An idea that comes up multiple times in this passage is thirst. It appears when Siddhartha's discontent with his life is brought up, stating that ritual ablutions are just water and do not "heal the mind's thirst," (Hesse 5). This is the first time that Siddhartha's thirst is mentioned, and it shows that none of his needs, not even his thirst, stops in a physical meaning. Siddhartha is thirsty for knowledge at this point, thirsty for a way to achieve a lifestyle that fits who he is. Another time it is brought up, it's brought up in the context of getting rid of his thirst, stating he wishes to be "empty of thirst," (12). This is then followed by his want to be empty of dreams, desire, joy, and sorrow, none of which are physical things, just as his thirst isn't physical, but mental. He thirsts not for water, but for knowledge, for nirvana. It is brought up again later when he is again discontent with the way he is living, stating he "suffer[s] from thirst," and, on the path he is taking, "[his] thirst has not grown any less," (16). He, again, speaks of a thirst that isn't physical, but has the same pull as physical thirst. I believe this motif is significant because his thirst shows how he needs this knowledge like people need water. Nirvana, for him, is the loss of thirst, so every time he is dissatisfied with the life he lives, the motif returns, showing his need in a way the reader can understand.
In the first chapter “The Brahmin's Son” I thought is was interesting how Hesse used syntax to echo the rising tension between Siddhartha and his father. The author went from using long scrawling sentences like “Love stirred in the hearts of the young Brahmins’ daughters when Siddhartha walked through the streets of the town, with his lofty brow, his king like eyes and his slim figure (Hesse 2). This is a stark contrast from the short and concise dialogue between father and son at the apex of their conflict, “‘You will die Siddhartha’, ‘I will die’” (8). Hesse also uses the first two chapters to help develop Siddhartha’s character. Using diction like standing, unmoving, trembled, and benumbed Hesse creates a fatigued feeling in the reader highlighting the perseverance of Siddhartha. Imagery like “Siddhartha’s knees trembled slightly, but there was no trembling in Siddhartha’s face,” (8) also helps to support the resolve that he has in leaving his home. In chapter two “With the Samanas” Siddhartha’s “glance because icy when he encountered women; his lips curled with contempt when he passed through a town of well dressed people,” (10). This showed his easy ability to learn but also his naivety. Siddhartha went from constantly questioning his current religion asking “did sacrifices the really bring happiness? (3) and “why must he, the blameless one, cleanse himself anew each day?,” (5) to throwing himself wholeheartedly into this new path without a second thought. In many ways his “thirst” blinds him, causing him to make rash decisions. This creates an interesting relationship between his desperate quest for knowledge and a child like naivety that hinders that quest because he wants for one single entity to have all the answers for him.
While reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, I notice evident patterns and repetitions in the story. Like that of the pattern in Chapter two, “With the Samanas” where Siddhartha seeks on “becoming empty”(11) and to “no longer be self”(11). This is the thought process of Siddhartha as he becomes a Samana. He believes the way to find his innermost being is to detach himself from his soul. He wishes to evade the pain and suffering that the human body causes to his soul; to free himself from any distractions that might obstruct his goal of reaching enlightenment. He believes that eating away at all of himself until nothing is left will reveal his untouched innermost self which he craves so much. This shows the reader the desperation Siddhartha has for finding his Atman. He virtually tortures himself in hopes of revealing something that no one has found. Personally as a reader, I thought that this flee from self was not getting him any closer to finding his deeper self. However, this period of time with the samanas was a pivotal moment for Siddhartha and his path. On page eleven, Hesse describes Siddhartha becoming a heron and “taking it into his soul”(11). I thought there must be some reason Hesse chose a heron, so I looked up meanings behind the heron. Some of which fit the story and explain this part of the journey. The Heron can symbolize: Transformation, renewal, exploration and following your own path. It is clear the message Hesse is sending the readers. This time Siddhartha spent with the Samanas is a transformation into the next step of his path to enlightenment. On page thirteen, Siddhartha realizes this “flight from self”(13) is just a “temporary escape from the torment of self”(13) and will not lead him to the enlightenment he desires.
In “The Brahmin’s Son”, Govinda’s perspective is used to begin the story from an outside view and show the idealized nature of the community’s opinions on Siddhartha: “Govinda knew that Siddhartha would never become an ordinary brahmin, a lazy purveyor of rituals, a greedy dealer in charms, a vain mouther of empty phrases, a base and devious priest, nor would he become a mindless good sheep in the common herd. His desire was to follow Siddhartha, the beloved, the magnificent . . . as his friend, as his companion, as his servant, his spear bearer, his shadow” (Hesse 4). The use of extravagant, hero-worshipping diction like “beloved” and “magnificent” serves to characterize Siddartha as someone entirely without flaws, or at least perceived to be so. Govinda himself is also characterized, but as someone who is more blindly in awe, and whose own ambitions, decreasing in importance from “friend” to “shadow”, can never match what he believes Siddhartha can do. He is shown to be weaker and more of a follower than Siddhartha, too simple to be unsatisfied with verbal teachings. However, the over-glorified depiction of Siddhartha is countered soon after as we arrive at his own thoughts, which are thoughts of strong dissatisfaction. The constant repetition within phrases mirrors the repetitive meaninglessness he is starting to feel in his own life, and the long, list-like sentences imitate the boredom he is associating with the inadequate teachings. His attitude is strikingly different from Govinda’s, making Govinda appear even more like one of the sheep he contrasted with his friend, too busy idolizing Siddhartha to search for anything more in life. Finally, Govinda’s passage is rife with foreshadowing of Siddhartha’s future. Siddhartha is, to some degree, to become that which he is so far from now in Govinda’s eyes- “lazy”, “greedy”, “vain”, “base”. His future life of luxury and material goods is made more ironic by Govinda’s blind belief that it could never happen to Siddhartha, and it shows that Siddhartha’s less positive attitude is much closer to the truth-- He is not as perfect and immune to wrong as they all think, and overcoming past failures is much more worthy of awe than never encountering them in the first place.
In the book, Govinda realizes that he has been following Siddhartha like a disciple so he branches out to become his own individual person with his own destiny. However, he never forgot what Siddhartha taught him and he never stopped loving Siddhartha. Govinda also saw how different their life paths were. He noticed and felt how Siddhartha was always unhappy and dissatisfied of himself and that was also another reason as to why Govinda left him because he felt that he was being a burden to Siddhartha.
Hesse characterizes Siddhartha by contrasting the narrator's view of Siddhartha and Siddhartha's own view of himself. The narrator uses ennobling epithets such as "Siddhartha, the beloved, the magnificent," and "Siddhartha, the strong, the beautiful," elevating him above others (Hesse 2). Hesse’s portrayal of Siddhartha as god-like emphasizes the individuality of his journey, and distinguishes him from other disciples. While Siddhartha brings joy and contentment to the people around him, he feels unhappy and dissatisfied. The juxtaposing viewpoints are ironic because everyone sees Siddhartha as perfect, while Siddhartha himself is unhappy because he is unsure how to reach perfection. Siddhartha is motivated by his discontent to begin his journey towards contentment, and his dissatisfaction influences his path throughout the whole book.
One of the many things that stood out to me was, in the very beginning of the book Siddhartha is referred as to “The young falcon (Hesse 3).” This epithet implies to his strength, ferocity and keenness. Falcons also represent resurrection, foreshadowing Siddhartha's rebirth as a whole. In the book, Siddhartha dreamed of a bird dying in a cage, which symbolizes what will happen to him if he continues the path of samsara. When he leaves, a bird is released by Kamala. Therefore, the birth represents Siddhartha leaving the prison of samsara and choosing a life outside the cage. This is an example in the future, where Siddhartha will use his strength as falcon to break free from a life of comfort and pleasure inside the cage.
In Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, in “Among the Samanas”, when Siddhartha joins the Samanas he decides to empty himself of everything. The constant repetition of the word empty and Siddhartha trying to get rid of everything is his way to find himself. In chapter one when you find out he is unhappy with himself and he starts to question everything, he joins the ascetics to accomplish his goal of finding peace. However Siddhartha had learned the methods of the ascetics very fast and accomplished all his goals an ascetic and decides to leave at the end of chapter two. Even though joining the Samanas was an important part of Siddhartha’s journey, it did not satisfy him enough to stay or find his true self.
In the beginning of the book, Hesse uses darkness as a metaphor for Siddhartha's desire to leave the brahmins and, subsequently, his brahmin days coming to an end. Hesse starts the book by writing, "In the shadow of the house... in the shadow of the sal-tree forest, in the shadow of the fig tree, Siddhartha... grew up..." (Hesse 3). Also, when it becomes clear that Siddhartha is discontented with his life as a brahmin, he thinks to himself, "Was there any worthwhile parth other than one leading to That, the self, the me, the atman?" (Hesse 5). Therefore, because the house, forest, and fig tree are all represented as part of brahmin community he grew up in, each entity has been cast over with a shadow, and Siddhartha believes that the life of the brahmins isn't going to "bring him contentment" (Hesse 5), it can be inferred that the shadows represent this lifestyle hindering Siddhartha's path to enlightenment. Furthermore, the fig tree and sal-tree forest bear significant meanings in Buddhism. The fig tree was where the real Siddhartha Gautama found enlightenment, and the sal-tree represents impermanence (nothing of Earth is ever free). This leads to the conclusion that the shadows over these religious representations were blocking Siddhartha from seeing the path he was supposed to be on. Another reference to darkness occurs when Siddhartha tells his father he wants to join the ascetics on his journey to becoming one with the atman, or soul. Hesse writes, "After an hour, since sleep did not come to him, the brahmin got up again, paced back and forth, stepped out in front of the house, and saw that the moon had risen...And he came back after one hour and again after two hours... and saw Siddhartha standing there, in the moonlight, in the starlight, in the darkness" (Hesse 9) This is significant because days and night represent beginnings and ends, and the fact that it was night shows both Siddhartha's father and the reader that it is time for Siddhartha to begin his new journey. Also proving this interpretation is the quote, "And the last hour of the night, before day broke, he came back again, went into the room, and looked at the youth standing there." (Hesse 9) Since it was almost daylight, it becomes apparent that the father is losing his last bit of control over his son, because with the sun rise comes new beginnings.
While reading the fourth chapter, Awakening, I noticed a reoccurrence of the maxim Flight is Freedom and decided to explore this specific passage further. Towards the beginning of Awakening, Hesse writes, “ I wanted to rid myself, to conquer it, I could only deceive it, could only fly from it, could only hide from it” (31). In this passage, Hesse uses irony towards the flight is freedom maxim by showing Siddhartha’s struggle with the ridding of himself. He realizes that trying to escape himself to find his Atman won’t get him there. It is actually entrapping himself in an empty lifeless void in which his time with the Samanas has put him in. He has separated himself from his soul and he realizes he doesn’t know himself at all. He discovers that the reason for this is because he is “afraid of himself”(13). Hesse explains this revelation in the following passage: “I was fleeing from myself. I was seeking Brahman, Atman, I wished to destroy myself, get away from myself, in order to find in the unknown innermost, the nucleus of all things, Atman, Life, Divine, the Absolute. But by doing so, I lost myself along the way”(31).
Siddhartha has learned that his flight is leading him to isolation of his Self and not to the achievement of Nirvana. This is a pivotal moment in Siddhartha’s story when he learns to guide himself along his own individual path to enlightenment. Hesse refers to this as a “strong feeling of awakening”(13) . This describes Siddhartha as determined and “a man who knows what he has to do”(13). He now knows where to take himself through the rest of his life in order to achieve his much sought after enlightenment.
I agree with this! The maxim of Flight is Freedom fits well in this context. He at first saw the world to be so beautiful, but then it brought it back to Siddhartha himself where he "On the path to himself" (Hesse 32). It was a very powerful moment because he did realize it was himself that needed to lead him to a personal path of Nirvana.
I agree. It also makes me think of the later chapters in the book when Siddhartha is staying with Kamala. From the very beginning Siddhartha feels trapped by his Self, similar to the bird in Kamala's cage. It isn't until he begins to forget himself that he is finally set free and is able to achieve peace and enlightenment.
In chapter three Gotama, while reading it it Gotama teaches his followers about suffering. Hesse writes, "Gotama taught the teaching of suffering, the origin of suffering, and the path to cessation of suffering." (24). why would one want to teach about suffering when people want to live a life without suffering? This was a huge question that pondered in my mind (and if you have any answers or ideas feel free to reply). In my perspective I think he talked about suffering because he saw how many people were suffering and were carrying a burden on their shoulders. He wanted to teach people how to get rid of their suffering but to do that a person must first experience suffering in order to let go of all attachments including the suffering. Gotama wanted everyone to progress into nirvana and live a good healthy life without performing inadequate habits. But then again why would one want to teach someone of about the concept of nirvana or suffering? In sankrit the word Gotama translates to the one who knows everything because he achieved nirvana and he felt that it was his duty to teach other how to attain nirvana. When a person learns something new they want to teach it to other people as well and that's exactly what Gotama wanted to do. Siddhartha wanted to achieve peace but he also suffered. He was born to a rich family in fact he was a prince but he let go of all the physical and materialistic attachments and he went to the woods and fasted and meditated. He gave up a life of luxury to go to the forest and find peace at heart, mind, soul and body. As Gotama preached, a person must experience suffering in order to understand, learn and let it go.
I had some of the same questions as you and arrived at a similar conclusion. While people did want to live a life without suffering I believe that many peoples definition of that would be to be free of physical and mental suffering. However, Gotama is teaching a path to end all suffering entirely and so to reach that you must endure the sufferings of earth. Also, to add on to the second part of your response I thought it was really interesting how Siddhartha thought that the path that Gotama was trying to teach wasn't something that was able to be taught. This creates an interesting concept of if Siddhartha is right then what is the point of trying to teach people?
When it talks about him wanting to teach suffering the first thing that came to my mind was when we did the presentations in class, specifically the one on Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths have to do with 1. Dukkha: suffering exists 2. Samudaya: there is a reason for suffering 3. Nirodha: suffering ends/finding Nirvana 4. Magga: how do you end suffering? So part of what it is saying is that in order to reach Nirvana you have to first suffer. No life is without suffering no matter how much we wish there wouldn't be and I think that's part of what he is teaching. Also in teaching suffering you can learn from what happened and how to move past the experience and avoid it in the future. The Four Noble Truths say that there is always suffering but there is also always a way to end it.
The first thing that popped out at me was the contrast in stylistic choices compared to the previous chapters.There was the abundance of soft sounding words in the chapter Gotama. Hesse uses a lot of lot of “o” sounds with words like follow, yellow, soft, and only. The effect of this is that it helps to create an overall calming mood to the chapter and reinforces “[the buddha’s] peaceful countenance” (Hesse 22). The language that Hesse uses also adds to the overall peaceful tone that the passage conveys. Language like “Gotama wandered into the town” (22) and “join us, walk in bliss” (24) parallel the Buddhist ideas of the eightfold path and the personal journey that everyone must take. The syntax is also long and winding as though you are personally wandering through the chapter. This is a sharp contrast from the syntax of “With the Samanas” which was choppy and abrupt, reflecting the deprived nature of the Samanas. Another important idea of both of the chapters was wandering. I think it was especially profound in this portion of the book because this is when Siddhartha really begins his journey and wanders. He no longer has the structure of either the Samanas or the Buddha and for the first time he is truly lost. “[Siddhartha] was overwhelmed by despair” (34) and this causes him to fully realize the situation. This is the point at which he cuts all ties to his past, including Govinda, and moves forward “no longer looking back” (34).
I agree. The stylistic devices Hesse uses throughout Siddhartha play a big part in how we the readers view the message that Hesse is displaying in the book. The syntax and word choice helps convey the mood/tone of the book. This reminded me of the contrast in tones in the book involving the two polar opposite lives that Siddhartha led along his journey. The money-driven, materialistic life and the meditation-filled, spiritual life. In both sections of the book, Hesse uses these devices to send a message across to all his readers. Using either softer, more peaceful words and syntax or a choppier, harsher words/syntax makes the reader understand and feel Siddhartha’s internal emotions and feelings throughout the story.
Throughout the first part of the book, I find myself wondering about Govinda’s role in a story that is so obviously Siddhartha’s. Govinda has always been portrayed as a flat character, there to shine light on Siddhartha’s childhood brilliance and to be, as he is so often called, his “shadow”. Being referred to as a shadow not only calls Govinda out as a weak and dependant character, but has negative connotations often associated with something from one’s past that needs to be left behind. “Awakening” is all about things left behind: “there was one thing he had left behind as a snake leaves behind an old skin, one thing that was no longer in him that had accompanied him throughout his youth and been a part of him-- the desire to have a teacher and to hear teachings” (Hesse 30). Govinda has always been the one who defended the teachings, and he was eventually the one whose first independent step of his life was to leave Siddhartha behind for them: “‘Is Govinda ever going to take a step on his own, without me, acting from his own heart?’” (25). While Govinda’s leaving is portrayed as a step for him, it is actually Siddhartha’s step away from what Govinda symbolizes-- dependance on teachings. He can even be seen as, at this moment, a representation of Siddhartha’s ego, which he has been able to avoid temporarily through meditation but from which he could never fully be free, until now. Siddhartha has always doubted the effectiveness of teachings as shown in his countless complaints both verbally and mentally. Just as Govinda has always been “a step behind” his friend (25), teachings have always been behind Siddhartha’s thirst for truth, never able to come close to catching up and satisfying him. However, teachings have still pervaded his whole life, and this is the point where he finally lets go of his lifelong practice and his lifelong friend.
Wow I actually wrote about the same thing kind of. Anyways, I think you have a good thing going here, a quote I used in mine that supports your assertion is "he gave me Siddhartha, he gave me myself," which kind of shows that, by taking Govinda, he gave Siddhartha his freedom to take his own path without teachings that he felt were holding him back.
I agree that Gotama wanted to teach how to rid people of suffering, and that's why people wanted to hear it-- they wanted to seek their own liberated life. I think the fact that he acknowledges the suffering in the world actually makes people more willing to listen to him, because it adds an element of reality and painful truth to his teachings, making his promises of an alternative sound more believable and like something that they can and should strive for.
When reading these passages, I noticed another symbol in the story, which was Govinda. After leaving his old friend behind, he's leaving his last tie to the world, leaving him with the ability and time to find himself. Govinda traveled with Siddhartha from the start, however, when he left, Siddhartha found himself alone, without the person "who was [his] shadow and is now Gotama's shadow," (Hesse 29). By leaving Govinda, he lost his last tie to what he recognized as home - the brahmins, his father, the way of life he grew up in. In the sentence following, Siddhartha thinks, "he gave me Siddhartha, he gave me myself," (29). This shows how Siddhartha is now just himself, with no Govinda to be his shadow, he, again, no longer has ties to his previous life, and has the access to who he is without that background and history. This is again shown when Siddhartha is leaving, after he talks to Gotama about his plans. Govinda was a monk following someone who'd achieved nirvana, he had "a thousand monks [who] were his brothers," he was everything that Siddhartha thought he wanted when he first embarked on his journey (33). By leaving Govinda behind, he left this idea that he needed to be taught how to reach nirvana behind. For him, this last step away from his old life was "that last pang of rebirth," (34). Govinda was a symbol of the old life that Siddhartha led, and the old beliefs he held. By leaving him, he was able to start a new path that didn't involve his past teachings, or any teachings at all. By leaving him, he was "alone like a star in the sky." (33)
I definitely agree with you! Shadows throughout these 4 chapters seem to be a hinder on potential, like how there were shadows in the village the boys grew up in and the brahmin lifestyle was inhibiting their ability to reach nirvana. What do you think it means, then, when Govinda comes back into the story later on?
A recurring theme in chapters three and four is the undisturbed flow of nature, which parallels Siddhartha’s and the Buddhists’ idea of continuance. Siddhartha and Govinda emerge from a forest into “the magnificent grove”, which reflects arriving at their destination. Forests are often a symbol for searching, solitude, and getting lost, contrasting to the big, welcoming grove that has “enough room even for the countless seekers who flock to that place.” Hesse writes, “The shady gardens gave the impression of a city full of people, swarming like bees,” yet again using nature to portray people (Hesse 22). Hesse’s use of reverse-personification (I don’t know if that’s an actual thing, abstraction?) creates a peaceful and relaxed tone, reflective of Buddhists’ meditative ideals. Through his use of nature imagery and a pensive tone, Hesse helps a reader with no previous knowledge of Buddhism connect with Siddhartha and see the relevance of his journey. Especially in chapter four, Hesse uses animal similes to express Siddhartha’s feelings, emphasizing his connection with nature. Siddhartha’s transition from boyhood to manhood was similar to how “a snake leaves behind an old skin,” and Siddhartha’s sudden enlightenment made him halt “as though a snake lay on the path” (31-32). Throughout the book, Hesse uses animals and other aspects of nature (like the snake) to symbolize an idea (evil).
The idea of Siddhartha and The Buddha sharing the same views on life like you said is interesting, but even though they have this in common, they still end up going completely different directions. Siddhartha arrives in a place that seems like the perfect haven, but he still turns it down out of principle and ends up going his own way, creating his own life of self knowing. Another thing that I would connect to this is the river that is constantly brought up throughout the book, including in this chapter.
“Always, even in the most faraway meditation, he had been his father’s son, had been a Brahmin, high-ranking, spiritual. Now he was only Siddhartha, the awakened, and nothing more...No one was so alone as he. No noble who did not belong among nobles, no workman who did not belong among the workmen... Govinda had become a monk, and a thousand monks were his brothers, wore his garments, spoke his tongue. But he, Siddhartha -- where did he belong?” (38-39).
After quitting his teachings, Siddhartha feels as if he no longer has a place in this world. He had always felt he was a part of something when he was growing up as a Brahmin and living as a semana, even when he had his doubts about the teachings. And everyone regarded him highly as a student, but as soon as he gave up his teachings he felt as if he had nothing. As if he was nothing. Everyone else in the world had a place where they belonged; nobles, workmen, even hermits who lived in the forest. He says that they all have ties and bonds. And then he moves onto Govinda, who has gone on to begin a new life without Siddhartha. Govinda was Siddhartha last tie to the rest of the world. He left home, he left the samanas, but he always had Govinda by his side. The loss of Govinda only makes the sting of his aloneness that much worse. But Siddhartha needed to cut this last tie in order to reach his awakening. He needed to step away from the teachings, and the praise, and Govinda who seemed to be linked with both of these things. He needed to feel lost and alone in order to carry on into the next phase of his life.
The most significant passage from this section of Siddhartha is that of his Awakening. His new realization and appreciation for colors, shown in the quote, "The world was beautiful, full of colors, strange and enigmatic. Here was blue, here yellow, here green, the sky was in movement and so was the river..." (32), gives the reader insight as to what this moment feels like. Blue is a color associated with calm and peace, whereas yellow is often happiness. Green, in this sense, most likely refers to his connection with nature. These colors, however, can often carry negative connotations: blue means sad, yellow means jealousy, and green means greed. Knowing both meanings helps the reader understand this transition as something that has changed Siddhartha completely, because sadness, jealousy, and greed were things he felt as a youth, but know that he was awakened, life no longer carried that negative meaning. Another important aspect of this passage is Hesse's use of bewildered diction; he describes the scene as if Siddhartha is seeing the "for the first time through his eyes" (32). Hesse uses words such as "strange", "enigmatic", "beautiful", "mysterious", "magical", "awakened", and "hidden" (32). Similar words would be used to describe a first magical experience or a beautiful new place. Siddhartha, however, has already been here as a youth, and yet it looks completely different to him. The allusions used by Hesse are also significant to the passage. He writes, "It was no longer the magical deception of Mara, was no longer the veil of Maya, and no longer the meaningless and arbitrary multiplicity of the world of appearances contemptuously derided by deep-thinking brahmins..." (32). Mara, in Buddhism, is the demon who tried to seduce the real Siddartha Gautama. She represents temptation in life, which Siddhartha is clearly able to reject. Maya is the Buddhist word for pretending to exhibit qualities one does not have. (For example, a dumb person says they are smart. A poor man says he is rich.) This helps the reader understand what it means to be enlightened: it means being rid of temptation and worldly desires.
I agree!!!!!! The colours once symbolized Siddhartha was sad, jealous and greedy however, now the colurs represent how he is calm, merry and back to his senses. Hesse is showing the different moods through imagery and making the reader feel the mood while reading the book.I totally agree with you and that was one of the passages that stood out to me as well.
In the chapter Kamala, the word beautiful is being used at least more than four times Hesse writes, “The world was beautiful when one just looked at it without looking for anything, just simply, as a child. The moon and stars were beautiful, brook and bank, forest and rock, goat and beetle, flower and butterfly- all were beautiful. It was sweet and beautiful to walk through the world in this way, so like a child, so awake, so open to whatever lay at hand, so without suspicion” (38). The word beautiful is used to emphasize the natural beauty seen through Siddhartha's eyes. Going back to chapter one The brahmin's son, Hesse describes Siddhartha as “ Siddhartha, the beautiful brahmin's son” (3). Describing Siddartha as beautiful almost makes him an item because in the chapter Kamala, beautiful is used to describe non-existing nature but not humans. Calling a man beautiful symbolises him to be pure and almost angelic. When looking at beautiful nature it makes a person feel calm, soothing and at peace and that how exactly people felt when looking at Siddartha. In chapter one, people looked at Siddartha and saw him beautiful but in the chapter kamala, Siddhartha opens his eyes and he himself sees the beauty that is around him.
Throughout these chapters, Siddhartha lives as a person of worldly possessions while still remaining self-centered and looking down on the others as “child people”. There are many signs that although his situation has changed drastically both when he became a shramana and when he came to the city, his quest to find himself has not yet resulted in any true character development away from his self-centeredness. One of the most notable pieces of evidence for this is his stance on love: “‘People of our type are perhaps incapable of love. The child people are capable of it; that is their secret” (Hesse 58). The term “child-people” is very derogatory and shows how Siddhartha considers himself above society. He considers himself and Kamala in a separate group that is superior, hence the term “type”. This attitude is the same as it has always been, from when he looked down on Govinda as his shadow to when he felt no need to return to see his father. The true character development we await, beyond moving from home’s frustration to Govinda’s teachings to Kamala’s materialism, is when he later understands his father’s perspective and love as he himself becomes a father and loses his son. Now, in the city, “the soul sickness of the rich was taking him over” (61). But just as he moves from Govinda’s loveless friendship to Kamala’s, he is only moving from one circumstance, one soul sickness, to another. For now, he remains the same Siddhartha.
That's a really interesting point. I had never really thought of it that way before, but I agree. Siddhartha is the same Siddhartha, he's just changing circumstances. However, I do believe that all of these changes help him to come to his realization later on because each circumstance is like a new life, and it emphasizes how long it's been since he's seen his father. This makes the loss of his own son even harder to accept, because he knows that he will probably never see him again, just as Siddhartha never saw his father again.
Throughout these chapters, Hesse develops the idea that Siddhartha is somehow higher than and removed from society. He does this in two ways in particular, the first referring as to the general populous as "child people," and the second referring to things people do in their lives as a game, or referring to life in general as a game. The first time this is seen is when Siddhartha gets a ferry ride and the ferryman says that he didn't expect pay, making Siddhartha feel like they were all treating him as if he was special. Following this, he claims "people are children," (40). He, again, calls people children when he sees people going through their lives, Hesse writing that Siddhartha views these people as "going through their lives in the manner of a child or an animal," (55). These are a few times when he refers to people as children, seeing their lives below him. Siddhartha believes, as he is on the path to enlightenment, that the things that people argue over, or insult others over, is below him, as an adult thinks the arguments about whose toy is whose is a petty argument and is below them. This is a metaphor for the fact that Siddhartha feels higher than the general populous. He also uses the fact that Siddhartha sees everything as a game to support his separation from society. This idea comes up when he is learning how to be a merchant. Hesse states "Siddhartha regarded all this as a game," which he learned the rules for but never really connected with him (52). He even goes so far as to call Kamala's work a game, but in a different way, saying "they played a game of love, one of the thirty or forty games that Kamala knew," (57). In this, Hesse makes a point to state it is only one of the games she knows, showing that she is also playing with life as Siddhartha does. This is further supported when Siddhartha claims, "you are like me, you are not like most people," showing that, while Siddhartha feels above many, he doesn't feel above Kamala, someone he holds as a teacher. The last time in these chapters that Hesse writes about Siddhartha and the game of the world is when he states that "the whole game...occupied his thoughts just as much as the gods and Brahman once had," (56). All of these together create the overarching idea of how Siddhartha appears in his own mind. Children play games, but sometimes adults join just to amuse the children and mildly amuse themselves in the serious way that children take games. To him, everything outside of Kamala is just for amusement. To Siddhartha, all these worldly ideas of money and giving and taking is as trivial as a game of Sorry!.
I agree with what you're saying, however I would also argue that on some level Kamala is also just a source of amusement for him. They have an interesting relationship because in one way or another they are both using each other; Siddhartha is using her for entertainment and to learn and Kamala, although she knows that he is incapable of love, lets him and uses him as a source of companionship. It's not really a healthy relationship for either of them yet they both got more emotionally involved than they intended to.
At this point in the story. Siddhartha has begun the next “chapter” of his life; following his self-guided path. He has now departed the dark isolated world of the samanas where he deprived himself of life and experiences the wonders of Earth. In the first paragraph of Kamala, Hesse writes imagery about Siddhartha’s newfound perspective, “ He saw the 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; the birds sang, bees hummed, the wind blew gently across the rice fields” ( Hesse 37). This passage gives great examples of how Hesse uses his literary devices to send a message to the readers. The connotation of the words are all very cheery, light, happy, and even childlike; as if Siddhartha was just now seeing the world through the eyes of a child discovering the world for the first time. Hesse writes, “It was so beautiful and pleasant to go through the world like that, so childlike, so awakened, so concerned with the immediate, without any distrust” (Hesse 38). This tells us how Siddhartha is feeling in this new chapter of his life; overcome with amazement and curiosity, feeling reborn and fresh into the world. He is discovering the entire beauty, vibrancy and complexity of the universe. Hesse uses the analogy “illusive veil” to further emphasize Siddhartha’s discovery. He was trapped in this deceiving world where he was separated from reality and he didn’t see the true beauty of the world he once wanted to get far away from. . This metaphorical veil being lifted revealed the true beauty and magnificence of the world; giving him the urge to find his place in it.
I agree with your analysis! I never thought about this passage as Siddhartha seeing everything like a child, but it makes sense, since he never really experienced these things.
I really loved how you tied in Hesse's literary device and how it reflects how Siddhartha feelings! As I read the same passage I also happened to notice the usage of bright and happy words. One thing you caught that I found very interesting is how Siddhartha can be seen as a child seeing the world for the first time. I would add a couple more supporting details about why you think this, it is definitely a comparison that could be elaborated on more but otherwise good job catching the idea! Like I child, Siddhartha is also slowly learning about the world and himself. I also happened to interpret the phrase “illusive veil”, your translation of it is very similar to mine. You did a great job of interpreting what it meant!
Overall this passage shows Siddhartha’s progression and growth as a character. In the beginning of the chapter “Kamala” Hesse uses light-hearted diction to express the new outlook that Siddhartha has on life. “[Siddhartha] saw trees, stars, animals, and clouds” (Hesse 37) that he didn’t see before. Siddhartha noticed the nature around him but he had never fully appreciated it because of his cynical outlook on life.The change in tone also reflects the burden that has been lifted from Siddhartha’s shoulders. The moment when Govinda leaves allows Siddhartha to realize that everything runs it’s course and that it was time for Govinda to go on his own path. This paralleled Siddhartha’s own situation and helped him release the underlying guilt he harbored after leaving his parents. Also, although Siddhartha felt guilt in leaving Govinda, which is reflected in his dream when he see Govinda saying “why did you leave me?” (40) he reconciles this with himself and is also able to let him go. When he “embraced Govinda” (40) he is parting with any attachments he had to his friend. This piece of the book was critical because it is immediately after when Siddhartha first interacts with the river. The “blank slate” state that he was in allowed him to begin his journey and as water is a symbol for rebirth this is portion of the book is a new start for Siddhartha. “I have learned from the river that everything comes back” (40). The river signifies the beginning and end of his spiritual longing. “I have learned from the river that everything comes back” (40).
In part one, Siddhartha believes that the way to liberation is to escape the cycle of existence, which is by escaping the ego. In part two, Siddhartha realizes that the answer lies within him, and that “himself was what he now had to experience,” and he began following his intuition and obeying “not an outer command, but only the voice,” which is his gut feeling (Hesse 39). Wherein part one Siddhartha felt at one with people, nature, and the world around him, Siddhartha began seeing as an outsider rather than feeling in part two. Hesse displays this sense of separation throughout chapters 5, 6, and 7. When Siddhartha first meets Kamala, he tells her that he is no longer the Siddhartha he used to be, and he alternates between speaking in first person and second person. When speaking about himself before his enlightenment, he uses first person, saying, “I can think, I can wait, and I can fast” (45). However, when Siddhartha talks about who he wants to become, he uses second person, saying, “Siddhartha will return when he has what he is now lacking: clothes, shoes, and money” (45). Siddhartha’s feeling of disconnection is also shown through Hesse’s comparisons to children. At the beginning of “Kamala,” Siddhartha states that “the world was beautiful when one just looked at it without looking for anything, just simply, as a child” (38). Here, Siddhartha acknowledges the innocence, freedom, and acceptance with which children view the world. In “Samsara,” however, Siddhartha refers to the people around him as, “worldly people, the child people,” with disdain and discontempt because he envied their “childlike joy and childish foolishness” (61). Siddhartha believed that his ego would give him the answer he sought, but his disconnection from the world ironically turned him into one of the “child people,” and drove him further away from the truth.
I like how you compared the two different voices that Siddhartha talks in. I had noticed that sometimes he referred to himself as I and sometimes he called himself Siddhartha, but I had never really given it much thought. Siddhartha addressing himself as I really enforces your idea that he began to listen to his own voice rather than an outer command.
When I first read this book I didn't realize how Hesse changes from first person to second person when Siddhartha is talking. The tense he is talking in gives the book a different tone. At the beginning he was all about himself and his ego which is why he used ¨I¨. Towards the 2nd part he starts seeing himself as the same as everyone else.
What really interested me in “Kamala” was how in love with Kamala SIddhartha was. Siddhartha throughout this whole book has only ever cared about himself. Everyone worshipped him but he was selfish and only wanted to do what interested in him, and kept him happy. But after he left the Samanas and Govinda, he started to change and now for once he actually cares about someone other than himself. “Siddhartha saw how beautiful she was, and his heart laughed. He bowed deep when the sedan drew near and, straightening up again, he peered into the bright, sweet face, read the clever, high-vaulted eyes for an instant, breathed a fragrance that he was unfamiliar with” (48). When SIddhartha first see’s Kamala, he really wants to see her. He admires her beauty and his heart ‘laughs’ meaning that he was happy and excited to see her walk by. But then he remembers that he is a Samana and his looks are not good enough to be in the presence of Kamala. The next day Siddhartha then cleans up his appearance and meets Kamala asking her to be his teacher and constantly talking about how beautiful she is, wondering what he has to do before she will ‘teach him’. Siddhartha who has only ever been selfish now actually has feelings and cares about someone other than himself, even though I’m sure most of his feelings come from lust, eventually he does actually care for Kamala. Siddhartha started this part of his journey feeling alone, but now he found someone who get rids of his loneliness and he actually cares for.
In the chapter, By the river, a significant quote that stood out to me was, “The songbird of his dream was dead. The bird in his heart was dead”(68). The bird in the book is a very symbolic piece throughout book just like the river. In the previous chapter Siddhartha leaves all of his wealth including Kamala and sets himself free. The bird obviously symbolises freedom but also change in his life. The book is all about how Siddhartha's life kept changing and changing until he found peace or nirvana. This is the stage where he leaves behind all the passion and snare deluded by Mara. Infact songbirds represent poetry, solitude as well as spring. Themes of rebirth and renewal often use symbols from the spring season therefore seasons do matter. By executing the bird in his heart he reinvigorates his body, mind and soul to accept this new path and life he has chosen for himself. I’ve noticed in Hesse’s writing every symbol has another symbol hidden behind its shell. At first glance it was a bird, freedom and then a songbird, spring, rebirth which all connects. Every sentence has a hidden meaning which all connects back to Siddhartha's changing life to achieve nirvana.
This is really interesting and I agree with your analysis. In the part where Kamala realizes Siddhartha and sets the bird free, i always thought at that part the bird was also a symbol or connected to Siddhartha. I thought the bird was connected to Siddhartha because once Kamala sets it free, the bird and Siddhartha are setting out on a knew journey and they both represent the Flight is Freedom maxim.
The chapter “By the River” starts out with the quote “The song bird was dead; it’s death was the bird in his own heart” (Hesse 70). This is an interesting contrast to Kamala’s take on the situation. When Kamala hears of Siddhartha leaving she “opened the door of a cage, took the bird out, and let it fly away” (69). The bird was meant to symbolize the newfound freedom in Siddhartha’s life. This is ironic because Siddhartha feels more trapped than ever. He describes his situation as being “deeply entangled in Samsara,” (70) and “full of misery” (70). Siddhartha tried to escape the endless cycle of material wants and needs only to be thrown into a different endless cycle. At this point in the story Siddhartha has hit rock bottom and is desperate in a way that he hasn’t been before. He has lost much of his arrogance and presumptuous nature and is much more open minded. Hesse has broken down Siddhartha throughout the book in order to rebuild him. Siddhartha’s loss of his parents, Govinda, and finally Kamala allow him to truly find himself. During this chapter Siddhartha was reborn for a second time fulfilling the flight is freedom maxim. Although he struggles at first, his leaving eventually leads to him finding his inner freedom.
In the chapter Amongst the people, we see a new side of Siddhartha. He has just begun the journey into the materialistic world in the town with Kamala. This is such a contrast from his life as a Samana. He is now immersed in an entirely different world. This transition for Siddhartha is eye-opening for both Siddhartha and the readers. Siddhartha puts him and others surrounding him into perspective and compares himself to the others. As the reader, I see Siddhartha’s ego shine brighter than ever. Hesse depicts this perfectly in the following passage. Hesse writes, “He was very conscious of the fact that there was something which separated him from them-- and this was due to the fact that he had been a Samana. He saw people living in a childish or animal-like way”(Hesse 57). In the passage Siddhartha recognizes how separated and different he is from the rest of the people. He has been trained a Samana for the better part of his life up to this point and although he has left the Samanas in search for Enlightenment, he is still trained to function, think and act like a Samana. He describes the others as “childish or animal-like”. His differences from the other townspeople raise his ego and make him feel superior to them by calling them childish/animal like. Hesse goes on to explain the superiority he feels towards these people and how silly he thinks they all are. Hesse explains, “ ...childish or animal-like way, which he both loved and despised. He saw them toiling, saw them suffer and grow gray about things that to him did not seem worth the price-- for money, small pleasures and trivial honors. He saw them scold and hurt each other; he saw them lament over pains at which the Samana laughs, and suffer at deprivations which a Samana does not feel”(Hesse 57). What I understand from this passage is that Siddhartha still feels he is a Samana and laughs at the silly childish acts of the normal townspeople. He doesn’t understand how the people can act the way they do. Spinning around on a continuous cycle of greed, temptations and suffering. He does not know how to live in the modern world; how to experience the world through material things. This is something he must do to continue on his path to enlightenment. He must experience all of the different lifestyles the world has to offer to reach his enlightenment.
A prevalent theme throughout the “By the River” and “The Ferryman” is how clothes, and outer appearances in general, define the way people view a character. When Siddhartha wakes up and finds Govinda, Siddhartha recognized him because, “his face still bore the same traits, which expressed enthusiasm, loyalty, inquisitiveness, fearfulness” (Hesse 71). Govinda, however, fails to recognize Siddhartha because he is deceived by his, “rich man’s garment” (73). Outer appearances emphasize the idea that the body is simply a vessel for the soul, and, as Siddhartha says, “Impermanent is the world of forms; clothing is impermanent - highly impermanent - along with the style of our hair, our hair itself, our very bodies” (73). Siddhartha also immediately recognized Kamala, even though, “she wore a simple garment and was traveling on foot,” and has grown old. Kamala’s outer appearance symbolized the change she had gone through after Siddhartha left, from courtesan to one of the Buddha’s followers. Siddhartha was able to see past that, and still recognized Kamala immediately.
This is really interesting! When I read this I did not realize this. This is really important because it shows how much the characters have changed and how even though Govinda and Siddhartha were best friends, once Siddhartha had completely changed, even to Govinda he was unrecognizable.
This post is from Kamala, Among the Child People, and Samsara. I had it in my Google Docs and never transferred it.
What stood out to me the most about this section, and really about this book, is Siddhartha’s feelings towards the “child people”. First of all, the language used in regards to the child people makes Siddhartha sound like a god and king. When Siddhartha first notices this, the book says, “He saw people going through their lives in the manner of a child or an animal, and he both loved and disdained this at the same time.” (55) This sounds like a reference to a god, specifically the Christian God, because the people are referred to as children and animals, and in the Bible people on earth are called children, or lambs, of God. Furthermore, his willingness to help everyone, seen where it says, “He was open to everthing… He welcomed the merchant… the debtor… the beggar…” (56) reminds the reader of a king because of his ability to take peoples’ needs and deal with them. The positive diction plays a huge role in making him sound like a king, as well, even though these thoughts of his are driving him to narcissism and eventually greed. The benevolent diction includes words such as, “welcomed”, “treated no differently”, and “good humor and interest” (56).
The passage that struck the most was Siddhartha’s reflection on his life journey. The syntax in this passage changes depending on the period of his life he’s referring to. For example, the structure in the sentence: “As a youth, I was completely occupied with asceticism, thinking, and meditating; I was searching for Brahman and I worshiped the eternal in the atman,” as well as the sentence: “As a young man, I followed the ascetics, lived in the forest, suffered heat and frost, learned to go hungry, taught my body how to wither,” follow very similar structures (75). These are both fairly long sentences with prongs on each, the prongs representing his focuses during that particular time. Additionally, anaphora is used in these sentences to show how Siddhartha was just repeating the cycle of learning every time he tried something new until the “knowledge came to [him] in the teaching of the great Buddha and [he] felt the realization of the unity of the world circulating in [him] like [his] own blood,” (75). That quote is a good example of Hesse’s use of circles in this passage. The circuitousness of Siddhartha’s journey is what has allowed him to live his different lives and eventually find his way back to himself.
“When she heard the first news of Siddhartha’s disappearance, she stepped over to the window, where she kept a rare songbird in a gold cage. She opened the door of the cage, took out the bird out, and let it fly. She watched and watched it, the flying bird. From that day on she received no more visitors and kept her house locked. After a time she realized that she was pregnant from her last meeting with Siddhartha. “ (Hesse 76)
The songbird is a symbol for Siddhartha. Like Siddhartha, I don't think Kamala ever really loved anyone but herself until she met Siddhartha. Their love was ‘rare’ like the songbird was. After And as much as she admired her bird and Siddhartha, when SIddhartha decides to leave and Kamala realizes he will not be returning she lets her precious song bird go. This also relates to the flight is freedom maxim as Siddhartha decides to move on with his life and find go on the next part of his journey and the song bird literally flies away. After Siddhartha leaves Kamala locks her doors and she does not let anyone visit her anymore, she does this because she really did love Siddhartha and she realized that she was lonely without him and if she continued to teach others, she would not be happy.
In the chapter, The son, Hesse writes, “Siddhartha was easy on him and let him have his way. He honored his mourning. Siddhartha understood that his son did not know him, that he could not love him as a father. Gradually he saw and also understood that the eleven-year-old was a spoiled boy, a mother’s child, used to fine food, a soft bed, in the habit of giving orders to servants. Siddhartha understood that the grieving and spoiled child could not all at once accept this strangeness and poverty with good cheer. He did not force him. He did much of his work for him, always sought out for him the best bits of food. He hoped slowly to win over through kindness and patience” (91). This personally, is one of my favourite passages in the book. The passage indicates how compassionate Siddhartha was as a father to his own son. Previously in the book Siddhartha was so self centered however, now he symbolizes his Love as a parent. All Siddhartha wants to do is give his son the love he never received and also to Siddhartha his son is his only connection to Kamala. In the book the relationship between the father and the son is very important. There are two distinct scenes involving fathers and sons: Siddhartha and his father and Siddhartha and his son. In both, the son wants to leave, and in both, the father indulges and is hurt by it. So maybe the suggestion is that fathers must let go of their sons to find their own way in the world, even against their own better judgement. Perhaps this means that fathers and sons cannot truly connect.
I love this passage!! It reminds me so much of the line, "soul-sickness of the rich" in terms of his son. Also, your interpretations of the two father-son occurrences are really interesting. Personally, I thought Hesse was trying to convey his message of the circuitousness of life because part of life is suffering, and though this was a stage in Siddhartha's life, it was all part of the grand scheme of things.
I also really like this passage because it shows how Siddhartha has changed as a person. As you said he begins to show that he can love after finding out he is a parent. Before this scene I didn't really believe that Siddhartha was capable of truly loving someone other than himself, but surprisingly I was proved wrong. I also think that when Siddhartha lets is son go is kinda the same thing as his father did to him. At some point all parents have to let their children go whether they want to or not and let them experience the world for themselves.
One theme that stood out to me in this chapter was the idea of coming full circle. Siddhartha is struggling in his relationship with his son son and thinks “had not his father also suffered the same pain that he was?” (Hesse 107). Here at the end of the book Siddhartha thinks back to his father, the suffering he caused him, and because he is experiencing the same feelings. This theme also shows up in the idea of Karma, which is an element of Hinduism. “Everything that was not suffered to the end and concluded, recurred” (107). The recurrence of Karma and the ideas of Hinduism bring Siddhartha to the closing of his spiritual journey. These two things parallel each other and emphasize Siddhartha’s growth as a character. He went from being a stubborn and rebellious child eager to escape the clutches of his father to being a father who is also struggling with his son. Siddhartha has experienced new beginnings and rebirth multiple times throughout the novel, but in order to fully reach spiritual peace he must first reconcile with his past. It’s a kind of poetic justice that Siddhartha has to face the same sufferings as his father and it brings him full circle in order finally step out of the cycle entirely.
“ Tenderly he gazed at the streaming water, at the transparent green, at the crystalline lines of its mysterious pattern. He saw bright beads rising from the depths, silent bubbles drifting on the surface, sky blue reflected there. The river gazed at him with a thousand eyes, with green, with white, with crystalline, with sky blue eyes.” (Hesse 89).
When Siddhartha goes to back to the river to find the ferryman and he stops to admire the river and Hesse’s visual imagery creates the most beautiful scene in the reader’s head. The description of the river makes the reader feel at peace and serene and gives off this calm vibe. The repetition of “crystalline” makes you imagine such a beautiful clear river, and as Hesse goes on the image gets more beautiful and serene. Hesse then writes “...on the surface, sky blue reflected there.”(Hesse 89). Which then creates the image of a clear sunny day with a bright blue sky. Hesse’s use of personification with the “silent bubbles drifting on the surface” (Hesse 89) gives even more life to the image making the reader feel at peace admiring this beautiful river just like Siddhartha.
“His thoughts were that simple, without understanding: he had grown that similar to the child people. He now saw people in a different light, less cleverly, less proudly, but also more warmly, more curiously, more sympathetically. When he ferried normal travelers, child people, businessmen, warriors, women, they no longer seemed foreign to him. He understood them, he understood and shared their lives, which were not led by thoughts and insights, but solely by drives and wishes.” (Hesse 113).
This part in Siddhartha is really important because after going through everything Siddhartha did, He has actually become a decent person. Siddhartha who once envied and disliked the child people has now realized they are not that bad. Siddhartha went from being very self absorbed, selfish and thinking he was the best person to ever live and having everyone like his family and Govinda worship him, to becoming an actual decent person who can care for others. This passage is important because it really shows how Siddhartha has grown because “He understood them, he understood and shared their lives. “(Hesse 113) Siddhartha’s experience taught him all about the world and himself and now he finally understand that the sun does not revolve around him and that he can finally sympathize and relate to others no matter who they are. He realized he doesn’t have to live his life by just constantly thinking, teaching and learning and that he can have dreams and wishes. Siddhartha learned that no matter who he meets they have some importance in life and he learned how to relate to others and that shows huge development for Siddhartha.
In these last chapters, Hesse’s Buddhist interpretation of unity was very impactful. As Siddhartha begins to understand the concept of unity more and more, Hesse’s descriptions of unity become stronger and more profound. The first mention of unity is when Hesse writes, “There slowly bloomed and ripened in Siddhartha the realization and knowledge of what wisdom… really was. It was nothing more than a readiness of the soul, a mysterious knack: the ability at every moment in the midst of life to think the thought of unity, to feel and breathe unity. Gradually this blossomed in him… But still the wound burned.” (101) Here, Siddhartha is shown to understand how to achieve wisdom and peace, but the pain of his son leaving is impairing his ability to live that way. Hesse strengthens this interpretation by comparing Siddhartha to a flower or fruit using the words “bloomed”, “ripened”, and “blossomed” because blossoming flowers give the impression of the beginning of new life, and ripening fruit creates the thought of reaching a point of perfection, in this case hearing the OM and living through the lens of unity. Another symbol of unity occurs when Vasudeva, before bringing Siddhartha back to the river, is weaving a basket. A woven basket has no beginning and no end, and all of the pieces flow together as one, which connects to the following passage about Siddhartha’s view on the voices of the river: “Now he no longer distinguished the many voices, the happy from the grieving, the childlike from the manly. They were all part of each other… all were one, all were interwoven and linked, intertwined in a thousand ways. And everything together, all the voices, all the goals, all the striving, all the suffering, all the pleasure - everything together was the river of what is, the music of life.” (105) A significant literary device used by Hesse is anaphora; many sentence prongs in the passage begin with “all were”. “All” carries the connotation of unity, and in terms of syntax/parallel structure, anaphora gives the reader the impression of everything flowing together. Additionally, it shows how everything can be the same and different in life because the beginnings of the sentences are the same yet the body of them is not.
Something that has always struck me about this book is how seemingly hypocritical it is, using words to tell us that experiences are the only way to gain wisdom. Was Hesse not being just like the teachers from whom Siddhartha could never learn? However, in the chapter “Govinda”, I realized that this book is actually much more aware of this disparity than it seems. After all, Govinda, symbolizing words and teachings like those of the book, has little luck comprehending Siddhartha’s experience-earned wisdom, thinking: “The pure teaching of the Exalted one is different-- clearer, purer, more understandable. There is nothing in it that is bizarre, foolish, or preposterous” (Hesse 114). Words are clear, pure, and understandable. The truth is bizarre. Words can’t ever describe what is undescribable, which is why Govinda of words can’t understand Siddhartha until he kisses his forehead and sees the truth in its more complex, more real form. However, the book never truly discounts the value of words and teachings-- it never could, without being hypocritical. Although Govinda was most prominent in the beginning, just as the religious teachings were more a part of Siddhartha then, he makes appearances twice later in the book to witness Siddhartha’s unrecognizable transformations. This shows how, even when Siddhartha has come to accept that teachings will never be the answer to his thirst, he always comes back to them in times of reflection. Thus, the book ends with the chapter entitled “Govinda”, a nod to the importance of words despite their limits.
It is very clear that the main storyline of Siddhartha is Siddhartha searching for his pure soul,nirvana, enlightenment. In the ninth chapter of the book, By the river, Siddhartha describes himself as “full of misery and death” (Hesse 70). He goes on melancholically stating his misery and his longing for oblivion; how he is close to the end. The first two pages of this chapter have a dark and depressed tone embedded in it. He felt there was no purpose in life and wished for the end of his life because he regretted the life he had as a wealthy, greedy person. This chapter signifies the transformation back into his spiritual and pure self; back on his path to enlightenment. One of the many motifs/symbols Hesse uses to explain this shift from one side of his life to another is the recurrent river motif. In this chapter especially, I see a very strong connection with Siddhartha and the river; as if the river was a reflection of Siddhartha’s pure soul, the one he longs for. When he first sits under the coconut tree Hesse writes, “ A chilly emptiness in the water reflected the terrible emptiness in his soul” (Hesse 71). This is a clear comparison of the river to Siddhartha’s soul. He is so far from his spiritual and pure self that his soul is completely empty and the river reflects that. Hesse compares Siddhartha to the river again on page 72. Hesse writes, “With a distorted countenance he stared into the water. He saw his face reflected, and spat at it”(Hesse 72). His face being reflected in the water is an evident symbol of the river being the reflection of Siddhartha’s soul. This symbol guides Siddhartha throughout the rest of the book in his search for enlightenment. This is also foreshadowing SIddhartha with the river as to what is to come in the last chapter.
An idea that comes up multiple times in this passage is thirst. It appears when Siddhartha's discontent with his life is brought up, stating that ritual ablutions are just water and do not "heal the mind's thirst," (Hesse 5). This is the first time that Siddhartha's thirst is mentioned, and it shows that none of his needs, not even his thirst, stops in a physical meaning. Siddhartha is thirsty for knowledge at this point, thirsty for a way to achieve a lifestyle that fits who he is. Another time it is brought up, it's brought up in the context of getting rid of his thirst, stating he wishes to be "empty of thirst," (12). This is then followed by his want to be empty of dreams, desire, joy, and sorrow, none of which are physical things, just as his thirst isn't physical, but mental. He thirsts not for water, but for knowledge, for nirvana. It is brought up again later when he is again discontent with the way he is living, stating he "suffer[s] from thirst," and, on the path he is taking, "[his] thirst has not grown any less," (16). He, again, speaks of a thirst that isn't physical, but has the same pull as physical thirst. I believe this motif is significant because his thirst shows how he needs this knowledge like people need water. Nirvana, for him, is the loss of thirst, so every time he is dissatisfied with the life he lives, the motif returns, showing his need in a way the reader can understand.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you picked up on that--HUGE symbol! :)
DeleteIn the first chapter “The Brahmin's Son” I thought is was interesting how Hesse used syntax to echo the rising tension between Siddhartha and his father. The author went from using long scrawling sentences like “Love stirred in the hearts of the young Brahmins’ daughters when Siddhartha walked through the streets of the town, with his lofty brow, his king like eyes and his slim figure (Hesse 2). This is a stark contrast from the short and concise dialogue between father and son at the apex of their conflict, “‘You will die Siddhartha’, ‘I will die’” (8).
ReplyDeleteHesse also uses the first two chapters to help develop Siddhartha’s character. Using diction like standing, unmoving, trembled, and benumbed Hesse creates a fatigued feeling in the reader highlighting the perseverance of Siddhartha. Imagery like “Siddhartha’s knees trembled slightly, but there was no trembling in Siddhartha’s face,” (8) also helps to support the resolve that he has in leaving his home. In chapter two “With the Samanas” Siddhartha’s “glance because icy when he encountered women; his lips curled with contempt when he passed through a town of well dressed people,” (10). This showed his easy ability to learn but also his naivety. Siddhartha went from constantly questioning his current religion asking “did sacrifices the really bring happiness? (3) and “why must he, the blameless one, cleanse himself anew each day?,” (5) to throwing himself wholeheartedly into this new path without a second thought. In many ways his “thirst” blinds him, causing him to make rash decisions. This creates an interesting relationship between his desperate quest for knowledge and a child like naivety that hinders that quest because he wants for one single entity to have all the answers for him.
Yes! The syntax in this novel is SO important!
DeleteWhile reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, I notice evident patterns and repetitions in the story. Like that of the pattern in Chapter two, “With the Samanas” where Siddhartha seeks on “becoming empty”(11) and to “no longer be self”(11). This is the thought process of Siddhartha as he becomes a Samana. He believes the way to find his innermost being is to detach himself from his soul. He wishes to evade the pain and suffering that the human body causes to his soul; to free himself from any distractions that might obstruct his goal of reaching enlightenment. He believes that eating away at all of himself until nothing is left will reveal his untouched innermost self which he craves so much. This shows the reader the desperation Siddhartha has for finding his Atman. He virtually tortures himself in hopes of revealing something that no one has found. Personally as a reader, I thought that this flee from self was not getting him any closer to finding his deeper self. However, this period of time with the samanas was a pivotal moment for Siddhartha and his path. On page eleven, Hesse describes Siddhartha becoming a heron and “taking it into his soul”(11). I thought there must be some reason Hesse chose a heron, so I looked up meanings behind the heron. Some of which fit the story and explain this part of the journey. The Heron can symbolize: Transformation, renewal, exploration and following your own path. It is clear the message Hesse is sending the readers. This time Siddhartha spent with the Samanas is a transformation into the next step of his path to enlightenment. On page thirteen, Siddhartha realizes this “flight from self”(13) is just a “temporary escape from the torment of self”(13) and will not lead him to the enlightenment he desires.
ReplyDeleteI agree--but, of course, it takes him a while to see that his fleeing isn't getting him far... :)
DeleteIn “The Brahmin’s Son”, Govinda’s perspective is used to begin the story from an outside view and show the idealized nature of the community’s opinions on Siddhartha: “Govinda knew that Siddhartha would never become an ordinary brahmin, a lazy purveyor of rituals, a greedy dealer in charms, a vain mouther of empty phrases, a base and devious priest, nor would he become a mindless good sheep in the common herd. His desire was to follow Siddhartha, the beloved, the magnificent . . . as his friend, as his companion, as his servant, his spear bearer, his shadow” (Hesse 4). The use of extravagant, hero-worshipping diction like “beloved” and “magnificent” serves to characterize Siddartha as someone entirely without flaws, or at least perceived to be so. Govinda himself is also characterized, but as someone who is more blindly in awe, and whose own ambitions, decreasing in importance from “friend” to “shadow”, can never match what he believes Siddhartha can do. He is shown to be weaker and more of a follower than Siddhartha, too simple to be unsatisfied with verbal teachings.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the over-glorified depiction of Siddhartha is countered soon after as we arrive at his own thoughts, which are thoughts of strong dissatisfaction. The constant repetition within phrases mirrors the repetitive meaninglessness he is starting to feel in his own life, and the long, list-like sentences imitate the boredom he is associating with the inadequate teachings. His attitude is strikingly different from Govinda’s, making Govinda appear even more like one of the sheep he contrasted with his friend, too busy idolizing Siddhartha to search for anything more in life.
Finally, Govinda’s passage is rife with foreshadowing of Siddhartha’s future. Siddhartha is, to some degree, to become that which he is so far from now in Govinda’s eyes- “lazy”, “greedy”, “vain”, “base”. His future life of luxury and material goods is made more ironic by Govinda’s blind belief that it could never happen to Siddhartha, and it shows that Siddhartha’s less positive attitude is much closer to the truth-- He is not as perfect and immune to wrong as they all think, and overcoming past failures is much more worthy of awe than never encountering them in the first place.
In the book, Govinda realizes that he has been following Siddhartha like a disciple so he branches out to become his own individual person with his own destiny. However, he never forgot what Siddhartha taught him and he never stopped loving Siddhartha. Govinda also saw how different their life paths were. He noticed and felt how Siddhartha was always unhappy and dissatisfied of himself and that was also another reason as to why Govinda left him because he felt that he was being a burden to Siddhartha.
DeleteHesse characterizes Siddhartha by contrasting the narrator's view of Siddhartha and Siddhartha's own view of himself. The narrator uses ennobling epithets such as "Siddhartha, the beloved, the magnificent," and "Siddhartha, the strong, the beautiful," elevating him above others (Hesse 2). Hesse’s portrayal of Siddhartha as god-like emphasizes the individuality of his journey, and distinguishes him from other disciples. While Siddhartha brings joy and contentment to the people around him, he feels unhappy and dissatisfied. The juxtaposing viewpoints are ironic because everyone sees Siddhartha as perfect, while Siddhartha himself is unhappy because he is unsure how to reach perfection. Siddhartha is motivated by his discontent to begin his journey towards contentment, and his dissatisfaction influences his path throughout the whole book.
ReplyDeleteMaryanne Pelpola
ReplyDeleteOne of the many things that stood out to me was, in the very beginning of the book Siddhartha is referred as to “The young falcon (Hesse 3).” This epithet implies to his strength, ferocity and keenness. Falcons also represent resurrection, foreshadowing Siddhartha's rebirth as a whole. In the book, Siddhartha dreamed of a bird dying in a cage, which symbolizes what will happen to him if he continues the path of samsara. When he leaves, a bird is released by Kamala. Therefore, the birth represents Siddhartha leaving the prison of samsara and choosing a life outside the cage. This is an example in the future, where Siddhartha will use his strength as falcon to break free from a life of comfort and pleasure inside the cage.
In Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, in “Among the Samanas”, when Siddhartha joins the Samanas he decides to empty himself of everything. The constant repetition of the word empty and Siddhartha trying to get rid of everything is his way to find himself. In chapter one when you find out he is unhappy with himself and he starts to question everything, he joins the ascetics to accomplish his goal of finding peace. However Siddhartha had learned the methods of the ascetics very fast and accomplished all his goals an ascetic and decides to leave at the end of chapter two. Even though joining the Samanas was an important part of Siddhartha’s journey, it did not satisfy him enough to stay or find his true self.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book, Hesse uses darkness as a metaphor for Siddhartha's desire to leave the brahmins and, subsequently, his brahmin days coming to an end. Hesse starts the book by writing, "In the shadow of the house... in the shadow of the sal-tree forest, in the shadow of the fig tree, Siddhartha... grew up..." (Hesse 3). Also, when it becomes clear that Siddhartha is discontented with his life as a brahmin, he thinks to himself, "Was there any worthwhile parth other than one leading to That, the self, the me, the atman?" (Hesse 5). Therefore, because the house, forest, and fig tree are all represented as part of brahmin community he grew up in, each entity has been cast over with a shadow, and Siddhartha believes that the life of the brahmins isn't going to "bring him contentment" (Hesse 5), it can be inferred that the shadows represent this lifestyle hindering Siddhartha's path to enlightenment. Furthermore, the fig tree and sal-tree forest bear significant meanings in Buddhism. The fig tree was where the real Siddhartha Gautama found enlightenment, and the sal-tree represents impermanence (nothing of Earth is ever free). This leads to the conclusion that the shadows over these religious representations were blocking Siddhartha from seeing the path he was supposed to be on.
ReplyDeleteAnother reference to darkness occurs when Siddhartha tells his father he wants to join the ascetics on his journey to becoming one with the atman, or soul. Hesse writes, "After an hour, since sleep did not come to him, the brahmin got up again, paced back and forth, stepped out in front of the house, and saw that the moon had risen...And he came back after one hour and again after two hours... and saw Siddhartha standing there, in the moonlight, in the starlight, in the darkness" (Hesse 9) This is significant because days and night represent beginnings and ends, and the fact that it was night shows both Siddhartha's father and the reader that it is time for Siddhartha to begin his new journey. Also proving this interpretation is the quote, "And the last hour of the night, before day broke, he came back again, went into the room, and looked at the youth standing there." (Hesse 9) Since it was almost daylight, it becomes apparent that the father is losing his last bit of control over his son, because with the sun rise comes new beginnings.
While reading the fourth chapter, Awakening, I noticed a reoccurrence of the maxim Flight is Freedom and decided to explore this specific passage further. Towards the beginning of Awakening, Hesse writes, “ I wanted to rid myself, to conquer it, I could only deceive it, could only fly from it, could only hide from it” (31). In this passage, Hesse uses irony towards the flight is freedom maxim by showing Siddhartha’s struggle with the ridding of himself. He realizes that trying to escape himself to find his Atman won’t get him there. It is actually entrapping himself in an empty lifeless void in which his time with the Samanas has put him in. He has separated himself from his soul and he realizes he doesn’t know himself at all. He discovers that the reason for this is because he is “afraid of himself”(13). Hesse explains this revelation in the following passage:
ReplyDelete“I was fleeing from myself. I was seeking Brahman, Atman, I wished to destroy myself, get away from myself, in order to find in the unknown innermost, the nucleus of all things, Atman, Life, Divine, the Absolute. But by doing so, I lost myself along the way”(31).
Siddhartha has learned that his flight is leading him to isolation of his Self and not to the achievement of Nirvana. This is a pivotal moment in Siddhartha’s story when he learns to guide himself along his own individual path to enlightenment. Hesse refers to this as a “strong feeling of awakening”(13) . This describes Siddhartha as determined and “a man who knows what he has to do”(13). He now knows where to take himself through the rest of his life in order to achieve his much sought after enlightenment.
I agree with this! The maxim of Flight is Freedom fits well in this context. He at first saw the world to be so beautiful, but then it brought it back to Siddhartha himself where he "On the path to himself" (Hesse 32). It was a very powerful moment because he did realize it was himself that needed to lead him to a personal path of Nirvana.
DeleteI agree. It also makes me think of the later chapters in the book when Siddhartha is staying with Kamala. From the very beginning Siddhartha feels trapped by his Self, similar to the bird in Kamala's cage. It isn't until he begins to forget himself that he is finally set free and is able to achieve peace and enlightenment.
DeleteI agree! What do you think about the fact that he's called the young falcon early on?
ReplyDeleteIn chapter three Gotama, while reading it it Gotama teaches his followers about suffering. Hesse writes, "Gotama taught the teaching of suffering, the origin of suffering, and the path to cessation of suffering." (24). why would one want to teach about suffering when people want to live a life without suffering? This was a huge question that pondered in my mind (and if you have any answers or ideas feel free to reply). In my perspective I think he talked about suffering because he saw how many people were suffering and were carrying a burden on their shoulders. He wanted to teach people how to get rid of their suffering but to do that a person must first experience suffering in order to let go of all attachments including the suffering. Gotama wanted everyone to progress into nirvana and live a good healthy life without performing inadequate habits. But then again why would one want to teach someone of about the concept of nirvana or suffering? In sankrit the word Gotama translates to the one who knows everything because he achieved nirvana and he felt that it was his duty to teach other how to attain nirvana. When a person learns something new they want to teach it to other people as well and that's exactly what Gotama wanted to do. Siddhartha wanted to achieve peace but he also suffered. He was born to a rich family in fact he was a prince but he let go of all the physical and materialistic attachments and he went to the woods and fasted and meditated. He gave up a life of luxury to go to the forest and find peace at heart, mind, soul and body. As Gotama preached, a person must experience suffering in order to understand, learn and let it go.
ReplyDeleteI had some of the same questions as you and arrived at a similar conclusion. While people did want to live a life without suffering I believe that many peoples definition of that would be to be free of physical and mental suffering. However, Gotama is teaching a path to end all suffering entirely and so to reach that you must endure the sufferings of earth. Also, to add on to the second part of your response I thought it was really interesting how Siddhartha thought that the path that Gotama was trying to teach wasn't something that was able to be taught. This creates an interesting concept of if Siddhartha is right then what is the point of trying to teach people?
DeleteWhen it talks about him wanting to teach suffering the first thing that came to my mind was when we did the presentations in class, specifically the one on Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths have to do with 1. Dukkha: suffering exists 2. Samudaya: there is a reason for suffering 3. Nirodha: suffering ends/finding Nirvana 4. Magga: how do you end suffering? So part of what it is saying is that in order to reach Nirvana you have to first suffer. No life is without suffering no matter how much we wish there wouldn't be and I think that's part of what he is teaching. Also in teaching suffering you can learn from what happened and how to move past the experience and avoid it in the future. The Four Noble Truths say that there is always suffering but there is also always a way to end it.
DeleteThe first thing that popped out at me was the contrast in stylistic choices compared to the previous chapters.There was the abundance of soft sounding words in the chapter Gotama. Hesse uses a lot of lot of “o” sounds with words like follow, yellow, soft, and only. The effect of this is that it helps to create an overall calming mood to the chapter and reinforces “[the buddha’s] peaceful countenance” (Hesse 22). The language that Hesse uses also adds to the overall peaceful tone that the passage conveys. Language like “Gotama wandered into the town” (22) and “join us, walk in bliss” (24) parallel the Buddhist ideas of the eightfold path and the personal journey that everyone must take. The syntax is also long and winding as though you are personally wandering through the chapter. This is a sharp contrast from the syntax of “With the Samanas” which was choppy and abrupt, reflecting the deprived nature of the Samanas.
ReplyDeleteAnother important idea of both of the chapters was wandering. I think it was especially profound in this portion of the book because this is when Siddhartha really begins his journey and wanders. He no longer has the structure of either the Samanas or the Buddha and for the first time he is truly lost. “[Siddhartha] was overwhelmed by despair” (34) and this causes him to fully realize the situation. This is the point at which he cuts all ties to his past, including Govinda, and moves forward “no longer looking back” (34).
I agree. The stylistic devices Hesse uses throughout Siddhartha play a big part in how we the readers view the message that Hesse is displaying in the book. The syntax and word choice helps convey the mood/tone of the book. This reminded me of the contrast in tones in the book involving the two polar opposite lives that Siddhartha led along his journey. The money-driven, materialistic life and the meditation-filled, spiritual life. In both sections of the book, Hesse uses these devices to send a message across to all his readers. Using either softer, more peaceful words and syntax or a choppier, harsher words/syntax makes the reader understand and feel Siddhartha’s internal emotions and feelings throughout the story.
DeleteThroughout the first part of the book, I find myself wondering about Govinda’s role in a story that is so obviously Siddhartha’s. Govinda has always been portrayed as a flat character, there to shine light on Siddhartha’s childhood brilliance and to be, as he is so often called, his “shadow”. Being referred to as a shadow not only calls Govinda out as a weak and dependant character, but has negative connotations often associated with something from one’s past that needs to be left behind. “Awakening” is all about things left behind: “there was one thing he had left behind as a snake leaves behind an old skin, one thing that was no longer in him that had accompanied him throughout his youth and been a part of him-- the desire to have a teacher and to hear teachings” (Hesse 30). Govinda has always been the one who defended the teachings, and he was eventually the one whose first independent step of his life was to leave Siddhartha behind for them: “‘Is Govinda ever going to take a step on his own, without me, acting from his own heart?’” (25). While Govinda’s leaving is portrayed as a step for him, it is actually Siddhartha’s step away from what Govinda symbolizes-- dependance on teachings. He can even be seen as, at this moment, a representation of Siddhartha’s ego, which he has been able to avoid temporarily through meditation but from which he could never fully be free, until now. Siddhartha has always doubted the effectiveness of teachings as shown in his countless complaints both verbally and mentally. Just as Govinda has always been “a step behind” his friend (25), teachings have always been behind Siddhartha’s thirst for truth, never able to come close to catching up and satisfying him. However, teachings have still pervaded his whole life, and this is the point where he finally lets go of his lifelong practice and his lifelong friend.
ReplyDeleteWow I actually wrote about the same thing kind of. Anyways, I think you have a good thing going here, a quote I used in mine that supports your assertion is "he gave me Siddhartha, he gave me myself," which kind of shows that, by taking Govinda, he gave Siddhartha his freedom to take his own path without teachings that he felt were holding him back.
DeleteI agree that Gotama wanted to teach how to rid people of suffering, and that's why people wanted to hear it-- they wanted to seek their own liberated life. I think the fact that he acknowledges the suffering in the world actually makes people more willing to listen to him, because it adds an element of reality and painful truth to his teachings, making his promises of an alternative sound more believable and like something that they can and should strive for.
ReplyDelete(this was a comment for mariann's post)
DeleteWhen reading these passages, I noticed another symbol in the story, which was Govinda. After leaving his old friend behind, he's leaving his last tie to the world, leaving him with the ability and time to find himself. Govinda traveled with Siddhartha from the start, however, when he left, Siddhartha found himself alone, without the person "who was [his] shadow and is now Gotama's shadow," (Hesse 29). By leaving Govinda, he lost his last tie to what he recognized as home - the brahmins, his father, the way of life he grew up in. In the sentence following, Siddhartha thinks, "he gave me Siddhartha, he gave me myself," (29). This shows how Siddhartha is now just himself, with no Govinda to be his shadow, he, again, no longer has ties to his previous life, and has the access to who he is without that background and history. This is again shown when Siddhartha is leaving, after he talks to Gotama about his plans. Govinda was a monk following someone who'd achieved nirvana, he had "a thousand monks [who] were his brothers," he was everything that Siddhartha thought he wanted when he first embarked on his journey (33). By leaving Govinda behind, he left this idea that he needed to be taught how to reach nirvana behind. For him, this last step away from his old life was "that last pang of rebirth," (34). Govinda was a symbol of the old life that Siddhartha led, and the old beliefs he held. By leaving him, he was able to start a new path that didn't involve his past teachings, or any teachings at all. By leaving him, he was "alone like a star in the sky." (33)
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you! Shadows throughout these 4 chapters seem to be a hinder on potential, like how there were shadows in the village the boys grew up in and the brahmin lifestyle was inhibiting their ability to reach nirvana. What do you think it means, then, when Govinda comes back into the story later on?
DeleteA recurring theme in chapters three and four is the undisturbed flow of nature, which parallels Siddhartha’s and the Buddhists’ idea of continuance. Siddhartha and Govinda emerge from a forest into “the magnificent grove”, which reflects arriving at their destination. Forests are often a symbol for searching, solitude, and getting lost, contrasting to the big, welcoming grove that has “enough room even for the countless seekers who flock to that place.” Hesse writes, “The shady gardens gave the impression of a city full of people, swarming like bees,” yet again using nature to portray people (Hesse 22). Hesse’s use of reverse-personification (I don’t know if that’s an actual thing, abstraction?) creates a peaceful and relaxed tone, reflective of Buddhists’ meditative ideals. Through his use of nature imagery and a pensive tone, Hesse helps a reader with no previous knowledge of Buddhism connect with Siddhartha and see the relevance of his journey. Especially in chapter four, Hesse uses animal similes to express Siddhartha’s feelings, emphasizing his connection with nature. Siddhartha’s transition from boyhood to manhood was similar to how “a snake leaves behind an old skin,” and Siddhartha’s sudden enlightenment made him halt “as though a snake lay on the path” (31-32). Throughout the book, Hesse uses animals and other aspects of nature (like the snake) to symbolize an idea (evil).
ReplyDeleteThe idea of Siddhartha and The Buddha sharing the same views on life like you said is interesting, but even though they have this in common, they still end up going completely different directions. Siddhartha arrives in a place that seems like the perfect haven, but he still turns it down out of principle and ends up going his own way, creating his own life of self knowing. Another thing that I would connect to this is the river that is constantly brought up throughout the book, including in this chapter.
Delete“Always, even in the most faraway meditation, he had been his father’s son, had been a Brahmin, high-ranking, spiritual. Now he was only Siddhartha, the awakened, and nothing more...No one was so alone as he. No noble who did not belong among nobles, no workman who did not belong among the workmen... Govinda had become a monk, and a thousand monks were his brothers, wore his garments, spoke his tongue. But he, Siddhartha -- where did he belong?” (38-39).
ReplyDeleteAfter quitting his teachings, Siddhartha feels as if he no longer has a place in this world. He had always felt he was a part of something when he was growing up as a Brahmin and living as a semana, even when he had his doubts about the teachings. And everyone regarded him highly as a student, but as soon as he gave up his teachings he felt as if he had nothing. As if he was nothing. Everyone else in the world had a place where they belonged; nobles, workmen, even hermits who lived in the forest. He says that they all have ties and bonds. And then he moves onto Govinda, who has gone on to begin a new life without Siddhartha. Govinda was Siddhartha last tie to the rest of the world. He left home, he left the samanas, but he always had Govinda by his side. The loss of Govinda only makes the sting of his aloneness that much worse. But Siddhartha needed to cut this last tie in order to reach his awakening. He needed to step away from the teachings, and the praise, and Govinda who seemed to be linked with both of these things. He needed to feel lost and alone in order to carry on into the next phase of his life.
The most significant passage from this section of Siddhartha is that of his Awakening. His new realization and appreciation for colors, shown in the quote, "The world was beautiful, full of colors, strange and enigmatic. Here was blue, here yellow, here green, the sky was in movement and so was the river..." (32), gives the reader insight as to what this moment feels like. Blue is a color associated with calm and peace, whereas yellow is often happiness. Green, in this sense, most likely refers to his connection with nature. These colors, however, can often carry negative connotations: blue means sad, yellow means jealousy, and green means greed. Knowing both meanings helps the reader understand this transition as something that has changed Siddhartha completely, because sadness, jealousy, and greed were things he felt as a youth, but know that he was awakened, life no longer carried that negative meaning.
ReplyDeleteAnother important aspect of this passage is Hesse's use of bewildered diction; he describes the scene as if Siddhartha is seeing the "for the first time through his eyes" (32). Hesse uses words such as "strange", "enigmatic", "beautiful", "mysterious", "magical", "awakened", and "hidden" (32). Similar words would be used to describe a first magical experience or a beautiful new place. Siddhartha, however, has already been here as a youth, and yet it looks completely different to him.
The allusions used by Hesse are also significant to the passage. He writes, "It was no longer the magical deception of Mara, was no longer the veil of Maya, and no longer the meaningless and arbitrary multiplicity of the world of appearances contemptuously derided by deep-thinking brahmins..." (32). Mara, in Buddhism, is the demon who tried to seduce the real Siddartha Gautama. She represents temptation in life, which Siddhartha is clearly able to reject. Maya is the Buddhist word for pretending to exhibit qualities one does not have. (For example, a dumb person says they are smart. A poor man says he is rich.) This helps the reader understand what it means to be enlightened: it means being rid of temptation and worldly desires.
I agree!!!!!! The colours once symbolized Siddhartha was sad, jealous and greedy however, now the colurs represent how he is calm, merry and back to his senses. Hesse is showing the different moods through imagery and making the reader feel the mood while reading the book.I totally agree with you and that was one of the passages that stood out to me as well.
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ReplyDeleteIn the chapter Kamala, the word beautiful is being used at least more than four times Hesse writes, “The world was beautiful when one just looked at it without looking for anything, just simply, as a child. The moon and stars were beautiful, brook and bank, forest and rock, goat and beetle, flower and butterfly- all were beautiful. It was sweet and beautiful to walk through the world in this way, so like a child, so awake, so open to whatever lay at hand, so without suspicion” (38). The word beautiful is used to emphasize the natural beauty seen through Siddhartha's eyes. Going back to chapter one The brahmin's son, Hesse describes Siddhartha as “ Siddhartha, the beautiful brahmin's son” (3). Describing Siddartha as beautiful almost makes him an item because in the chapter Kamala, beautiful is used to describe non-existing nature but not humans. Calling a man beautiful symbolises him to be pure and almost angelic. When looking at beautiful nature it makes a person feel calm, soothing and at peace and that how exactly people felt when looking at Siddartha. In chapter one, people looked at Siddartha and saw him beautiful but in the chapter kamala, Siddhartha opens his eyes and he himself sees the beauty that is around him.
Throughout these chapters, Siddhartha lives as a person of worldly possessions while still remaining self-centered and looking down on the others as “child people”. There are many signs that although his situation has changed drastically both when he became a shramana and when he came to the city, his quest to find himself has not yet resulted in any true character development away from his self-centeredness. One of the most notable pieces of evidence for this is his stance on love: “‘People of our type are perhaps incapable of love. The child people are capable of it; that is their secret” (Hesse 58). The term “child-people” is very derogatory and shows how Siddhartha considers himself above society. He considers himself and Kamala in a separate group that is superior, hence the term “type”. This attitude is the same as it has always been, from when he looked down on Govinda as his shadow to when he felt no need to return to see his father. The true character development we await, beyond moving from home’s frustration to Govinda’s teachings to Kamala’s materialism, is when he later understands his father’s perspective and love as he himself becomes a father and loses his son. Now, in the city, “the soul sickness of the rich was taking him over” (61). But just as he moves from Govinda’s loveless friendship to Kamala’s, he is only moving from one circumstance, one soul sickness, to another. For now, he remains the same Siddhartha.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really interesting point. I had never really thought of it that way before, but I agree. Siddhartha is the same Siddhartha, he's just changing circumstances. However, I do believe that all of these changes help him to come to his realization later on because each circumstance is like a new life, and it emphasizes how long it's been since he's seen his father. This makes the loss of his own son even harder to accept, because he knows that he will probably never see him again, just as Siddhartha never saw his father again.
DeleteYou're absolutely right--any other literary clues to this? :)
ReplyDeleteMs. Ballard
Throughout these chapters, Hesse develops the idea that Siddhartha is somehow higher than and removed from society. He does this in two ways in particular, the first referring as to the general populous as "child people," and the second referring to things people do in their lives as a game, or referring to life in general as a game. The first time this is seen is when Siddhartha gets a ferry ride and the ferryman says that he didn't expect pay, making Siddhartha feel like they were all treating him as if he was special. Following this, he claims "people are children," (40). He, again, calls people children when he sees people going through their lives, Hesse writing that Siddhartha views these people as "going through their lives in the manner of a child or an animal," (55). These are a few times when he refers to people as children, seeing their lives below him. Siddhartha believes, as he is on the path to enlightenment, that the things that people argue over, or insult others over, is below him, as an adult thinks the arguments about whose toy is whose is a petty argument and is below them. This is a metaphor for the fact that Siddhartha feels higher than the general populous. He also uses the fact that Siddhartha sees everything as a game to support his separation from society. This idea comes up when he is learning how to be a merchant. Hesse states "Siddhartha regarded all this as a game," which he learned the rules for but never really connected with him (52). He even goes so far as to call Kamala's work a game, but in a different way, saying "they played a game of love, one of the thirty or forty games that Kamala knew," (57). In this, Hesse makes a point to state it is only one of the games she knows, showing that she is also playing with life as Siddhartha does. This is further supported when Siddhartha claims, "you are like me, you are not like most people," showing that, while Siddhartha feels above many, he doesn't feel above Kamala, someone he holds as a teacher. The last time in these chapters that Hesse writes about Siddhartha and the game of the world is when he states that "the whole game...occupied his thoughts just as much as the gods and Brahman once had," (56). All of these together create the overarching idea of how Siddhartha appears in his own mind. Children play games, but sometimes adults join just to amuse the children and mildly amuse themselves in the serious way that children take games. To him, everything outside of Kamala is just for amusement. To Siddhartha, all these worldly ideas of money and giving and taking is as trivial as a game of Sorry!.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you're saying, however I would also argue that on some level Kamala is also just a source of amusement for him. They have an interesting relationship because in one way or another they are both using each other; Siddhartha is using her for entertainment and to learn and Kamala, although she knows that he is incapable of love, lets him and uses him as a source of companionship. It's not really a healthy relationship for either of them yet they both got more emotionally involved than they intended to.
DeleteAt this point in the story. Siddhartha has begun the next “chapter” of his life; following his self-guided path. He has now departed the dark isolated world of the samanas where he deprived himself of life and experiences the wonders of Earth. In the first paragraph of Kamala, Hesse writes imagery about Siddhartha’s newfound perspective, “ He saw the 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; the birds sang, bees hummed, the wind blew gently across the rice fields” ( Hesse 37). This passage gives great examples of how Hesse uses his literary devices to send a message to the readers. The connotation of the words are all very cheery, light, happy, and even childlike; as if Siddhartha was just now seeing the world through the eyes of a child discovering the world for the first time. Hesse writes, “It was so beautiful and pleasant to go through the world like that, so childlike, so awakened, so concerned with the immediate, without any distrust” (Hesse 38). This tells us how Siddhartha is feeling in this new chapter of his life; overcome with amazement and curiosity, feeling reborn and fresh into the world. He is discovering the entire beauty, vibrancy and complexity of the universe. Hesse uses the analogy “illusive veil” to further emphasize Siddhartha’s discovery. He was trapped in this deceiving world where he was separated from reality and he didn’t see the true beauty of the world he once wanted to get far away from. . This metaphorical veil being lifted revealed the true beauty and magnificence of the world; giving him the urge to find his place in it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis! I never thought about this passage as Siddhartha seeing everything like a child, but it makes sense, since he never really experienced these things.
DeleteI really loved how you tied in Hesse's literary device and how it reflects how Siddhartha feelings! As I read the same passage I also happened to notice the usage of bright and happy words. One thing you caught that I found very interesting is how Siddhartha can be seen as a child seeing the world for the first time. I would add a couple more supporting details about why you think this, it is definitely a comparison that could be elaborated on more but otherwise good job catching the idea! Like I child, Siddhartha is also slowly learning about the world and himself. I also happened to interpret the phrase “illusive veil”, your translation of it is very similar to mine. You did a great job of interpreting what it meant!
DeleteOverall this passage shows Siddhartha’s progression and growth as a character. In the beginning of the chapter “Kamala” Hesse uses light-hearted diction to express the new outlook that Siddhartha has on life. “[Siddhartha] saw trees, stars, animals, and clouds” (Hesse 37) that he didn’t see before. Siddhartha noticed the nature around him but he had never fully appreciated it because of his cynical outlook on life.The change in tone also reflects the burden that has been lifted from Siddhartha’s shoulders. The moment when Govinda leaves allows Siddhartha to realize that everything runs it’s course and that it was time for Govinda to go on his own path. This paralleled Siddhartha’s own situation and helped him release the underlying guilt he harbored after leaving his parents. Also, although Siddhartha felt guilt in leaving Govinda, which is reflected in his dream when he see Govinda saying “why did you leave me?” (40) he reconciles this with himself and is also able to let him go. When he “embraced Govinda” (40) he is parting with any attachments he had to his friend. This piece of the book was critical because it is immediately after when Siddhartha first interacts with the river. The “blank slate” state that he was in allowed him to begin his journey and as water is a symbol for rebirth this is portion of the book is a new start for Siddhartha. “I have learned from the river that everything comes back” (40). The river signifies the beginning and end of his spiritual longing. “I have learned from the river that everything comes back” (40).
ReplyDeleteIn part one, Siddhartha believes that the way to liberation is to escape the cycle of existence, which is by escaping the ego. In part two, Siddhartha realizes that the answer lies within him, and that “himself was what he now had to experience,” and he began following his intuition and obeying “not an outer command, but only the voice,” which is his gut feeling (Hesse 39). Wherein part one Siddhartha felt at one with people, nature, and the world around him, Siddhartha began seeing as an outsider rather than feeling in part two. Hesse displays this sense of separation throughout chapters 5, 6, and 7. When Siddhartha first meets Kamala, he tells her that he is no longer the Siddhartha he used to be, and he alternates between speaking in first person and second person. When speaking about himself before his enlightenment, he uses first person, saying, “I can think, I can wait, and I can fast” (45). However, when Siddhartha talks about who he wants to become, he uses second person, saying, “Siddhartha will return when he has what he is now lacking: clothes, shoes, and money” (45). Siddhartha’s feeling of disconnection is also shown through Hesse’s comparisons to children. At the beginning of “Kamala,” Siddhartha states that “the world was beautiful when one just looked at it without looking for anything, just simply, as a child” (38). Here, Siddhartha acknowledges the innocence, freedom, and acceptance with which children view the world. In “Samsara,” however, Siddhartha refers to the people around him as, “worldly people, the child people,” with disdain and discontempt because he envied their “childlike joy and childish foolishness” (61). Siddhartha believed that his ego would give him the answer he sought, but his disconnection from the world ironically turned him into one of the “child people,” and drove him further away from the truth.
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared the two different voices that Siddhartha talks in. I had noticed that sometimes he referred to himself as I and sometimes he called himself Siddhartha, but I had never really given it much thought. Siddhartha addressing himself as I really enforces your idea that he began to listen to his own voice rather than an outer command.
DeleteWhen I first read this book I didn't realize how Hesse changes from first person to second person when Siddhartha is talking. The tense he is talking in gives the book a different tone. At the beginning he was all about himself and his ego which is why he used ¨I¨. Towards the 2nd part he starts seeing himself as the same as everyone else.
DeleteWhat really interested me in “Kamala” was how in love with Kamala SIddhartha was. Siddhartha throughout this whole book has only ever cared about himself. Everyone worshipped him but he was selfish and only wanted to do what interested in him, and kept him happy. But after he left the Samanas and Govinda, he started to change and now for once he actually cares about someone other than himself. “Siddhartha saw how beautiful she was, and his heart laughed. He bowed deep when the sedan drew near and, straightening up again, he peered into the bright, sweet face, read the clever, high-vaulted eyes for an instant, breathed a fragrance that he was unfamiliar with” (48). When SIddhartha first see’s Kamala, he really wants to see her. He admires her beauty and his heart ‘laughs’ meaning that he was happy and excited to see her walk by. But then he remembers that he is a Samana and his looks are not good enough to be in the presence of Kamala. The next day Siddhartha then cleans up his appearance and meets Kamala asking her to be his teacher and constantly talking about how beautiful she is, wondering what he has to do before she will ‘teach him’. Siddhartha who has only ever been selfish now actually has feelings and cares about someone other than himself, even though I’m sure most of his feelings come from lust, eventually he does actually care for Kamala. Siddhartha started this part of his journey feeling alone, but now he found someone who get rids of his loneliness and he actually cares for.
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ReplyDeleteIn the chapter, By the river, a significant quote that stood out to me was, “The songbird of his dream was dead. The bird in his heart was dead”(68). The bird in the book is a very symbolic piece throughout book just like the river. In the previous chapter Siddhartha leaves all of his wealth including Kamala and sets himself free. The bird obviously symbolises freedom but also change in his life. The book is all about how Siddhartha's life kept changing and changing until he found peace or nirvana. This is the stage where he leaves behind all the passion and snare deluded by Mara. Infact songbirds represent poetry, solitude as well as spring. Themes of rebirth and renewal often use symbols from the spring season therefore seasons do matter. By executing the bird in his heart he reinvigorates his body, mind and soul to accept this new path and life he has chosen for himself. I’ve noticed in Hesse’s writing every symbol has another symbol hidden behind its shell. At first glance it was a bird, freedom and then a songbird, spring, rebirth which all connects. Every sentence has a hidden meaning which all connects back to Siddhartha's changing life to achieve nirvana.
This is really interesting and I agree with your analysis. In the part where Kamala realizes Siddhartha and sets the bird free, i always thought at that part the bird was also a symbol or connected to Siddhartha. I thought the bird was connected to Siddhartha because once Kamala sets it free, the bird and Siddhartha are setting out on a knew journey and they both represent the Flight is Freedom maxim.
DeleteThe maxim!! :)
ReplyDeleteThe chapter “By the River” starts out with the quote “The song bird was dead; it’s death was the bird in his own heart” (Hesse 70). This is an interesting contrast to Kamala’s take on the situation. When Kamala hears of Siddhartha leaving she “opened the door of a cage, took the bird out, and let it fly away” (69). The bird was meant to symbolize the newfound freedom in Siddhartha’s life. This is ironic because Siddhartha feels more trapped than ever. He describes his situation as being “deeply entangled in Samsara,” (70) and “full of misery” (70). Siddhartha tried to escape the endless cycle of material wants and needs only to be thrown into a different endless cycle. At this point in the story Siddhartha has hit rock bottom and is desperate in a way that he hasn’t been before. He has lost much of his arrogance and presumptuous nature and is much more open minded. Hesse has broken down Siddhartha throughout the book in order to rebuild him. Siddhartha’s loss of his parents, Govinda, and finally Kamala allow him to truly find himself. During this chapter Siddhartha was reborn for a second time fulfilling the flight is freedom maxim. Although he struggles at first, his leaving eventually leads to him finding his inner freedom.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter Amongst the people, we see a new side of Siddhartha. He has just begun the journey into the materialistic world in the town with Kamala. This is such a contrast from his life as a Samana. He is now immersed in an entirely different world. This transition for Siddhartha is eye-opening for both Siddhartha and the readers. Siddhartha puts him and others surrounding him into perspective and compares himself to the others. As the reader, I see Siddhartha’s ego shine brighter than ever. Hesse depicts this perfectly in the following passage. Hesse writes, “He was very conscious of the fact that there was something which separated him from them-- and this was due to the fact that he had been a Samana. He saw people living in a childish or animal-like way”(Hesse 57). In the passage Siddhartha recognizes how separated and different he is from the rest of the people. He has been trained a Samana for the better part of his life up to this point and although he has left the Samanas in search for Enlightenment, he is still trained to function, think and act like a Samana. He describes the others as “childish or animal-like”. His differences from the other townspeople raise his ego and make him feel superior to them by calling them childish/animal like. Hesse goes on to explain the superiority he feels towards these people and how silly he thinks they all are. Hesse explains, “ ...childish or animal-like way, which he both loved and despised. He saw them toiling, saw them suffer and grow gray about things that to him did not seem worth the price-- for money, small pleasures and trivial honors. He saw them scold and hurt each other; he saw them lament over pains at which the Samana laughs, and suffer at deprivations which a Samana does not feel”(Hesse 57). What I understand from this passage is that Siddhartha still feels he is a Samana and laughs at the silly childish acts of the normal townspeople. He doesn’t understand how the people can act the way they do. Spinning around on a continuous cycle of greed, temptations and suffering. He does not know how to live in the modern world; how to experience the world through material things. This is something he must do to continue on his path to enlightenment. He must experience all of the different lifestyles the world has to offer to reach his enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteA prevalent theme throughout the “By the River” and “The Ferryman” is how clothes, and outer appearances in general, define the way people view a character. When Siddhartha wakes up and finds Govinda, Siddhartha recognized him because, “his face still bore the same traits, which expressed enthusiasm, loyalty, inquisitiveness, fearfulness” (Hesse 71). Govinda, however, fails to recognize Siddhartha because he is deceived by his, “rich man’s garment” (73). Outer appearances emphasize the idea that the body is simply a vessel for the soul, and, as Siddhartha says, “Impermanent is the world of forms; clothing is impermanent - highly impermanent - along with the style of our hair, our hair itself, our very bodies” (73). Siddhartha also immediately recognized Kamala, even though, “she wore a simple garment and was traveling on foot,” and has grown old. Kamala’s outer appearance symbolized the change she had gone through after Siddhartha left, from courtesan to one of the Buddha’s followers. Siddhartha was able to see past that, and still recognized Kamala immediately.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting! When I read this I did not realize this. This is really important because it shows how much the characters have changed and how even though Govinda and Siddhartha were best friends, once Siddhartha had completely changed, even to Govinda he was unrecognizable.
DeleteThis post is from Kamala, Among the Child People, and Samsara. I had it in my Google Docs and never transferred it.
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out to me the most about this section, and really about this book, is Siddhartha’s feelings towards the “child people”. First of all, the language used in regards to the child people makes Siddhartha sound like a god and king. When Siddhartha first notices this, the book says, “He saw people going through their lives in the manner of a child or an animal, and he both loved and disdained this at the same time.” (55) This sounds like a reference to a god, specifically the Christian God, because the people are referred to as children and animals, and in the Bible people on earth are called children, or lambs, of God. Furthermore, his willingness to help everyone, seen where it says, “He was open to everthing… He welcomed the merchant… the debtor… the beggar…” (56) reminds the reader of a king because of his ability to take peoples’ needs and deal with them. The positive diction plays a huge role in making him sound like a king, as well, even though these thoughts of his are driving him to narcissism and eventually greed. The benevolent diction includes words such as, “welcomed”, “treated no differently”, and “good humor and interest” (56).
The passage that struck the most was Siddhartha’s reflection on his life journey. The syntax in this passage changes depending on the period of his life he’s referring to. For example, the structure in the sentence: “As a youth, I was completely occupied with asceticism, thinking, and meditating; I was searching for Brahman and I worshiped the eternal in the atman,” as well as the sentence: “As a young man, I followed the ascetics, lived in the forest, suffered heat and frost, learned to go hungry, taught my body how to wither,” follow very similar structures (75). These are both fairly long sentences with prongs on each, the prongs representing his focuses during that particular time. Additionally, anaphora is used in these sentences to show how Siddhartha was just repeating the cycle of learning every time he tried something new until the “knowledge came to [him] in the teaching of the great Buddha and [he] felt the realization of the unity of the world circulating in [him] like [his] own blood,” (75). That quote is a good example of Hesse’s use of circles in this passage. The circuitousness of Siddhartha’s journey is what has allowed him to live his different lives and eventually find his way back to himself.
ReplyDelete“When she heard the first news of Siddhartha’s disappearance, she stepped over to the window, where she kept a rare songbird in a gold cage. She opened the door of the cage, took out the bird out, and let it fly. She watched and watched it, the flying bird. From that day on she received no more visitors and kept her house locked. After a time she realized that she was pregnant from her last meeting with Siddhartha. “ (Hesse 76)
ReplyDeleteThe songbird is a symbol for Siddhartha. Like Siddhartha, I don't think Kamala ever really loved anyone but herself until she met Siddhartha. Their love was ‘rare’ like the songbird was. After And as much as she admired her bird and Siddhartha, when SIddhartha decides to leave and Kamala realizes he will not be returning she lets her precious song bird go. This also relates to the flight is freedom maxim as Siddhartha decides to move on with his life and find go on the next part of his journey and the song bird literally flies away. After Siddhartha leaves Kamala locks her doors and she does not let anyone visit her anymore, she does this because she really did love Siddhartha and she realized that she was lonely without him and if she continued to teach others, she would not be happy.
In the chapter, The son, Hesse writes, “Siddhartha was easy on him and let him have his way. He honored his mourning. Siddhartha understood that his son did not know him, that he could not love him as a father. Gradually he saw and also understood that the eleven-year-old was a spoiled boy, a mother’s child, used to fine food, a soft bed, in the habit of giving orders to servants. Siddhartha understood that the grieving and spoiled child could not all at once accept this strangeness and poverty with good cheer. He did not force him. He did much of his work for him, always sought out for him the best bits of food. He hoped slowly to win over through kindness and patience” (91). This personally, is one of my favourite passages in the book. The passage indicates how compassionate Siddhartha was as a father to his own son. Previously in the book Siddhartha was so self centered however, now he symbolizes his Love as a parent. All Siddhartha wants to do is give his son the love he never received and also to Siddhartha his son is his only connection to Kamala. In the book the relationship between the father and the son is very important. There are two distinct scenes involving fathers and sons: Siddhartha and his father and Siddhartha and his son. In both, the son wants to leave, and in both, the father indulges and is hurt by it. So maybe the suggestion is that fathers must let go of their sons to find their own way in the world, even against their own better judgement. Perhaps this means that fathers and sons cannot truly connect.
ReplyDeleteI love this passage!! It reminds me so much of the line, "soul-sickness of the rich" in terms of his son. Also, your interpretations of the two father-son occurrences are really interesting. Personally, I thought Hesse was trying to convey his message of the circuitousness of life because part of life is suffering, and though this was a stage in Siddhartha's life, it was all part of the grand scheme of things.
DeleteI also really like this passage because it shows how Siddhartha has changed as a person. As you said he begins to show that he can love after finding out he is a parent. Before this scene I didn't really believe that Siddhartha was capable of truly loving someone other than himself, but surprisingly I was proved wrong. I also think that when Siddhartha lets is son go is kinda the same thing as his father did to him. At some point all parents have to let their children go whether they want to or not and let them experience the world for themselves.
DeleteOne theme that stood out to me in this chapter was the idea of coming full circle. Siddhartha is struggling in his relationship with his son son and thinks “had not his father also suffered the same pain that he was?” (Hesse 107). Here at the end of the book Siddhartha thinks back to his father, the suffering he caused him, and because he is experiencing the same feelings. This theme also shows up in the idea of Karma, which is an element of Hinduism. “Everything that was not suffered to the end and concluded, recurred” (107). The recurrence of Karma and the ideas of Hinduism bring Siddhartha to the closing of his spiritual journey. These two things parallel each other and emphasize Siddhartha’s growth as a character. He went from being a stubborn and rebellious child eager to escape the clutches of his father to being a father who is also struggling with his son. Siddhartha has experienced new beginnings and rebirth multiple times throughout the novel, but in order to fully reach spiritual peace he must first reconcile with his past. It’s a kind of poetic justice that Siddhartha has to face the same sufferings as his father and it brings him full circle in order finally step out of the cycle entirely.
ReplyDelete“ Tenderly he gazed at the streaming water, at the transparent green, at the crystalline lines of its mysterious pattern. He saw bright beads rising from the depths, silent bubbles drifting on the surface, sky blue reflected there. The river gazed at him with a thousand eyes, with green, with white, with crystalline, with sky blue eyes.” (Hesse 89).
ReplyDeleteWhen Siddhartha goes to back to the river to find the ferryman and he stops to admire the river and Hesse’s visual imagery creates the most beautiful scene in the reader’s head. The description of the river makes the reader feel at peace and serene and gives off this calm vibe. The repetition of “crystalline” makes you imagine such a beautiful clear river, and as Hesse goes on the image gets more beautiful and serene. Hesse then writes “...on the surface, sky blue reflected there.”(Hesse 89). Which then creates the image of a clear sunny day with a bright blue sky. Hesse’s use of personification with the “silent bubbles drifting on the surface” (Hesse 89) gives even more life to the image making the reader feel at peace admiring this beautiful river just like Siddhartha.
ReplyDelete“His thoughts were that simple, without understanding: he had grown that similar to the child people.
He now saw people in a different light, less cleverly, less proudly, but also more warmly, more curiously, more sympathetically. When he ferried normal travelers, child people, businessmen, warriors, women, they no longer seemed foreign to him. He understood them, he understood and shared their lives, which were not led by thoughts and insights, but solely by drives and wishes.” (Hesse 113).
This part in Siddhartha is really important because after going through everything Siddhartha did, He has actually become a decent person. Siddhartha who once envied and disliked the child people has now realized they are not that bad. Siddhartha went from being very self absorbed, selfish and thinking he was the best person to ever live and having everyone like his family and Govinda worship him, to becoming an actual decent person who can care for others. This passage is important because it really shows how Siddhartha has grown because “He understood them, he understood and shared their lives. “(Hesse 113) Siddhartha’s experience taught him all about the world and himself and now he finally understand that the sun does not revolve around him and that he can finally sympathize and relate to others no matter who they are. He realized he doesn’t have to live his life by just constantly thinking, teaching and learning and that he can have dreams and wishes. Siddhartha learned that no matter who he meets they have some importance in life and he learned how to relate to others and that shows huge development for Siddhartha.
In these last chapters, Hesse’s Buddhist interpretation of unity was very impactful. As Siddhartha begins to understand the concept of unity more and more, Hesse’s descriptions of unity become stronger and more profound. The first mention of unity is when Hesse writes, “There slowly bloomed and ripened in Siddhartha the realization and knowledge of what wisdom… really was. It was nothing more than a readiness of the soul, a mysterious knack: the ability at every moment in the midst of life to think the thought of unity, to feel and breathe unity. Gradually this blossomed in him… But still the wound burned.” (101) Here, Siddhartha is shown to understand how to achieve wisdom and peace, but the pain of his son leaving is impairing his ability to live that way. Hesse strengthens this interpretation by comparing Siddhartha to a flower or fruit using the words “bloomed”, “ripened”, and “blossomed” because blossoming flowers give the impression of the beginning of new life, and ripening fruit creates the thought of reaching a point of perfection, in this case hearing the OM and living through the lens of unity. Another symbol of unity occurs when Vasudeva, before bringing Siddhartha back to the river, is weaving a basket. A woven basket has no beginning and no end, and all of the pieces flow together as one, which connects to the following passage about Siddhartha’s view on the voices of the river: “Now he no longer distinguished the many voices, the happy from the grieving, the childlike from the manly. They were all part of each other… all were one, all were interwoven and linked, intertwined in a thousand ways. And everything together, all the voices, all the goals, all the striving, all the suffering, all the pleasure - everything together was the river of what is, the music of life.” (105) A significant literary device used by Hesse is anaphora; many sentence prongs in the passage begin with “all were”. “All” carries the connotation of unity, and in terms of syntax/parallel structure, anaphora gives the reader the impression of everything flowing together. Additionally, it shows how everything can be the same and different in life because the beginnings of the sentences are the same yet the body of them is not.
ReplyDeleteSomething that has always struck me about this book is how seemingly hypocritical it is, using words to tell us that experiences are the only way to gain wisdom. Was Hesse not being just like the teachers from whom Siddhartha could never learn? However, in the chapter “Govinda”, I realized that this book is actually much more aware of this disparity than it seems. After all, Govinda, symbolizing words and teachings like those of the book, has little luck comprehending Siddhartha’s experience-earned wisdom, thinking: “The pure teaching of the Exalted one is different-- clearer, purer, more understandable. There is nothing in it that is bizarre, foolish, or preposterous” (Hesse 114). Words are clear, pure, and understandable. The truth is bizarre. Words can’t ever describe what is undescribable, which is why Govinda of words can’t understand Siddhartha until he kisses his forehead and sees the truth in its more complex, more real form. However, the book never truly discounts the value of words and teachings-- it never could, without being hypocritical. Although Govinda was most prominent in the beginning, just as the religious teachings were more a part of Siddhartha then, he makes appearances twice later in the book to witness Siddhartha’s unrecognizable transformations. This shows how, even when Siddhartha has come to accept that teachings will never be the answer to his thirst, he always comes back to them in times of reflection. Thus, the book ends with the chapter entitled “Govinda”, a nod to the importance of words despite their limits.
ReplyDeleteIt is very clear that the main storyline of Siddhartha is Siddhartha searching for his pure soul,nirvana, enlightenment. In the ninth chapter of the book, By the river, Siddhartha describes himself as “full of misery and death” (Hesse 70). He goes on melancholically stating his misery and his longing for oblivion; how he is close to the end. The first two pages of this chapter have a dark and depressed tone embedded in it. He felt there was no purpose in life and wished for the end of his life because he regretted the life he had as a wealthy, greedy person. This chapter signifies the transformation back into his spiritual and pure self; back on his path to enlightenment. One of the many motifs/symbols Hesse uses to explain this shift from one side of his life to another is the recurrent river motif. In this chapter especially, I see a very strong connection with Siddhartha and the river; as if the river was a reflection of Siddhartha’s pure soul, the one he longs for. When he first sits under the coconut tree Hesse writes, “ A chilly emptiness in the water reflected the terrible emptiness in his soul” (Hesse 71). This is a clear comparison of the river to Siddhartha’s soul. He is so far from his spiritual and pure self that his soul is completely empty and the river reflects that. Hesse compares Siddhartha to the river again on page 72. Hesse writes, “With a distorted countenance he stared into the water. He saw his face reflected, and spat at it”(Hesse 72). His face being reflected in the water is an evident symbol of the river being the reflection of Siddhartha’s soul. This symbol guides Siddhartha throughout the rest of the book in his search for enlightenment. This is also foreshadowing SIddhartha with the river as to what is to come in the last chapter.
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