: happy to aid, finding pleasure in doing so. All the characteristics he previously listed may be found within, and that perhaps is the most interesting part of the chapter. This is not only a turning point in the story, but also a turning point in our perspective of Siddhartha, viewing how he truly does change so easily, ebbing and flowing at the whims of life’s obstacles.
Your connection to the child person and Siddhartha, as well as how it's demonstrated, is really interesting and certainly agreeable. When Siddhartha begins to lose his sense of self, he ends up unintentionally confiding in om, and through this word Siddhartha begins to find joy and beauty in the world. Though love is a strong word, it truly is the child people's secret. Love doesn't always have to be found in someone else, it can be found in other things as well. In Siddhartha's case, it was nature, which shines a spotlight on his child person tendencies. The fact that such a small two-letter word brought him to such a feeling definitely bolsters the fact that Siddhartha's views do change a lot, and it ends up being for the better.
DeleteIn the chapter By The River, Siddhartha comes to a severe consequence of throwing all of his morals down the trash: He loses his connection to his own self and has to start back at square one. "No, there was no goal anymore, there was nothing left but a profound, painful longing to shake off this whole vile dream, to spew out this stale wine, to make an end to this wretched and disgraceful life" (Hesse, 69). At this point, the reader can begin to see the effects Siddhartha has to suffer through because he threw away his moral compass for the sake of being in the materialistic world, ultimately pulling himself further away from the unity of nature. Siddhartha begins to see the river (that gives him the meaning of life in the end of the novel) as a way out, as a way to die, but before he can do anything, Siddhartha falls into a deep sleep and speaks OM, the word that connected him to the natural world before he became a merchant. "'OM!' he said to himself, 'OM!' And he knew Brahman, realized the indestructibility of life, recognized once again the dimension of divinity he had forgotten" (70). Although Siddhartha says the word for just a split second, the reader can already tell the significance of om, how the word connects to the beauty of nature, and how the two combined connects Siddhartha to enlightenment. After meeting with his long lost pal, Govinda, Siddhartha looks back at the word om and realizes the greatness of starting back at square one, at becoming a clean slate once more. He realizes that risks have to be taken in order to successfully achieve his goals, and begins to find the beauty of the world around him. Siddhartha even looks at the river with gratitude and awe, and pulls himself back into the grace of nature. We as the reader can see how such small things, for example om, can make a huge impact on the life ahead of us, and through this realization the reader can take a moral out of this chapter. Not all lessons can be learned by someone else's teachings.
ReplyDeleteIn earlier chapters, Hesse uses birds to symbolize Siddhartha and his current state of mind. Each of the different birds are representative of the many cycles in Siddhartha’s life.
ReplyDeleteFirst, youthful Siddhartha was compared to a young falcon: robust, dominant, and full of life. After joining the samanas, he evolves into a heron: skeletal and solitudinous. “A heron flew over the bamboo wood and Siddhartha took the heron into his soul, flew over forest and mountains, became a heron, ate fishes, suffered heron hunger, used heron language, died a heron’s death.” (15) Living with the samanas, Siddhartha experienced discontent and frustration, as he was unable to achieve enlightenment and even expressed to Govinda that he believed the achievement was impossible through knowledge and teachings.
During his stay with Kamala, Siddhartha was introduced to a life of lust, frivolous materialism, and luxury. Though he initially believed the wealth was enjoyable and took pleasure in the fine wines and perfumes, he eventually became sick of his life as a wealthy man, feeling ashamed of what his life had come to. Siddhartha wakes up one morning to find that Kamala’s songbird in the golden cage is dead. The songbird is representative of Siddhartha, his values and goodness. The golden cage it had been restrained by was similar to the material goods and wealth that had encaptured him while living as a rich man. Kamala’s release of another songbird from its cage is synonymous to Siddhartha being freed from his greed and wealth when he escapes the garden.
In “By the River”, Siddhartha has come full circle back to the river. As he recounts his experiences, Hesse’s use of bird symbolism is present yet again.
“I went and learned the pleasures of love from Kamala and business from Kamaswami. I hoarded money, I squandered money, I acquired a taste for rich food, I learned to stimulate my senses. I had to spend many years like that in order o lose my intelligence, to lose the power to think, to forget about the unity of things. Is it not true, that slowly and through many deviations I changed form a man into a child? From a thinker into an ordinary person? And yet this path has been good and the bird in my breast has not died.” (96)
As is did with Kamala’s songbird in the golden cage, the bird represents Siddhartha’s goodness and virtue. Siddhartha states that although he has gone through many changes and experiences in his life, his bird and goodness in his heart is still present.
Siddhartha has reached enlightenment, and is sharing his thoughts with his old friend Govinda even though Siddhartha does not have a teaching. Govinda can see that he has become enlightened and wishes to do the same. In Siddhartha’s presence, he was able to do just that. "And Govinda saw that this mask-like smile, this smile of unity over the flowing forms, this smile of simultaneousness over the thousands of births and deaths-this smile of Siddhartha-was exactly the same as the calm, delicate, impenetrable, perhaps gracious, perhaps mocking, wise, thousand-fold smile of Gotama, the Buddha, as he perceived it with awe a hundred times. This, Govinda knew, was how the Perfect Ones smiled." (Hesse 131). By kissing Siddhartha’s forehead, Govinda is able to reach enlightenment. Govinda now sees everything, all life and rebirth. Time was being woven together and mixed, for it did not exist anymore. Both of them have joined the Perfect Ones. Govinda is saying that Siddhartha is the Buddha; he has gained the same peace that Gotama once had. Govinda reaching enlightenment shows that everybody takes a different path to get there, which supports Siddhartha saying it can not be taught. Like Gotama, Siddhartha and Govinda followed their own path toward enlightenment through teachers they believed in. Siddhartha believed in the river, and all it could teach him about life. For Govinda, the only reason he reached enlightenment is through his love and belief in Siddhartha and his wisdom. Govinda always knew Siddhartha would reach enlightenment, and he would follow him.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis, however I don't think Govinda has reached enlightenment. I think that by Govinda kissing Siddhartha's forehead, he was able to see what is around him. Earlier in the chapter, Siddhartha talks about how stopping and looking at the things around are more important than seeking. Govinda was finally able to see what was around him and could finally stop seeking and start living his how life and follow his own life rather than follow the life of another person. His visions when kissing Siddhartha's forehead was more of a sign that he had just witnessed an enlightened figure and the new Buddha rather than him reaching enlightenment. Experiencing the presence of the Buddha will definitely help Govinda in his search for enlightenment because he was told that you need to follow your own path rather than following the paths of others.
DeleteGovinda’s presence has been acutely seen and felt over the course of Siddhartha, yet readers never truly understand his real role until the appropriately named “Govinda” chapter. His inclusion here completes a trifecta of roles that he plays. In the beginning, he is a sort of understudy to Siddhartha. In the middle, he serves as a protector, watching over him as he slumbers. And in the end, he finishes as a test for Siddhartha. He asks of him, “Will you not tell me something about it, your reverence?” (Hesse 108), testing Siddhartha to prove what he has learned.
ReplyDeleteIt is the combination of these roles, however, that is Govinda’s true purpose: a guide. There would be no path to enlightenment, no residence on the river, no leaving to become a shramana if not for Govinda. Being by the side of Siddhartha at the beginning gave him a support network, his closest friend allowing him to truly pursue what he wanted, to look for fulfillment. Later, there quite literally may have been no Siddhartha had Govinda not stood by him at the river, protecting him from what may come while he slumbered. And lastly, in a more symbolic sense, Govinda allowed Siddhartha to finally reflect upon his teachings, that “Certain people… must change a lot” (Hesse 108), all that he had learned over his endeavor.
It stands to reason, therefore, that Govinda was a guide to Siddhartha’s enlightenment. Whether symbolically or literally, Govinda acted, in a way, as the path, showing up at the exposition, the climax, and the conclusion. Govinda, in a way, is the plot of Siddhartha’s story, and not just the book. The importance of the chapter, therefore, is finally fulfilling his role, opening up avenues of analysis previously closed off. The full reveal of this is quintessential to understanding his character and, really, Siddhartha’s path to enlightenment.
As the book Siddhartha starts to end and Hesse starts to wrap up the journey of Siddhartha we finally get an idea of how Govinda has been such a big part of this book. In the beginning of this book Govinda has been a simple shadow that has fallen behind Siddhartha and has walked in his footsteps thinking that Siddhartha was such an amazing person thinking that he had to follow him to find himself. Although Govinda wasn’t directly present at some parts towards the middle, he was still there watching over Siddhartha making sure he was making the right decisions. Govinda was his protector during this time frame. Towards the end Govinda asks Siddhartha, “Do you have a faith or knowledge that you follow, that helps you live and do right” (Hesse 123). Here Govinda is testing Siddhartha if he has found enlightenment and himself yet. He questions Siddhartha because he feels he has seen it just a smidgen. He has seen Siddhartha struggle and find hope yet again. If it wasn’t for Govinda from the very beginning, then there would be no adventure to enlightenment for Siddhartha at all. For it has been all because of Govinda that Siddhartha is where he is today, as a ferryman who has finally seemed to find himself in this unforgivable world. In a way Govinda might be the whole point or plot of this story rather than Siddhartha. Having the last chapter named, Govinda kind of proves that point as well. For it is Govinda that has opened this whole adventure for Siddhartha to venture down and finally in the end finding enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteI thought you had very good points and I agreed with what you said about Govinda being there for Siddhartha since the beginning and that he was the reason this whole journey began for him
DeleteI agree that Govinda has always consistently present throughout the novel, even if he was not physically present. Govinda was there through almost every major event in Siddhartha's life, and is able to see him grow. I thought that it was really interesting how it seemed as if Govinda were to find enlightenment much faster, or took the "easy way" there, but Siddharatha was able to find enlightenment before he was. I thought it was interesting how at the end, Govinda is still searching and seeking for the feeling of enlightenment, he still wants to reach Nirvana. It almost seems as if at that point he is just really desperate, so desperate that she goes to Siddhartha for any last hope of learning something about how to reach enlightenment. But Siddhartha then tells him that he just has to accept his past and be reflective of it and become wise from all the experiences in his life. It was not until then that Govinda has also reached enlightenment.
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ReplyDeleteThe last couple of chapters of this novel are all about experience. For one, Siddhartha finally reaches enlightenment, which was the entire point of this novel, so congratulations to Siddhartha. However, it was obviously not an easy journey and this is very much depicted in the last two chapters, more specifically in the chapter Om. Siddhartha's son had already left at this point, and so Siddhartha is greatly grieving this loss of a person he loved. He soon realized that he was trying to impose is knowledge on him and that he was not following his own path, “Had not his father suffered the same sorrow that Siddhartha was now suffering for his own son? Had his father not died long since, alone, without seeing his son again? Would Siddhartha not have to suffer the same fate? Was it not a comedy, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this running in a fateful circle?” (Hesse 115). SIddhartha realized that he had to let go of his son and let him carve his own path to become enlightenment, for he had tried to teach him the path to what he thought was a good life. This did not work on the child, and so the kid left. Siddhartha was able to sympathize with both his father and his son, because he too had left his family in order to become enlightened.Once he is able to realize this, he was able to let his son go, and find enlightenment himself, “As he spoke, on and on, and Vasudeva listened with a silent face, Siddhartha felt Vasudeva’s listening, felt it more intensely than ever before; he felt his own pains and anxieties flowing across to him, his secret hope flowing across and coming back,” (116). Siddhartha pours out his story to Vasudeva and then is told to listen to the river. By listening to the river Siddhartha was able to find peace with himself and with everything around him, he was able to find meaning in it. Once he becomes enlightened, Vasudeva leaves, which shows how he is almost like a spiritual guide, which would explain why Siddhartha describes him as being holy. Siddhartha then becomes, the enlightened one, the one who is very wise, he becomes a sort of spiritual leader. He becomes a sort of spiritual guide for Govinda in the last chapter. Govinda comes to the river seeking the wise ferryman to teach him how to find enlightenment, “‘It is true, I am old,’ said Govinda, ‘but I have not stopped seeking. Never will I stop seeking- this seems to be my destiny. You too, it seems to me, have sought. WIll you say a word to me, Honored One?’” (121). Govinda asks Siddhartha to teach him how to find enlightenment, for he is still trying to find it, and feels as if he will never stop seeking it. It goes to show that through teachings, finding enlightenment can be much more difficult. Siddartha continues to talk about how he cannot teach Govinda how to find enlightenment, but rather he must experience life as well, or be reflective of it. Wisdom cannot be transferred over to another person, but knowledge can be communicated. Siddhartha then guides Govinda and tells him to kiss his forehead. He is able to see everything from his past, just like the river did with Siddhartha. Ultimately it is learned that anyone is capable of achieving enlightenment, even if you are the worst sinner of them all, that no person can be excluded from that. If someone has the right will and power to experience life and is willing to accept your past, then anyone can become enlightened.
In the chapters “Om” and “Govinda”, Siddhartha reflects on his own past before enlightenment, before Kamala, and even before the samanas.
ReplyDelete“His face resembled that of another person, whom he had once known and loved and even feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetics, how he had taken leave of him, how he had gone and never returned. Had not his father also suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son? Had not his father died long ago, alone, without having seen his son again? Did he not expect the same fare? Was it not a comedy, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this course of events in a fateful circle?” (132)
Like numerous other passages in Hesse’s story, this represents two significant aspects of Buddhism: karma and Samsara. When Siddhartha describes the “fateful circle”, he is suggesting towards both. Samsara is the endless cycle of life and has the connotation circuitous change. Everything will come back full circle and life will keep moving forward. This is evident in the potter’s wheel, prior to when Siddhartha leaves behind Kamala and the life of a rich man. The potter’s wheel, a round disc, keeps turning and turning. Although it slowed, symbolizing Siddhartha’s heaviness and weariness when he only valued wealth, it never stopped. In this passage, Siddhartha left his father barely in his youth, and never returned. He lived his life and experienced many ephemeral stages of Samsara, until he eventually returned to the beginning of the cycle, back to when he abandoned his father. This is where karma is apparent. In Buddhism, karma is the causes and effects of one’s actions and intentions. Good behavior and good intentions create good karma, while poor actions and behavior result in bad. It acts to balance one’s deeds and shape their fate. In this passage, the results of Siddhartha’s own poor actions comes back full circle. When he was younger, he had left his father without a trace and had never considered what sadness and suffering his father had felt until now, after his own son has left him.
I think it's a very interesting and cool notion to draw the connection between Siddhartha's reflection and the karma/Samsara aspect of Buddhism. Hesse, obviously, hid sincere Buddhist symbolism and connections throughout the novel -- the main character's name is Siddhartha, obviously -- and reflection upon the travels Siddhartha had is key to drawing that connection. I thought it was also an important part of the main idea, learning from the journey as a whole. The way I saw it, reflecting upon his past and his journey serviced this purpose, of learning from what he had done. In the grand scheme of things, these two objectives tie together quite eloquently, a spiritual way of learning via reflection. It's quite interesting to see just how Hesse managed to tie these ends together to build a satisfying, complete ending.
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