“Soon, Govinda, your friend will leave this path of the samathe samanas, which he has followed with you for such a long time. I suffer from thirst, O Govinda, and my thirst has not lessened on this samana path. I have always thirsted for knowledge, I have always been full of questions. I have questioned the Brahmins year after year. Perhaps, O Govinda, it would have been just as good, would have been just as smart and just as beneficial to question the rhinoceros bird or the chimpanzee. I have taken a long time and I still have not finished in order to learn, O Govinda, that one can learn nothing! There is, I believe, no such thing as what we call 'learning.' There is, O my friend, only one knowledge: it is everywhere, it is Atman, it is in me and in you and in every being. And I am starting to believe that this knowledge has no worse enemy than the wish to know, than learning" (Hesse 18). Throughout the whole book, Siddhartha is searching for a way to find true knowledge. He goes from being a Brahmin, to a samana, to a rich-man, and to a ferryman to find the key to supreme knowledge. Being a Brahmin, Siddhartha felt as if he had already learned everything that he could learn from his teachers. He was not satisfied with all of the information they had taught him and questioned himself if this was everything he could ever learn in life. Even though his entire family was a part of the Brahmin life, Siddhartha felt as though he would be happier and could learn much more in life by withdrawing from that lifestyle and try to find true knowledge, thus making his decision to follow on the path of the samanas. After spending about three years learning the ways of the samanas, Siddhartha, again, felt as if he had spent those years learning nonsense and started questioning the teachings. Siddhartha goes on a great journey, undergoing good and bad times but eventually acquires true knowledge. In this passage, Hesse introduces Siddhartha’s characterization indirectly to the audience. Also his main conflict with himself and society throughout the book. Hesse makes it seem as if Siddhartha was talking to himself out loud, making him realize what he has to do in life and how he’s going to do it. He realized that one can’t learn true knowledge from teachers. So to really fulfill his happiness in life, he realized that he won’t be able to seek true knowledge unless he goes out into the world and finds the path to true knowledge himself.
I agree with your analysis of your passage. However, I would also add the author’s use of repetition, as Siddhartha repeats the phrase “I have” three times in a row to declare his uncertainty of his life. You should also include Govinda’s uneasiness from Siddhartha’s speech, in the quote “your words arouse fear in my heart” (Hesse 16). Also add the foreshadowing of them leaving the Samanas for Gotama, as Siddhartha says “your friend will abandon this path of the shramanas in which he has accompanied you for so long”. This whole dialogue actually shows his uncertainty and foreshadows Siddhartha continuing to find his own path.
“And Siddhartha: ‘He has lived for sixty years and has not reached the nirvana. He’ll turn seventy and eighty, and you and me, we will grow just as old and will do our exercises, and will fast and will meditate. but we will not reach the nirvana, he won’t and we won’t. Oh Govinda, I believe out of all the Samanas out there, perhaps not a single one, not a single one will reach the nirvana We will find comfort, we find numbness, we learn feats, to deceive others. But the most important thing, the path of paths, we will not find.’
“‘If you only,’ spoke Govinda, ‘wouldn’t speak such terrible words Siddhartha!’”(Hesse Pg 18) This passage creates a clear turning point in the novel. It demonstrates the moment when Siddhartha both becomes tired of the Samana’s way of life but also when he and Govinda first clash. It also displays the restlessness of Siddhartha’s to move on. It also demonstrates the lack of confidence of Siddhartha’s in the Samana way. This lack of faith in another’s way to find the nirvana is also demonstrated when he and Govinda meet the Buddha. This passage shows the moment when Siddhartha decides to find his own path and to not rely on the teaching of others but on the teachings that he finds within himself.
The act of deciding to find his own path and his renouncing of the Samana way prompts shock from his friend Govinda. This act creates a schism between Govinda and Siddhartha. It also is an indirect cause of why Govinda chooses to follow the Buddha’s teachings and become a monk while Siddhartha decides to reject his teachings and go on his own path; be it one full of hardship and sin but on his own path. This demonstrates an idea of finding his own path and not following another’s. In the passage it reads that the reality of the Samana way is to deceive others and not to find the path of path’s.
“Siddhartha,” he said, “why are you waiting?” “You know why.” “Will you go on standing and waiting until it is day, noon, evening?” “I will stand and wait.” “You will grow tired, Siddhartha.” “I will grow tired.” “You will fall asleep, Siddhartha.” “I will not fall asleep.” “You will die, Siddhartha.” “I will die.” (Hesse 10-11) This passage is located at the very end of the first chapter, "The Brahmin's Son", and is the first real occurrence of dialogue in the book. At this point in the story, Siddhartha has met the Samanas, and is intrigued by their practices, and is realizing the potential within himself if he chooses to move on in his life with them. Before this point in the book, Hesse simply discusses Siddhartha's position in life, and although it is known that Siddhartha wants to learn more than what is in the village, Hesse doesn’t fully reveal Siddhartha’s desire to actually part from the village, and how strong that desire is. Right before this passage, the story talks about how Siddhartha has been standing in the same spot for many hours, waiting for permission from his father to leave the village. It is at this point that Hesse makes the aspiration inside Siddhartha real. He shows how solid Siddhartha’s convictions are and how profoundly he feels for his search for spiritual fulfillment. In this passage, Hesse uses the dialogue to show not only Siddhartha’s fondness for spiritual enlightenment , but also his father’s strong discontent for Siddhartha’s decisions to leave the village. Siddhartha’s father talks about extreme exhaustion and even death in order to keep his son in the village. Hesse also uses sentence fragments to show how determined Siddhartha is and how to the point he is with his dialogue. Hesse uses the dialogue and seriousness in the last part of the chapter to perfectly show Siddhartha’s determination and willingness to follow the path to nirvana. -Isaac Livingston
I agree with your analysis of this passage. Siddhartha truly wanted to find “spiritual fulfillment, as he argues against his father’s wishes and even chooses to abandon his religion to do this. Everyone in village believes he will become a great brahmin, but knows his life is not complete. I think you should have included this quote: “And he came back after one hour and again after two hours, looked through the little window, and saw Siddhartha standing there, in the moonlight, in the starlight, in the darkness. And came back again, hour after hour, and looked without speaking into the room, saw the unmoving figure standing, and his heart filled with anger, filled with concern, filled with uncertainty, filled with pain” (Hesse 9). I think you should have added this because it shows his father’s concern towards Siddhartha, and that his dad had to comply with his son leaving. His father understood the “anger, concern, uncertainty, and pain” that Siddhartha was feeling, so he allowed him to live with the Shramanas.
“And Siddhartha said with a smile: ‘I don’t know, I have never been a drinker. But in my exercises and meditations, I have found only brief numbing and I am still as far from wisdom, from redemption as when I was a baby in my mother’s womb-that I know, O Govinda, that I know.’ Another time, when Siddhartha and Govinda left the forest and went to the village, begging food for their brothers and their teacher, Siddartha again spoke: ‘Now tell me, Govinda, are we really on the right path? Are we really approaching knowledge? Are we really approaching redemption? Or are we not perhaps going in a circle-we who thought we were escaping the cycle?’” (Hesse 17). Located in the middle of chapter two “Among the Samanas” Siddhartha is questioning his decision of joining the samanas for the first time. He expresses concern to Govinda explaining that he has learned many new things however he has not grown any closer to reaching enlightenment while following this path. This is a turning point in the book because due to his concern he then decides to go on a different path to reaching Nirvana. There is a sense of person vs. self conflict here because Siddhartha is having a problem deciding whether to stay with the samanas or to find a new beginning. Siddhartha’s search for spiritual enlightenment is a motif in this book that will be seen numerous times. At the beginning of this passage Siddhartha starts by saying that he had never been a drinker, this is because in the passage previous to this one he is comparing what he learned from the samanas to a drinker. He is saying that a consumer of alcohol can feel the same brief numbing of pain from ego that they are getting from fasting and meditating. This makes what they are doing seem silly, it makes it sound like Siddhartha and Govinda are taking the hard way to brief abandonment from one's body. This also shows a sense of giving up, on Siddhartha’s part, because he is comparing what they are doing to someone who is a sinner in his religion, saying that this type of person is getting the same feeling of enlightenment that they are getting by doing less. Which is basically him questioning why he is taking this route to enlightenment. This doubt that Siddhartha feels towards the samans way of living eventually takes him on a different path which leads him closer to reaching Nirvana. -Sophia Lamothe
“Yes, everyone loved Siddhartha. He aroused joy in everyone, he was a delight to all. “But Siddhartha was no joy to himself; he brought no pleasure to himself. Walking on the rosy paths of the fig garden, sitting in the bluish shadows of the meditation grove, washing his limbs in his daily baths of purification, performing sacrifices in the deep shade of the mango wood, perfect in the grace of his gestures, he was beloved of everyone, a joy to all-but still there was no joy in his heart. Dreams came to him and restless thoughts. They flowed into him from the water of the river, glittered from the night stars, melted out of the rays of the sun. Dreams came and a restless mind, rising in the smoke of the offerings, wafting from the verses of the Rigveda, seeping into him from the teachings of the old brahmins. “Siddhartha had begun to breed discontent within himself. he had begun to feel that his father’s love and his mother’s love, and even the love of his friend Govinda, would not bring him contentment and satisfaction, would not be sufficient to his needs. He had begun to sense that his venerable father and his other teachers, the wise brahmins, had already shared with him the better part of their wisdom; they had already poured their all into his waiting vessel, and the vessel was not full, his mind was not satisfied, his soul was not a peace, his heart was not content” (Hesse 4-5). This passage explains the discontent Siddhartha begins to feel towards himself. However, everyone else loves him. He explains his daily routines from “everyone's’” perspective, as if his internal conflict doesn’t exist. Hesse then describes his dreams metaphorically, saying they “flowed into him from the water of the river, glittered from the night stars, melted out of the rays of the sun” (Hesse 5). Literally, Siddhartha’s dreams showed him what his discontent was, and he begins to question what his true destiny is in life. The author continues to describe his restlessness, as Siddhartha sees “the smoke of the offerings”, “verses of the Rigveda”, and “teachings of the old brahmins”. These images cause his mind to debate what he truly believed in, and also foreshadows what restlessness he will need to overcome to find his atman. Siddhartha then begins to list the people who truly love him, and knows they won’t “bring him enduring happiness”. This is the main internal conflict throughout the story, which would soon evolve into the main plot as he suffers to comprehend what his meaning in life is. The author also repeats the phrase “would not”, putting emphasis on what is missing in his quest for nirvana and Atman. At the end of the passage, Siddhartha is described as a “waiting vessel” with all of the knowledge of his father and the brahmins, but Siddhartha knows his mind, soul, and heart aren’t fulfilled. Hesse uses a repeating sentence structure as he lists “mind, soul, and heart” to express each of Siddhartha’s unfilled voids in his beliefs to achieve nirvana.
“How old do you think our oldest shramana is, our venerable teacher? Govinda said: Our eldest is perhaps sixty years old. Siddhartha replied, He has reached sixty and still has not attained nirvana. He will get to be seventy and eighty; and you and I too, we will get old, and we will do our practices and fast and meditate. But we will not attain nirvana; neither will he. O Govinda, I think that of all the shramanas who exist, there is perhaps not one who will attain nirvana.”(Hesse 15)
Siddhartha is upset with the path that he and his friend Govinda has chosen. Siddhartha implies that time is being wasted as he makes his point that even the oldest member that has now reached the age of sixty has achieved nothing (Hesse 14). This is the significance of the chapter for it reveals Siddhartha’s realization that the Shramanas are not the right path to have knowledge of all things. Siddhartha makes a strong argument and his feelings of distress are even more prominent when he states that “there is perhaps not one Shramana who will attain nirvana”(Hesse 15). Siddhartha is one who is constantly exclaiming his thirst for knowledge, but this statement is one that contradicts him. For him to be so sure that a holy path is not the way to attain knowledge, he must have been incredibly upset with the ways of the shramanas. As the passage’s craft gets dissected, more could be revealed within these quotes. Looking at the choice of words in this quote “How old do you think our oldest shramana is, our venerable teacher? (Hesse 15)” A lot could be interpreted. Siddhartha’s tone in this context is angry as he shows on the previous page that he mocks his dear friend, and so that questions why Siddhartha calls the shramana leader venerable. Under no circumstances would Siddhartha ever call a shramana any connotation of wise after spending much time with them without attaining nirvana, so it is as if Siddhartha is being sarcastic. Hesse wants the audience to know Siddhartha’s position, and how upset he is, so he greatly utilizes the tone of the passage to be able to express Siddhartha’s feelings. After understanding the passage it could also be connected to a previous part of this novel, where it portrays Siddhartha being unhappy at his original home. At this point of the novel, Siddhartha had the same thirst for knowledge, but just at a different time (Hesse 5). It truly makes the audience question if this will be a motif of the novel.
Siddartha, upon hearing Govinda’s words, awoke as if from a dream. He gazed and gazed into Govinda’s face. Then he murmured in a voice without mockery: “Govinda, my friend, you have taken the step, you have chosen the path. You have always, O Govinda, been my friend, you have always walked a step behind me. I have often wondered: ‘Will Govinda ever take a step alone, without me, prompted by his own soul? Look, now you have become a man and are choosing your own path. May you walk it to its end, O my friend! May you find deliverance!”... At that instant, Govinda realized that his friend was leaving him, and he began to weep (Hesse 29). In this passage, Hesse is describing the strong brotherly bond that Siddhartha and Govinda share. It seems that Govinda and Siddhartha have always done things together; playing with each other, making choices with each other even if one doesn’t like the idea.They have been friends since they were little kids and having to separate was very hard for both of them, but separating showed the beginning of both of them turning into a “man,” since both of them are making their own decisions and following their own paths. Govinda decided to take a path that contains teachings and asceticism and Siddhartha chose to a the path that didn’t include teachers and their teachings, instead he chose one where he can discover true knowledge through himself. Govinda questions Siddhartha’s choices of why he doesn’t want to practice under the Buddha but Siddhartha never tells him a reason why. Even though Siddhartha believes that the Buddha’s teachings are impeccable, he still questions if he can really attain true knowledge through his teachings. But in the end, Siddhartha decides to go out and journey on his own, discovering what true knowledge is through his own experiences. Thus, marking the beginning of his “manhood”.
“He looked around him as though he were seeing the world for the first time. The world was beautiful, full of colors, strange and enigmatic. Here was blue, here yellow, here green, the sky was in movement and so was the river; the forest was fixed in the place and so were the hills-all beautiful, all mysterious and magical. And in the middle of it all was siddhartha, the awakened one, on the path to himself. all of it, all the yellow and blue, the river and the forest, entered Siddhartha for the first time through his eyes. It was no longer the magical deception of Mara, was no longer the veil of Maya, was no longer the meaningless and arbitrary multiplicity of the world of appearances contemptuously derided by deep-thinking brahmins, who scorned multiplicity and sought unity. Blue was blue, river was river, and even if in the blue and the river the divine and the one were alive in Siddhartha in a hidden way, it was still the divine way and intention to be yellow here, blue here, sky here, forest here, and Siddhartha here. Meaning and essence were not somewhere behind things, they were in them, in them all” (Hesse 32). Before the passage starts, Siddhartha’s best and closest friend, Govinda, left him for the Buddha (Gotama). He then began to ponder his life, as he needed to figure out what is missing in his life. Siddhartha then agrees to learn about himself, and to not seek help from anyone or anything. First, he wanted to figure out a way to get rid of his “ego”, or what distinguishes him from everyone else. He begins to walk through the forest and he notices life beyond what is seen with the naked eye. He begins contemplating nature itself and what it actually is. He became entranced with the world and its colors. The author’s stylistic choices remain the same in this passage, with many short choppy fragments making long sentences. Hesse also includes many epithets to describe Siddhartha, including “the awakened one”, to help show some characteristics of him. He also uses parallel structure in the quote, “here was blue, here yellow, here green”, to show how many colors there are to show how Siddhartha can see everything as his mind has been awakened. Hesse mentions Mara and Maya, who are the demons who try to tempt a follower away from the path to enlightenment. Siddhartha says he could “no longer” see “the meaningless and arbitrary multiplicity of the world of appearances contemptuously derided by deep-thinking brahmins” (Hesse 32). This means that everything has “meaning and essence”, and everything means something to Siddhartha. He says nothing is divine and everything is equal. This is one of the motifs of the story, as Hesse consistently wants the reader to know everything in life is equal.
"Out of the moment, in which the world melted away from around him, in which he was alone like a star in the sky-out of this moment in frigidity and dejection, Siddhartha arose more of an ego than ever before, more tightly clenched within. His feeling was: That last shudder of awakening, the last ping of birth. And immediately resumed his journey, walking with haste and impatience, no longer walking in the direction of home or father, nor back anywhere." (Hesse 33-34)
At this point in the passage, Siddhartha has just come to self realization. He had just talked to buddha after hearing his teaching. In his discussion with buddha, Siddhartha pondered on what he could do with his life, and how, after leaving everything he knew behind, he could be reborn as a new person. In this passage, Hesse uses many forms of tactile and visual imagery. He uses these forms of imagery to convey the intensity of what Siddhartha was feeling at the time. Many examples of these can be found throughout the passage, such as when Hesse describes Siddhartha as being “alone like a star in the sky”, which creates a clear image showing how alone Siddhartha felt in the world. Hesse also uses strong word choice to convey the tactile imagery, using words such as: “melted around him, frigidity and dejection, shudder of awakening, pang of birth,” and ”haste and impatience”. Words like these emit and produce strong emotional sentiment in readers, as it shows the agony and suffering of losing everything Siddhartha once had, including his family, home, and best friend. Hesse uses the powerful language in this passage to perfectly convey the emotions and motivation in Siddhartha, and incomparably conclude the first part of the book. -Isaac Livingston
"'There is only one reason, a single one, why I know nothing about myself, why Siddhartha has remained so foreign to myself, so unknown. The reason is that I was afraid of myself, I was fleeing myself! I was seeking Atman, I was seeking Brahma. I was willing to dismember my ego and peel it apart in order to find the core of all peels in its unknown innermost essence: to find Atman, Life, the Divine, the Ultimate. But I myself was lost in the process.' Siddhartha opened his eyes and looked around; a smile brightened his face and a deep feeling of awakening from long dreams poured through him down to his toes" (Hesse, 36). Located in the middle of chapter 4 "Awakening" Siddhartha realizes that enlightenment cannot be taught for it must come from within one's self. He is beginning to discover who and what he is, he calls this discovery a rebirth. He decides to start fresh, he becomes independent for once in his life, he now no longer has his father to guide him nor does he have Govinda by his side. Siddhartha decides to take yet another path to reaching Nirvana and now he realizes he cannot reach his goal if he continues having mentors, he must find enlightenment completely on his own. At the end of the passage Siddhartha smiles, this is a big event because smiles are scarce in this story. In the book smiles only come from those who have reached enlightenment and their smiles evoke their spiritual perfection and harmony. This smile is placed by the author as foreshadowing meaning that even if Siddhartha hasn't met his goals yet he will eventually reach enlightenment. His smile proves that he is on the right track towards his goal. The author uses a dramatic monologue to help the readers understand Siddhartha’s realizations. This helps the reader understand that what the character is saying is important to making that character who he/she is. Another significant writing style in this passage is the author’s choice of using complex sentences. When reading these type of sentences words feel faster because there are less pauses, the author took use of complex sentences to set an enthusiastic tone of voice through Siddhartha. This realization by Siddhartha is a very big one and it will help him get one more step closer to reaching Nirvana. -Sophia Lamothe
“I have never seen anyone with such a gaze, I have never seen anyone smile, sit, and walk in such a way, he thought. In truth that is just the way I would like to be able to gaze, smile, sit, and walk-so free, so worthy, so hidden, so open, so childlike, and so mysterious. Truly only a person who has penetrated to the inmost part of his self gazes and walks like that. I, too shall surely try to penetrate to the inmost part of myself. ..No other teaching shall seduce me, since this teaching has not seduced me. The Buddha robbed me, thought Siddhartha, he robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and now believes in him, who was my shadow and is now Gotama’s shadow. But he gave me Siddhartha, he gave me myself.(Hesse 29)”
This here concludes Siddhartha’s meeting with Buddha, and his departure from his friend Govinda which is an important part of the novel. It serves as a crucial part, because it is the pre awakening of Siddhartha where he focuses on himself for he believed he could not even be taught by the best by saying “No other teaching shall seduce me, since this teaching has not seduced me” (Hesse 29). It is clear Siddhartha has great feeling of admiration as he constantly refers to Gotama as beautiful, and that Siddhartha aims to be like him. Hesse uses repetition with the word “so” when describing Gotama in Siddhartha’s point of view, to further push feelings of admiration and emphasize the beauty he sees in Gotama. What was incredibly interesting about this passage is that it is displayed almost as if Siddhartha feels he had just bargained with the Buddha. Siddhartha explains he feels he lost Gotama in exchange for the realization that he has himself. Through this passage, Siddhartha hints he is going to focus on himself without any teachers as it is written “He gave me myself (Hesse 29)”. This makes the audience view Siddhartha as neither sad nor happy, for he lost his great friend, but was able to realize he is who he must focus on. Within this passage the idea of Govinda usually being referred to as Siddhartha’s shadow is ended as Govinda is now the follower of Gotama and has made his own decisions which differ from Siddhartha. This dramatically changes Govinda’s characterization as he was one who was thought to always follow Siddhartha had just made his own independent decision. This could also be interpreted as Gotama still following others, but he has found someone wiser and better. This idea can be connected to an earlier part of the novel where Govinda followed Siddhartha because he believed Siddhartha was the wisest of all when it was written “but most of all, he loved his mind”(Hesse 4). This idea could later be connected to a further part of the novel when Govinda follows Siddhartha again when he realizes how wise Siddhartha has become on the river on page 116-117. Thus these are the ideas, interpretations, connections, and author's craft that could be found within this passage.
Not long after settling in Kamaswami's home, Siddhartha was already taking part inches host's transactions. But every day at the hour that she set, he visited beautiful Kamala: he wore Love my clothes, fine shoes, and soon he also brought her gifts. Her clever red lips taught him a lot. In regard to love, he was still a bit, and he tended to plunge into pleasure blindly, endlessly, insatiably. So she thoroughly taught him that one cannot take pleasure, and that every gesture, every caress, every touch, every glance, every last bit of the body has its secret, which brings happiness to the person who knows how to wake it. She taught him that after a celebration of love the lovers should not part without admiring each other, without being conquered or having conquered, so that neither is bleak or glitter or has the bad feelings of having misused or been misused. He spent wonderful hours with the clever and beautiful artist, became her pupil, her lover, her friend. Here, with Kamala, lay the value and purpose of his current life, and not with Kamaswami's business (Hesse 59-60). In this passage, Siddhartha had just arrived in the town and has seen Kamala, who he thinks is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. But Kamala won't accept him until he had attained nice clothes, lots of money, nice shoes, nice hair, etc. So Kamala gives him an apprenticeship under Kamaswami, since Siddhartha knows how to read and write. Siddhartha goes through this process of dealing with transactions, business, and teaching people just to get a girl to accept him. He becomes a rich man and abandons all of his sacred teachings he’s learned because of a girl who won’t even accept him. After 20 years, Siddhartha finally realizes his mistake, taking note of how he’s acted and how much he has changed, and leaves the town, not knowing that Kamala is pregnant with his child. Throughout the entire book, Siddhartha is on a journey to attain the true meaning of true knowledge but quits for 20 years to try and win a girl’s heart. The author uses a little bit of allusion when describing Kamala and Siddhartha. Hesse makes a reference to how, when a boy likes a girl, they will do anything to win or achieve her heart. Just like men nowadays, Siddhartha tried to do everything he could to win Kamala’s heart but everything he did, didn’t change her mind about him.
“The merchant taught him how to write important letters and contracts and became accustomed to consulting him on all matters of importance. He was quick to see that Siddhartha understood little about rice and wool, ships’ voyages and business dealings, but that he had a lucky touch, and that Siddhartha exceeded his own ability for calmness and equanimity, in the art of listening, and in seeing into the hearts of strangers. ‘This brahmin,’ he said to a friend of his, ‘is no real merchant and will never be one, nor does he have a passion for business. But he possess the secret of one to whom success comes by itself, whether because he was born under the right star, whether as a result of magic, or an account of something he learned from the shramanas. He always gives the impression of merely toying with business dealings. He never gets truly involved in them, they never dominate his mind; he never fears failure, is never bothered by loss’” (Hesse 53). In this passage, Kamaswami, a merchant and Siddhartha’s teacher, is telling a friend about Siddhartha and how he is such a successful businessman. Siddhartha has recently been employed by him, and instead of being a stereotypical merchant, he uses his teachings from his brahmins in his business dealings. He first tells Kamaswami that all he needs to do good business is “think, wait, and fast”, which seem to be worthless. All of these factors show the motif of a “basic but complete life” shown through Siddhartha. He wants the job to try to court Kamala with money, which seems rather odd considering that Siddhartha is more spiritual. The author wants the reader to see his transformation from being a more religious person to becoming a normal person in society. The author uses a fragment sentence structure with many prepositional phrases to help describe Siddhartha’s ability to do business dealings. When the author writes “in seeing into the hearts of strangers”, the denotative meaning is he can see who his client is, and can use that to be a good businessman. In the dialogue between Kamaswami and his friend, says Siddhartha was “born under the right star” and “a result of magic” to explain that Siddhartha has a special ability of doing business. He also mentions Siddhartha “toying with business dealings” which means he does not try when he speaks with a client or tries to sell, but instead remains calm and uses his brahmins’ teachings to be a kinder merchant. Kamaswami also repeats the phrase “he never” to show how Siddhartha’s spiritual personal effects his work to make him one of the best merchants in the town.
"Dear Kamala,' said Siddhartha, pulling himself up to his full height, 'when I came to see you in your grove, I was taking the first step. It was my intention to learn love from the most beautiful of women. From the very moment that I formed this intention, I also knew that I would carry it out. I knew that you would help me-with the first look you gave me at the entrance the the grove, I knew it already.' 'And if I had not been willing?' 'You were willing. See here Kamala: when you throw a stone into the water, it falls quickly by the fastest route to the bottom of the pond. That is the way it is when Siddhartha has an aim, an intention. Siddhartha does nothing-he waits, he thinks, he fasts- but he passes through the things of the world like the stone through the water, without bestirring himself. He is drawn forward and lets himself fall. His goal draws him to it, for he lets nothing enter his mind that interferes with his goal. That is what Siddhartha learned from the sharamas. This is what fools call magic, thinking that it is brought about by demons. Nothing is brought about by demons; demons do no exist. Anyone can do magic, anyone can reach his goal if he can think, wait, and fast." (Hesse 48-49)
This passage takes place right after Siddhartha met with Kamala, the courtesan. Kamala just discussed how she recommends Siddhartha to become wealthy merchant, and that with her, they will be able to do great things. The passage is pure dialogue, with most of it coming from Siddhartha. Hesse starts off showing how much Siddhartha has changed so fast. Siddhartha is described going up to his full height, showing confidence and responding clearly with a large amount of self-assurance, saying that he knew what would happen. Siddhartha goes on using the visual imagery of a rock slowly descending to the bottom of a pond, which creates a sort of calmness in the reader’s mind. Hesse describes Siddhartha with even more signs of confidence in his dialogue. Siddhartha talks about himself in the third person, saying that he has aims, and will find his goals using the skills he got taught to him by the sharamas. The image of the rock slowly moving to the bottom of the pond perfectly symbolizes patience in Siddhartha’s life. How, like the rock, Siddhartha doesn’t interfere with the current, and how he just lets himself fall into the path that life takes him on. Siddhartha finishes his statement talking about how anyone can do magic, as long as they know what they are doing. Hesse uses the dialogue at the end of the chapter to show the change in Siddhartha. In the dialogue, Siddhartha is flawlessly showed now as confident and strongly self assured, using the theme and symbolism of patience, and the calm imagery of a stone falling into a pond. -Isaac Livingston
“The merchant taught him how to write important letters and contracts and became accustomed to consulting him on all matters of importance. He was quick to see that Siddhartha understood little about rice and wool, ships’ voyages and business dealings, but that he had a lucky touch, and that Siddhartha exceeded his own ability for calmness and equanimity, in the art of listening, and in seeing into the hearts of strangers. ‘This brahmin,’ he said to a friend of his, ‘is no real merchant and will never be one...” (Hesse 57)
This passage marks the beginning of Siddhartha’s journey as he enters the portion of his life where he obsesses himself with the material world. It ends up setting the beginning trend throughout the rest of this phase of his life. It also introduces how he will gain the money needed to sway Kamala and how he procures his luxurious lifestyle. By telling the audience about how futile it is for Siddhartha to become “real” merchant because of his lack of ruthlessness affirms the reader’s characterization of Siddhartha. This passage also sets the stage for Siddhartha's life in this period, one as a merchant. It also sets up how the merchant views Siddhartha in both business and as a person.
By choosing to have the merchant call Siddhartha not a “real” merchant shows how differently Siddhartha is viewed in his society and in his social caste. By emphasizing how calm and fair with the customers he is Hesse shows how much of an impact that the Samana way of life has left on Siddhartha in the beginning of his period of sin. By describing him as a Brahmin and not as a beggar or a person of homeless background it shows how much they respect brahmins in their society and again how much of an impact the Samanas left on Siddhartha. Also this passage exemplifies how sheltered Siddhartha was during his past by telling of how he doesn’t know about the most basic of business facts in this time period.
“She drew him over with her eyes, he bent his face to hers and put his lips to the lips that were like a freshly broken fig. Kamala gave him a long kiss, and with deep amazement Siddhartha felt that she was teaching him, that she was wise, that she controlled him, rebuffed him, lured him, and that behind this first kiss there was a long, a well-ordered, well-tested series of kisses waiting for him, each different from the next. Breathing deeply he stood there and at that moment he was astonished like a child at the wealth of knowledge and wisdom opening up before his eyes” (Hesse 53). A first kiss is a big deal, especially for someone like Siddhartha, who once followed a religion that forbid him from even making eye contact with a pretty girl. This passage is located in the middle of chapter 5, “Kamala”. This name was not chosen by random, the author chose this to be the title of the chapter and the name of the girl that Siddhartha falls in love with because the root word of Kamala, kama, signifies the Hindu god of love and desire. Siddhartha has begun to explore new things that his religion has once forbidden him to do. Meeting Kamala did not start this rebellion, his transformation became apparent earlier in the chapter when he met a pretty girl in a village that he was passing through, however meeting her did fuel it. Siddhartha begins allowing his senses to drive him in new directions rather than denying them and ignoring the beauty in the world around him. When Siddhartha makes the conscious decision to enter the world of desire and to be Kamla’s lover he becomes attached and feels a strong desire for sex. The author uses a simile to describe Kamala’s lips when he writes, “ he bent his face to hers and put his lips to the lips that were like a freshly broken fig.” he uses a simile again writing “he was astonished like a child at the wealth of knowledge and wisdom opening up before his eyes” explaining how starstruck Siddhartha felt after his first kiss. The author beautifully describes the feeling of a first kiss, he presents the feeling of excitement through Siddhartha’s thoughts. A first kiss is a changing point in everyone's life that leads to a big window of opportunities, this kiss is a very important event for Siddhartha’s growth to finding enlightenment.
“He was open to everything that these people came to him with. He welcomed the merchant who had linen on offer, the debtor who was looking for a loan, the beggar who spent an hour recounting the story of his poverty and who was not half as poor as any shramana. Rich foreign merchants he treated no differently than the servant who shaved him or the street vendors whom he allowed to cheat him out of a few small coins when he brought bananas...and the whole game-and the passion with which people played the game-occupied his thoughts just as much as the gods and Brahman once had...But he was not present to all this with his heart, with the wellspring of his being. That spring was running somewhere far away, running on unseen, and had nothing to do with his life anymore”(Hesse 56).
This passage is set where Siddhartha is deep within the “game” of business where the passion others have of it is occupying his mind “just as much as the gods and Brahman once had”. However, despite the fact that he is a merchant, it hasn't changed his shramana heart, which does not appreciate the secular life he lives. This could very possibly be the reason why Siddhartha still accepts all people and retains his will to welcome and treat them all the same. In the beginning of the passage it gives a lists of different people of a variety of backgrounds in which Siddhartha welcomes them all despite where they may have came from. Siddhartha is later narrated to have felt true life pass by, as he remains with this empty happiness (Hesse 56). This makes total sense as he clearly is not having true passion with the way he lives, because he calls the business a “game” and treats everybody equally which is different from how a real merchant would work. Siddhartha’s heart could also be observed to have a longing for something more than just the game of business as his feelings were further narrated. “But he was not present to all this with his heart, with the wellspring of his being. That spring was running somewhere far away, running on unseen, and had nothing to do with his life anymore” (Hesse 56). In this context the narration is referring to how his heart was not enjoying the success his life was, and that what his heart wants is fading away. After understanding Siddhartha’s feelings, Hesse’s writing style must also be understood. In the first several sentences of the passage he gives out different examples of people Siddhartha welcomes to give a general idea that Siddhartha accepts all with an equal attitude. Hesse uses this to emphasize the point that Siddhartha’s heart is really not interested in the secular life he lives. This could actually be compared to different points of life where a person is skilled at something, but has no passion to pursue what he does. What comes to mind is why is Siddhartha so easily aroused by sex, but not the secular world of working as merchant?
Siddhartha sat up; and now he saw someone sitting across from him: a stranger, a monk in a yellow robe, with a shaved head, and in the posture of reflection. Siddhartha gazed at the man who had no beard, no hair on his head. And after gazing only briefly he recognized this monk: it was Govinda, the friend of his youth, Govinda, who had taken refuge with the sublime Buddha. Govinda had aged, he too, but his face still had the old features, it spoke of zeal, of loyalty, of seeking, of anxiety. But when Govinda, feeling Siddhartha’s gaze, opened his eyes and looked at him, Siddhartha saw that Govinda did not recognize him. Govinda was delighted to find him awake; clearly he had been sitting here for a long time, waiting for his wakening although he did not know him. “I was sleeping,” said Siddhartha. “How did you get here?” “You were sleeping,” replied Govinda. “It is not good to sleep in such places, where there are many serpents and the forest animals have their trails. I, sir, am a disciple of the sublime Gautama, the Buddha, the Sakyamuni, and a number of us were pilgriming here: I saw you lying and sleeping in this place, where it is dangerous to sleep. I therefore tried to waken you, sir, and since I saw that your sleep was very deep, I remained behind my brethren and sat with you. And then, so it seems, I fell asleep myself, I, who wanted to watch over your sleep. I did my duty poorly, weariness overwhelmed me. But now that you are awake, let me go, so that I may catch up with my brethren.” “Thank you, samana, for guarding my sleep,” said Siddhartha. “You disciples of the Sublime One are friendly. Go now.” “I am going, sir. May you always be well.” “I thank you samana.” Govinda made the sign of parting and said, “Farewell.” “Farewell, Govinda,” said Siddhartha. The monk halted. “Excuse me, sir, how do you know my name?” Siddhartha smiled. “I know you, O Govinda, from your father’s hut and from the Brahmin school, and from the sacrifices, and from our joining the samanas, and from the hour when you took refuge with the Sublime One in the grove of Jetvana.” “You are Siddhartha!” Govinda exclaimed. “Now I recognize you, and I do not understand why I did not recognize you right away. Welcome, Siddhartha, my joy at seeing you again is great” (Hesse 80-81). In this passage, Siddhartha had just left the town, realizing his mistakes of staying there for 20 years and had come across a river. He was thinking of jumping into the river and committing suicide, when all of a sudden, the river whispered the word “om” to him. He then got this great sensation feeling and decided to take a deep sleep and think things over. After waking up, he sees Govinda resting across from him, dressed in his robe and bald head. When Govinda wakes, he doesn’t recognize the person sitting across from him and just thinks that he was just a traveler who had fallen asleep in the forest. After talking for awhile, Siddhartha finally calls the monk by his name, and Govinda asks how him how he knows his name. Siddhartha then explains how he’s known him since their childhood and going to school together. Govinda then realizes who this traveler is; Siddhartha. During those 20 years in the town, Siddhartha had changed in many ways. He had experienced what being a rich man felt like, gambled like rich men, and even dressed like rich men. Even his childhood best friend didn’t recognize him because of how he looked and the way he was dressed; “... But forgive me, O Siddhartha, you do not look like a pilgrim. You wear a rich man’s clothes, you wear a nobleman’s shoes, and your hair, which smells of fragrant water, is not the hair of a pilgrim, not the hair of a samana” (82). Being in the town for those 20 years had corrupted him, from abandoning his teachings that he cherished and living a materialistic life; which he thought was a poor way to live. Hesse makes Siddhartha a dynamic character, having him change a lot throughout the entire book. From being a Brahmin, to a samana, to a rich man, and then a ferrymen.
I think your analysis is great and the details are very clear and relatable. This part of the passage reminds me of us high schoolers going through life today. Many of us knew each other in elementary and middle school, but at some point had to part ways, and than met again in high school or somewhere else in the future. But over just those few years people can change a lot, just as Siddhartha did. That's why I think the passage is a great representation of how normal people like us can live through the same hardships in life, just as Govinda and Siddhartha did.
“His sleep was deep and dreamless. It had been a long time since he had had such a sleep.When he awoke after many hours it was as though ten years had passed. He heard the soft rushing of the water and did not know where he was, who had brought him to this place. He opened his eyes and looked with amazement at the trees and sky above him, The past seemed veiled, infinitely far away, remote, infinitely unimportant. He only knew that he had abandoned his earlier life (in that first moment of thought this earlier life struck him as some long-ago former incarnation, like a previous birth of his present ego). He knew that he had abandoned that earlier life, that he had been so filled with misery and revulsion that he had wanted to throw his life away, but that by a river, under a coconut tree, he had come to himself with the sacred word om on his lips, then had fallen asleep. Now, having reawakened, he looked at the world as a new man. Softly he uttered the word om, which he had fallen asleep saying, and it seemed to him that his whole long sleep had been nothing else but a long, fully absorbed recitation of om, a thinking of om, a submersion and total entry into om, into the nameless, the perfect” (Hesse 70-71). In this passage, Siddhartha has abandoned his home in the city and is now wandering through the forest to continue his path towards true happiness. He considered committing suicide in the river, but then has a revelation that his life is incomplete. He began to say om, and realized “the indestructibility of life” that had tried to end. He then enters a deep sleep in which he awakened to a new view in his soul. He wakes up to see a new world as if none of his previous sins have occurred. His whole mind is now in “a submersion and total entry into om”, and he has been “cleansed from his previous self. The author uses many forms of visual and auditory imagery to captivate the readers once Siddhartha opens his eyes. Hesse explains the sound of the “soft rushing water” and the sights of the “trees and sky above him”. The author also uses several adjectives to describe Siddhartha’s “past” to completely show what Siddhartha’s thoughts were. Siddhartha also tries to comprehend what happened to him, and Hesse uses parenthesis to show what he thought happened. The author then uses several prepositional phrases to show the specific location of Siddhartha during this occurrence, and uses short, choppy phrases as if Siddhartha is thinking out loud. Hesse then uses parallel structure and repeats the word “om” to show Siddhartha’s complete dedication to the word in his mind and soul. This “deep sleep” that Siddhartha experiences is a symbol of reincarnation in Hinduism, as he is completely renewed and his sins are destroyed to start a whole new life. He refers to himself “as a new man” to again symbolize his reincarnation.
“Deep was his sleep and free of dreams: he had not known such a sleep for a long time. Upon awakening after several hours, he felt as if ten years had passed. He heard the soft flowing of the water, he did not know where he was or who had brought him here, he opened his eyes, he was amazed to see trees and heaven above him, and he recalled where he was and how he had come here. But it took him a long while to remember, and the past seemed veiled, endlessly far, endlessly remote, endlessly indifferent. All he knew was that he had abandoned his bygone life (in the first instant of awareness it seemed like a former, a long-past incarnation, like an early prebirth, of his present ego), that he had abandoned his bygone life, that, full of disgust and distress, he had even wanted to throw it away” (Hesse 79). Found in the chapter “By the River” the beginning of this passage Hesse writes, “he had not known such sleep for a long time.” referring to Siddhartha after awakening from a deep sleep. The purpose behind these words are to symbolize the material world that Siddhartha had fallen into, saying that ever since Siddhartha took on the material world and let his ego take over he had not been content with himself and, in this case, causing him a lack of restful sleep. Once Siddhartha opens his eyes he once again sees beauty and nature in the world and admires it. Hesse mentions the river in this passage because the river symbolizes life and the path towards enlightenment. This moment is vital towards Siddhartha’s journey to reach Nirvana and it is a very meaningful life event, for, he encounters another feeling of being reborn into a better version of himself. Previous to this moment Siddhartha had reached the lowest point he could reach, he plans on killing himself by drowning in the river water, luckily Siddhartha had avoided the spiritual death foretold in the dream and awakened from his slumber in the material world to find nothing but pure beauty and happiness. Siddhartha wakes up overjoyed for he has finally escaped from the terrible lifestyle he had chosen to partake. However, no matter how ashamed he may feel towards his decisions Siddhartha does understand that everything in life happens for a reason and that even though he lead a sickening life in the material world it had truly taught him many things and led him closer to his goals of reaching inner enlightenment.
"I WILL STAY BY THIS RIVER, Siddhartha thought. It is the same on I crossed long ago on the way to the child people. A kindly ferryman took me across then. I will go with him. My way to a new life once started at his hut. That life is now old and dead. May my new way, my new life, have its starting point there! Tenderly he gazed at the transulcent greenness of the flwing water, at the crystalline lines of the mysterious designs it made. He saw pale pearls rising out of the depths and still bubbles floating on the surface with the image of the blue sky in them. The river looked at him with a thousand eyes, green ones, white ones, crystal ones, sky blue ones. How he loved this river, how it charmed him, how grateful he was to it!"
Throughout Siddhartha’s life in the book, he never really reached any of his goal. He started out with the brahmins, but never received the knowledge he strived for, so he moved on. Siddhartha then moved to the sharmas, but still felt empty, and never found true peace. Then, he traveled to see Gotama, but felt he could not reach nirvana, so he moved on. In his life of material wealth, he felt so disgusted with himself that he nearly committed suicide. But now that Siddhartha has found the river, he shows true determination to pursue his goal. Siddhartha thinks about his past life and all the mistakes he made, but then thinks to the present, using words like I will to show how determined he is. To show Siddhartha’s passion for the river, Hesse uses imagery and creative vocabulary. He uses words like translucent, crystalline, mysterious and crystal. Many of Siddhartha’s emotions are brought out using passionate verbs such as love, charm, grateful and tender. Hesse uses these verbs to bring out the emotion in Siddhartha’s heart and excellently show the intentness that Siddhartha is feeling. Also, the imagery of the different colors of the river also illustrate the happiness Siddhartha is feeling. Hesse uses colors like blue, green, white and crystal, which are usually regarded as light and happy colors, to represent what Siddhartha is feeling This passage brings a magnificent start to The Ferryman and captures the reader's attention with Siddhartha’s self minded sentiment -Isaac Livingston
“Siddhartha arrived at the large river in the forest, the same river across which a ferryman had taken him when he was still a young man and was coming from the city of Gotama. At this river he stopped and remained standing hesitantly on the bank. He was weakened by fatigue and hunger, and what reason did he have to go on, where was he going, what was his goal? No, there was no goal anymore, there was nothing left but a profound, painful longing to shake off this whole vile dream, to spew out this stale wine, to make an end to this wretched and disgraceful life”(Hesse 69).
This is the beginning of a new chapter, and the point in which Siddhartha runs away from his life as a wealthy secular merchant, and lives as a wanderer. Siddhartha here wants to just end his life, because of the different feelings he has. On one end Siddhartha lost everything he had ever had, and on the other he tainted all that he valued, so he believes he has nothing to live for anymore. “What reason did he have to go on, where was he going, what was his goal?”(Hesse 69) Are three questions that bring in the main reasons why Siddhartha feels he wants to end his life. Siddhartha no longer had a reason to live as his most recent purpose of life has just ended. Next, Siddhartha has nowhere else to go, as he abandoned all places he has ever been and knows no other area to wander to. Finally, Siddhartha does not know what to do anymore, and even if he did he believed he had no way of achieving what goal he had, making it so he was had no goal. At this very moment Siddhartha was one far from peace and close to being without worth.Without answers to any of these three questions life becomes worthless, and that exactly how Siddhartha felt, making it so that he almost committed suicide. Even today, any man without answers to these questions becomes depressed, and clear examples such as mid life crisis prove to support a claim like this. When studying the author's craft of this passage it can be noticed the subject of the river is repeated. Even though this passage has not much to do with the river itself, and more with Siddhartha it can be inferred the river will have a significant role. The audience may even go as far back as to making connections to when the Ferryman predicted he and Siddhartha would meet again and around this point of the novel they did at the river. Also by noticing the repetition of the word river it may even seem as though the river could be the solution to Siddhartha’s life questions. By reading later in the novel the river does become the answer to all of Siddhartha;s questions.
“Siddhartha listened. He was now all listener, completely one with listening, completely empty, completely receptive. He felt now that he had completed his learning of how to listen. He had often heard all these things before, these many voices in the river, but today he heard it in a new way. 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-longing laments, the laughter of the wise, cries of anger, and the moans of the dying-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. And when Siddhartha listened attentively to the thousandfold song of the river, when he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing, when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego-when he listened to all of them, the whole, when he perceived the unity, then the great song of a thousand voices formed one single word: om, perfection” (Hesse 105). In this passage, Siddhartha has finally understood the meaning of life and the beliefs that should be followed. He realized that everyone and everything in his world were all one, and nothing was discriminated against to create one perfect union. Siddhartha understood that everything would create the “music of life”, and that each little part would create it. In the passage before, Vasudeva wants Siddhartha to stop doing and listen instead. Siddhartha looks into the river and sees the water and finally understands the cycle of life. Hesse uses water as a symbol of life, then explains the whole water cycle and relates it to life itself. The author expresses the extent of what Siddhartha has learned, saying he has become “completely one with listening, completely empty, and completely receptive”. The use of parallel structure shows that Siddhartha is now all listener and now truly believes that life is one. Hesse uses parallel structure again with the word “all” to describe what “everything together” specifically is, describing that every living thing belongs to this “music of life”. The “river” is the symbol for the “music of life” to show that life continues on, and one must never “fasten on the suffering or the laughing” and move on. Siddhartha expresses this by saying he is not involved with his ego or attach his mind in any voice. Vasudeva is also a symbol for the Hindu god known as Krishna, or a divine follower in Vishnu, a supreme god. They describe Krishna as “all-knowing” and “divine”, so Vasudeva has similar characteristics related to this god. This passage asks the question: “can listening truly change a person’s life?” Siddhartha proves this by “listening” to everything, and not discriminating against one particular group and finding the inner unity or om that he has been searching for his entire life.
I agree with your analysis of this passage. Living with Vasudeva had made Siddhartha become a better person and in becoming a better person, he had acheived his wanting of discovering true knowledge in this world.
We actually have very similar ideas, as we both wrote about passages that were very close to each other, but it seems as though we both had different approaches when analyzing the way Hesse portrays the characteristics of life and the symbol of the river as life. I actually saw the river as a symbol of life through the way Siddhartha’s life could actually be reflected by the river when it speaks to him. However, you saw the river as a symbol, because of the way life was characterized and the comparisons between the two made them almost intertwine. I do not disagree, instead I actually very much agree with you, and I think you offered a very valuable perspective.
“And over everything something thin, inessential yet existing, was continuously drawn, like thin glass or ice, like a transparent skin, a sheath or mold or mask of water. The mask was smiling, the mask was Siddhartha’s smiling face, which he, Godiva, was touching with his lips in this self same instant. Thus Godiva saw the smile of the mask, the smile of unity over the flowing forms, the smile of simultaneity over the myriad birds and deaths. This smile of Siddhartha’s was exactly same, resembled exactly the still, refined, impenetrable, perhaps-kind-perhaps-disdainful, wise, thousandfold smile of Gotama the Buddha, just as he himself, awestruck, had seen it a hundred times. So Godiva knew, this is the way of the Perfect One’s smile.”
This passage occurs at the very end of the book, in the last chapter, “Godiva”. What is described in this passage is when Godiva kisses Siddhartha’s forehead in hopes of learning about nirvana and true inner peace. Godiva saw the faces of different creatures and different people pass by in his mind. Then, Godiva see's a mask with the face of Siddhartha, where we see the first mentioning of a smile. Throughout this passage, the mentioning of the word smile is told a total of eight times. At this point in the story, Siddhartha is seen to have found true inner peace, with his radiance and his warm smile. Throughout the story, those who have found their enlightenment are the only ones that are mentioned to have a prominent and deep smile. Gotama is mentioned to have a warm smile that makes him identifiable in a crowd. Vasudeva, the second character to have reached enlightenment in the story, is also described to have a memorable smile that shows peace and understanding. At this point, Siddhartha is mentioned to be having a deep smiling a multitude of times, showing that he, too, has reached the true inner peace that he had always strived for. Hesse uses the symbolism of smiling in this passage to represent the final destination for Siddhartha and Govinda. As although Govinda is not mentioned to be smiling at the end, it mentioned him being able to everything in life, which ends up being the outcome of finding true inner peace. -Isaac Livingston
“Once, when the boy’s face reminded him very much of Kamala, Siddhartha recalled something she had said to him long ago, in the days of youth. “You cannot love,” she had said to him, and he had agreed with her, and had likened himself to a star and the child people to falling leaves, and yet he had sensed a rebuke in her words. Indeed, he had never been able to lose himself completely to another person, forget himself, commit follies of love for someone else. He had never been able to do these things, and this had struck him as the great gap between him and the child people. But now that his son was here, now he, Siddhartha, too, had become a child person, suffering for someone else, loving someone else, lost in a love, a fool for love. Now he too, at this late time, felt this strongest and strangest passion, suffered from it, suffered woefully, and yet he was still blissful, was somewhat renewed, was somewhat richer’ (Hesse 107).
Found in the chapter “The Son” Siddhartha faces love for the first time through meeting his Son. When Kamala dies, he is left to care for his eleven year old, spoiled boy on his own. Siddhartha does not realize that he is attempting to teach his son his ways of living and that he is attempting to help his son find enlightenment. However his son does, and he does not want to learn what his father has to offer him much like Siddhartha at that age. This shows dramatic irony, because the readers see that Siddhartha's way of parenting is just like his father’s which then causes his son to run away and go on his own path just as Siddhartha had once done, but Siddhartha does not notice this. This is because love is blinding Siddhartha. This also shows that the passage where Siddhartha leaves his home in the beginning of the book was foreshadowing to this moment. This love threatens to divert Siddhartha from his path, but then his son runs away and Siddhartha realizes that even though this is a painful transition for him to face, his son leaving is a good thing for the both of them. like the author writes in the passage “suffered from it, suffered woefully, and yet he was still blissful, was somewhat renewed, was somewhat richer.” Since then Siddhartha has gained wisdom through the absence of love, has grown as a person, love was a new life experience for him. The immense use of commas the author puts in this passage help the reader read more fluently. This technique helps the reader feel as though they are reading Siddhartha’s thoughts. Learning to love was vital on Siddhartha’s journey because love helps him become one step closer to his goal of reaching Nirvana.
I also agree with your analysis of this passage. Loving had tied Siddhartha down and made him very emotional when his son wouldn't cooperate with him. I would also add that love is a part of a materialistic life that he couldn't seem to leave behind.
I had a different reaction to this passage, and it was about the characterization of Siddhartha. While you focus more on Siddhartha’s son running away from him and how Siddhartha gained wisdom from the absence of love, I think it is more about the effect and the experience. Maybe you might have been thinking about the same thing, but to me I believe the suffering Siddhartha had to go through was the most significant part of the passage. I actually believe the suffering and feeling for another experience is what Siddhartha gained from this passage rather than knowledge. Thanks for your analysis though, because your input about love is interesting.
He came to the river, he asked the old man to ferry him across, and when they got out on the other side, he said to the old man: “You show much goodness to us monks and pilgrims, you have ferried many of us across. Are not you too, ferryman, a seeker of the right path?” Siddhartha, smiling with his old eyes, said: “Do you call yourself a seeker, O Venerable One, and yet you are well on in years and you wear the orbe of Gautama’s monks?” “It is true, I am old,” said Govinda, “but i have nit stopped seeking. Never will I stop seeking-this seems to be my destiny. You too, it seems to me, have sought. Will you say a word to me, Honored One?” Siddhartha said: “What could I say to you, Venerable One? Perhaps that you are seeking too hard? That you seek so hard tay you do not find?” “What do you mean?” asked Govinda “When someone seeks,” said Siddhartha, “then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with bis gola. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal. You, Venerable One, may truly be a seeker, for, in striving toward your goal, you fail to see certain things that are right under your nose.” “I do not yet fully understand,” said Govinda. “What do you mean by that?” Siddhartha said: “Once, O Venerable One, years ago, you were already on this river and you saw a sleeper by the river, and you sat with him to guard his sleep. But, O Govinda, you did not recognize the sleeper.” Amazed, virtually spellbound, the monk looked into the ferryman’s eyes. “Are you Siddhartha?” he asked in a shy voice. “I wouldn’t have recognized you this time either! I heartily greet you, Siddhartha, I am heartily delighted to see you again! You’ve changed greatly, my friend. And so now you've become a ferryman?” In this passage, Siddhartha finally found his calling and learned the art of being a ferryman from Vasudeva. He stayed close by the river because the river was where he had heard the word “Om” from the river and, it was then when Siddhartha had gotten his head sewn back on right. He had discovered what he truly had to learn from the world and how he would do it. Many years had passed and Vasudeva had gotten too old and had left Siddhartha to be a ferryman and handle this business by himself (Hesse 121-122). In “By the River,” there was a time where Govinda hadn’t recognized Siddhartha as he was sleeping. Govinda hadn’t recognized him because of how much he had changed since the 20 years they had last seen each other. Siddhartha had wandered into a materialistic life, not even realizing what he was doing with his life and how it was hurting him. In this passage, Govinda’s and Siddhartha’s paths had crossed again, and this time Govinda still hadn’t recognized him until Sidhartha started talking about their past together. But this time, Siddhartha had changed in a spectacular way. He had changed his ways, he had changed into a better person, one that didn’t live a materialistic life. Comparing these two changes within Siddhartha, he had become a better person after leaving the town and living by the river.
I agree with your analysis and would like to add on to what you said. I think this passage is a good representation of human nature as to stay with something that makes you feel comfortable. Just as normal people prefer to stay in the same groups and activities that we are accustomed to, Siddhartha decides to stay with the river, as he feels comfort with it. This creates a strong sense of understanding in the reader as they are also able to relate to Siddhartha's situation. -Isaac Livingston
“The image of his father, his own image, and the image of his son flowed into one another. Kamala’s image also appeared and dissolved. Govinda’s image and other images appeared and fused with one another, and all became the river, all moved as the river toward their objects, their goals, passionate, hungering, suffering. And the river’s voice was full of longing, ardent with sorrow, full of unquenchable longing. The river strove toward its goal; Siddhartha saw it hurrying on, this river composed of himself and those near him and of all people he had ever seen. All the waves and currents hurried onward, suffering, toward objects, many goals. The waterfall, the lake, the rapids, the sea, and all the goals were reached; and each was followed by a new one, and the water became vapor and climbed into the sky, became rain and crashed down from the sky, became springs, brooks, had the sound of suffering, questing, but other voices were added- voices of joy and suffering, good and evil voices, laughing and lamenting voices, a hundred, a thousand voices” (Hesse 104-105).
After confessing all that he could to Vasudeva, Siddhartha is told to listen to the river. Once he does he sees images that portray all people who are special to him in his life. When Siddhartha sees these images it seems as though these images each fuse and intertwine with each other, suggesting to Siddhartha that all things are connected. Not only did the people of Siddhartha’s life connect, but so did the feelings each person had. “ Other images appeared and fused with one another, and all became the river, all moved as the river toward their objects, their goals, passionate, hungering, suffering”(Hesse 104). In this quote it displays the idea that Siddhartha gets from the river that all things may seem different but all lead to same paths thus making them connected. The river shows it by giving images of everything returning back to the river. Siddhartha also sees the river being composed of himself and everything around him as well as all people he has ever seen supporting the idea that everything is connected. Siddhartha also saw the transformation of the river never dying, which gives Siddhartha the idea of life being an endless cycle that never ceases. Through such an analysis the river could be thought of as one big symbol of the endless cycle of life in which all things are connected whether opposites or not.
The craft Hesse uses in this passage is also very important, because each one serves a different purpose. A notable part of Hesse’s craft in this passage is making the river a symbol. It must also understood that Hesse’s effective use of naturalism is what makes the river resemble life. He makes Siddhartha’s life voiced and images through the river when the river speaks to him almost as if it was an instructor. The importance of understanding the river as life is also heavily supported by the final understanding Siddhartha receives from the river, which is the unity of all things and that there is no such thing as time. By not being able to understand how the river is life, it would be very difficult for the audience to be able to know how Siddhartha achieved his final lesson from the river in which he was able to know all things. Hesse uses different examples of paradoxes when describing the river such as it “Had the sound of suffering, questing, but other voices were added- voices of joy and suffering, good and evil voices, laughing and lamenting voices, a hundred, a thousand voices” (Hesse 105). This quote here becomes a paradox as it combines so many opposites together, which is very comparable to life as life is one big paradox. Life is full of unlike things and the river portrays such, making it very much more easier to symbolize the river as life.
“Soon, Govinda, your friend will leave this path of the samathe samanas, which he has followed with you for such a long time. I suffer from thirst, O Govinda, and my thirst has not lessened on this samana path. I have always thirsted for knowledge, I have always been full of questions. I have questioned the Brahmins year after year. Perhaps, O Govinda, it would have been just as good, would have been just as smart and just as beneficial to question the rhinoceros bird or the chimpanzee. I have taken a long time and I still have not finished in order to learn, O Govinda, that one can learn nothing! There is, I believe, no such thing as what we call 'learning.' There is, O my friend, only one knowledge: it is everywhere, it is Atman, it is in me and in you and in every being. And I am starting to believe that this knowledge has no worse enemy than the wish to know, than learning" (Hesse 18).
ReplyDeleteThroughout the whole book, Siddhartha is searching for a way to find true knowledge. He goes from being a Brahmin, to a samana, to a rich-man, and to a ferryman to find the key to supreme knowledge. Being a Brahmin, Siddhartha felt as if he had already learned everything that he could learn from his teachers. He was not satisfied with all of the information they had taught him and questioned himself if this was everything he could ever learn in life. Even though his entire family was a part of the Brahmin life, Siddhartha felt as though he would be happier and could learn much more in life by withdrawing from that lifestyle and try to find true knowledge, thus making his decision to follow on the path of the samanas. After spending about three years learning the ways of the samanas, Siddhartha, again, felt as if he had spent those years learning nonsense and started questioning the teachings. Siddhartha goes on a great journey, undergoing good and bad times but eventually acquires true knowledge.
In this passage, Hesse introduces Siddhartha’s characterization indirectly to the audience. Also his main conflict with himself and society throughout the book. Hesse makes it seem as if Siddhartha was talking to himself out loud, making him realize what he has to do in life and how he’s going to do it. He realized that one can’t learn true knowledge from teachers. So to really fulfill his happiness in life, he realized that he won’t be able to seek true knowledge unless he goes out into the world and finds the path to true knowledge himself.
I agree with your analysis of your passage. However, I would also add the author’s use of repetition, as Siddhartha repeats the phrase “I have” three times in a row to declare his uncertainty of his life. You should also include Govinda’s uneasiness from Siddhartha’s speech, in the quote “your words arouse fear in my heart” (Hesse 16). Also add the foreshadowing of them leaving the Samanas for Gotama, as Siddhartha says “your friend will abandon this path of the shramanas in which he has accompanied you for so long”. This whole dialogue actually shows his uncertainty and foreshadows Siddhartha continuing to find his own path.
Delete“And Siddhartha: ‘He has lived for sixty years and has not reached the nirvana. He’ll turn
ReplyDeleteseventy and eighty, and you and me, we will grow just as old and will do our exercises, and will fast and will meditate. but we will not reach the nirvana, he won’t and we won’t. Oh Govinda, I believe out of all the Samanas out there, perhaps not a single one, not a single one will reach the nirvana We will find comfort, we find numbness, we learn feats, to deceive others. But the most important thing, the path of paths, we will not find.’
“‘If you only,’ spoke Govinda, ‘wouldn’t speak such terrible words Siddhartha!’”(Hesse Pg 18)
This passage creates a clear turning point in the novel. It demonstrates the moment when Siddhartha both becomes tired of the Samana’s way of life but also when he and Govinda first clash. It also displays the restlessness of Siddhartha’s to move on. It also demonstrates the lack of confidence of Siddhartha’s in the Samana way. This lack of faith in another’s way to find the nirvana is also demonstrated when he and Govinda meet the Buddha. This passage shows the moment when Siddhartha decides to find his own path and to not rely on the teaching of others but on the teachings that he finds within himself.
The act of deciding to find his own path and his renouncing of the Samana way prompts shock from his friend Govinda. This act creates a schism between Govinda and Siddhartha. It also is an indirect cause of why Govinda chooses to follow the Buddha’s teachings and become a monk while Siddhartha decides to reject his teachings and go on his own path; be it one full of hardship and sin but on his own path. This demonstrates an idea of finding his own path and not following another’s. In the passage it reads that the reality of the Samana way is to deceive others and not to find the path of path’s.
This is Noah Kremer
“Siddhartha,” he said, “why are you waiting?”
ReplyDelete“You know why.”
“Will you go on standing and waiting until it is day, noon, evening?”
“I will stand and wait.”
“You will grow tired, Siddhartha.”
“I will grow tired.”
“You will fall asleep, Siddhartha.”
“I will not fall asleep.”
“You will die, Siddhartha.”
“I will die.”
(Hesse 10-11)
This passage is located at the very end of the first chapter, "The Brahmin's Son", and is the first real occurrence of dialogue in the book. At this point in the story, Siddhartha has met the Samanas, and is intrigued by their practices, and is realizing the potential within himself if he chooses to move on in his life with them. Before this point in the book, Hesse simply discusses Siddhartha's position in life, and although it is known that Siddhartha wants to learn more than what is in the village, Hesse doesn’t fully reveal Siddhartha’s desire to actually part from the village, and how strong that desire is. Right before this passage, the story talks about how Siddhartha has been standing in the same spot for many hours, waiting for permission from his father to leave the village. It is at this point that Hesse makes the aspiration inside Siddhartha real. He shows how solid Siddhartha’s convictions are and how profoundly he feels for his search for spiritual fulfillment. In this passage, Hesse uses the dialogue to show not only Siddhartha’s fondness for spiritual enlightenment , but also his father’s strong discontent for Siddhartha’s decisions to leave the village. Siddhartha’s father talks about extreme exhaustion and even death in order to keep his son in the village. Hesse also uses sentence fragments to show how determined Siddhartha is and how to the point he is with his dialogue. Hesse uses the dialogue and seriousness in the last part of the chapter to perfectly show Siddhartha’s determination and willingness to follow the path to nirvana.
-Isaac Livingston
I agree with your analysis of this passage. Siddhartha truly wanted to find “spiritual fulfillment, as he argues against his father’s wishes and even chooses to abandon his religion to do this. Everyone in village believes he will become a great brahmin, but knows his life is not complete. I think you should have included this quote: “And he came back after one hour and again after two hours, looked through the little window, and saw Siddhartha standing there, in the moonlight, in the starlight, in the darkness. And came back again, hour after hour, and looked without speaking into the room, saw the unmoving figure standing, and his heart filled with anger, filled with concern, filled with uncertainty, filled with pain” (Hesse 9). I think you should have added this because it shows his father’s concern towards Siddhartha, and that his dad had to comply with his son leaving. His father understood the “anger, concern, uncertainty, and pain” that Siddhartha was feeling, so he allowed him to live with the Shramanas.
Delete“And Siddhartha said with a smile: ‘I don’t know, I have never been a drinker. But in my exercises and meditations, I have found only brief numbing and I am still as far from wisdom, from redemption as when I was a baby in my mother’s womb-that I know, O Govinda, that I know.’
ReplyDeleteAnother time, when Siddhartha and Govinda left the forest and went to the village, begging food for their brothers and their teacher, Siddartha again spoke: ‘Now tell me, Govinda, are we really on the right path? Are we really approaching knowledge? Are we really approaching redemption? Or are we not perhaps going in a circle-we who thought we were escaping the cycle?’” (Hesse 17).
Located in the middle of chapter two “Among the Samanas” Siddhartha is questioning his decision of joining the samanas for the first time. He expresses concern to Govinda explaining that he has learned many new things however he has not grown any closer to reaching enlightenment while following this path. This is a turning point in the book because due to his concern he then decides to go on a different path to reaching Nirvana. There is a sense of person vs. self conflict here because Siddhartha is having a problem deciding whether to stay with the samanas or to find a new beginning. Siddhartha’s search for spiritual enlightenment is a motif in this book that will be seen numerous times. At the beginning of this passage Siddhartha starts by saying that he had never been a drinker, this is because in the passage previous to this one he is comparing what he learned from the samanas to a drinker. He is saying that a consumer of alcohol can feel the same brief numbing of pain from ego that they are getting from fasting and meditating. This makes what they are doing seem silly, it makes it sound like Siddhartha and Govinda are taking the hard way to brief abandonment from one's body. This also shows a sense of giving up, on Siddhartha’s part, because he is comparing what they are doing to someone who is a sinner in his religion, saying that this type of person is getting the same feeling of enlightenment that they are getting by doing less. Which is basically him questioning why he is taking this route to enlightenment. This doubt that Siddhartha feels towards the samans way of living eventually takes him on a different path which leads him closer to reaching Nirvana.
-Sophia Lamothe
“Yes, everyone loved Siddhartha. He aroused joy in everyone, he was a delight to all.
ReplyDelete“But Siddhartha was no joy to himself; he brought no pleasure to himself. Walking on the rosy paths of the fig garden, sitting in the bluish shadows of the meditation grove, washing his limbs in his daily baths of purification, performing sacrifices in the deep shade of the mango wood, perfect in the grace of his gestures, he was beloved of everyone, a joy to all-but still there was no joy in his heart. Dreams came to him and restless thoughts. They flowed into him from the water of the river, glittered from the night stars, melted out of the rays of the sun. Dreams came and a restless mind, rising in the smoke of the offerings, wafting from the verses of the Rigveda, seeping into him from the teachings of the old brahmins.
“Siddhartha had begun to breed discontent within himself. he had begun to feel that his father’s love and his mother’s love, and even the love of his friend Govinda, would not bring him contentment and satisfaction, would not be sufficient to his needs. He had begun to sense that his venerable father and his other teachers, the wise brahmins, had already shared with him the better part of their wisdom; they had already poured their all into his waiting vessel, and the vessel was not full, his mind was not satisfied, his soul was not a peace, his heart was not content” (Hesse 4-5).
This passage explains the discontent Siddhartha begins to feel towards himself. However, everyone else loves him. He explains his daily routines from “everyone's’” perspective, as if his internal conflict doesn’t exist. Hesse then describes his dreams metaphorically, saying they “flowed into him from the water of the river, glittered from the night stars, melted out of the rays of the sun” (Hesse 5). Literally, Siddhartha’s dreams showed him what his discontent was, and he begins to question what his true destiny is in life. The author continues to describe his restlessness, as Siddhartha sees “the smoke of the offerings”, “verses of the Rigveda”, and “teachings of the old brahmins”. These images cause his mind to debate what he truly believed in, and also foreshadows what restlessness he will need to overcome to find his atman.
Siddhartha then begins to list the people who truly love him, and knows they won’t “bring him enduring happiness”. This is the main internal conflict throughout the story, which would soon evolve into the main plot as he suffers to comprehend what his meaning in life is. The author also repeats the phrase “would not”, putting emphasis on what is missing in his quest for nirvana and Atman. At the end of the passage, Siddhartha is described as a “waiting vessel” with all of the knowledge of his father and the brahmins, but Siddhartha knows his mind, soul, and heart aren’t fulfilled. Hesse uses a repeating sentence structure as he lists “mind, soul, and heart” to express each of Siddhartha’s unfilled voids in his beliefs to achieve nirvana.
“How old do you think our oldest shramana is, our venerable teacher?
ReplyDeleteGovinda said: Our eldest is perhaps sixty years old.
Siddhartha replied, He has reached sixty and still has not attained nirvana. He will get to be seventy and eighty; and you and I too, we will get old, and we will do our practices and fast and meditate. But we will not attain nirvana; neither will he. O Govinda, I think that of all the shramanas who exist, there is perhaps not one who will attain nirvana.”(Hesse 15)
Siddhartha is upset with the path that he and his friend Govinda has chosen. Siddhartha implies that time is being wasted as he makes his point that even the oldest member that has now reached the age of sixty has achieved nothing (Hesse 14). This is the significance of the chapter for it reveals Siddhartha’s realization that the Shramanas are not the right path to have knowledge of all things. Siddhartha makes a strong argument and his feelings of distress are even more prominent when he states that “there is perhaps not one Shramana who will attain nirvana”(Hesse 15). Siddhartha is one who is constantly exclaiming his thirst for knowledge, but this statement is one that contradicts him. For him to be so sure that a holy path is not the way to attain knowledge, he must have been incredibly upset with the ways of the shramanas. As the passage’s craft gets dissected, more could be revealed within these quotes. Looking at the choice of words in this quote “How old do you think our oldest shramana is, our venerable teacher? (Hesse 15)” A lot could be interpreted. Siddhartha’s tone in this context is angry as he shows on the previous page that he mocks his dear friend, and so that questions why Siddhartha calls the shramana leader venerable. Under no circumstances would Siddhartha ever call a shramana any connotation of wise after spending much time with them without attaining nirvana, so it is as if Siddhartha is being sarcastic. Hesse wants the audience to know Siddhartha’s position, and how upset he is, so he greatly utilizes the tone of the passage to be able to express Siddhartha’s feelings. After understanding the passage it could also be connected to a previous part of this novel, where it portrays Siddhartha being unhappy at his original home. At this point of the novel, Siddhartha had the same thirst for knowledge, but just at a different time (Hesse 5). It truly makes the audience question if this will be a motif of the novel.
-Justin Lim
Siddartha, upon hearing Govinda’s words, awoke as if from a dream. He gazed and gazed into Govinda’s face. Then he murmured in a voice without mockery: “Govinda, my friend, you have taken the step, you have chosen the path. You have always, O Govinda, been my friend, you have always walked a step behind me. I have often wondered: ‘Will Govinda ever take a step alone, without me, prompted by his own soul? Look, now you have become a man and are choosing your own path. May you walk it to its end, O my friend! May you find deliverance!”...
ReplyDeleteAt that instant, Govinda realized that his friend was leaving him, and he began to weep (Hesse 29).
In this passage, Hesse is describing the strong brotherly bond that Siddhartha and Govinda share. It seems that Govinda and Siddhartha have always done things together; playing with each other, making choices with each other even if one doesn’t like the idea.They have been friends since they were little kids and having to separate was very hard for both of them, but separating showed the beginning of both of them turning into a “man,” since both of them are making their own decisions and following their own paths. Govinda decided to take a path that contains teachings and asceticism and Siddhartha chose to a the path that didn’t include teachers and their teachings, instead he chose one where he can discover true knowledge through himself.
Govinda questions Siddhartha’s choices of why he doesn’t want to practice under the Buddha but Siddhartha never tells him a reason why. Even though Siddhartha believes that the Buddha’s teachings are impeccable, he still questions if he can really attain true knowledge through his teachings. But in the end, Siddhartha decides to go out and journey on his own, discovering what true knowledge is through his own experiences. Thus, marking the beginning of his “manhood”.
“He looked around him as though he were seeing the world for the first time. The world was beautiful, full of colors, strange and enigmatic. Here was blue, here yellow, here green, the sky was in movement and so was the river; the forest was fixed in the place and so were the hills-all beautiful, all mysterious and magical. And in the middle of it all was siddhartha, the awakened one, on the path to himself. all of it, all the yellow and blue, the river and the forest, entered Siddhartha for the first time through his eyes. It was no longer the magical deception of Mara, was no longer the veil of Maya, was no longer the meaningless and arbitrary multiplicity of the world of appearances contemptuously derided by deep-thinking brahmins, who scorned multiplicity and sought unity. Blue was blue, river was river, and even if in the blue and the river the divine and the one were alive in Siddhartha in a hidden way, it was still the divine way and intention to be yellow here, blue here, sky here, forest here, and Siddhartha here. Meaning and essence were not somewhere behind things, they were in them, in them all” (Hesse 32).
ReplyDeleteBefore the passage starts, Siddhartha’s best and closest friend, Govinda, left him for the Buddha (Gotama). He then began to ponder his life, as he needed to figure out what is missing in his life. Siddhartha then agrees to learn about himself, and to not seek help from anyone or anything. First, he wanted to figure out a way to get rid of his “ego”, or what distinguishes him from everyone else. He begins to walk through the forest and he notices life beyond what is seen with the naked eye. He begins contemplating nature itself and what it actually is. He became entranced with the world and its colors.
The author’s stylistic choices remain the same in this passage, with many short choppy fragments making long sentences. Hesse also includes many epithets to describe Siddhartha, including “the awakened one”, to help show some characteristics of him. He also uses parallel structure in the quote, “here was blue, here yellow, here green”, to show how many colors there are to show how Siddhartha can see everything as his mind has been awakened. Hesse mentions Mara and Maya, who are the demons who try to tempt a follower away from the path to enlightenment. Siddhartha says he could “no longer” see “the meaningless and arbitrary multiplicity of the world of appearances contemptuously derided by deep-thinking brahmins” (Hesse 32). This means that everything has “meaning and essence”, and everything means something to Siddhartha. He says nothing is divine and everything is equal. This is one of the motifs of the story, as Hesse consistently wants the reader to know everything in life is equal.
"Out of the moment, in which the world melted away from around him, in which he was alone like a star in the sky-out of this moment in frigidity and dejection, Siddhartha arose more of an ego than ever before, more tightly clenched within. His feeling was: That last shudder of awakening, the last ping of birth. And immediately resumed his journey, walking with haste and impatience, no longer walking in the direction of home or father, nor back anywhere."
ReplyDelete(Hesse 33-34)
At this point in the passage, Siddhartha has just come to self realization. He had just talked to buddha after hearing his teaching. In his discussion with buddha, Siddhartha pondered on what he could do with his life, and how, after leaving everything he knew behind, he could be reborn as a new person. In this passage, Hesse uses many forms of tactile and visual imagery. He uses these forms of imagery to convey the intensity of what Siddhartha was feeling at the time. Many examples of these can be found throughout the passage, such as when Hesse describes Siddhartha as being “alone like a star in the sky”, which creates a clear image showing how alone Siddhartha felt in the world. Hesse also uses strong word choice to convey the tactile imagery, using words such as: “melted around him, frigidity and dejection, shudder of awakening, pang of birth,” and ”haste and impatience”. Words like these emit and produce strong emotional sentiment in readers, as it shows the agony and suffering of losing everything Siddhartha once had, including his family, home, and best friend. Hesse uses the powerful language in this passage to perfectly convey the emotions and motivation in Siddhartha, and incomparably conclude the first part of the book.
-Isaac Livingston
"'There is only one reason, a single one, why I know nothing about myself, why Siddhartha has remained so foreign to myself, so unknown. The reason is that I was afraid of myself, I was fleeing myself! I was seeking Atman, I was seeking Brahma. I was willing to dismember my ego and peel it apart in order to find the core of all peels in its unknown innermost essence: to find Atman, Life, the Divine, the Ultimate. But I myself was lost in the process.'
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha opened his eyes and looked around; a smile brightened his face and a deep feeling of awakening from long dreams poured through him down to his toes" (Hesse, 36).
Located in the middle of chapter 4 "Awakening" Siddhartha realizes that enlightenment cannot be taught for it must come from within one's self. He is beginning to discover who and what he is, he calls this discovery a rebirth. He decides to start fresh, he becomes independent for once in his life, he now no longer has his father to guide him nor does he have Govinda by his side. Siddhartha decides to take yet another path to reaching Nirvana and now he realizes he cannot reach his goal if he continues having mentors, he must find enlightenment completely on his own. At the end of the passage Siddhartha smiles, this is a big event because smiles are scarce in this story. In the book smiles only come from those who have reached enlightenment and their smiles evoke their spiritual perfection and harmony. This smile is placed by the author as foreshadowing meaning that even if Siddhartha hasn't met his goals yet he will eventually reach enlightenment. His smile proves that he is on the right track towards his goal. The author uses a dramatic monologue to help the readers understand Siddhartha’s realizations. This helps the reader understand that what the character is saying is important to making that character who he/she is. Another significant writing style in this passage is the author’s choice of using complex sentences. When reading these type of sentences words feel faster because there are less pauses, the author took use of complex sentences to set an enthusiastic tone of voice through Siddhartha. This realization by Siddhartha is a very big one and it will help him get one more step closer to reaching Nirvana.
-Sophia Lamothe
“I have never seen anyone with such a gaze, I have never seen anyone smile, sit, and walk in such a way, he thought. In truth that is just the way I would like to be able to gaze, smile, sit, and walk-so free, so worthy, so hidden, so open, so childlike, and so mysterious. Truly only a person who has penetrated to the inmost part of his self gazes and walks like that. I, too shall surely try to penetrate to the inmost part of myself.
ReplyDelete..No other teaching shall seduce me, since this teaching has not seduced me.
The Buddha robbed me, thought Siddhartha, he robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and now believes in him, who was my shadow and is now Gotama’s shadow. But he gave me Siddhartha, he gave me myself.(Hesse 29)”
This here concludes Siddhartha’s meeting with Buddha, and his departure from his friend Govinda which is an important part of the novel. It serves as a crucial part, because it is the pre awakening of Siddhartha where he focuses on himself for he believed he could not even be taught by the best by saying “No other teaching shall seduce me, since this teaching has not seduced me” (Hesse 29). It is clear Siddhartha has great feeling of admiration as he constantly refers to Gotama as beautiful, and that Siddhartha aims to be like him. Hesse uses repetition with the word “so” when describing Gotama in Siddhartha’s point of view, to further push feelings of admiration and emphasize the beauty he sees in Gotama. What was incredibly interesting about this passage is that it is displayed almost as if Siddhartha feels he had just bargained with the Buddha. Siddhartha explains he feels he lost Gotama in exchange for the realization that he has himself. Through this passage, Siddhartha hints he is going to focus on himself without any teachers as it is written “He gave me myself (Hesse 29)”. This makes the audience view Siddhartha as neither sad nor happy, for he lost his great friend, but was able to realize he is who he must focus on. Within this passage the idea of Govinda usually being referred to as Siddhartha’s shadow is ended as Govinda is now the follower of Gotama and has made his own decisions which differ from Siddhartha. This dramatically changes Govinda’s characterization as he was one who was thought to always follow Siddhartha had just made his own independent decision. This could also be interpreted as Gotama still following others, but he has found someone wiser and better. This idea can be connected to an earlier part of the novel where Govinda followed Siddhartha because he believed Siddhartha was the wisest of all when it was written “but most of all, he loved his mind”(Hesse 4). This idea could later be connected to a further part of the novel when Govinda follows Siddhartha again when he realizes how wise Siddhartha has become on the river on page 116-117. Thus these are the ideas, interpretations, connections, and author's craft that could be found within this passage.
-Justin Lim
Not long after settling in Kamaswami's home, Siddhartha was already taking part inches host's transactions. But every day at the hour that she set, he visited beautiful Kamala: he wore Love my clothes, fine shoes, and soon he also brought her gifts. Her clever red lips taught him a lot. In regard to love, he was still a bit, and he tended to plunge into pleasure blindly, endlessly, insatiably. So she thoroughly taught him that one cannot take pleasure, and that every gesture, every caress, every touch, every glance, every last bit of the body has its secret, which brings happiness to the person who knows how to wake it. She taught him that after a celebration of love the lovers should not part without admiring each other, without being conquered or having conquered, so that neither is bleak or glitter or has the bad feelings of having misused or been misused. He spent wonderful hours with the clever and beautiful artist, became her pupil, her lover, her friend. Here, with Kamala, lay the value and purpose of his current life, and not with Kamaswami's business (Hesse 59-60).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Siddhartha had just arrived in the town and has seen Kamala, who he thinks is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. But Kamala won't accept him until he had attained nice clothes, lots of money, nice shoes, nice hair, etc. So Kamala gives him an apprenticeship under Kamaswami, since Siddhartha knows how to read and write. Siddhartha goes through this process of dealing with transactions, business, and teaching people just to get a girl to accept him. He becomes a rich man and abandons all of his sacred teachings he’s learned because of a girl who won’t even accept him. After 20 years, Siddhartha finally realizes his mistake, taking note of how he’s acted and how much he has changed, and leaves the town, not knowing that Kamala is pregnant with his child. Throughout the entire book, Siddhartha is on a journey to attain the true meaning of true knowledge but quits for 20 years to try and win a girl’s heart. The author uses a little bit of allusion when describing Kamala and Siddhartha. Hesse makes a reference to how, when a boy likes a girl, they will do anything to win or achieve her heart. Just like men nowadays, Siddhartha tried to do everything he could to win Kamala’s heart but everything he did, didn’t change her mind about him.
“The merchant taught him how to write important letters and contracts and became accustomed to consulting him on all matters of importance. He was quick to see that Siddhartha understood little about rice and wool, ships’ voyages and business dealings, but that he had a lucky touch, and that Siddhartha exceeded his own ability for calmness and equanimity, in the art of listening, and in seeing into the hearts of strangers. ‘This brahmin,’ he said to a friend of his, ‘is no real merchant and will never be one, nor does he have a passion for business. But he possess the secret of one to whom success comes by itself, whether because he was born under the right star, whether as a result of magic, or an account of something he learned from the shramanas. He always gives the impression of merely toying with business dealings. He never gets truly involved in them, they never dominate his mind; he never fears failure, is never bothered by loss’” (Hesse 53).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Kamaswami, a merchant and Siddhartha’s teacher, is telling a friend about Siddhartha and how he is such a successful businessman. Siddhartha has recently been employed by him, and instead of being a stereotypical merchant, he uses his teachings from his brahmins in his business dealings. He first tells Kamaswami that all he needs to do good business is “think, wait, and fast”, which seem to be worthless. All of these factors show the motif of a “basic but complete life” shown through Siddhartha. He wants the job to try to court Kamala with money, which seems rather odd considering that Siddhartha is more spiritual. The author wants the reader to see his transformation from being a more religious person to becoming a normal person in society.
The author uses a fragment sentence structure with many prepositional phrases to help describe Siddhartha’s ability to do business dealings. When the author writes “in seeing into the hearts of strangers”, the denotative meaning is he can see who his client is, and can use that to be a good businessman. In the dialogue between Kamaswami and his friend, says Siddhartha was “born under the right star” and “a result of magic” to explain that Siddhartha has a special ability of doing business. He also mentions Siddhartha “toying with business dealings” which means he does not try when he speaks with a client or tries to sell, but instead remains calm and uses his brahmins’ teachings to be a kinder merchant. Kamaswami also repeats the phrase “he never” to show how Siddhartha’s spiritual personal effects his work to make him one of the best merchants in the town.
"Dear Kamala,' said Siddhartha, pulling himself up to his full height, 'when I came to see you in your grove, I was taking the first step. It was my intention to learn love from the most beautiful of women. From the very moment that I formed this intention, I also knew that I would carry it out. I knew that you would help me-with the first look you gave me at the entrance the the grove, I knew it already.'
ReplyDelete'And if I had not been willing?'
'You were willing. See here Kamala: when you throw a stone into the water, it falls quickly by the fastest route to the bottom of the pond. That is the way it is when Siddhartha has an aim, an intention. Siddhartha does nothing-he waits, he thinks, he fasts- but he passes through the things of the world like the stone through the water, without bestirring himself. He is drawn forward and lets himself fall. His goal draws him to it, for he lets nothing enter his mind that interferes with his goal. That is what Siddhartha learned from the sharamas. This is what fools call magic, thinking that it is brought about by demons. Nothing is brought about by demons; demons do no exist. Anyone can do magic, anyone can reach his goal if he can think, wait, and fast." (Hesse 48-49)
This passage takes place right after Siddhartha met with Kamala, the courtesan. Kamala just discussed how she recommends Siddhartha to become wealthy merchant, and that with her, they will be able to do great things. The passage is pure dialogue, with most of it coming from Siddhartha. Hesse starts off showing how much Siddhartha has changed so fast. Siddhartha is described going up to his full height, showing confidence and responding clearly with a large amount of self-assurance, saying that he knew what would happen. Siddhartha goes on using the visual imagery of a rock slowly descending to the bottom of a pond, which creates a sort of calmness in the reader’s mind. Hesse describes Siddhartha with even more signs of confidence in his dialogue. Siddhartha talks about himself in the third person, saying that he has aims, and will find his goals using the skills he got taught to him by the sharamas. The image of the rock slowly moving to the bottom of the pond perfectly symbolizes patience in Siddhartha’s life. How, like the rock, Siddhartha doesn’t interfere with the current, and how he just lets himself fall into the path that life takes him on. Siddhartha finishes his statement talking about how anyone can do magic, as long as they know what they are doing. Hesse uses the dialogue at the end of the chapter to show the change in Siddhartha. In the dialogue, Siddhartha is flawlessly showed now as confident and strongly self assured, using the theme and symbolism of patience, and the calm imagery of a stone falling into a pond.
-Isaac Livingston
“The merchant taught him how to write important letters and contracts and became accustomed to consulting him on all matters of importance. He was quick to see that Siddhartha understood little about rice and wool, ships’ voyages and business dealings, but that he had a lucky touch, and that Siddhartha exceeded his own ability for calmness and equanimity, in the art of listening, and in seeing into the hearts of strangers. ‘This brahmin,’ he said to a friend of his, ‘is no real merchant and will never be one...” (Hesse 57)
ReplyDeleteThis passage marks the beginning of Siddhartha’s journey as he enters the portion of his life where he obsesses himself with the material world. It ends up setting the beginning trend throughout the rest of this phase of his life. It also introduces how he will gain the money needed to sway Kamala and how he procures his luxurious lifestyle. By telling the audience about how futile it is for Siddhartha to become “real” merchant because of his lack of ruthlessness affirms the reader’s characterization of Siddhartha. This passage also sets the stage for Siddhartha's life in this period, one as a merchant. It also sets up how the merchant views Siddhartha in both business and as a person.
By choosing to have the merchant call Siddhartha not a “real” merchant shows how differently Siddhartha is viewed in his society and in his social caste. By emphasizing how calm and fair with the customers he is Hesse shows how much of an impact that the Samana way of life has left on Siddhartha in the beginning of his period of sin. By describing him as a Brahmin and not as a beggar or a person of homeless background it shows how much they respect brahmins in their society and again how much of an impact the Samanas left on Siddhartha. Also this passage exemplifies how sheltered Siddhartha was during his past by telling of how he doesn’t know about the most basic of business facts in this time period.
“She drew him over with her eyes, he bent his face to hers and put his lips to the lips that were like a freshly broken fig. Kamala gave him a long kiss, and with deep amazement Siddhartha felt that she was teaching him, that she was wise, that she controlled him, rebuffed him, lured him, and that behind this first kiss there was a long, a well-ordered, well-tested series of kisses waiting for him, each different from the next. Breathing deeply he stood there and at that moment he was astonished like a child at the wealth of knowledge and wisdom opening up before his eyes” (Hesse 53).
ReplyDeleteA first kiss is a big deal, especially for someone like Siddhartha, who once followed a religion that forbid him from even making eye contact with a pretty girl. This passage is located in the middle of chapter 5, “Kamala”. This name was not chosen by random, the author chose this to be the title of the chapter and the name of the girl that Siddhartha falls in love with because the root word of Kamala, kama, signifies the Hindu god of love and desire. Siddhartha has begun to explore new things that his religion has once forbidden him to do. Meeting Kamala did not start this rebellion, his transformation became apparent earlier in the chapter when he met a pretty girl in a village that he was passing through, however meeting her did fuel it. Siddhartha begins allowing his senses to drive him in new directions rather than denying them and ignoring the beauty in the world around him. When Siddhartha makes the conscious decision to enter the world of desire and to be Kamla’s lover he becomes attached and feels a strong desire for sex. The author uses a simile to describe Kamala’s lips when he writes, “ he bent his face to hers and put his lips to the lips that were like a freshly broken fig.” he uses a simile again writing “he was astonished like a child at the wealth of knowledge and wisdom opening up before his eyes” explaining how starstruck Siddhartha felt after his first kiss. The author beautifully describes the feeling of a first kiss, he presents the feeling of excitement through Siddhartha’s thoughts. A first kiss is a changing point in everyone's life that leads to a big window of opportunities, this kiss is a very important event for Siddhartha’s growth to finding enlightenment.
“He was open to everything that these people came to him with. He welcomed the merchant who had linen on offer, the debtor who was looking for a loan, the beggar who spent an hour recounting the story of his poverty and who was not half as poor as any shramana. Rich foreign merchants he treated no differently than the servant who shaved him or the street vendors whom he allowed to cheat him out of a few small coins when he brought bananas...and the whole game-and the passion with which people played the game-occupied his thoughts just as much as the gods and Brahman once had...But he was not present to all this with his heart, with the wellspring of his being. That spring was running somewhere far away, running on unseen, and had nothing to do with his life anymore”(Hesse 56).
ReplyDeleteThis passage is set where Siddhartha is deep within the “game” of business where the passion others have of it is occupying his mind “just as much as the gods and Brahman once had”. However, despite the fact that he is a merchant, it hasn't changed his shramana heart, which does not appreciate the secular life he lives. This could very possibly be the reason why Siddhartha still accepts all people and retains his will to welcome and treat them all the same. In the beginning of the passage it gives a lists of different people of a variety of backgrounds in which Siddhartha welcomes them all despite where they may have came from. Siddhartha is later narrated to have felt true life pass by, as he remains with this empty happiness (Hesse 56). This makes total sense as he clearly is not having true passion with the way he lives, because he calls the business a “game” and treats everybody equally which is different from how a real merchant would work. Siddhartha’s heart could also be observed to have a longing for something more than just the game of business as his feelings were further narrated. “But he was not present to all this with his heart, with the wellspring of his being. That spring was running somewhere far away, running on unseen, and had nothing to do with his life anymore” (Hesse 56). In this context the narration is referring to how his heart was not enjoying the success his life was, and that what his heart wants is fading away. After understanding Siddhartha’s feelings, Hesse’s writing style must also be understood. In the first several sentences of the passage he gives out different examples of people Siddhartha welcomes to give a general idea that Siddhartha accepts all with an equal attitude. Hesse uses this to emphasize the point that Siddhartha’s heart is really not interested in the secular life he lives. This could actually be compared to different points of life where a person is skilled at something, but has no passion to pursue what he does. What comes to mind is why is Siddhartha so easily aroused by sex, but not the secular world of working as merchant?
Siddhartha sat up; and now he saw someone sitting across from him: a stranger, a monk in a yellow robe, with a shaved head, and in the posture of reflection. Siddhartha gazed at the man who had no beard, no hair on his head. And after gazing only briefly he recognized this monk: it was Govinda, the friend of his youth, Govinda, who had taken refuge with the sublime Buddha. Govinda had aged, he too, but his face still had the old features, it spoke of zeal, of loyalty, of seeking, of anxiety. But when Govinda, feeling Siddhartha’s gaze, opened his eyes and looked at him, Siddhartha saw that Govinda did not recognize him. Govinda was delighted to find him awake; clearly he had been sitting here for a long time, waiting for his wakening although he did not know him.
ReplyDelete“I was sleeping,” said Siddhartha. “How did you get here?”
“You were sleeping,” replied Govinda. “It is not good to sleep in such places, where there are many serpents and the forest animals have their trails. I, sir, am a disciple of the sublime Gautama, the Buddha, the Sakyamuni, and a number of us were pilgriming here: I saw you lying and sleeping in this place, where it is dangerous to sleep. I therefore tried to waken you, sir, and since I saw that your sleep was very deep, I remained behind my brethren and sat with you. And then, so it seems, I fell asleep myself, I, who wanted to watch over your sleep. I did my duty poorly, weariness overwhelmed me. But now that you are awake, let me go, so that I may catch up with my brethren.”
“Thank you, samana, for guarding my sleep,” said Siddhartha. “You disciples of the Sublime One are friendly. Go now.”
“I am going, sir. May you always be well.”
“I thank you samana.”
Govinda made the sign of parting and said, “Farewell.”
“Farewell, Govinda,” said Siddhartha.
The monk halted.
“Excuse me, sir, how do you know my name?”
Siddhartha smiled.
“I know you, O Govinda, from your father’s hut and from the Brahmin school, and from the sacrifices, and from our joining the samanas, and from the hour when you took refuge with the Sublime One in the grove of Jetvana.”
“You are Siddhartha!” Govinda exclaimed. “Now I recognize you, and I do not understand why I did not recognize you right away. Welcome, Siddhartha, my joy at seeing you again is great” (Hesse 80-81).
In this passage, Siddhartha had just left the town, realizing his mistakes of staying there for 20 years and had come across a river. He was thinking of jumping into the river and committing suicide, when all of a sudden, the river whispered the word “om” to him. He then got this great sensation feeling and decided to take a deep sleep and think things over. After waking up, he sees Govinda resting across from him, dressed in his robe and bald head. When Govinda wakes, he doesn’t recognize the person sitting across from him and just thinks that he was just a traveler who had fallen asleep in the forest. After talking for awhile, Siddhartha finally calls the monk by his name, and Govinda asks how him how he knows his name. Siddhartha then explains how he’s known him since their childhood and going to school together. Govinda then realizes who this traveler is; Siddhartha.
During those 20 years in the town, Siddhartha had changed in many ways. He had experienced what being a rich man felt like, gambled like rich men, and even dressed like rich men. Even his childhood best friend didn’t recognize him because of how he looked and the way he was dressed; “... But forgive me, O Siddhartha, you do not look like a pilgrim. You wear a rich man’s clothes, you wear a nobleman’s shoes, and your hair, which smells of fragrant water, is not the hair of a pilgrim, not the hair of a samana” (82). Being in the town for those 20 years had corrupted him, from abandoning his teachings that he cherished and living a materialistic life; which he thought was a poor way to live. Hesse makes Siddhartha a dynamic character, having him change a lot throughout the entire book. From being a Brahmin, to a samana, to a rich man, and then a ferrymen.
I think your analysis is great and the details are very clear and relatable. This part of the passage reminds me of us high schoolers going through life today. Many of us knew each other in elementary and middle school, but at some point had to part ways, and than met again in high school or somewhere else in the future. But over just those few years people can change a lot, just as Siddhartha did. That's why I think the passage is a great representation of how normal people like us can live through the same hardships in life, just as Govinda and Siddhartha did.
Delete“His sleep was deep and dreamless. It had been a long time since he had had such a sleep.When he awoke after many hours it was as though ten years had passed. He heard the soft rushing of the water and did not know where he was, who had brought him to this place. He opened his eyes and looked with amazement at the trees and sky above him, The past seemed veiled, infinitely far away, remote, infinitely unimportant. He only knew that he had abandoned his earlier life (in that first moment of thought this earlier life struck him as some long-ago former incarnation, like a previous birth of his present ego). He knew that he had abandoned that earlier life, that he had been so filled with misery and revulsion that he had wanted to throw his life away, but that by a river, under a coconut tree, he had come to himself with the sacred word om on his lips, then had fallen asleep. Now, having reawakened, he looked at the world as a new man. Softly he uttered the word om, which he had fallen asleep saying, and it seemed to him that his whole long sleep had been nothing else but a long, fully absorbed recitation of om, a thinking of om, a submersion and total entry into om, into the nameless, the perfect” (Hesse 70-71).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Siddhartha has abandoned his home in the city and is now wandering through the forest to continue his path towards true happiness. He considered committing suicide in the river, but then has a revelation that his life is incomplete. He began to say om, and realized “the indestructibility of life” that had tried to end. He then enters a deep sleep in which he awakened to a new view in his soul. He wakes up to see a new world as if none of his previous sins have occurred. His whole mind is now in “a submersion and total entry into om”, and he has been “cleansed from his previous self.
The author uses many forms of visual and auditory imagery to captivate the readers once Siddhartha opens his eyes. Hesse explains the sound of the “soft rushing water” and the sights of the “trees and sky above him”. The author also uses several adjectives to describe Siddhartha’s “past” to completely show what Siddhartha’s thoughts were. Siddhartha also tries to comprehend what happened to him, and Hesse uses parenthesis to show what he thought happened. The author then uses several prepositional phrases to show the specific location of Siddhartha during this occurrence, and uses short, choppy phrases as if Siddhartha is thinking out loud. Hesse then uses parallel structure and repeats the word “om” to show Siddhartha’s complete dedication to the word in his mind and soul. This “deep sleep” that Siddhartha experiences is a symbol of reincarnation in Hinduism, as he is completely renewed and his sins are destroyed to start a whole new life. He refers to himself “as a new man” to again symbolize his reincarnation.
“Deep was his sleep and free of dreams: he had not known such a sleep for a long time. Upon awakening after several hours, he felt as if ten years had passed. He heard the soft flowing of the water, he did not know where he was or who had brought him here, he opened his eyes, he was amazed to see trees and heaven above him, and he recalled where he was and how he had come here. But it took him a long while to remember, and the past seemed veiled, endlessly far, endlessly remote, endlessly indifferent. All he knew was that he had abandoned his bygone life (in the first instant of awareness it seemed like a former, a long-past incarnation, like an early prebirth, of his present ego), that he had abandoned his bygone life, that, full of disgust and distress, he had even wanted to throw it away” (Hesse 79).
ReplyDeleteFound in the chapter “By the River” the beginning of this passage Hesse writes, “he had not known such sleep for a long time.” referring to Siddhartha after awakening from a deep sleep. The purpose behind these words are to symbolize the material world that Siddhartha had fallen into, saying that ever since Siddhartha took on the material world and let his ego take over he had not been content with himself and, in this case, causing him a lack of restful sleep. Once Siddhartha opens his eyes he once again sees beauty and nature in the world and admires it. Hesse mentions the river in this passage because the river symbolizes life and the path towards enlightenment. This moment is vital towards Siddhartha’s journey to reach Nirvana and it is a very meaningful life event, for, he encounters another feeling of being reborn into a better version of himself. Previous to this moment Siddhartha had reached the lowest point he could reach, he plans on killing himself by drowning in the river water, luckily Siddhartha had avoided the spiritual death foretold in the dream and awakened from his slumber in the material world to find nothing but pure beauty and happiness. Siddhartha wakes up overjoyed for he has finally escaped from the terrible lifestyle he had chosen to partake. However, no matter how ashamed he may feel towards his decisions Siddhartha does understand that everything in life happens for a reason and that even though he lead a sickening life in the material world it had truly taught him many things and led him closer to his goals of reaching inner enlightenment.
"I WILL STAY BY THIS RIVER, Siddhartha thought. It is the same on I crossed long ago on the way to the child people. A kindly ferryman took me across then. I will go with him. My way to a new life once started at his hut. That life is now old and dead. May my new way, my new life, have its starting point there!
ReplyDeleteTenderly he gazed at the transulcent greenness of the flwing water, at the crystalline lines of the mysterious designs it made. He saw pale pearls rising out of the depths and still bubbles floating on the surface with the image of the blue sky in them. The river looked at him with a thousand eyes, green ones, white ones, crystal ones, sky blue ones. How he loved this river, how it charmed him, how grateful he was to it!"
Throughout Siddhartha’s life in the book, he never really reached any of his goal. He started out with the brahmins, but never received the knowledge he strived for, so he moved on. Siddhartha then moved to the sharmas, but still felt empty, and never found true peace. Then, he traveled to see Gotama, but felt he could not reach nirvana, so he moved on. In his life of material wealth, he felt so disgusted with himself that he nearly committed suicide. But now that Siddhartha has found the river, he shows true determination to pursue his goal. Siddhartha thinks about his past life and all the mistakes he made, but then thinks to the present, using words like I will to show how determined he is. To show Siddhartha’s passion for the river, Hesse uses imagery and creative vocabulary. He uses words like translucent, crystalline, mysterious and crystal. Many of Siddhartha’s emotions are brought out using passionate verbs such as love, charm, grateful and tender. Hesse uses these verbs to bring out the emotion in Siddhartha’s heart and excellently show the intentness that Siddhartha is feeling. Also, the imagery of the different colors of the river also illustrate the happiness Siddhartha is feeling. Hesse uses colors like blue, green, white and crystal, which are usually regarded as light and happy colors, to represent what Siddhartha is feeling This passage brings a magnificent start to The Ferryman and captures the reader's attention with Siddhartha’s self minded sentiment
-Isaac Livingston
“Siddhartha arrived at the large river in the forest, the same river across which a ferryman had taken him when he was still a young man and was coming from the city of Gotama. At this river he stopped and remained standing hesitantly on the bank. He was weakened by fatigue and hunger, and what reason did he have to go on, where was he going, what was his goal? No, there was no goal anymore, there was nothing left but a profound, painful longing to shake off this whole vile dream, to spew out this stale wine, to make an end to this wretched and disgraceful life”(Hesse 69).
ReplyDeleteThis is the beginning of a new chapter, and the point in which Siddhartha runs away from his life as a wealthy secular merchant, and lives as a wanderer. Siddhartha here wants to just end his life, because of the different feelings he has. On one end Siddhartha lost everything he had ever had, and on the other he tainted all that he valued, so he believes he has nothing to live for anymore. “What reason did he have to go on, where was he going, what was his goal?”(Hesse 69) Are three questions that bring in the main reasons why Siddhartha feels he wants to end his life. Siddhartha no longer had a reason to live as his most recent purpose of life has just ended. Next, Siddhartha has nowhere else to go, as he abandoned all places he has ever been and knows no other area to wander to. Finally, Siddhartha does not know what to do anymore, and even if he did he believed he had no way of achieving what goal he had, making it so he was had no goal. At this very moment Siddhartha was one far from peace and close to being without worth.Without answers to any of these three questions life becomes worthless, and that exactly how Siddhartha felt, making it so that he almost committed suicide. Even today, any man without answers to these questions becomes depressed, and clear examples such as mid life crisis prove to support a claim like this. When studying the author's craft of this passage it can be noticed the subject of the river is repeated. Even though this passage has not much to do with the river itself, and more with Siddhartha it can be inferred the river will have a significant role. The audience may even go as far back as to making connections to when the Ferryman predicted he and Siddhartha would meet again and around this point of the novel they did at the river. Also by noticing the repetition of the word river it may even seem as though the river could be the solution to Siddhartha’s life questions. By reading later in the novel the river does become the answer to all of Siddhartha;s questions.
“Siddhartha listened. He was now all listener, completely one with listening, completely empty, completely receptive. He felt now that he had completed his learning of how to listen. He had often heard all these things before, these many voices in the river, but today he heard it in a new way. 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-longing laments, the laughter of the wise, cries of anger, and the moans of the dying-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. And when Siddhartha listened attentively to the thousandfold song of the river, when he did not fasten on the suffering or the laughing, when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego-when he listened to all of them, the whole, when he perceived the unity, then the great song of a thousand voices formed one single word: om, perfection” (Hesse 105).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Siddhartha has finally understood the meaning of life and the beliefs that should be followed. He realized that everyone and everything in his world were all one, and nothing was discriminated against to create one perfect union. Siddhartha understood that everything would create the “music of life”, and that each little part would create it. In the passage before, Vasudeva wants Siddhartha to stop doing and listen instead. Siddhartha looks into the river and sees the water and finally understands the cycle of life. Hesse uses water as a symbol of life, then explains the whole water cycle and relates it to life itself.
The author expresses the extent of what Siddhartha has learned, saying he has become “completely one with listening, completely empty, and completely receptive”. The use of parallel structure shows that Siddhartha is now all listener and now truly believes that life is one. Hesse uses parallel structure again with the word “all” to describe what “everything together” specifically is, describing that every living thing belongs to this “music of life”. The “river” is the symbol for the “music of life” to show that life continues on, and one must never “fasten on the suffering or the laughing” and move on. Siddhartha expresses this by saying he is not involved with his ego or attach his mind in any voice. Vasudeva is also a symbol for the Hindu god known as Krishna, or a divine follower in Vishnu, a supreme god. They describe Krishna as “all-knowing” and “divine”, so Vasudeva has similar characteristics related to this god. This passage asks the question: “can listening truly change a person’s life?” Siddhartha proves this by “listening” to everything, and not discriminating against one particular group and finding the inner unity or om that he has been searching for his entire life.
I agree with your analysis of this passage. Living with Vasudeva had made Siddhartha become a better person and in becoming a better person, he had acheived his wanting of discovering true knowledge in this world.
DeleteWe actually have very similar ideas, as we both wrote about passages that were very close to each other, but it seems as though we both had different approaches when analyzing the way Hesse portrays the characteristics of life and the symbol of the river as life. I actually saw the river as a symbol of life through the way Siddhartha’s life could actually be reflected by the river when it speaks to him. However, you saw the river as a symbol, because of the way life was characterized and the comparisons between the two made them almost intertwine. I do not disagree, instead I actually very much agree with you, and I think you offered a very valuable perspective.
Delete“And over everything something thin, inessential yet existing, was continuously drawn, like thin glass or ice, like a transparent skin, a sheath or mold or mask of water. The mask was smiling, the mask was Siddhartha’s smiling face, which he, Godiva, was touching with his lips in this self same instant. Thus Godiva saw the smile of the mask, the smile of unity over the flowing forms, the smile of simultaneity over the myriad birds and deaths. This smile of Siddhartha’s was exactly same, resembled exactly the still, refined, impenetrable, perhaps-kind-perhaps-disdainful, wise, thousandfold smile of Gotama the Buddha, just as he himself, awestruck, had seen it a hundred times. So Godiva knew, this is the way of the Perfect One’s smile.”
ReplyDeleteThis passage occurs at the very end of the book, in the last chapter, “Godiva”. What is described in this passage is when Godiva kisses Siddhartha’s forehead in hopes of learning about nirvana and true inner peace. Godiva saw the faces of different creatures and different people pass by in his mind. Then, Godiva see's a mask with the face of Siddhartha, where we see the first mentioning of a smile. Throughout this passage, the mentioning of the word smile is told a total of eight times. At this point in the story, Siddhartha is seen to have found true inner peace, with his radiance and his warm smile. Throughout the story, those who have found their enlightenment are the only ones that are mentioned to have a prominent and deep smile. Gotama is mentioned to have a warm smile that makes him identifiable in a crowd. Vasudeva, the second character to have reached enlightenment in the story, is also described to have a memorable smile that shows peace and understanding. At this point, Siddhartha is mentioned to be having a deep smiling a multitude of times, showing that he, too, has reached the true inner peace that he had always strived for. Hesse uses the symbolism of smiling in this passage to represent the final destination for Siddhartha and Govinda. As although Govinda is not mentioned to be smiling at the end, it mentioned him being able to everything in life, which ends up being the outcome of finding true inner peace.
-Isaac Livingston
“Once, when the boy’s face reminded him very much of Kamala, Siddhartha recalled something she had said to him long ago, in the days of youth. “You cannot love,” she had said to him, and he had agreed with her, and had likened himself to a star and the child people to falling leaves, and yet he had sensed a rebuke in her words. Indeed, he had never been able to lose himself completely to another person, forget himself, commit follies of love for someone else. He had never been able to do these things, and this had struck him as the great gap between him and the child people. But now that his son was here, now he, Siddhartha, too, had become a child person, suffering for someone else, loving someone else, lost in a love, a fool for love. Now he too, at this late time, felt this strongest and strangest passion, suffered from it, suffered woefully, and yet he was still blissful, was somewhat renewed, was somewhat richer’ (Hesse 107).
ReplyDeleteFound in the chapter “The Son” Siddhartha faces love for the first time through meeting his Son. When Kamala dies, he is left to care for his eleven year old, spoiled boy on his own. Siddhartha does not realize that he is attempting to teach his son his ways of living and that he is attempting to help his son find enlightenment. However his son does, and he does not want to learn what his father has to offer him much like Siddhartha at that age. This shows dramatic irony, because the readers see that Siddhartha's way of parenting is just like his father’s which then causes his son to run away and go on his own path just as Siddhartha had once done, but Siddhartha does not notice this. This is because love is blinding Siddhartha. This also shows that the passage where Siddhartha leaves his home in the beginning of the book was foreshadowing to this moment. This love threatens to divert Siddhartha from his path, but then his son runs away and Siddhartha realizes that even though this is a painful transition for him to face, his son leaving is a good thing for the both of them. like the author writes in the passage “suffered from it, suffered woefully, and yet he was still blissful, was somewhat renewed, was somewhat richer.” Since then Siddhartha has gained wisdom through the absence of love, has grown as a person, love was a new life experience for him. The immense use of commas the author puts in this passage help the reader read more fluently. This technique helps the reader feel as though they are reading Siddhartha’s thoughts. Learning to love was vital on Siddhartha’s journey because love helps him become one step closer to his goal of reaching Nirvana.
I also agree with your analysis of this passage. Loving had tied Siddhartha down and made him very emotional when his son wouldn't cooperate with him. I would also add that love is a part of a materialistic life that he couldn't seem to leave behind.
DeleteI had a different reaction to this passage, and it was about the characterization of Siddhartha. While you focus more on Siddhartha’s son running away from him and how Siddhartha gained wisdom from the absence of love, I think it is more about the effect and the experience. Maybe you might have been thinking about the same thing, but to me I believe the suffering Siddhartha had to go through was the most significant part of the passage. I actually believe the suffering and feeling for another experience is what Siddhartha gained from this passage rather than knowledge. Thanks for your analysis though, because your input about love is interesting.
DeleteHe came to the river, he asked the old man to ferry him across, and when they got out on the other side, he said to the old man: “You show much goodness to us monks and pilgrims, you have ferried many of us across. Are not you too, ferryman, a seeker of the right path?”
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha, smiling with his old eyes, said: “Do you call yourself a seeker, O Venerable One, and yet you are well on in years and you wear the orbe of Gautama’s monks?”
“It is true, I am old,” said Govinda, “but i have nit stopped seeking. Never will I stop seeking-this seems to be my destiny. You too, it seems to me, have sought. Will you say a word to me, Honored One?”
Siddhartha said: “What could I say to you, Venerable One? Perhaps that you are seeking too hard? That you seek so hard tay you do not find?”
“What do you mean?” asked Govinda
“When someone seeks,” said Siddhartha, “then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with bis gola. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal. You, Venerable One, may truly be a seeker, for, in striving toward your goal, you fail to see certain things that are right under your nose.”
“I do not yet fully understand,” said Govinda. “What do you mean by that?”
Siddhartha said: “Once, O Venerable One, years ago, you were already on this river and you saw a sleeper by the river, and you sat with him to guard his sleep. But, O Govinda, you did not recognize the sleeper.”
Amazed, virtually spellbound, the monk looked into the ferryman’s eyes.
“Are you Siddhartha?” he asked in a shy voice. “I wouldn’t have recognized you this time either! I heartily greet you, Siddhartha, I am heartily delighted to see you again! You’ve changed greatly, my friend. And so now you've become a ferryman?”
In this passage, Siddhartha finally found his calling and learned the art of being a ferryman from Vasudeva. He stayed close by the river because the river was where he had heard the word “Om” from the river and, it was then when Siddhartha had gotten his head sewn back on right. He had discovered what he truly had to learn from the world and how he would do it. Many years had passed and Vasudeva had gotten too old and had left Siddhartha to be a ferryman and handle this business by himself (Hesse 121-122).
In “By the River,” there was a time where Govinda hadn’t recognized Siddhartha as he was sleeping. Govinda hadn’t recognized him because of how much he had changed since the 20 years they had last seen each other. Siddhartha had wandered into a materialistic life, not even realizing what he was doing with his life and how it was hurting him. In this passage, Govinda’s and Siddhartha’s paths had crossed again, and this time Govinda still hadn’t recognized him until Sidhartha started talking about their past together. But this time, Siddhartha had changed in a spectacular way. He had changed his ways, he had changed into a better person, one that didn’t live a materialistic life. Comparing these two changes within Siddhartha, he had become a better person after leaving the town and living by the river.
I agree with your analysis and would like to add on to what you said. I think this passage is a good representation of human nature as to stay with something that makes you feel comfortable. Just as normal people prefer to stay in the same groups and activities that we are accustomed to, Siddhartha decides to stay with the river, as he feels comfort with it. This creates a strong sense of understanding in the reader as they are also able to relate to Siddhartha's situation.
Delete-Isaac Livingston
“The image of his father, his own image, and the image of his son flowed into one another. Kamala’s image also appeared and dissolved. Govinda’s image and other images appeared and fused with one another, and all became the river, all moved as the river toward their objects, their goals, passionate, hungering, suffering. And the river’s voice was full of longing, ardent with sorrow, full of unquenchable longing. The river strove toward its goal; Siddhartha saw it hurrying on, this river composed of himself and those near him and of all people he had ever seen. All the waves and currents hurried onward, suffering, toward objects, many goals. The waterfall, the lake, the rapids, the sea, and all the goals were reached; and each was followed by a new one, and the water became vapor and climbed into the sky, became rain and crashed down from the sky, became springs, brooks, had the sound of suffering, questing, but other voices were added- voices of joy and suffering, good and evil voices, laughing and lamenting voices, a hundred, a thousand voices” (Hesse 104-105).
ReplyDeleteAfter confessing all that he could to Vasudeva, Siddhartha is told to listen to the river. Once he does he sees images that portray all people who are special to him in his life. When Siddhartha sees these images it seems as though these images each fuse and intertwine with each other, suggesting to Siddhartha that all things are connected. Not only did the people of Siddhartha’s life connect, but so did the feelings each person had. “ Other images appeared and fused with one another, and all became the river, all moved as the river toward their objects, their goals, passionate, hungering, suffering”(Hesse 104). In this quote it displays the idea that Siddhartha gets from the river that all things may seem different but all lead to same paths thus making them connected. The river shows it by giving images of everything returning back to the river. Siddhartha also sees the river being composed of himself and everything around him as well as all people he has ever seen supporting the idea that everything is connected. Siddhartha also saw the transformation of the river never dying, which gives Siddhartha the idea of life being an endless cycle that never ceases. Through such an analysis the river could be thought of as one big symbol of the endless cycle of life in which all things are connected whether opposites or not.
The craft Hesse uses in this passage is also very important, because each one serves a different purpose. A notable part of Hesse’s craft in this passage is making the river a symbol. It must also understood that Hesse’s effective use of naturalism is what makes the river resemble life. He makes Siddhartha’s life voiced and images through the river when the river speaks to him almost as if it was an instructor. The importance of understanding the river as life is also heavily supported by the final understanding Siddhartha receives from the river, which is the unity of all things and that there is no such thing as time. By not being able to understand how the river is life, it would be very difficult for the audience to be able to know how Siddhartha achieved his final lesson from the river in which he was able to know all things. Hesse uses different examples of paradoxes when describing the river such as it “Had the sound of suffering, questing, but other voices were added- voices of joy and suffering, good and evil voices, laughing and lamenting voices, a hundred, a thousand voices” (Hesse 105). This quote here becomes a paradox as it combines so many opposites together, which is very comparable to life as life is one big paradox. Life is full of unlike things and the river portrays such, making it very much more easier to symbolize the river as life.
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