“Siddhartha learned a great deal from the shramanas, learned many pathways beyond the self. He followed the path of self-extinction by means of pain, by means of suffering intentionally and overcoming the pain, the hunger, the thirst, the fatigue. He followed the path of self-extinction by means of meditation, allowing the senses to empty themselves of all representations. These and other pathways he learned and followed. A thousand times he left his ego behind; for hours and days at a time he dwelled in nonego. But even if the methods he followed led beyond ego, in the end they led back to ego. Though Siddhartha slipped out of ego’s grasp a thousand times, dwelled in nothingness, dwelled in beasts, in stones, the return was inevitable, the moment when he would find himself back again was inescapable. Whether sunshine or moonlight, in shadow or in rain, once again Siddhartha and ego appeared, and once again he felt the torment of the cycle of existence forced upon him” (Hesse 13).
In this passage from chapter two of Siddhartha, titled “With The Shramanas”, Hermann Hesse’s use of personification and the idea of the paradox of existence creates a tone of empathetic dissatisfaction with the outcome of Siddhartha’s life thus far. The author uses personification in the quote, “...allowing the senses to empty themselves” where it is made apparent that Siddhartha has little control over the effect of the shramanas’ incessant meditation on him. Later in the chapter he compares the practices of the shramanas with drunkenness in the sense that both result in the same unknowing and unlearned state of nonego that is still uncontrollable by him. Personification is also present when, “Siddhartha slipped out of ego’s grasp a thousand times”. Here, ego is personified as having an unwavering hold on Siddhartha, and although he has managed to wiggle his way to freedom before, he still has not achieved a full escape. This use of personification adds to the reader’s empathy because everyone has been in a situation where something has had a “grasp” on them, whether it be ego, lust, stress, or the like. The concept of a paradoxical existence is proposed in this passage with the quote, “...the return was inevitable, the moment when he would find himself back again was inescapable”. Siddhartha has realized by this point that how ever hard he tries to escape the ego that every human carries within, he will forever end up directly in the center of it. His frustration with this notion can be seen as, “...he felt the torment of the cycle of existence forced upon him”. Siddhartha is clearly dissatisfied with the results, or lack thereof, of the immense effort and dedication that he has already put into his path to nirvana. Words such as “torment” and “forced” give the reader the impression that this conviction of a paradox of existence is physically hurting Siddhartha’s ability to reach his goal of achieving nirvana. This connects to the tone of empathetic dissatisfaction because humans naturally feel anxious or uncomfortable when something is proposed to be inescapable. The reader in one way or another has felt this same pressure that seems to be working against them as they strive for their goals.
“In the shadow of the house, in the sun on the riverbank by the boats, in the shadow of the sal-tree forest, in the shadow of the fig tree, Siddhartha, the beautiful brahmin’s son, the young falcon, grew up with his friend, the brahmin’s son Govinda. The sun on the riverbank browned his pale shoulders as he bathed, as he performed sacred ablutions, as he performed sacred sacrifices. Shadows flowed in his dark eyes in the mango grove as he played his boy’s games, as his mother sang, during the sacred sacrifices, while his father, the scholar, taught, and during the discourses of the wise men”(Hesse 3). Hermann Hesse uses imagery to characterize Siddhartha. This passage is the first in the book so at this point, the reader is just being introduced to Siddhartha. The reader will learn that he is a beautiful young boy. His family is also introduced. His father is a brahmin and a teacher. The way his father is described in a positive way also leads the reader to believe that he is a highly respected person in Siddhartha’s life and that his family is most likely respected within the community. This passage introduces Govinda as well. He is described as more of a brother, which is continued throughout the story. Although the literal characterization in the text is valuable, this passage shows more through the setting. Hesse compares Siddhartha to a falcon. Falcons are known to be able to fly at high speeds and change directions rapidly. Both of these describe Siddhartha in this story because he is able to quickly set his mind to something and drop everything to achieve whatever he is seeking. Often before he reaches his goal, however, he changes his mind and sets his sights on something new. This leaves him feeling discontent. Hesse shows this when he writes that Siddhartha has dark shadows in his eyes. In fact, everything in this passage is shadowed with the exception of the riverbank. This riverbank is foreshadowing the peace that Siddhartha will find in the river much later in his life. The book ends with Siddhartha as a ferryman so knowing that he grew up on a riverbank is imperative to understand the story. The use of natural imagery and lighting in the opening passage characterizes Siddhartha and foreshadows his path.
I agree with your analysis about Hesse’s use of light imagery within this passage. The river, which is illuminated with sunlight, ultimately becomes the setting of Siddhartha’s enlightenment. The remaining parts of Siddhartha’s boyhood home are described as covered in shadow, representing the individual steps of Siddhartha’s journey to find the light. The “shadow of the sal-tree forest” represents Siddhartha’s time with the shramanas in the forest, and the “shadow of the house” represents his life of luxury among the child people. The “shadow of the fig tree” represents Kamala, whose lips are described as “like a fig newly broken open” (Hesse 42). Even the shadows that flow in Siddhartha’s dark eyes illustrate his inability to find happiness while living with his father the Brahmin. Within this first passage of the novel, Hesse reveals the journey Siddhartha will have to take to find his own inner light.
“Taught by the eldest shramana, Siddhartha practiced self-abnegation, practiced meditative absorption according to the new instructions of the shramanas. A heron flew over the bamboo grove, and Siddhartha became one with the heron in his mind, flew over forest and mountain, became a heron, ate fish, hungered with a heron's hunger, spoke a heron's croaking languages, died a heron's death. There was a dead jackal lying on the sandy bank, and Siddhartha's mind slipped into the carcass, became a dead jackal, lay on the shore, swelled up, stank, rotted, was torn to pieces by hyenas, flayed by vultures, became a skeleton, became dust, blew about in the fields. And Siddhartha's mind returned, dead, rotten, reduced to dust, having tasted the dark drunkenness of the cycle of existence. With a new craving it lay in wait like a hunter for the gap where that cycle could be escaped, where the end of causation could begin, eternity without suffering. He slipped out of his ego into a thousand alien forms, became a beast, carrion, became stone, wood, water—yet each time when he awoke he found himself there again. By sunshine or by moonlight, he was once again ego, was pressed back into the cycle, felt craving, overcame the craving, felt craving anew.” (Hesse 12-13)
In this passage Hesse uses metaphors and a motif to emphasize the importance of the unity of life. Siddhartha metaphorically becomes a heron, jackal, and other “alien forms.” As he tries to forget his own identity and memories through meditation, he experiences the lives and deaths of the heron and the jackal by becoming one with them. Although his attempts to dwell in nonego and to attain Nirvana are unsuccessful, this experience is vital to Siddhartha’s journey and knowledge. This is the first experience he has with unity of life and existence, which is the key in attaining Nirvana (as we later see at the end of the book in the river). Through his experience as a heron, he experiences the life of a heron and its interactions with its world including the fish it eats, the hunger it feels, and even the language it croaks. By becoming a dead jackal, he interacts with hyenas that tear its flesh, the vultures that flay its carcass, and the gradual decomposition of its skeleton. One can only achieve Nirvana by understanding how life and death interact with each other. However, Siddhartha must also acknowledge his presence as he is also a part of the unity of life and existence. Siddhartha soon realizes that he is unable to ignore and forget himself because after every meditation, he always returns to him normal state, unchanged. This is when Hesse brings up the motif of cycles and circles. Hesse repeatedly mentions cycles throughout the book because it symbolizes several different things. First, to understand Nirvana, Siddhartha must realize and understand the unity of life and existence and how everything and every life are connected to each other. All life interacts with each other, and even when death occurs, the cycle of life and interactions does not stop. Second, the cycle represents the Siddhartha’s continuous learning and experiences. He repeats mediations only to fail and practice again, over and over in an inevitable and inescapable cycle. Siddhartha tries to look for “the gap where that cycle could be escaped, where the end of causation could begin, eternity without suffering,” (Hesse 13), but in the end , “he was once again ego, was pressed back into the cycle, felt craving, overcame the craving, felt craving anew” (Hesse 13) At this point of the book, Siddhartha is so wrapped up in the belief that Nirvana is solely eternal peace without suffering that he does not realize that there is no gap to escape this cycle. To attain Nirvana, he must accept and embrace every aspect of life and existence: the life, the pain, the suffering, the death, and the repetition of the cycle. Only then, can he find peace with himself and understand the unity of life and existence.
“In the evening, after the hour of contemplation, Siddhartha said to Govinda: ‘Tomorrow morning, my friend, Siddhartha will go to the shramanas. He will become a shramana.’ “Hearing these words, Govinda paled; he read in his friend’s face a resolve as impossible to divert as a bow-shot arrow. At once, in this first glimpse, Govinda saw it: It is starting now; now Siddhartha is embarking on his path, now his destiny is taking shape – and with his, mine too! And he became pale as a dried-out banana peel” (Hesse 8).
Herman Hesse contrasts Siddhartha’s firm resolve to become a shramana with Govinda’s acquiescence and trepidation to characterize each and foreshadow the different paths they will take in the future. Siddhartha, a prodigy of the brahmin world, understands that he will not be able to find the knowledge he is seeking if he remains in his childhood home. He decides to pursue this knowledge as a shramana. Siddhartha’s use of the third person when telling Govinda of his intentions, combined with the omission of details regarding Siddhartha’s decision-making process, cause the reader to feel as if Siddhartha were acting upon a plan that he knew would take him directly to his goal. Hesse describes Siddhartha as possessing “a resolve as impossible to divert as a bow-shot arrow.” This arrow is a symbol for Siddhartha’s mindset in his youth; he believes that there is a path that will take him directly to Brahman, and that everything else around him is of no consequence. It takes Siddhartha most of his life to realize that knowledge is not to be achieved by ignoring or looking down upon the physical world, but by embracing it and learning from it. Siddhartha’s path does not turn out to be straight, but cyclic.
Govinda is Siddhartha’s foil because he lacks the qualities that make Siddhartha unique: independence, intellect, and certainty. Govinda believes his path is to follow Siddhartha, his friend and idol, to enlightenment. Despite this belief, Govinda still becomes “pale as a dried-out banana peel” at the thought of his destiny taking shape. Govinda’s inability to be confident and make his own decisions foreshadows his failure to achieve the enlightenment for which he and Siddhartha search. The contrast between the methods and subsequent achievements of Siddhartha and Govinda portrays Herman Hesse’s message that one must chose his or her own path in life.
“Siddhartha had one single goal--to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow--to let the Self die. No longer to be Self, to experience the peace of an emptied heart, to experience pure thought--that was his goal. When all the Self was conquered and dead, when all passions and desires were silent, then the last must awaken, the innermost Being that is no longer Self--the great secret!”(Hesse 11)
While reading this passage, the syntax gives, I the reader, a great tone of depression and a feeling as if Siddhartha is greatly displeased with his life if he wishes to feel so much agonising pain and emptiness for the rest of his life. The real goal for all aspiring Buddha's is to gain complete Nirvana in one’s life, although Siddartha aspires to gain emptiness and to eventually awaken in no longer himself. This makes me wonder as to what would even be the point of Siddhartha living if his goal is to become so empty and “to let the Self die.” At that point in his lifetime, when he does finally complete his goal of becoming empty, there would be no value of his existence on the Earth. One can argue that he must stay on the Earth at that point, even though his spirit has left him, simply for the reason of teaching other young aspiring Buddha’s, or for the purpose of returning to his family to teach his father everything he learned, as his father requested. Hesse uses the style of always capitalizing “Self” as if the “Self” is a single character in the story on its own. It is a belief in Buddhism that reincarnation is what every human being transpires to once they die, and I believe that Hesse uses a style in which making seem “Self” like a character on its own because he is comparing it to the belief system of Buddhism. It’s the soul that travels and what frames a human being is what’s within. Since there is the belief that the soul can travel, it creates a metaphor as if the “Self” will leave one’s body making them not human anymore because they are empty of their real soul, which is exactly what Siddartha seems to be aspiring to within this passage.
We both have the same understanding that Siddhartha aspires to be emptied of his being. However, I don't agree with your claim that this emptiness is neither agonizing not painful. Based on the background presentations, I understood Nirvana as being a transcendence above the worldly body and into the nothingness that is enlightenment. I think when he says that he wants to "let the Self die", he simply means the ego that chains his soul to the earth, as can be seen in the second paragraph on page 13. Your analysis of the capitalization of the word "self" is very interesting and something that I hadn't thought of before.
“Once, samanas had passed through Siddhartha’s town, wandering ascetics, three gaunt, spent men, not old, not young, with dusty and bloody shoulders, well-nigh naked, singed by the sun, circled by solitude, foe and foreign to the world, strangers and haggard jackals in the realm of men. From them a hot scent of silent passion came wafting, a scent of devastating service, of pitiless unselfing. In the evening, after the hour of contemplation, Siddhartha said to Govinda, ‘Tomorrow morning, my friend, Siddhartha will join the samanas. He will become a samana’”(Hesse 8).
In this passage, the young Brahmin Siddhartha first sees the samanas, and decides to join them. The samanas are described as repulsive looking and haggard, but they have a silent devotion to their cause. Personification is used to describe the scent of the samanas when the author says that their scent has passion in it. This is because the samanas most likely have not taken a shower in some time and as a result, do not smell pleasantly. Herman Hesse uses imagery to describe the samanas to show readers that it has been a long way for the samanas coming to that point and how devoted to their cause they are. Also, the author describes them as “strangers and haggard jackals in the realm of men” because there is no one else willing to give up their lives to be nomads and to commit to finding Atman. Others cannot relate to them and they aren’t like any of the other people or villagers. They are willing to give up hygiene, family, food, and health in the search of Nirvana. After the description of the samanas, it is hard to believe that anyone would want to join them in their quest, but sure enough, Siddhartha chooses to leave his home and continue his journey with them. At the beginning of the book, Hess says that Siddhartha “would become no ordinary Brahmin” and that he will join the radiant ones (Hesse 3). It is obvious from the beginning of the book that Siddhartha’s path will eventually lead to finding Nirvana, and becoming truly at peace with oneself. In Hinduism, people have to find their own path to Atman, without seeking for it, so when Siddhartha chooses the path of the samanas, it seems as this is just another stage in his journey. When Siddhartha leaves home to become an ascetic, he finally makes his own decisions and symbolically begins his voyage out of adolescence.
I really like the way that you wrote about how Siddhartha's choice to become ascetic seemed ironic because of how the imagery used portrayed the other ascetics. I might add that although Hinduism is about finding Atman without searching for it, the reason Siddhartha became an ascetic was because he was in search of Atman. This is the reason, ultimately, that he never obtains nirvana with the samanas.
“His gaze grew icy when it encountered women; his mouth curled in scorn when he walked through a town with people in lovely clothes. He saw dealers dealing, princes hunting, mourners mourning their dead, whores offering themselves, doctors tending patients, priests setting the day of sowing, lovers loving, mothers nursing their babies- and everything was unworthy of his eyes, everything lied, everything stank, everything stank of lies, everything shammed meaning and happiness and beauty, and everything was unacknowledged decay. The world tasted bitter. Life was torture.”(Hesse, 13)
This is passage takes place at the start of Among the Samanas and is talking about how Siddhartha and Govinda have decided to join the Samanas, who believe that that true enlightenment can be found through denial of flesh and worldly desires, by eating only once a day, fasting for 2-4 weeks, wearing only the loincloth and the unstitched earth-colored cloak, and to become empty of all things. This passage shows the struggle that Siddhartha is going to encounter because he uses negative terms to describe the contact he made with people like “his gaze grew icy when it encountered women, and his mouth curled in scorn when he walked through a town with people in lovely clothing” to describe how embarrassed he felt and how many people consider him a beggar and to be at the bottom of the social class. He also uses cruel word choice to describe the struggle of becoming empty of all things by saying that “everything stank, the world tasted, life was torture,” and this gives us a good impression that Siddhartha doesn’t enjoy partaking in the practices of the Samanas, but will have to take a chance. This line also shows us an example of foreshadowing because since he isn’t too fond of the practices of the Samanas we can predict that he will leave the Samanas to find another teacher on who could help him accomplish his goal.
Later on in the chapter we hear from Siddhartha that “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) Here as predicted is where Siddhartha is beginning to talk to Govinda about how he believes that being taught by the Samanas has been a waste of time because earlier in the chapter Siddhartha claims that he “could have learned it in any tavern of a red-light district, my friend, among the draymen and dicers.” (Hesse, 16) Siddhartha here is talking about how the Samanas are similar to what drunkards do. Drunks give people temporary respite from suffering, but it does not give a permanent enjoyment. Similarly the Samanas teachings does not give us permanent enlightenment because as soon as they stop their spiritual practices, the real world starts to come back, and whatever enlightenment that has already been achieved would evaporate. Basically to achieve this true enlightenment you would need to continue the spiritual practices. Based on this logic Siddhartha can’t continue to learn from the Samanas because some people in the Samana have reached over 60 years of age and hasn’t reached Nirvana and he believes that the true answer to finding enlightenment is to take into account the world itself.
“Out of this 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 of frigidity and dejection, Siddhartha arose more of an ego than ever before, more tightly clenched within. His feeling was: That was the last shudder of awakening, the last pang of birth. And immediately he resumed his journey, walking with hast and impatience, no longer back in the direction of home or rather, not back anywhere.” (Hesse 33-34)
In this passage, Hesse uses a simile to compare Siddhartha to a star. Siddhartha currently feels lost, cold and lonely. He had just left Govinda and the monks to seek a new life, but he has no place to go. His path now seems dark and cold as the night sky. However, despite Siddhartha’s dreary situation, he has found the key to reaching Nirvana. He figured out that Nirvana can only be reached by personal experience and by questioning rather than another’s teaching. He further realizes that he must not ignore the physical world or himself. Without embracing the material world and without an identity, he cannot truly understand unity and reach Enlightenment. This newfound knowledge has “awakened” him, but Siddhartha is not exactly sure where to go. However, Siddhartha does know that he cannot go back to his father’s house, or anywhere from his past. There is nothing more to learn by going back to the past. He also does not know what will exactly become in the future. The only power Siddhartha has is controlling the present. Rather than dwelling in the past or future, focusing on the present will allow Siddhartha to understand and become aware of unity. As Siddhartha finally carries on with his journey, he is finally paving his own path toward Enlightenment. When Hesse writes “… he resumed his journey, walking with hast and impatience, no longer back in the direction of home or rather, not back anywhere” (Hesse 33-34), Siddhartha is clearly breaking away from his past when he had no identity, He is now a “newborn” ready to experience life in a new point of view. Darkness and uncertainty surrounds him, but he now radiates hope and light as would a star in the dark, cold night sky.
I agree with your idea that this is the moment in which Siddhartha realizes that Nirvana depends on personal experience instead of following another’s teaching. However, I don’t think Siddhartha fully understands at this point all that he will need to in order to reach Nirvana. At the end of the novel, Siddhartha realizes that “time is not real” (Hesse 110). In this passage, Siddhartha is still guided by the illusion of time because he walks with “haste and impatience,” trying to leave his past behind and not realizing that life is circular in nature. He also becomes “more of an ego than ever before,” a transformation he will later reverse when his ego becomes “dissolved into the unity” (Hesse 105). This passage represents a vital step in Siddhartha’s journey, but not one that will lead him directly to Enlightenment.
“Siddhartha, 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?”(Hesse, 29)
This passage takes place around the beginning of Gautama when Govinda decides to take refugee with the Sublime One, and Govinda who sees Siddhartha who is uncertain asks him if he would join the teachings as well. This is a point in the novel where it tends to get extremely emotional because this is where Siddhartha and Govinda will split apart, and the author uses words like murmured and gazed to show the feeling he had when he had to break down the news and how he felt uneasy about telling him that they had to go their separate ways. He also uses a simile to contribute to the confused state of mind that Siddhartha is in right now using the word “awoke as if a dream” to give us a feeling that they don’t want to leave each other and that he believes that the choice Govinda made was a joke and that it didn’t really happen. Although Siddhartha is distraught by Govinda’s choice he believes that it is actually the correct choice because he understands that he must seek enlightenment alone. He also believes that teachers, even the Subline One, couldn’t help the students reach enlightenment because there is no such thing as a formula to reach enlightenment and that the only way to fulfill this is to search for his own soul alone. Siddhartha spoke gently to him: “Do not forget, Govinda, that you now belong to the samanas of the Buddha! You have renounced home and parents, renounced background and property, renounced your own will, renounced friendship. That is the will of the Teaching, that is the will of the Sublime One. You will have willed it yourself. Tomorrow, O Govinda, I will leave you.”(Hesse, 30) This relates to Siddhartha’s reasoning to leaving Govinda because since the Buddha has already achieved enlightenment the distraction caused by the students wouldn’t affect him, whereas Siddhartha feels that if Govinda tagged along with him then it he would be distracted by his presence thus causing him not to attain full enlightenment. Although he made a tough decision, Siddhartha can now continue on his journey by using the necessary tactic to achieve enlightenment.
“I will no longer let Siddhartha slip away! I will no longer start my thinking and my living with Atman and the suffering of the world. I will no longer murder and dismember myself in order to find a secret beyond the rubble. Yoga-Veda will no longer teach me, nor will Atharva- Veda, nor the ascetics, nor any kind of teaching. I will learn from me, from myself, I will be my own pupil: I will get to know myself, the secret that is Siddhartha”(Hesse 36). At this point in Siddhartha’s journey, he finally realizes that in trying to find Atman, he has lost himself and is not on the right path to reach his goal. Until now, he has been a wandering ascetic, and does not know where to go next. As a samana, he was destroying himself and was willing to do anything to find some secret to find Enlightenment. By using exaggeration when saying that Siddhartha was “murdering and dismembering himself”, the readers are shown how much pain he was willing to take in order to reach his goal. He was looking at the negativity and cruelty of the world, which made him more unhappy. Because he could not see any of the beauty that life has to offer, he did not appreciate its worth. Because of stripping himself away, Siddhartha does not know himself. He focused on ripping away anything that made him Siddhartha, but he now knows that the first step towards inner peace is to accept oneself and accept that his ego is there. There is no secret to finding inner peace, and that he cannot keep searching for something that is not there. Siddhartha recognizes that he has to find his own path and has to learn to accept himself first. Also, he cannot be taught by other people anymore. The only thing that can lead him towards the right path is himself. The author wants readers to see this as a turning point in his quest and where Siddhartha finally discovers the key to being truly happy. From here, Siddhartha is able to acknowledge his own soul and begin to uncover Nirvana through his own experiences.
“Now he felt it. Up till now, even in his deepest meditative absorption, he had been his father’s son, a brahmin of high standing, a spiritual person. Now he was only Siddhartha, the awakened one, and nothing else. He drew in a deep breath, and for a moment he was cold and shivered…. Out of this 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 of frigidity and dejection, Siddhartha arose more of an ego than ever before, more tightly clenched within. His feeling was: That was the last shudder of awakening, the last pang of birth. And immediately he resumed his journey, walking with haste and impatience, no longer back in the direction of home or father, not back anywhere” (Hesse 33-34).
In this moment when Siddhartha believes he has attained awakening, Herman Hesse uses purposeful diction and precise details to illustrate that Siddhartha has not yet reached his goal. Siddhartha feels as if he has just been born again as an independent person, “more of an ego than ever before.” Siddhartha sees this in a positive light: “His feeling was: That was the last shudder of awakening, the last pang of birth.” However, Hesse uses this sentence deliberately to distinguish Siddhartha’s thoughts from the truth. Hesse does not convey Siddhartha’s “awakening” as an uplifting event, but rather uses diction such as “cold,” “frigidity and dejection,” “shudder,” and “pang of birth” to create a mood that conflicts with the reader’s preconceived notions of enlightenment.
Hesse repeatedly contrasts the emergence of Siddhartha’s independent ego with his final enlightenment, which occurs with Vasudeva at the river many years later. In the passage, Siddhartha believes he is “only Siddhartha, the awakened one, and nothing else,” showing his ignorance of the interconnectivity of all life. When Govinda encounters Siddhartha at the end of the novel, he sees him as “a flowing river of faces, hundreds, thousands, which all came and went… and yet were all Siddhartha” (Hesse 115). At the moment of Siddhartha’s true enlightenment, he is no longer “tightly clenched within” his ego but instead feels his ego “dissolved into the unity” (Hesse 105). This passage portrays an important motif in Siddhartha: the circular nature of life. At the beginning of his journey, Siddhartha tries but is unable to rid himself of his ego. He later embraces his ego only to discover in the end that he is one with everything around him. Though the reader may conclude that this passage represents an unnecessary detour in Siddhartha’s life, Hesse suggests that every step of a person’s journey is vital to reaching his or her destination. Before he could comprehend the unity of life, Siddhartha first had to reach a deeper knowledge of himself.
“How deaf and dumb I have been! thought the traveler moving quickly along his way. When one is reading a text whose meaning he is seeking, he does not scorn the signs and letters as deceptions, accidents and worthless husks; rather he reads them, he studies them, he loves them, letter by letter. But I was trying to read the book of the world and the book of my own being, and because of my preconceptions I scorned the signs and letters, I called them the deception of the world of appearances, I called my eyes and my tongue arbitrary and worthless phenomena. No, it is over now! I have awakened, I have really awakened, and have only today been born! (Hesse 32)” Hesse uses point of view and punctuation in this passage to convey a tone shift. Hesse starts this paragraph with the internal thoughts of Siddhartha and then quickly reverts back to third person narration. He returns back to first person point of view in the last few sentences. The reason he does this is because the first part of this passage is an epiphany that is sudden and is intended to shock the reader. The middle of the passage reverts back to the general tone of the book which is inquisitive and looks deep into the meaning of life. This also fits with the rest of the book because it is mostly in third person. The last few sentences are written in first person because Siddhartha realizes at this point in the novel that he has overlooked his own being and begins to think about himself. This is a huge turn for him and it was necessary for Hesse to write this in first person to convey this message through the shift in tone. Punctuation represents a very important part of this passage. It makes clear that the beginning and end are meant to be interpreted by the reader as excited whereas the middle uses many commas because it is more informational. Hesse also made the decision not to capitalize the word “thought” in order to draw the reader’s attention to the sudden change in point of view. It also shows how the excitement of the first sentence is lost in the middle of the passage. Hesse’s use of point of view and punctuation ease the reader into the change in tone twice throughout this passage.
“The Buddha has robbed me, thought Siddhartha. He has robbed me, yet he has given me something of greater value. He has robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him; he was my shadow and is no Gotama’s shadow. But he has given me Siddhartha, myself.” (Hesse 29)
In this passage, the last paragraph in the chapter “Gotama,” the mission to find the Self has been a recurring theme throughout the novel. Siddhartha is just beginning to process and realize that Gotama has influenced Govinda, Siddhartha’s former shadow, to follow, learn, and preach the ways of the Enlightened One. Govinda is drawn away from following Siddhartha and is greatly intrigued, satisfied and curious of Gotama and he begins to make choices on his own. Siddhartha’s new phase of his journey began the moment Govinda left him for Buddha. He then realizes that he has “given [him] something of greater value… he has given to me Siddhartha, myself.” Hesse uses metaphors to explain the importance of this event in the book to show Govinda leaving Siddhartha has finally taught him to search for his own well-being in the world rather seeking the “unknown innermost, the nucleus of all things, Atman, Life, the Divine, the Absolute.” (Hesse 31) All this time Siddhartha questioned his own well being, he sought to find if there was more in the world to explore rather than reading the books of the Brahmin and continuing to find the innermost Atman. Siddhartha has awakened and realized what the Buddha has taught him: to find Self in the universe. Siddhartha now has far more value in his life and a new journey he must follow, conquer, and learn more before he can go back to his former life.
“Siddhartha awoke as from sleep when he heard Govinda’s words. He looked for a long time into Govinda’s face. Then he spoke softly, in a voice without mockery: “Govinda, my friend, now you have taken the step, you have chosen your path. Always, Govinda, you have been my friend, and always you have been a step behind me. Often I thought: ‘Is Govinda ever going to take a step on his own, without me, acting from his own heart?’ And there it is: Now you have become a man and have chosen your own path. May you follow it to its end, my friend. May you attain liberation!” Govinda, who did not yet fully understand, repeated his question in impatient tones: “Come on, now, my friend, out with it! Tell me that it could not be otherwise, but that you, my learned friend, will also take refuge in the exalted Buddha!” Siddhartha laid his hand on Govinda’s shoulder. “You did not listen to my words of aspiration for you and my blessing, I will repeat it. May you follow this path to the end. May you attain liberation!” In this moment, Govinda realized his friend had left him and he began to cry.”
In this passage from chapter three of Siddhartha, titled “Gotama”, Hermann Hesse indirectly characterizes Govinda and Siddhartha through their dialogue and actions. This particular exchange of words between the two friends occurred after they had heard and experienced the teaching of Gotama the Buddha. Siddhartha’s statement, “...you have taken the step, you have chosen your path” and his subsequent question characterize Govinda as being a follower. Follower in this instance meaning someone who cannot or does not think for themselves, simply following what others say and do. This can also be seen earlier in the novel in chapter two when the narrator refers to Govinda as “[Siddhartha’s] shadow, following the same paths, undertaking the same efforts”, followed by a dialogue where Govinda states that Siddhartha will do great things in life, but never mentioning what he himself will achieve. Although Govinda is inactive for most of the novel after this point, his characterization here shows how dedicated he is to the bond the two of them have created, allowing the reader to relate this passage to meaningful relationships they have been involved in. Siddhartha’s simple and light way of handling the heaviness of the situation by saying, “May you follow this path to the end! May you find liberation!”, displays his natural leadership. As a leader, he knows to restrain emotion for the sake of his good friend, yet later he comes to realize how much he is going to miss the company he had in Govinda. This passage also relates to an overall motif of the path of life. The word “path” is used numerous times within this passage and countless times throughout the novel in order to reiterate the Hindu and Buddhist concept that all of life is a journey to nirvana, liberation, nonego, etc.
My idea is similar to your idea about how you classify Govinda as a "follower" of Siddhartha. I also think that Siddhartha might have told Govinda to follow Gothama, but not him because he believes that he must seek enlightenment on his own. Siddhartha discusses to himself that there is no actual formula for reaching enlightenment which contributes his idea to leave the place. I also think that he splits up with Govinda because just like you said as a “follower” and the Buddha has already achieved enlightenment so the distractions by the students wouldn’t affect him however Siddhartha feels that if Govinda tagged along with him then Govinda would be distracted by his presence which would cause him not to attain full enlightenment.
“When you throw a stone into water, it falls quickly by the fastest route to the bottom of the pond. This 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 a stone through the water, without bestirring himself. He is drawn forward and he lets himself fall. His goal draws him to it, for he lets nothing enter his mind that interferes with the goal. This is what Siddhartha learned from the shramanas. This is what fools call magic, thinking that it is brought about by demons. Nothing is brought about by demons; demons do not exist. Anyone can do magic, anyone can reach his goals if he can think, wait and fast” (Hesse 49). Hesse compares Siddhartha to a stone falling in water in order to characterize the way he views himself. Siddhartha is actually the speaker in this passage. He is telling Kamala about how he achieves everything that he does and gives the reader some insight into the way he views himself. This idea alone marks a huge transition for him in the story. He starts out being completely unaware and disinterested in himself. The child people, as Siddhartha calls them, are very self centered so it is fitting that he explains this right before the chapter titled “Among The Child People”. It is also fitting that he is speaking to Kamala, the very embodiment of worldly pleasures. Although it is important that the reader is aware of how Siddhartha views himself, this description contains many inaccuracies. The example of a stone falling in water is not a very good way to describe Siddhartha. The idea that he establishes a goal and dedicates himself to achieving that goal is accurate, however, when a stone is dropped in water, it is assumed it will reach the bottom. This is something Siddhartha never does. He is never satisfied with his goal just before he obtains it and sets his sights on something new. Another inaccuracy is that he believes there are no such thing as demons. He may not believe in literal demons, however, he discovers his own personal demon after living with the child people. Contentment. This is the very thing that draws him away from all of the goals he nearly obtains and haunts him throughout the whole book. This passage is necessary for the reader because it provides insight into the way Siddhartha views himself, even though this view is far from the reality.
“In truth his heart was not in the business. His business deals had the virtue of producing money for Kamala, and they produced a lot more than he needed for that. Aside from that, Siddhartha’s only interest and curiosity was for the people whose business dealings, handwork, cares, pleasures, and follies had formerly been as alien and remote to him as the moon. As easy as it was for him to talk to everyone, get along with everyone, learn from everyone, to that very extent there was something that separated him from these people, this was clear to him. And this thing that set him apart was his being a shramana. He saw people going through their lives in the manner of a child or an animal, and he both loved and disdained this at the same time. He saw them striving—and suffering and getting gray—over things that seemed to him completely unworthy of this price: over money, over small pleasures, over a little respect. He saw them chiding and insulting one another, he saw them bemoaning pains that the shramanas smiled over and suffering from privations that a shramana did not feel.” (Hesse 55-56)
In this passage, Hesse compares the village people to children and animals because they only care and worry about trifle, materialistic things such as money. Although Siddhartha started his new life and journey to understand the material and physical world, he has not forgotten his life as a shramana. In fact, he continuously utilizes his skills as a shramana in his new life to balance his materialistic and spiritual sides. He has a skill in business, but he merely sees it as a “game” and is not a slave to the suffering of greed. He is superior to all of the childlike and animalistic village people because he has the ability to be peaceful and happy over the same losses that cause others to suffer and stress; under any circumstance, he is always smiling and laughing. This contrast between the unhappy people and the peaceful Siddhartha shows that his mindset makes him is the most adult-like person, and the closest person to attain Enlightenment. Hesse specifically uses children and animals to characterize the village people because although they are not exactly savage, they are impatient, rude, and greedy. Siddhartha, on the other hand, is exactly the opposite; he is patient, kind, and equally respectful to everyone. This contrast and comparison is important to note in Siddhartha’s journey because it shows the readers that life is all about balance. Siddhartha yearns to learn about the material world to understand the world and to find his identity, but he still rejects the suffering the other people go through. Even though he knows that there is nothing more to learn from his past, he uses every knowledge and experience he has including reading and writing from his days with his family; fasting, thinking, and waiting from his days as a shramana; his realization that he must experience and find his way to Enlightenment rather than learning it from a teaching; and finally, love, desire, and business in his current life with Kamala and Kamaswami.
“This Brahmin,” he had said to a friend, “is not a real merchant and will never become one, his soul is never passionate about business. But he has the secret of those people to whom success comes on its own, whether because of a lucky star or because of magic, or because of something he learned from the samanas. He always seems to be only playing at business, it never fully becomes part of him, it never dominates him, he never fears failures, he is never bothered by a loss.” (Hesse, 60) This quote was towards the beginning of Among the Child People and this quote is about Kamaswami talking to his friend about how Siddhartha doesn’t take business seriously and that failures and not making money doesn’t bring his spirits down. He also cuts his profit giving him 1/3 of it so that it would motivate him, but still he continues to shake it off. However Siddhartha has learned from the samanas that many people tend to live in a childish way, suffering over things that little meaning like money, pleasure, and honor which Siddhartha tends to reject this type of suffering which is why he isn’t concerned about the money and failure. He tells Kamasami “that there is no use for scolding and that if he acted like Kamaswami he would have walked out all angry and upset, but since he stayed at the village he had good days, learned things, and experienced joy while not harming anyone with anger like Kamaswami would do. “(Hesse, 61) This quote is basically calling Kamaswami a child because he is getting worked up about the money that he isn’t making and that he should learn from Siddhartha on how to think better on certain situations. This quote by Hesse on page 60 when he talks about how “he seems to be playing at business” is a metaphor because he actually doesn’t care about the business, but for the money that was good enough to buy the nice clothes and gifts for Kamala. He seems to be more into Kamala’s aspect of teaching than Kamaswami’s because he tends to learn much more about the physical act of love as well as the patience and self-respect. Later in the chapter he states that he understands Kamala better than his friend Govinda and Kamaswami, and the reasoning behind this is that she can always retreat from the material world and be herself unlike Kamaswami. He also draws a comparison of Kamala to Gautama as well because her life seems to have purpose and meaning as well.
“And this whole game and the passion with which all people played it occupied his mind as much as the gods and brahma had once occupied it. At times he heard, deep in his breast, a soft and dying voice that admonished softly, lamented softly, barely audible. Then for an hour he was aware that he was leading a strange life, that he was doing all sorts of things that were merely a game, that he was cheerful, granted, and sometimes felt joy, but that real life was flowing past him and not touching him”(Hesse 63).
In this chapter, Siddhartha’s life has taken a sharp turn. From being a samana, to now being a colleague of a wealthy merchant, he has begun to experience many pleasures and luxuries. He becomes less focused on finding inner peace, and concentrates on learning from others, especially Kamala, a mistress who Siddhartha learns the art of love from. The people in the village he lives in, whom he calls “child people”, fascinate Siddhartha and he observes their behaviors. As he stays at the village longer, Siddhartha becomes engulfed in the comfort, but is not finding real happiness by becoming a merchant himself. He sees his job as a game, and becomes so amused by it that he loses sight of his one true goal. Siddhartha’s goal is pushed farther and farther from him as he presses it from his mind and is blinded by gratification. Rarely does Siddhartha, the former samana, hear the voice in his heart telling him what is right. Earlier, the voice guided him away from a woman by the river, who wanted to share pleasure with him. Now, he is deaf to the voice and his conscience. The author waits to reveal information about Siddhartha’s inner voice dying out until the readers know about his new life. In the times that he does hear the voice, Siddhartha realizes that he is not truly happy and is tricked by the seemingly satisfying life he is living, but again, he pushes the voice away. At this point in his life, Siddhartha is not ready to give up simple pleasures to find Nirvana. He can not see that he will never be truly at peace being a spectator to others’ lives.
“ ‘Most people, Kamala, are like fallen leaves that blow and whirl about in the air, then dip and fall to earth. But others, only a few, are like stars, which move on a fixed course where no wind reaches them; they have their law and their course within them. Among all the scholars and shramanas, of whom I know so many, there was one who was perfect in this sense. I can never forget him. That was Gotama, the Exalted One, the expounder of the teaching. Thousands of disciples listen to his teaching every day, follow his precepts hour by hour, but they are all falling leaves. They do not contain the law and the teaching within themselves’ ” (Hesse 57).
In this passage, Hesse uses an extensive simile that compares the child people to falling leaves. According to Siddhartha, the child people “blow and whirl about in the air” – a metaphor for being influenced by the many unimportant events of everyday life. They do not have a path that they are following nor a destination they would like to reach. The impersonal “wind” of everyday life blows them in circles until they “dip and fall to earth,” where they will remain performing the same habitual actions for the rest of their lives. Even the followers of Gotama fall into this cycle because they are directed by an entity outside of themselves rather than constructing their own paths in life. This idea indicates a criticism of organized religion because Siddhartha believes it is not a viable way to achieve enlightenment.
Siddhartha contrasts the child people with the few people he believes have achieved an independent path in life. Hesse uses kinesthetic imagery in describing such people: “But others, only a few, are like stars, which move on a fixed course where no wind reaches them.” The imagery conveys a sense of calm and purpose, which contrasts with the hectic and haphazard movement of leaves in the wind. Siddhartha emphasizes the idea that to achieve enlightenment, as did Gotama, one must have a fixed course within himself and never stray into the world of mundane distractions. However, Siddhartha’s ideals are misaligned with his actions. When he decides to live a worldly life, he becomes distracted by gambling, drink, and possessions and forgets his search for truth. Hesse uses this situational irony to show that people may believe there is only one way to achieve their goal, but in reality there are many paths to the same destination.
“‘It is a beautiful river,’ he said to his companion. ‘Yes,’ said the ferryman, ‘it is a very beautiful river. I love it above everything. I have often listened to it, gazed at it, and I have always learned something from it. One can learn much from a river.’ ‘Thank you, good man,’ said SIddhartha, as he landed on the other side. ‘I am afraid I have no gift to give you, nor any payment. I am homeless, a Brahman’s son and a Samana.’ ‘I could see that,’ said the ferryman, ‘and I did not expect and payment or gift from you. You will give it to me some other time.’ ‘Do you think so?’ ask Siddhartha merrily. ‘Certainly. I have learned that from the river too; everything comes back. You, too, Samana will come back.’” (Hesse 40)
While reading this passage, one will easily realize that it is a conversation between the Ferryman and Siddhartha and one of the first most important topics they converse about is the river. The Ferryman states “I have often listened to it, gazed at it, and I have always learned something from it. One can learn much from a river.” No river has the human capability of teaching another being, with the use of the personification Hesse was able to make it seem as if the river was another human being teaching the Ferryman many ways to life, presenting the river as if it were another character. The Ferryman has lived alongside the river almost his whole life, influencing and teaching him ways of life as he states “One can learn much from a river.”
After Siddhartha reveals to the Ferryman that he has no gift for him in appreciation of the Ferryman’s good doing’s, the Ferryman quickly realizes and accepts that Siddhartha did not have the gift. I believe that the Ferryman has learned exactly the teaches that Siddhartha is searching in his life, enabling him to have the peace and acceptance of Siddhartha’s lake of gifts and payments. The river has taught the Ferryman true Nirvana within his life, something Siddhartha has sought for but is far from. The Ferryman knows himself, he has self-worth, realizes his life path, and knows what he must do in order for him to fulfill his life; all qualities that he has learned from the river that Siddhartha is searching for. The Ferryman is confident that Siddhartha will return with a gift within close time, “everything comes back. You, too, Samana will come back,” bringing up and referring to the theme and the power of the river. The rivers teachings that have gifted the Ferryman with great knowledge will influence and guarantee Siddhartha to return back to the river in time, lacking many qualities in his life he has always been seeking for and wanting to learn from the river, one amazing teacher.
“One night, sleeping in the straw hut of a ferryman by a river, Siddhartha had a dream. Govinda stood before him in a yellow ascetic’s robe. Govinda looked sad, and sadly he asked, “Why have you abandoned me?” Then he embraced Govinda, threw his arms around him, and as he held him to his breast and kissed him, it was no longer Govinda but a woman, and a full breast popped out of the woman’s garment, on which Siddhartha rested his head and drank. The milk from this breast tasted sweet and strong. It tasted of a woman and man, of sun and forest, of breast and flower, of every fruit, of every desire. It made one drunk and unaware” (Hesse 39).
In this passage at the beginning of the chapter titled Kamala, author Hermann Hesse uses a variety of literary devices to foreshadow Siddhartha’s coming experience in the material world. The first element to notice is the dialogue where Govinda asks Siddhartha why he has left him. This suggests that Siddhartha is facing a man versus self conflict in which he is battling regret for the abandonment of his life-long friend and their previous lifestyle. The introduction of the woman, one of the few female characters present in the novel thus far, is a metaphor for the temptation of the material world. Siddhartha has never been exposed to a female in a sexual sense, so through his dreams, he somewhat makes up for what he has missed. His action of resting his head on the breast of the woman and drinking her “sweet and strong” milk (milk being a metaphor for material possessions) suggests that humans find comfort in sex and materialism, comfort in having a lot of things, comfort in meaningless sexual acts, in order to block out human emotion. The use of consonance in the quote, “The milk from this breast tasted sweet and strong”, makes the idea of this milk more appealing to the reader because of the way it sounds. This scenario can also be interpreted as a metaphor for Siddhartha’s rebirth into this newfound religion, or lack thereof, that he currently finds himself in. As a young child does, Siddhartha sucks on the milk of a motherly figure in order to gain nourishment. The milk is hypothetically giving Siddhartha nourishment and knowledge of the world around him as if he is a child just born into it, as earlier in the chapter he describes the world as, “...beautiful when one just looked at it without looking for anything, just simply, as a child.” His childlike views of the world at this point in the novel suggest to the reader that he has come to a new beginning, a new point of view, a new life. All of these literary devices combine to create a foreshadowing of Siddhartha’s journey ahead of him: the regret of abandonment, the longing to build a connection with someone of the same nature as his and Govinda’s, the temptations and desires of the egotistical world, and the childlike view that he maintains.
“In a golden cage Kamala had a small, rare songbird. He dreamed the bird, who otherwise always sang in the morning, was silent. Noticing this, he went over to the cage and looked inside. The little bird was dead and lay stiff on the bottom of the cage. He took it out, weighed it a moment in his hand, then threw it away onto the street outside. That moment a terrible fright took hold of him and his heart pained him as though with this dead bird he had thrown away everything valuable and good”(Hesse 64). Hesse writes about a dream Siddhartha had just before he decides to leave the child people. The purpose of this passage is to let the reader into the mind of Siddhartha at his moment of great sadness and depression. These feelings are the result of the materialistic lifestyle he has led for years now. Despite living in this world with the child people for a while, before this time, he had always felt superior. This is because he had managed to retain his knowledge; how to fast, think and wait. This however, was eventually lost. In the dream, it was so easy for Siddhartha to throw the bird out the window, just as it was for him to become engulfed in the life of a child person. It is not until he has lost every part of his former self that he realizes that he once had everything he needed and he threw it all away. It is possible that the bird represented knowledge however, it could have also been an allusion to a famous Emily Dickinson poem “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”. This poem describes hope as a bird, which may have also been the intention of Hesse. It is not known that Hesse had read this poem, but it was written about fifty years before this book so it is possible that he had known about it. If the bird was intended to represent hope, Siddhartha throwing it out the window represents how the life he is leading has no “light at the end of the tunnel”. This means that he has lost any reason to continue living this way and sees no purpose in this life. This life did appeal to him at a time, which is possibly represented by the bird’s cage. It is golden, and probably expensive, which would appeal to most people. However this life, like a cage, is a trap. Most people are drawn in and are never able to escape it. This is how Siddhartha felt in this life and the reason he ultimately chose to abandon it.
“He reflected for a long time on his transformation, listened to the bird sing with joy. Had this bird within him not died? Had he not felt its death? No, something else in him had died, something that had been longing to die for a long time. Was it not the same thing he had wanted to exterminate in his ardent years as an ascetic? Was it not his ego, his little, fearful, and prideful ego, against which he had fought for so many years, but which had conquered him again, which was there again after every extermination, banishing joy and feeling fear? Was it not this that finally today had died, here in the forest by this lovely river? Was it not because of this death that he was now like a child, so full of confidence, so fearless, and so full of joy?” (Hesse 77)
Hesse repeatedly uses a bird as a motif to represent Siddhartha. In the previous chapter, Siddhartha dreams of a dead bird, and he fears that he will become that bird if he continues his path as a merchant. When he leaves, Kamala frees the bird, which represents setting Siddhartha free. In this passage, Hesse uses a bird to represent Siddhartha’s life as a merchant and his rebirth. When Siddhartha was with Kamala and Kwamaswami, Siddhartha learned about the material world just as he had wanted to, but he was never satisfied or truly happy. Just like a caged bird, he was trapped in his self-torment and self-hatred without an escape. However, when he left the village and was freed from his life as a merchant, he could finally hear “the bird sing with joy.” With his escape from greed’s grasp, he is able to be happy again. Also, when the bird is freed, Siddhartha feels a part of him die. Initially, he thought that the “bird within him” had died, but he then realizes that it was not the bird that died, but rather another part of him: his greed. Throughout his life, his anger, bitterness, and greediness grew and grew until it took ahold of him in the recent years when he spent his time gambling, drinking, and immersing himself in material pleasure. This part of his life and journey is vital to his way to Enlightenment because the self-torment and self-hatred he felt finally killed the greediness within him, and thus furthering him in his journey in achieving Enlightenment and setting him free to become a new person. Through his rebirth, he is now a child, ready to start anew. Just as a free bird would fly away to the heavens, Siddhartha is now ready to fly his way to Nirvana.
“Now, he thought, that all these transitory things have slipped away from me again, I stand once more beneath the sun, as I once stood as a small child. Nothing is mine, I know nothing, I possess nothing, I have learned nothing. How strange it is! now I am beginning again like a child. He had to smile again. Yes, his destiny was strange! He was going backwards, and now again he stood empty and naked and ignorant in the world. But he did not grieve about it; no, he even felt a great desire to laugh, to laugh at himself, to laugh at this strange foolish world!” (Hesse 77)
This passage forces my mind to refer back to our class discussion just last Friday where the topic of recurring themes and phrases that Hesse brings up and emphasises many times throughout the novel came up. On the second line of the passage, Hesse writes “as I once stood as a small child,” Hesse writes this line many times throughout the novel, with the use of a metaphor, to compare one starting in the world fresh as a child, to Siddhartha starting his new journeys in life as if he is a new person starting fresh in the world. This metaphor is a great way to compare the two and represent Siddhartha’s life journey because he has gone through many phases in the novel; first starting as wanting and becoming a Samana, then being a man of nice clothing, shoes and fragrance hair, and now to becoming a simple man living a life next to the river. Another recurring theme is light and dark; on the first and second line, Hesse writes “I stand one more beneath the sun.” Many times in the novel Hesse has also brought up the theme of light and dark. Personally I think what Hesse means by the theme of light and dark, is that it represents the content and satisfying times in Siddhartha’s life, as the light, and the dark representing the often times when Siddhartha is sad, discontent and depressed with his life at that moment in time. On the fourth and fifth line, Hesse uses an amazing metaphor that catches my eye that compares how one is born, naked, ignorant and empty to the world, which is exactly how SIddhartha felt at this moment while beginning his third new journey. Every new journey Siddhartha partakes in, he starts completely empty, a new person, completely forgotten about the past journey as that life has passed, just like a child being born into the world; completely empty, naked and new to their new journey and world.
"In a golden cage Kamala had a small, rare songbird. He dreamed about the bird. He dreamed the bird, who otherwise always sang in the morning, was silent. Noticing this, he went over to the cage and looked inside. The little bird was dead and lay stiff on the bottom of the cage. He took it out, weighed it a moment in his hand, then threw it away onto the street outside. That moment a terrible fright took hold of him and his heart pained him as though with this dead bird he had thrown away everything valuable and good."
At this point in the novel, Siddhartha has lived in the material world, immersed in worldly possessions, for many years. He is lying in bed after a night of excessive drinking when he begins to dream. Symbolism is used in this passage to describe Siddhartha's life. The rare bird is symbolic of Siddhartha himself. It is made apparent throughout the novel that he has a very special mind, so the rarity of the bird stands for the rarity of Siddhartha's spirit. The golden cage is a symbol of the material world. He has trapped his unique personality and spiritual path in a sparkling and beautiful shell, but within, it is nothing more than a dirty bird cage. The dirt in this sense being all of the sin he has committed in the worldly life he currently resides in. Because this cage of sin looks so enticing on the outside, it lured him into its inescapable bars and lock. Now the bird (Siddhartha) is dead in his sins without ever being able to free himself from the chains of worldliness. The moment after Siddhartha throws the bird out the window he feels extreme pain and despair. This is because he realizes that he has lost all respect for the beauty of nature that originally brought him into his current life, where he is so immersed in the sensory experience.
My idea was similar to yours in which you believed that the rare songbird was a symbolism of Siddhartha. I also thought that actually the reasoning behind this comparison is that Siddhartha feels like working under Kamaswami’s standards, wearing nice clothes, eating delicious foods, entertaining dancers, and especially gambling was a diversion of his goal of reaching enlightenment. I also thought that Kamala herself was a distraction as well because although she thought him love, his lifestyle has changed and he hasn't focused on his goal. I also thought that another way the comparison between the songbird and Siddhartha is when Kamala releases the songbird and lets it fly because this scene shows that Siddhartha had woken up from his dream and avoided spiritual death as shown by the bird and that he also regretted making his decision to join this lifestyle to sidetrack him from reaching enlightenment.
“That he had felt that despair, that profoundest revulsion, and had not been broken by it, that the bird, that wellspring, that happy voice, was still alive in him – that is where his joy came from. That is why he was laughing; that is why his face was radiant beneath his gray hair. “It is good, he thought, to experience directly for oneself what one has to understand. I already understood as a child that the pleasures of the world and wealth are not good things. I understood that long ago, but I have only just now experienced it. And now I know it, not only from memory but with my eyes, my heart, my stomach. Good for me for knowing it!” (Hesse 76-77).
Siddhartha’s realization that personal experience is necessary for understanding is part of Hesse’s broader theme of the individual journey. Throughout his life, Siddhartha frequently commits the folly of trying to act upon knowledge rather than experience. As a young man, he learns from the Brahmins the pitfalls of wealth and material possessions, yet this does not prevent him from falling into the trap himself. As a shramana, Siddhartha looks down upon the way common people love each other blindly – until he feels the same throes of longing for his runaway son. Siddhartha even knows what true enlightenment looks like after he sees the Buddha, who “moved quietly, calmly, with a hidden smile, not unlike a healthy child” (Hesse 23). However, Siddhartha is unable to achieve this childlike inner light by simply knowing that it exists. He must first suffer through samsara, “that profoundest revulsion,” and be reborn as a child. The new Siddhartha is much different from the child Siddhartha because rather than possessing knowledge imparted to him from others, he has learned the same lessons for himself. Siddhartha experiences great joy upon realizing that he truly knows things instead of relying on the illusory half-knowledge he had before. Hesse emphasizes the happiness personal knowledge can bring through the use of Siddhartha’s self-congratulations: “Good for me for knowing it!” Hesse’s emphasis on the individual journey shows his belief that people cannot learn from teachers or doctrines, but only from themselves.
“He pondered and pondered his transformation, listened to the bird as it sang for joy. Had this bird not denied him, had he not felt its death? No, something else had died in him, something that had long yearned for death. Was this not what he had wanted to kill in his years of ardent penitence? Was it not his ego, his small, proud, anxious ego with which he had fought for so many years, which had always defeated him, always returned after every killing, outlawing joy, feeling fear? Was it not this which had finally found its death today, here in the forest, on this lovely river? Was it not because of this death that he was now like a child, so full of trust, so without fear, so full of joy”(Hesse 87). Siddhartha begins the next chapter of his life after he leaves his life with the child people to begin again as a child, reborn. While he was living in the village, he was playing a game, making himself miserable, and getting farther from his goal of reaching Nirvana. The night he leaves, he is struck by how disgusted he is with himself, and almost commits suicide, but he says “om” and his soul is reawakened. He finally hears the voice in his heart again after so many years of suppressing it, and with it his ego is killed, drown in the river with his former self. To finally defeat the one thing he had struggled with constantly, he had to almost destroy himself completely. He had to realize how vain he was and feel self hatred to see that he was just like the child people. For all of his life, he had been thinking that he was shrinking his ego, but he had fed it, so he could never truly be rid of it. Because of the death of his ego, Siddhartha can allow himself to begin again like a child. Now he is humble, and the bird in his chest is free and not in a cage anymore. The bird represents Siddhartha being trapped in his old life, and now that the bird is free, so is Siddhartha. Hesse wants readers to see that mistakes are good in life, because they help one see how they can change, and makes them humble. By sinning and making errors, Siddhartha is on the path to enlightenment once again and is nearing the end to his journey of finding Nirvana.
“Kamala kept a small, rare songbird in a gold cage. He dreamed about this bird. He dreamed that this bird, which normally sang in the morning, had grown mute, and noticing this, he went over to the cage and peered inside. The little bird was dead, lying stiff on the bottom. He took it out, weighed it into his hand for a moment and then threw it away, out into the street- and at the same moment, he was terribly frightened, and his heart ached as if, with this dead bird, he had thrown away all value and all goodness. Jumping from this dream, he felt a profound sadness. He had, it seemed to him, been leading a worthless life, worthless and senseless; no living thing, no precious thing, nothing worth keeping had remained in his hands. He stood alone and empty like a castaway on a shore.” (Hesse, 73)
This quote is towards the end of the chapter titled “Samsara” and this is when Siddhartha falls asleep and he begins to dream about a rare songbird in a gold cage that is owned by Kamala. Hesse uses a metaphor to compare both the death of the songbird to Siddhartha because once the songbird dies it fills Siddhartha with a feeling of complete spiritual emptiness and the reasoning behind this is that Siddhartha feels like working under Kamaswami’s standards, wearing nice clothes, eating delicious foods, entertaining dancers, and especially gambling was a diversion of his goal of reaching enlightenment. He also believes that his relationship with Kamala brings him little peace and that even though she has taught him a lot about love and given him pleasure as well he believes that even that stands in the way of truly reaching enlightenment. Later on once Siddhartha finds out that he is playing the game of Samsara, the cycle of a person going through life, suffrage, and death, he leaves the city, and another quote that compares the songbird and Siddhartha would be “Kamala sent no one to look for him. When she had heard the first news of Siddhartha’s disappearance, she stepped over to the window , where she kept a rare songbird in a gold cage. She opened the door of the cage, took out the bird and let it fly.” (Hesse, 76) This also contributes to the metaphor of the songbird to Siddhartha because in the dream when he sees the dead songbird he feels emptiness and regrets his actions that didn’t contribute to his goal of enlightenment, but when Kamala releases the songbird and lets it fly, it shows that Siddhartha had awoken from his sleep in the real world and that he had avoided the spiritual death which had occurred in his dream.
“‘When someone is seeking,’ said Siddhartha, “it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal, You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.’”(Hesse 113)
In this passage, found in the last chapter of the novel, Siddhartha is giving Govinda his words and wisdom as he leaves the hut and river to continue on with his own journey. This piece is so important, in my view, because here Siddhartha is teaching Govinda about something he has been searching for all his life, pure content and Nirvana within his life. His whole life, Siddhartha, had done exactly what he is explaining to Govinda, he was looking for a certain outcome with each journey he encountered, rather taking each as they are and seeing what he could learn. In the beginning of the novel he wanted to be a Samana, and tried to do whatever it took to become such a high Buddha, but the whole time he was really trying to convince himself rather actually believing in and understanding what they did to become a Samana. That making him not learn and only resent the idea rather believe in it. Then, as he became a rich merchant, he only did it to win over Kamala and prove to her what a man he could become. Sadly, it took many years for him to realize that what he was doing was not making him happy, only more miserable. Finally he stopped looking, stopped trying, stopped believing and returned to the river and the Ferryman, Vasudeva. Once that urge to constantly learn, expand, and force himself into something he is not, he began to finally realize the important aspects of life that were right under his nose but never realized since he was trying to hard to find something else within his life; contentedness, Nirvana, etc. Now after he stopped looking, he reached his full potential, he was content with his life and most important of all, he reached pure Nirvana. All this time he was searching and working so hard to achieve, but he was trying too hard that he missed the point. He missed the real parts of life that one should cherish and learn from. Siddhartha understands now and well enough to teach his old friend, Govinda, how to really achieve inner peace, Nirvana.
“His thoughts were that simple, without understanding: he had grown that similar to the child people. He now saw people in a different light, less cleverly, less proudly, but also more warmly, more curiously, more sympathetically. When he ferried normal travelers, child people, businessmen, warriors, women, they no longer seemed foreign to him. He understood them, he understood and shared their lives, which were led not by thoughts and insights, but solely by drives and wishes. And he felt like them. Although he was close to perfection, and enduring his final wound, he saw these child people as his brothers”(Hesse 113).
At this point in Siddhartha’s journey, he has almost found Nirvana and has changed his views on the outside world. He finds out that he has a son, but his son leaves him because he cannot bear to live a life away from the outside world and its pleasures. While his son was with him, Siddhartha loved him blindly and would not let him go, but he did not realized that his son can never love him how he wants him to and can never see him as a father. After his son runs away, Siddhartha has a “wound” because he is heartbroken about the life he could have had with his son. He had never loved anyone like he had loved his son, and the loss allows him to feel empathy towards the child people. Before, he always looked down on them and thought their feelings were foolish, because he had never understood love. Now, Siddhartha can relate to their emotions and can see himself in their lives. Since he lost his ego, he sees them as equals to himself, but now can relate to all of humanity and is not separate from others. Although he is envious of their relationships that he cannot have with his son, he respects the love and passion they can have for one another. Hesse shows that love is Siddhartha’s connection to humanity and the world, and wants readers to see this as the final piece to Siddhartha’s puzzle of enlightenment. To fully understand life and find Nirvana Siddhartha has to accept love and its pain, and gain wisdom by finally taking part in it.
“When someone seeks,’ said Siddhartha, ‘it can easily happen that his eyes only see the thing he is seeking and that he is incapable of taking anything in, because he is always only thinking about what he is seeking, because he has an object, a goal, because he is possessed by this goal. Seeking means having a goal, but finding means being free, open, having no goal. Perhaps you, venerable one, are indeed a seeker, for in striving after your goal, there is much you fail to see that is right before your eyes”(Hesse 108). Hesse uses passive voice and repetition of sound to convey an intimate mood. Hesse’s use of “is” in this passage is very unlike the rest of the book. This passage is much more like a casual conversation, compared to the rest of the book that sounds rhythmic and lyrical. This makes the reader feel more at ease with the book. Hesse chose this point to use passive voice because Siddhartha is speaking with Govinda. Throughout Siddhartha’s life, he has seen everyone as having less value and intelligence. It is only after a long period of separation from Govinda that he realizes his respect for him. Because of this, he speaks to Govinda as his equal. Siddhartha also rationalizes his lack of effort in speaking eloquently when he tells Govinda later in the conversation that words are of no value. Siddhartha has transformed from his younger self, who used to speak gracefully. Hesse’s repeated use of the word “seek” is a repetition of hard sounds. Hesse uses “seek” to juxtapose the soft sounds in the rest of the passage. Words such as “possessed”, “free” and “perhaps” are not only soft sounds, but also colloquial language which contributes to the passive voice. This helps to make the reader feel close to Siddhartha because Siddhartha is teaching a lesson to the readers. “Seeking” is the thing that he is warning against and that sticks with the reader because he uses it so often throughout the passage. He lets the reader into his mind with this lesson and explains his values and the reason behind the way he lives and his defiance of teaching. This is also slightly ironic because he is trying to teach Govinda that teaching is bad. This adds a comical element that adds to the relaxed, intimate tone of the passage.
I think your claim that this passage is similar to a casual conversation is very insightful and I hadn't thought about it that way before. I agree with your analysis of the change in Siddhartha's speaking because as his lifestyle changed throughout the book, the ways in which he went about things changed as well, one of those things being his speech. I also think that this relaxed way of talking gives the reader a better understanding of his relationship with Govinda. I like the way you connected Siddhartha's style of speaking with his idea regarding the significance of speech.
“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 the 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, became a river, strove onward again, flowed anew. But the passionate voice had changed. It still 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 104-5).
This passage describes a moment when Siddhartha is listening to and learning from the river. Siddhartha sees images of everyone who has been important to him “fused with one another” within the river. Hesse uses water imagery to illustrate the flow and unity that Siddhartha discovers is at the essence of all living things. The river is constantly “full of longing, ardent with sorrow” just as Siddhartha had been throughout his search for meaning and just as the child people are for their goals. This idea that striving and suffering are an integral part of life is conveyed through the use of passionate diction such as “unquenchable,” “hurrying on,” “questing,” “ardent,” and “hungering.” Once their goals are achieved, people begin again with new goals, creating an endless cycle of life. In the sentence “the waterfall…flowed anew,” Hesse describes this phenomenon through the use of a metaphor that compares human desires to the water cycle. Water flows purposefully towards its destination, only to evaporate and rain back down into the beginning of the cycle. Hesse’s syntax within this sentence also illustrates the concept of the water cycle; his comma usage and repetition of “became” cause the sentence to flow like the cycle it describes.
Siddhartha no longer sees the repetitive nature of life as something from which to break free, but rather something to embrace. When he first realized the parallel between his son’s disappearance and his own desertion of his father the brahmin, Siddhartha thought, “Was it not comical, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this movement in the same fateful circles?” (Hesse 102). While listening to the river, Siddhartha is able to accept that life contains suffering but also to see the beauty that comes alongside the suffering. Hesse uses pairs of opposites (“joy and suffering, “good and evil,” and “laughing and lamenting”) to show the unity within all human emotions and conditions. He suggests that the key to enlightenment is being able to look upon all aspects of life – the good and the bad – and smile.
I agree with your last point. Another example from the text that would also support your analysis is “Thus Govinda saw the smile of the mask, the smile of unity over the flowing forms, the smile of simultaneity over the myriad of births and deaths … this is the way the Perfect Ones smile” (Hesse 116) I think this because this is when Govinda, who had just kissed Siddhartha’s forehead, sees faces of all emotions: joy, pain, horror, love, etc. He specifically sees faces of a “fish, a carp, with its maw opened in limitless pain, a dying fish with bursting eyes,” a newborn child, a murderer, a criminal kneeling in chains, corpses, and more. Even though all these faces are different and contrasting in emotions, Govinda sees the “mask” smile. Siddhartha’s smile represents his acceptance to everything the way they are. Only by embracing life and fate with a smile will bring peace and Enlightenment.
“Siddhartha made the effort to listen closer. 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 the 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, became a river, strove onward again, flowed anew.” (Hesse 104-105)
This scene takes place in the chapter titled “OM”, soon after Siddhartha’s son departs for the city. Hermann Hesse’s description of the river is an extended metaphor for Siddhartha’s life. The constant repetition of the word “image” in the first three sentences is used to propose the idea that Siddhartha’s life thus far has consisted of mere images lacking feeling and depth. Up to this point in the novel, he had little emotional attachment to anything or anyone that crossed his path, simply letting their images flow by. Now, as he is gazing into the waters of this river, he is blindsided by the emotional baggage that came along with all of these people in his life, which he should have been carrying with him all along. All of these images forming into one and becoming the river is symbolic of the effect all of those people had on Siddhartha. The relationships and experiences he shared with each of those persons factored into the human being that he is at this moment as is seen in the quote, “this river composed of himself and those near him and of all the people he had ever seen” (Hesse 104).
The idea of movement toward objects and goals is a motif in this passage. This can be seen in quotes like, “all moved as the river toward their objects”, and “All the waves and currents hurried onward, suffering, toward object, many goals”. Simply put, Siddhartha realizes at this point that he no longer agrees with his previous philosophy on the purpose of life. Prior to this incidence, he basically believed that life should be nothing more than meditation and thinking, but he sees now that one’s life should have worldly goals with the potential to be obtained, and for newer objectives to be set.
Hesse’s reference to the water cycle relates back to the paradox of human ego at the beginning of the novel. Just as water will never physically escape from the cycle that is its existence, Siddhartha will never escape the cycle of ego that is his. His whole life Siddhartha tried to rid himself of the world and its noxious sins and temptations, but at this point, nearing the ends of his days, he finds himself more like the child people than ever before. More in touch with his emotions, more observant of his environment, more stupidly filled with love than ever before.
“At the moment Siddhartha ceased to struggle with fate, ceased to suffer. On his face bloomed the cheerfulness of wisdom that is no longer opposed by will, that knows perfection, that is in harmony with the river of what is, what the current of life, full of compassion, full of empathetic joy, surrendered to the flow, part of the unity.” (Hesse 105-106)
In this passage, Hesse writes about the exact moment Siddhartha attains Nirvana. Throughout the novel, Siddhartha had struggled to find the “right” path to Nirvana. He sought different teachings, experienced many things, and tried to learn his way to Enlightenment, but when Siddhartha “ceased to struggle with fate,” or in other words, surrendered to and accepted fate, Siddhartha finally found peace. Previously, he tried to control his fate, but by surrendering to fate, he was able to experience his way rather than learn his way to Enlightenment. Also, Siddhartha realizes that to attain Enlightenment, he has to listen rather than learn. Before, Siddhartha was always too busy learning and attaining knowledge and could only hear one voice of the river at most at one time. For example, when he was searching for his son, he only heard the river “laughing.” However, with Vasudeva’s guidance, he is now able to listen to the all the different voices of the river, united and harmonious. One of the last pieces Siddhartha found in order to achieve Enlightenment was compassion and empathy, especially to the child people. Before he meets his son, he always held himself superior to the child people. He is unable to love even though he spent years in the material world. Without understanding and experiencing love, it is hard, if not impossible, to experience other emotions such as envy or adoration. However, after Siddhartha meets his son and goes through the pains of rejection, Siddhartha comes to understand what love is. Through this experience, he is able to relate to the child people and feel emotions such as empathy, envy, and compassion, and thus understand the “the current of life” is “full of compassion” and “full of empathetic joy.” This process is important because this last gap he covered allowed him to understand how not only life was a part of unity, but emotions and feelings such as passion, suffering, sorrow, joy, good, and evil are all harmonious and part of the unity of existence. With this last piece of understanding, Siddhartha “surrenders to the flow” and reaches Nirvana.
“His face resembled that of another person, whom he had once known and loved and even feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetic, how he had taken leave of him, how he had gone and never returned. Had not his father suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son?” (Hesse, 115)
This quote is taken from the chapter titled “Om” and this takes place when Siddhartha’s son runs away and with Siddhartha not being able to keep up with him lets him go. He feels completely disappointed so he continues to work with Vasudeva as a ferryman, and looks into the river where he sees the reflection of his father. The author uses a lot of foreshadowing in this passage on example would be at the start of the book when Siddhartha left his father to become an samana and his father was extremely hurt by his decision, and that happens to Siddhartha as well since his son ran away so they both feel the same pain. Also another example would be with the determination in Siddhartha’s face to leave his father knew that his son had left him and that he had no control over his decision, which also goes with Siddhartha now as he also had no control over his son running away. Even though Siddhartha wanted to share with his son all he had learned about life, he accepts now that his son will have to come into his own understanding because Siddhartha could not have helped him in his search for meaning any more than Siddhartha’s own father was able to help Siddhartha. With that in mind Siddhartha begin his understanding of life as a river, and by going through the river’s current he begins to understand the ideas of timelessness and peace as well as Nirvana.
My idea is similar to your idea. I think Siddhartha really struggles with fate throughout the novel; he tries to control it, but it is impossible to do so. It is as if Siddhartha is swimming against the current of a river. For example, after Siddhartha’s son left, Siddhartha keeps trying to find him. However, it is futile because no matter what, his son will not come back. The moment he realizes this, he surrenders to fate and acknowledges that what will be will always be. Furthermore, the son’s running away is similar to Siddhartha himself when he ran away. As you said, this was foreshadowing, but I also believe that this represents fate and the cycle and repetition of life that can never be fixed. In fact, Hesse writes “Had his father not felt the same pain over him that he now felt over his son? Had his father not long since died, alone, without ever having seen his son again? Should he not expect the same fate himself? Was it not comical, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this movement in same fateful circles?” (Hesse 102) Despite Siddhartha’s attempts to prevent his son’s running away, this was something already set in stone from generations before by fate. The river will always keep flowing even if there is resistance. The only way one can achieve complete peace is by embracing the inevitable flow of fate.
“Siddhartha learned a great deal from the shramanas, learned many pathways beyond the self. He followed the path of self-extinction by means of pain, by means of suffering intentionally and overcoming the pain, the hunger, the thirst, the fatigue. He followed the path of self-extinction by means of meditation, allowing the senses to empty themselves of all representations. These and other pathways he learned and followed. A thousand times he left his ego behind; for hours and days at a time he dwelled in nonego. But even if the methods he followed led beyond ego, in the end they led back to ego. Though Siddhartha slipped out of ego’s grasp a thousand times, dwelled in nothingness, dwelled in beasts, in stones, the return was inevitable, the moment when he would find himself back again was inescapable. Whether sunshine or moonlight, in shadow or in rain, once again Siddhartha and ego appeared, and once again he felt the torment of the cycle of existence forced upon him” (Hesse 13).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage from chapter two of Siddhartha, titled “With The Shramanas”, Hermann Hesse’s use of personification and the idea of the paradox of existence creates a tone of empathetic dissatisfaction with the outcome of Siddhartha’s life thus far. The author uses personification in the quote, “...allowing the senses to empty themselves” where it is made apparent that Siddhartha has little control over the effect of the shramanas’ incessant meditation on him. Later in the chapter he compares the practices of the shramanas with drunkenness in the sense that both result in the same unknowing and unlearned state of nonego that is still uncontrollable by him. Personification is also present when, “Siddhartha slipped out of ego’s grasp a thousand times”. Here, ego is personified as having an unwavering hold on Siddhartha, and although he has managed to wiggle his way to freedom before, he still has not achieved a full escape. This use of personification adds to the reader’s empathy because everyone has been in a situation where something has had a “grasp” on them, whether it be ego, lust, stress, or the like.
The concept of a paradoxical existence is proposed in this passage with the quote, “...the return was inevitable, the moment when he would find himself back again was inescapable”. Siddhartha has realized by this point that how ever hard he tries to escape the ego that every human carries within, he will forever end up directly in the center of it. His frustration with this notion can be seen as, “...he felt the torment of the cycle of existence forced upon him”. Siddhartha is clearly dissatisfied with the results, or lack thereof, of the immense effort and dedication that he has already put into his path to nirvana. Words such as “torment” and “forced” give the reader the impression that this conviction of a paradox of existence is physically hurting Siddhartha’s ability to reach his goal of achieving nirvana. This connects to the tone of empathetic dissatisfaction because humans naturally feel anxious or uncomfortable when something is proposed to be inescapable. The reader in one way or another has felt this same pressure that seems to be working against them as they strive for their goals.
“In the shadow of the house, in the sun on the riverbank by the boats, in the shadow of the sal-tree forest, in the shadow of the fig tree, Siddhartha, the beautiful brahmin’s son, the young falcon, grew up with his friend, the brahmin’s son Govinda. The sun on the riverbank browned his pale shoulders as he bathed, as he performed sacred ablutions, as he performed sacred sacrifices. Shadows flowed in his dark eyes in the mango grove as he played his boy’s games, as his mother sang, during the sacred sacrifices, while his father, the scholar, taught, and during the discourses of the wise men”(Hesse 3).
ReplyDeleteHermann Hesse uses imagery to characterize Siddhartha. This passage is the first in the book so at this point, the reader is just being introduced to Siddhartha. The reader will learn that he is a beautiful young boy. His family is also introduced. His father is a brahmin and a teacher. The way his father is described in a positive way also leads the reader to believe that he is a highly respected person in Siddhartha’s life and that his family is most likely respected within the community. This passage introduces Govinda as well. He is described as more of a brother, which is continued throughout the story. Although the literal characterization in the text is valuable, this passage shows more through the setting.
Hesse compares Siddhartha to a falcon. Falcons are known to be able to fly at high speeds and change directions rapidly. Both of these describe Siddhartha in this story because he is able to quickly set his mind to something and drop everything to achieve whatever he is seeking. Often before he reaches his goal, however, he changes his mind and sets his sights on something new. This leaves him feeling discontent. Hesse shows this when he writes that Siddhartha has dark shadows in his eyes. In fact, everything in this passage is shadowed with the exception of the riverbank. This riverbank is foreshadowing the peace that Siddhartha will find in the river much later in his life. The book ends with Siddhartha as a ferryman so knowing that he grew up on a riverbank is imperative to understand the story. The use of natural imagery and lighting in the opening passage characterizes Siddhartha and foreshadows his path.
I agree with your analysis about Hesse’s use of light imagery within this passage. The river, which is illuminated with sunlight, ultimately becomes the setting of Siddhartha’s enlightenment. The remaining parts of Siddhartha’s boyhood home are described as covered in shadow, representing the individual steps of Siddhartha’s journey to find the light. The “shadow of the sal-tree forest” represents Siddhartha’s time with the shramanas in the forest, and the “shadow of the house” represents his life of luxury among the child people. The “shadow of the fig tree” represents Kamala, whose lips are described as “like a fig newly broken open” (Hesse 42). Even the shadows that flow in Siddhartha’s dark eyes illustrate his inability to find happiness while living with his father the Brahmin. Within this first passage of the novel, Hesse reveals the journey Siddhartha will have to take to find his own inner light.
Delete“Taught by the eldest shramana, Siddhartha practiced self-abnegation, practiced meditative absorption according to the new instructions of the shramanas. A heron flew over the bamboo grove, and Siddhartha became one with the heron in his mind, flew over forest and mountain, became a heron, ate fish, hungered with a heron's hunger, spoke a heron's croaking languages, died a heron's death. There was a dead jackal lying on the sandy bank, and Siddhartha's mind slipped into the carcass, became a dead jackal, lay on the shore, swelled up, stank, rotted, was torn to pieces by hyenas, flayed by vultures, became a skeleton, became dust, blew about in the fields. And Siddhartha's mind returned, dead, rotten, reduced to dust, having tasted the dark drunkenness of the cycle of existence. With a new craving it lay in wait like a hunter for the gap where that cycle could be escaped, where the end of causation could begin, eternity without suffering. He slipped out of his ego into a thousand alien forms, became a beast, carrion, became stone, wood, water—yet each time when he awoke he found himself there again. By sunshine or by moonlight, he was once again ego, was pressed back into the cycle, felt craving, overcame the craving, felt craving anew.” (Hesse 12-13)
ReplyDeleteIn this passage Hesse uses metaphors and a motif to emphasize the importance of the unity of life. Siddhartha metaphorically becomes a heron, jackal, and other “alien forms.” As he tries to forget his own identity and memories through meditation, he experiences the lives and deaths of the heron and the jackal by becoming one with them. Although his attempts to dwell in nonego and to attain Nirvana are unsuccessful, this experience is vital to Siddhartha’s journey and knowledge. This is the first experience he has with unity of life and existence, which is the key in attaining Nirvana (as we later see at the end of the book in the river). Through his experience as a heron, he experiences the life of a heron and its interactions with its world including the fish it eats, the hunger it feels, and even the language it croaks. By becoming a dead jackal, he interacts with hyenas that tear its flesh, the vultures that flay its carcass, and the gradual decomposition of its skeleton. One can only achieve Nirvana by understanding how life and death interact with each other. However, Siddhartha must also acknowledge his presence as he is also a part of the unity of life and existence. Siddhartha soon realizes that he is unable to ignore and forget himself because after every meditation, he always returns to him normal state, unchanged. This is when Hesse brings up the motif of cycles and circles. Hesse repeatedly mentions cycles throughout the book because it symbolizes several different things. First, to understand Nirvana, Siddhartha must realize and understand the unity of life and existence and how everything and every life are connected to each other. All life interacts with each other, and even when death occurs, the cycle of life and interactions does not stop. Second, the cycle represents the Siddhartha’s continuous learning and experiences. He repeats mediations only to fail and practice again, over and over in an inevitable and inescapable cycle. Siddhartha tries to look for “the gap where that cycle could be escaped, where the end of causation could begin, eternity without suffering,” (Hesse 13), but in the end , “he was once again ego, was pressed back into the cycle, felt craving, overcame the craving, felt craving anew” (Hesse 13) At this point of the book, Siddhartha is so wrapped up in the belief that Nirvana is solely eternal peace without suffering that he does not realize that there is no gap to escape this cycle. To attain Nirvana, he must accept and embrace every aspect of life and existence: the life, the pain, the suffering, the death, and the repetition of the cycle. Only then, can he find peace with himself and understand the unity of life and existence.
“In the evening, after the hour of contemplation, Siddhartha said to Govinda: ‘Tomorrow morning, my friend, Siddhartha will go to the shramanas. He will become a shramana.’
ReplyDelete“Hearing these words, Govinda paled; he read in his friend’s face a resolve as impossible to divert as a bow-shot arrow. At once, in this first glimpse, Govinda saw it: It is starting now; now Siddhartha is embarking on his path, now his destiny is taking shape – and with his, mine too! And he became pale as a dried-out banana peel” (Hesse 8).
Herman Hesse contrasts Siddhartha’s firm resolve to become a shramana with Govinda’s acquiescence and trepidation to characterize each and foreshadow the different paths they will take in the future. Siddhartha, a prodigy of the brahmin world, understands that he will not be able to find the knowledge he is seeking if he remains in his childhood home. He decides to pursue this knowledge as a shramana. Siddhartha’s use of the third person when telling Govinda of his intentions, combined with the omission of details regarding Siddhartha’s decision-making process, cause the reader to feel as if Siddhartha were acting upon a plan that he knew would take him directly to his goal. Hesse describes Siddhartha as possessing “a resolve as impossible to divert as a bow-shot arrow.” This arrow is a symbol for Siddhartha’s mindset in his youth; he believes that there is a path that will take him directly to Brahman, and that everything else around him is of no consequence. It takes Siddhartha most of his life to realize that knowledge is not to be achieved by ignoring or looking down upon the physical world, but by embracing it and learning from it. Siddhartha’s path does not turn out to be straight, but cyclic.
Govinda is Siddhartha’s foil because he lacks the qualities that make Siddhartha unique: independence, intellect, and certainty. Govinda believes his path is to follow Siddhartha, his friend and idol, to enlightenment. Despite this belief, Govinda still becomes “pale as a dried-out banana peel” at the thought of his destiny taking shape. Govinda’s inability to be confident and make his own decisions foreshadows his failure to achieve the enlightenment for which he and Siddhartha search. The contrast between the methods and subsequent achievements of Siddhartha and Govinda portrays Herman Hesse’s message that one must chose his or her own path in life.
“Siddhartha had one single goal--to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow--to let the Self die. No longer to be Self, to experience the peace of an emptied heart, to experience pure thought--that was his goal. When all the Self was conquered and dead, when all passions and desires were silent, then the last must awaken, the innermost Being that is no longer Self--the great secret!”(Hesse 11)
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this passage, the syntax gives, I the reader, a great tone of depression and a feeling as if Siddhartha is greatly displeased with his life if he wishes to feel so much agonising pain and emptiness for the rest of his life. The real goal for all aspiring Buddha's is to gain complete Nirvana in one’s life, although Siddartha aspires to gain emptiness and to eventually awaken in no longer himself. This makes me wonder as to what would even be the point of Siddhartha living if his goal is to become so empty and “to let the Self die.” At that point in his lifetime, when he does finally complete his goal of becoming empty, there would be no value of his existence on the Earth. One can argue that he must stay on the Earth at that point, even though his spirit has left him, simply for the reason of teaching other young aspiring Buddha’s, or for the purpose of returning to his family to teach his father everything he learned, as his father requested.
Hesse uses the style of always capitalizing “Self” as if the “Self” is a single character in the story on its own. It is a belief in Buddhism that reincarnation is what every human being transpires to once they die, and I believe that Hesse uses a style in which making seem “Self” like a character on its own because he is comparing it to the belief system of Buddhism. It’s the soul that travels and what frames a human being is what’s within. Since there is the belief that the soul can travel, it creates a metaphor as if the “Self” will leave one’s body making them not human anymore because they are empty of their real soul, which is exactly what Siddartha seems to be aspiring to within this passage.
We both have the same understanding that Siddhartha aspires to be emptied of his being. However, I don't agree with your claim that this emptiness is neither agonizing not painful. Based on the background presentations, I understood Nirvana as being a transcendence above the worldly body and into the nothingness that is enlightenment. I think when he says that he wants to "let the Self die", he simply means the ego that chains his soul to the earth, as can be seen in the second paragraph on page 13. Your analysis of the capitalization of the word "self" is very interesting and something that I hadn't thought of before.
Delete
ReplyDelete“Once, samanas had passed through Siddhartha’s town, wandering ascetics, three gaunt, spent men, not old, not young, with dusty and bloody shoulders, well-nigh naked, singed by the sun, circled by solitude, foe and foreign to the world, strangers and haggard jackals in the realm of men. From them a hot scent of silent passion came wafting, a scent of devastating service, of pitiless unselfing. In the evening, after the hour of contemplation, Siddhartha said to Govinda, ‘Tomorrow morning, my friend, Siddhartha will join the samanas. He will become a samana’”(Hesse 8).
In this passage, the young Brahmin Siddhartha first sees the samanas, and decides to join them. The samanas are described as repulsive looking and haggard, but they have a silent devotion to their cause. Personification is used to describe the scent of the samanas when the author says that their scent has passion in it. This is because the samanas most likely have not taken a shower in some time and as a result, do not smell pleasantly. Herman Hesse uses imagery to describe the samanas to show readers that it has been a long way for the samanas coming to that point and how devoted to their cause they are. Also, the author describes them as “strangers and haggard jackals in the realm of men” because there is no one else willing to give up their lives to be nomads and to commit to finding Atman. Others cannot relate to them and they aren’t like any of the other people or villagers. They are willing to give up hygiene, family, food, and health in the search of Nirvana.
After the description of the samanas, it is hard to believe that anyone would want to join them in their quest, but sure enough, Siddhartha chooses to leave his home and continue his journey with them. At the beginning of the book, Hess says that Siddhartha “would become no ordinary Brahmin” and that he will join the radiant ones (Hesse 3). It is obvious from the beginning of the book that Siddhartha’s path will eventually lead to finding Nirvana, and becoming truly at peace with oneself. In Hinduism, people have to find their own path to Atman, without seeking for it, so when Siddhartha chooses the path of the samanas, it seems as this is just another stage in his journey. When Siddhartha leaves home to become an ascetic, he finally makes his own decisions and symbolically begins his voyage out of adolescence.
I really like the way that you wrote about how Siddhartha's choice to become ascetic seemed ironic because of how the imagery used portrayed the other ascetics. I might add that although Hinduism is about finding Atman without searching for it, the reason Siddhartha became an ascetic was because he was in search of Atman. This is the reason, ultimately, that he never obtains nirvana with the samanas.
Delete“His gaze grew icy when it encountered women; his mouth curled in scorn when he walked through a town with people in lovely clothes. He saw dealers dealing, princes hunting, mourners mourning their dead, whores offering themselves, doctors tending patients, priests setting the day of sowing, lovers loving, mothers nursing their babies- and everything was unworthy of his eyes, everything lied, everything stank, everything stank of lies, everything shammed meaning and happiness and beauty, and everything was unacknowledged decay. The world tasted bitter. Life was torture.”(Hesse, 13)
ReplyDeleteThis is passage takes place at the start of Among the Samanas and is talking about how Siddhartha and Govinda have decided to join the Samanas, who believe that that true enlightenment can be found through denial of flesh and worldly desires, by eating only once a day, fasting for 2-4 weeks, wearing only the loincloth and the unstitched earth-colored cloak, and to become empty of all things. This passage shows the struggle that Siddhartha is going to encounter because he uses negative terms to describe the contact he made with people like “his gaze grew icy when it encountered women, and his mouth curled in scorn when he walked through a town with people in lovely clothing” to describe how embarrassed he felt and how many people consider him a beggar and to be at the bottom of the social class. He also uses cruel word choice to describe the struggle of becoming empty of all things by saying that “everything stank, the world tasted, life was torture,” and this gives us a good impression that Siddhartha doesn’t enjoy partaking in the practices of the Samanas, but will have to take a chance. This line also shows us an example of foreshadowing because since he isn’t too fond of the practices of the Samanas we can predict that he will leave the Samanas to find another teacher on who could help him accomplish his goal.
Later on in the chapter we hear from Siddhartha that “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) Here as predicted is where Siddhartha is beginning to talk to Govinda about how he believes that being taught by the Samanas has been a waste of time because earlier in the chapter Siddhartha claims that he “could have learned it in any tavern of a red-light district, my friend, among the draymen and dicers.” (Hesse, 16) Siddhartha here is talking about how the Samanas are similar to what drunkards do. Drunks give people temporary respite from suffering, but it does not give a permanent enjoyment. Similarly the Samanas teachings does not give us permanent enlightenment because as soon as they stop their spiritual practices, the real world starts to come back, and whatever enlightenment that has already been achieved would evaporate. Basically to achieve this true enlightenment you would need to continue the spiritual practices. Based on this logic Siddhartha can’t continue to learn from the Samanas because some people in the Samana have reached over 60 years of age and hasn’t reached Nirvana and he believes that the true answer to finding enlightenment is to take into account the world itself.
“Out of this 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 of frigidity and dejection, Siddhartha arose more of an ego than ever before, more tightly clenched within. His feeling was: That was the last shudder of awakening, the last pang of birth. And immediately he resumed his journey, walking with hast and impatience, no longer back in the direction of home or rather, not back anywhere.” (Hesse 33-34)
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Hesse uses a simile to compare Siddhartha to a star. Siddhartha currently feels lost, cold and lonely. He had just left Govinda and the monks to seek a new life, but he has no place to go. His path now seems dark and cold as the night sky. However, despite Siddhartha’s dreary situation, he has found the key to reaching Nirvana. He figured out that Nirvana can only be reached by personal experience and by questioning rather than another’s teaching. He further realizes that he must not ignore the physical world or himself. Without embracing the material world and without an identity, he cannot truly understand unity and reach Enlightenment. This newfound knowledge has “awakened” him, but Siddhartha is not exactly sure where to go. However, Siddhartha does know that he cannot go back to his father’s house, or anywhere from his past. There is nothing more to learn by going back to the past. He also does not know what will exactly become in the future. The only power Siddhartha has is controlling the present. Rather than dwelling in the past or future, focusing on the present will allow Siddhartha to understand and become aware of unity. As Siddhartha finally carries on with his journey, he is finally paving his own path toward Enlightenment. When Hesse writes “… he resumed his journey, walking with hast and impatience, no longer back in the direction of home or rather, not back anywhere” (Hesse 33-34), Siddhartha is clearly breaking away from his past when he had no identity, He is now a “newborn” ready to experience life in a new point of view. Darkness and uncertainty surrounds him, but he now radiates hope and light as would a star in the dark, cold night sky.
I agree with your idea that this is the moment in which Siddhartha realizes that Nirvana depends on personal experience instead of following another’s teaching. However, I don’t think Siddhartha fully understands at this point all that he will need to in order to reach Nirvana. At the end of the novel, Siddhartha realizes that “time is not real” (Hesse 110). In this passage, Siddhartha is still guided by the illusion of time because he walks with “haste and impatience,” trying to leave his past behind and not realizing that life is circular in nature. He also becomes “more of an ego than ever before,” a transformation he will later reverse when his ego becomes “dissolved into the unity” (Hesse 105). This passage represents a vital step in Siddhartha’s journey, but not one that will lead him directly to Enlightenment.
Delete“Siddhartha, 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?”(Hesse, 29)
ReplyDeleteThis passage takes place around the beginning of Gautama when Govinda decides to take refugee with the Sublime One, and Govinda who sees Siddhartha who is uncertain asks him if he would join the teachings as well. This is a point in the novel where it tends to get extremely emotional because this is where Siddhartha and Govinda will split apart, and the author uses words like murmured and gazed to show the feeling he had when he had to break down the news and how he felt uneasy about telling him that they had to go their separate ways. He also uses a simile to contribute to the confused state of mind that Siddhartha is in right now using the word “awoke as if a dream” to give us a feeling that they don’t want to leave each other and that he believes that the choice Govinda made was a joke and that it didn’t really happen. Although Siddhartha is distraught by Govinda’s choice he believes that it is actually the correct choice because he understands that he must seek enlightenment alone. He also believes that teachers, even the Subline One, couldn’t help the students reach enlightenment because there is no such thing as a formula to reach enlightenment and that the only way to fulfill this is to search for his own soul alone. Siddhartha spoke gently to him: “Do not forget, Govinda, that you now belong to the samanas of the Buddha! You have renounced home and parents, renounced background and property, renounced your own will, renounced friendship. That is the will of the Teaching, that is the will of the Sublime One. You will have willed it yourself. Tomorrow, O Govinda, I will leave you.”(Hesse, 30) This relates to Siddhartha’s reasoning to leaving Govinda because since the Buddha has already achieved enlightenment the distraction caused by the students wouldn’t affect him, whereas Siddhartha feels that if Govinda tagged along with him then it he would be distracted by his presence thus causing him not to attain full enlightenment. Although he made a tough decision, Siddhartha can now continue on his journey by using the necessary tactic to achieve enlightenment.
“I will no longer let Siddhartha slip away! I will no longer start my thinking and my living with Atman and the suffering of the world. I will no longer murder and dismember myself in order to find a secret beyond the rubble. Yoga-Veda will no longer teach me, nor will Atharva- Veda, nor the ascetics, nor any kind of teaching. I will learn from me, from myself, I will be my own pupil: I will get to know myself, the secret that is Siddhartha”(Hesse 36).
ReplyDeleteAt this point in Siddhartha’s journey, he finally realizes that in trying to find Atman, he has lost himself and is not on the right path to reach his goal. Until now, he has been a wandering ascetic, and does not know where to go next. As a samana, he was destroying himself and was willing to do anything to find some secret to find Enlightenment. By using exaggeration when saying that Siddhartha was “murdering and dismembering himself”, the readers are shown how much pain he was willing to take in order to reach his goal. He was looking at the negativity and cruelty of the world, which made him more unhappy. Because he could not see any of the beauty that life has to offer, he did not appreciate its worth. Because of stripping himself away, Siddhartha does not know himself. He focused on ripping away anything that made him Siddhartha, but he now knows that the first step towards inner peace is to accept oneself and accept that his ego is there. There is no secret to finding inner peace, and that he cannot keep searching for something that is not there. Siddhartha recognizes that he has to find his own path and has to learn to accept himself first. Also, he cannot be taught by other people anymore. The only thing that can lead him towards the right path is himself. The author wants readers to see this as a turning point in his quest and where Siddhartha finally discovers the key to being truly happy. From here, Siddhartha is able to acknowledge his own soul and begin to uncover Nirvana through his own experiences.
“Now he felt it. Up till now, even in his deepest meditative absorption, he had been his father’s son, a brahmin of high standing, a spiritual person. Now he was only Siddhartha, the awakened one, and nothing else. He drew in a deep breath, and for a moment he was cold and shivered…. Out of this 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 of frigidity and dejection, Siddhartha arose more of an ego than ever before, more tightly clenched within. His feeling was: That was the last shudder of awakening, the last pang of birth. And immediately he resumed his journey, walking with haste and impatience, no longer back in the direction of home or father, not back anywhere” (Hesse 33-34).
ReplyDeleteIn this moment when Siddhartha believes he has attained awakening, Herman Hesse uses purposeful diction and precise details to illustrate that Siddhartha has not yet reached his goal. Siddhartha feels as if he has just been born again as an independent person, “more of an ego than ever before.” Siddhartha sees this in a positive light: “His feeling was: That was the last shudder of awakening, the last pang of birth.” However, Hesse uses this sentence deliberately to distinguish Siddhartha’s thoughts from the truth. Hesse does not convey Siddhartha’s “awakening” as an uplifting event, but rather uses diction such as “cold,” “frigidity and dejection,” “shudder,” and “pang of birth” to create a mood that conflicts with the reader’s preconceived notions of enlightenment.
Hesse repeatedly contrasts the emergence of Siddhartha’s independent ego with his final enlightenment, which occurs with Vasudeva at the river many years later. In the passage, Siddhartha believes he is “only Siddhartha, the awakened one, and nothing else,” showing his ignorance of the interconnectivity of all life. When Govinda encounters Siddhartha at the end of the novel, he sees him as “a flowing river of faces, hundreds, thousands, which all came and went… and yet were all Siddhartha” (Hesse 115). At the moment of Siddhartha’s true enlightenment, he is no longer “tightly clenched within” his ego but instead feels his ego “dissolved into the unity” (Hesse 105). This passage portrays an important motif in Siddhartha: the circular nature of life. At the beginning of his journey, Siddhartha tries but is unable to rid himself of his ego. He later embraces his ego only to discover in the end that he is one with everything around him. Though the reader may conclude that this passage represents an unnecessary detour in Siddhartha’s life, Hesse suggests that every step of a person’s journey is vital to reaching his or her destination. Before he could comprehend the unity of life, Siddhartha first had to reach a deeper knowledge of himself.
“How deaf and dumb I have been! thought the traveler moving quickly along his way. When one is reading a text whose meaning he is seeking, he does not scorn the signs and letters as deceptions, accidents and worthless husks; rather he reads them, he studies them, he loves them, letter by letter. But I was trying to read the book of the world and the book of my own being, and because of my preconceptions I scorned the signs and letters, I called them the deception of the world of appearances, I called my eyes and my tongue arbitrary and worthless phenomena. No, it is over now! I have awakened, I have really awakened, and have only today been born! (Hesse 32)”
ReplyDeleteHesse uses point of view and punctuation in this passage to convey a tone shift. Hesse starts this paragraph with the internal thoughts of Siddhartha and then quickly reverts back to third person narration. He returns back to first person point of view in the last few sentences. The reason he does this is because the first part of this passage is an epiphany that is sudden and is intended to shock the reader. The middle of the passage reverts back to the general tone of the book which is inquisitive and looks deep into the meaning of life. This also fits with the rest of the book because it is mostly in third person. The last few sentences are written in first person because Siddhartha realizes at this point in the novel that he has overlooked his own being and begins to think about himself. This is a huge turn for him and it was necessary for Hesse to write this in first person to convey this message through the shift in tone.
Punctuation represents a very important part of this passage. It makes clear that the
beginning and end are meant to be interpreted by the reader as excited whereas the middle uses many commas because it is more informational. Hesse also made the decision not to capitalize the word “thought” in order to draw the reader’s attention to the sudden change in point of view. It also shows how the excitement of the first sentence is lost in the middle of the passage. Hesse’s use of point of view and punctuation ease the reader into the change in tone twice throughout this passage.
“The Buddha has robbed me, thought Siddhartha. He has robbed me, yet he has given me something of greater value. He has robbed me of my friend, who believed in me and who now believes in him; he was my shadow and is no Gotama’s shadow. But he has given me Siddhartha, myself.” (Hesse 29)
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, the last paragraph in the chapter “Gotama,” the mission to find the Self has been a recurring theme throughout the novel. Siddhartha is just beginning to process and realize that Gotama has influenced Govinda, Siddhartha’s former shadow, to follow, learn, and preach the ways of the Enlightened One. Govinda is drawn away from following Siddhartha and is greatly intrigued, satisfied and curious of Gotama and he begins to make choices on his own. Siddhartha’s new phase of his journey began the moment Govinda left him for Buddha. He then realizes that he has “given [him] something of greater value… he has given to me Siddhartha, myself.” Hesse uses metaphors to explain the importance of this event in the book to show Govinda leaving Siddhartha has finally taught him to search for his own well-being in the world rather seeking the “unknown innermost, the nucleus of all things, Atman, Life, the Divine, the Absolute.” (Hesse 31) All this time Siddhartha questioned his own well being, he sought to find if there was more in the world to explore rather than reading the books of the Brahmin and continuing to find the innermost Atman. Siddhartha has awakened and realized what the Buddha has taught him: to find Self in the universe. Siddhartha now has far more value in his life and a new journey he must follow, conquer, and learn more before he can go back to his former life.
“Siddhartha awoke as from sleep when he heard Govinda’s words. He looked for a long time into Govinda’s face. Then he spoke softly, in a voice without mockery: “Govinda, my friend, now you have taken the step, you have chosen your path. Always, Govinda, you have been my friend, and always you have been a step behind me. Often I thought: ‘Is Govinda ever going to take a step on his own, without me, acting from his own heart?’ And there it is: Now you have become a man and have chosen your own path. May you follow it to its end, my friend. May you attain liberation!”
ReplyDeleteGovinda, who did not yet fully understand, repeated his question in impatient tones: “Come on, now, my friend, out with it! Tell me that it could not be otherwise, but that you, my learned friend, will also take refuge in the exalted Buddha!”
Siddhartha laid his hand on Govinda’s shoulder. “You did not listen to my words of aspiration for you and my blessing, I will repeat it. May you follow this path to the end. May you attain liberation!”
In this moment, Govinda realized his friend had left him and he began to cry.”
In this passage from chapter three of Siddhartha, titled “Gotama”, Hermann Hesse indirectly characterizes Govinda and Siddhartha through their dialogue and actions. This particular exchange of words between the two friends occurred after they had heard and experienced the teaching of Gotama the Buddha. Siddhartha’s statement, “...you have taken the step, you have chosen your path” and his subsequent question characterize Govinda as being a follower. Follower in this instance meaning someone who cannot or does not think for themselves, simply following what others say and do. This can also be seen earlier in the novel in chapter two when the narrator refers to Govinda as “[Siddhartha’s] shadow, following the same paths, undertaking the same efforts”, followed by a dialogue where Govinda states that Siddhartha will do great things in life, but never mentioning what he himself will achieve. Although Govinda is inactive for most of the novel after this point, his characterization here shows how dedicated he is to the bond the two of them have created, allowing the reader to relate this passage to meaningful relationships they have been involved in. Siddhartha’s simple and light way of handling the heaviness of the situation by saying, “May you follow this path to the end! May you find liberation!”, displays his natural leadership. As a leader, he knows to restrain emotion for the sake of his good friend, yet later he comes to realize how much he is going to miss the company he had in Govinda.
This passage also relates to an overall motif of the path of life. The word “path” is used numerous times within this passage and countless times throughout the novel in order to reiterate the Hindu and Buddhist concept that all of life is a journey to nirvana, liberation, nonego, etc.
My idea is similar to your idea about how you classify Govinda as a "follower" of Siddhartha. I also think that Siddhartha might have told Govinda to follow Gothama, but not him because he believes that he must seek enlightenment on his own. Siddhartha discusses to himself that there is no actual formula for reaching enlightenment which contributes his idea to leave the place. I also think that he splits up with Govinda because just like you said as a “follower” and the Buddha has already achieved enlightenment so the distractions by the students wouldn’t affect him however Siddhartha feels that if Govinda tagged along with him then Govinda would be distracted by his presence which would cause him not to attain full enlightenment.
Delete“When you throw a stone into water, it falls quickly by the fastest route to the bottom of the pond. This 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 a stone through the water, without bestirring himself. He is drawn forward and he lets himself fall. His goal draws him to it, for he lets nothing enter his mind that interferes with the goal. This is what Siddhartha learned from the shramanas. This is what fools call magic, thinking that it is brought about by demons. Nothing is brought about by demons; demons do not exist. Anyone can do magic, anyone can reach his goals if he can think, wait and fast” (Hesse 49).
ReplyDeleteHesse compares Siddhartha to a stone falling in water in order to characterize the way he views himself. Siddhartha is actually the speaker in this passage. He is telling Kamala about how he achieves everything that he does and gives the reader some insight into the way he views himself. This idea alone marks a huge transition for him in the story. He starts out being completely unaware and disinterested in himself. The child people, as Siddhartha calls them, are very self centered so it is fitting that he explains this right before the chapter titled “Among The Child People”. It is also fitting that he is speaking to Kamala, the very embodiment of worldly pleasures.
Although it is important that the reader is aware of how Siddhartha views himself, this description contains many inaccuracies. The example of a stone falling in water is not a very good way to describe Siddhartha. The idea that he establishes a goal and dedicates himself to achieving that goal is accurate, however, when a stone is dropped in water, it is assumed it will reach the bottom. This is something Siddhartha never does. He is never satisfied with his goal just before he obtains it and sets his sights on something new. Another inaccuracy is that he believes there are no such thing as demons. He may not believe in literal demons, however, he discovers his own personal demon after living with the child people. Contentment. This is the very thing that draws him away from all of the goals he nearly obtains and haunts him throughout the whole book. This passage is necessary for the reader because it provides insight into the way Siddhartha views himself, even though this view is far from the reality.
“In truth his heart was not in the business. His business deals had the virtue of producing money for Kamala, and they produced a lot more than he needed for that. Aside from that, Siddhartha’s only interest and curiosity was for the people whose business dealings, handwork, cares, pleasures, and follies had formerly been as alien and remote to him as the moon. As easy as it was for him to talk to everyone, get along with everyone, learn from everyone, to that very extent there was something that separated him from these people, this was clear to him. And this thing that set him apart was his being a shramana. He saw people going through their lives in the manner of a child or an animal, and he both loved and disdained this at the same time. He saw them striving—and suffering and getting gray—over things that seemed to him completely unworthy of this price: over money, over small pleasures, over a little respect. He saw them chiding and insulting one another, he saw them bemoaning pains that the shramanas smiled over and suffering from privations that a shramana did not feel.” (Hesse 55-56)
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Hesse compares the village people to children and animals because they only care and worry about trifle, materialistic things such as money. Although Siddhartha started his new life and journey to understand the material and physical world, he has not forgotten his life as a shramana. In fact, he continuously utilizes his skills as a shramana in his new life to balance his materialistic and spiritual sides. He has a skill in business, but he merely sees it as a “game” and is not a slave to the suffering of greed. He is superior to all of the childlike and animalistic village people because he has the ability to be peaceful and happy over the same losses that cause others to suffer and stress; under any circumstance, he is always smiling and laughing. This contrast between the unhappy people and the peaceful Siddhartha shows that his mindset makes him is the most adult-like person, and the closest person to attain Enlightenment. Hesse specifically uses children and animals to characterize the village people because although they are not exactly savage, they are impatient, rude, and greedy. Siddhartha, on the other hand, is exactly the opposite; he is patient, kind, and equally respectful to everyone. This contrast and comparison is important to note in Siddhartha’s journey because it shows the readers that life is all about balance. Siddhartha yearns to learn about the material world to understand the world and to find his identity, but he still rejects the suffering the other people go through. Even though he knows that there is nothing more to learn from his past, he uses every knowledge and experience he has including reading and writing from his days with his family; fasting, thinking, and waiting from his days as a shramana; his realization that he must experience and find his way to Enlightenment rather than learning it from a teaching; and finally, love, desire, and business in his current life with Kamala and Kamaswami.
“This Brahmin,” he had said to a friend, “is not a real merchant and will never become one, his soul is never passionate about business. But he has the secret of those people to whom success comes on its own, whether because of a lucky star or because of magic, or because of something he learned from the samanas. He always seems to be only playing at business, it never fully becomes part of him, it never dominates him, he never fears failures, he is never bothered by a loss.” (Hesse, 60)
ReplyDeleteThis quote was towards the beginning of Among the Child People and this quote is about Kamaswami talking to his friend about how Siddhartha doesn’t take business seriously and that failures and not making money doesn’t bring his spirits down. He also cuts his profit giving him 1/3 of it so that it would motivate him, but still he continues to shake it off. However Siddhartha has learned from the samanas that many people tend to live in a childish way, suffering over things that little meaning like money, pleasure, and honor which Siddhartha tends to reject this type of suffering which is why he isn’t concerned about the money and failure. He tells Kamasami “that there is no use for scolding and that if he acted like Kamaswami he would have walked out all angry and upset, but since he stayed at the village he had good days, learned things, and experienced joy while not harming anyone with anger like Kamaswami would do. “(Hesse, 61) This quote is basically calling Kamaswami a child because he is getting worked up about the money that he isn’t making and that he should learn from Siddhartha on how to think better on certain situations. This quote by Hesse on page 60 when he talks about how “he seems to be playing at business” is a metaphor because he actually doesn’t care about the business, but for the money that was good enough to buy the nice clothes and gifts for Kamala. He seems to be more into Kamala’s aspect of teaching than Kamaswami’s because he tends to learn much more about the physical act of love as well as the patience and self-respect. Later in the chapter he states that he understands Kamala better than his friend Govinda and Kamaswami, and the reasoning behind this is that she can always retreat from the material world and be herself unlike Kamaswami. He also draws a comparison of Kamala to Gautama as well because her life seems to have purpose and meaning as well.
“And this whole game and the passion with which all people played it occupied his mind as much as the gods and brahma had once occupied it. At times he heard, deep in his breast, a soft and dying voice that admonished softly, lamented softly, barely audible. Then for an hour he was aware that he was leading a strange life, that he was doing all sorts of things that were merely a game, that he was cheerful, granted, and sometimes felt joy, but that real life was flowing past him and not touching him”(Hesse 63).
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter, Siddhartha’s life has taken a sharp turn. From being a samana, to now being a colleague of a wealthy merchant, he has begun to experience many pleasures and luxuries. He becomes less focused on finding inner peace, and concentrates on learning from others, especially Kamala, a mistress who Siddhartha learns the art of love from. The people in the village he lives in, whom he calls “child people”, fascinate Siddhartha and he observes their behaviors. As he stays at the village longer, Siddhartha becomes engulfed in the comfort, but is not finding real happiness by becoming a merchant himself. He sees his job as a game, and becomes so amused by it that he loses sight of his one true goal. Siddhartha’s goal is pushed farther and farther from him as he presses it from his mind and is blinded by gratification. Rarely does Siddhartha, the former samana, hear the voice in his heart telling him what is right. Earlier, the voice guided him away from a woman by the river, who wanted to share pleasure with him. Now, he is deaf to the voice and his conscience. The author waits to reveal information about Siddhartha’s inner voice dying out until the readers know about his new life. In the times that he does hear the voice, Siddhartha realizes that he is not truly happy and is tricked by the seemingly satisfying life he is living, but again, he pushes the voice away. At this point in his life, Siddhartha is not ready to give up simple pleasures to find Nirvana. He can not see that he will never be truly at peace being a spectator to others’ lives.
“ ‘Most people, Kamala, are like fallen leaves that blow and whirl about in the air, then dip and fall to earth. But others, only a few, are like stars, which move on a fixed course where no wind reaches them; they have their law and their course within them. Among all the scholars and shramanas, of whom I know so many, there was one who was perfect in this sense. I can never forget him. That was Gotama, the Exalted One, the expounder of the teaching. Thousands of disciples listen to his teaching every day, follow his precepts hour by hour, but they are all falling leaves. They do not contain the law and the teaching within themselves’ ” (Hesse 57).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Hesse uses an extensive simile that compares the child people to falling leaves. According to Siddhartha, the child people “blow and whirl about in the air” – a metaphor for being influenced by the many unimportant events of everyday life. They do not have a path that they are following nor a destination they would like to reach. The impersonal “wind” of everyday life blows them in circles until they “dip and fall to earth,” where they will remain performing the same habitual actions for the rest of their lives. Even the followers of Gotama fall into this cycle because they are directed by an entity outside of themselves rather than constructing their own paths in life. This idea indicates a criticism of organized religion because Siddhartha believes it is not a viable way to achieve enlightenment.
Siddhartha contrasts the child people with the few people he believes have achieved an independent path in life. Hesse uses kinesthetic imagery in describing such people: “But others, only a few, are like stars, which move on a fixed course where no wind reaches them.” The imagery conveys a sense of calm and purpose, which contrasts with the hectic and haphazard movement of leaves in the wind. Siddhartha emphasizes the idea that to achieve enlightenment, as did Gotama, one must have a fixed course within himself and never stray into the world of mundane distractions. However, Siddhartha’s ideals are misaligned with his actions. When he decides to live a worldly life, he becomes distracted by gambling, drink, and possessions and forgets his search for truth. Hesse uses this situational irony to show that people may believe there is only one way to achieve their goal, but in reality there are many paths to the same destination.
“‘It is a beautiful river,’ he said to his companion.
ReplyDelete‘Yes,’ said the ferryman, ‘it is a very beautiful river.
I love it above everything. I have often listened to it, gazed at it, and I have always learned something from it. One can learn much from a river.’
‘Thank you, good man,’ said SIddhartha, as he landed on the other side. ‘I am afraid I have no gift to give you, nor any payment. I am homeless, a Brahman’s son and a Samana.’
‘I could see that,’ said the ferryman, ‘and I did not expect and payment or gift from you. You will give it to me some other time.’
‘Do you think so?’ ask Siddhartha merrily.
‘Certainly. I have learned that from the river too; everything comes back. You, too, Samana will come back.’” (Hesse 40)
While reading this passage, one will easily realize that it is a conversation between the Ferryman and Siddhartha and one of the first most important topics they converse about is the river. The Ferryman states “I have often listened to it, gazed at it, and I have always learned something from it. One can learn much from a river.” No river has the human capability of teaching another being, with the use of the personification Hesse was able to make it seem as if the river was another human being teaching the Ferryman many ways to life, presenting the river as if it were another character. The Ferryman has lived alongside the river almost his whole life, influencing and teaching him ways of life as he states “One can learn much from a river.”
After Siddhartha reveals to the Ferryman that he has no gift for him in appreciation of the Ferryman’s good doing’s, the Ferryman quickly realizes and accepts that Siddhartha did not have the gift. I believe that the Ferryman has learned exactly the teaches that Siddhartha is searching in his life, enabling him to have the peace and acceptance of Siddhartha’s lake of gifts and payments. The river has taught the Ferryman true Nirvana within his life, something Siddhartha has sought for but is far from. The Ferryman knows himself, he has self-worth, realizes his life path, and knows what he must do in order for him to fulfill his life; all qualities that he has learned from the river that Siddhartha is searching for. The Ferryman is confident that Siddhartha will return with a gift within close time, “everything comes back. You, too, Samana will come back,” bringing up and referring to the theme and the power of the river. The rivers teachings that have gifted the Ferryman with great knowledge will influence and guarantee Siddhartha to return back to the river in time, lacking many qualities in his life he has always been seeking for and wanting to learn from the river, one amazing teacher.
“One night, sleeping in the straw hut of a ferryman by a river, Siddhartha had a dream. Govinda stood before him in a yellow ascetic’s robe. Govinda looked sad, and sadly he asked, “Why have you abandoned me?” Then he embraced Govinda, threw his arms around him, and as he held him to his breast and kissed him, it was no longer Govinda but a woman, and a full breast popped out of the woman’s garment, on which Siddhartha rested his head and drank. The milk from this breast tasted sweet and strong. It tasted of a woman and man, of sun and forest, of breast and flower, of every fruit, of every desire. It made one drunk and unaware” (Hesse 39).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage at the beginning of the chapter titled Kamala, author Hermann Hesse uses a variety of literary devices to foreshadow Siddhartha’s coming experience in the material world. The first element to notice is the dialogue where Govinda asks Siddhartha why he has left him. This suggests that Siddhartha is facing a man versus self conflict in which he is battling regret for the abandonment of his life-long friend and their previous lifestyle. The introduction of the woman, one of the few female characters present in the novel thus far, is a metaphor for the temptation of the material world. Siddhartha has never been exposed to a female in a sexual sense, so through his dreams, he somewhat makes up for what he has missed. His action of resting his head on the breast of the woman and drinking her “sweet and strong” milk (milk being a metaphor for material possessions) suggests that humans find comfort in sex and materialism, comfort in having a lot of things, comfort in meaningless sexual acts, in order to block out human emotion. The use of consonance in the quote, “The milk from this breast tasted sweet and strong”, makes the idea of this milk more appealing to the reader because of the way it sounds.
This scenario can also be interpreted as a metaphor for Siddhartha’s rebirth into this newfound religion, or lack thereof, that he currently finds himself in. As a young child does, Siddhartha sucks on the milk of a motherly figure in order to gain nourishment. The milk is hypothetically giving Siddhartha nourishment and knowledge of the world around him as if he is a child just born into it, as earlier in the chapter he describes the world as, “...beautiful when one just looked at it without looking for anything, just simply, as a child.” His childlike views of the world at this point in the novel suggest to the reader that he has come to a new beginning, a new point of view, a new life. All of these literary devices combine to create a foreshadowing of Siddhartha’s journey ahead of him: the regret of abandonment, the longing to build a connection with someone of the same nature as his and Govinda’s, the temptations and desires of the egotistical world, and the childlike view that he maintains.
“In a golden cage Kamala had a small, rare songbird. He dreamed the bird, who otherwise always sang in the morning, was silent. Noticing this, he went over to the cage and looked inside. The little bird was dead and lay stiff on the bottom of the cage. He took it out, weighed it a moment in his hand, then threw it away onto the street outside. That moment a terrible fright took hold of him and his heart pained him as though with this dead bird he had thrown away everything valuable and good”(Hesse 64).
ReplyDeleteHesse writes about a dream Siddhartha had just before he decides to leave the child people. The purpose of this passage is to let the reader into the mind of Siddhartha at his moment of great sadness and depression. These feelings are the result of the materialistic lifestyle he has led for years now. Despite living in this world with the child people for a while, before this time, he had always felt superior. This is because he had managed to retain his knowledge; how to fast, think and wait. This however, was eventually lost. In the dream, it was so easy for Siddhartha to throw the bird out the window, just as it was for him to become engulfed in the life of a child person. It is not until he has lost every part of his former self that he realizes that he once had everything he needed and he threw it all away. It is possible that the bird represented knowledge however, it could have also been an allusion to a famous Emily Dickinson poem “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”. This poem describes hope as a bird, which may have also been the intention of Hesse. It is not known that Hesse had read this poem, but it was written about fifty years before this book so it is possible that he had known about it. If the bird was intended to represent hope, Siddhartha throwing it out the window represents how the life he is leading has no “light at the end of the tunnel”. This means that he has lost any reason to continue living this way and sees no purpose in this life. This life did appeal to him at a time, which is possibly represented by the bird’s cage. It is golden, and probably expensive, which would appeal to most people. However this life, like a cage, is a trap. Most people are drawn in and are never able to escape it. This is how Siddhartha felt in this life and the reason he ultimately chose to abandon it.
“He reflected for a long time on his transformation, listened to the bird sing with joy. Had this bird within him not died? Had he not felt its death? No, something else in him had died, something that had been longing to die for a long time. Was it not the same thing he had wanted to exterminate in his ardent years as an ascetic? Was it not his ego, his little, fearful, and prideful ego, against which he had fought for so many years, but which had conquered him again, which was there again after every extermination, banishing joy and feeling fear? Was it not this that finally today had died, here in the forest by this lovely river? Was it not because of this death that he was now like a child, so full of confidence, so fearless, and so full of joy?” (Hesse 77)
ReplyDeleteHesse repeatedly uses a bird as a motif to represent Siddhartha. In the previous chapter, Siddhartha dreams of a dead bird, and he fears that he will become that bird if he continues his path as a merchant. When he leaves, Kamala frees the bird, which represents setting Siddhartha free. In this passage, Hesse uses a bird to represent Siddhartha’s life as a merchant and his rebirth. When Siddhartha was with Kamala and Kwamaswami, Siddhartha learned about the material world just as he had wanted to, but he was never satisfied or truly happy. Just like a caged bird, he was trapped in his self-torment and self-hatred without an escape. However, when he left the village and was freed from his life as a merchant, he could finally hear “the bird sing with joy.” With his escape from greed’s grasp, he is able to be happy again. Also, when the bird is freed, Siddhartha feels a part of him die. Initially, he thought that the “bird within him” had died, but he then realizes that it was not the bird that died, but rather another part of him: his greed. Throughout his life, his anger, bitterness, and greediness grew and grew until it took ahold of him in the recent years when he spent his time gambling, drinking, and immersing himself in material pleasure. This part of his life and journey is vital to his way to Enlightenment because the self-torment and self-hatred he felt finally killed the greediness within him, and thus furthering him in his journey in achieving Enlightenment and setting him free to become a new person. Through his rebirth, he is now a child, ready to start anew. Just as a free bird would fly away to the heavens, Siddhartha is now ready to fly his way to Nirvana.
“Now, he thought, that all these transitory things have slipped away from me again, I stand once more beneath the sun, as I once stood as a small child. Nothing is mine, I know nothing, I possess nothing, I have learned nothing. How strange it is! now I am beginning again like a child. He had to smile again. Yes, his destiny was strange! He was going backwards, and now again he stood empty and naked and ignorant in the world. But he did not grieve about it; no, he even felt a great desire to laugh, to laugh at himself, to laugh at this strange foolish world!” (Hesse 77)
ReplyDeleteThis passage forces my mind to refer back to our class discussion just last Friday where the topic of recurring themes and phrases that Hesse brings up and emphasises many times throughout the novel came up. On the second line of the passage, Hesse writes “as I once stood as a small child,” Hesse writes this line many times throughout the novel, with the use of a metaphor, to compare one starting in the world fresh as a child, to Siddhartha starting his new journeys in life as if he is a new person starting fresh in the world. This metaphor is a great way to compare the two and represent Siddhartha’s life journey because he has gone through many phases in the novel; first starting as wanting and becoming a Samana, then being a man of nice clothing, shoes and fragrance hair, and now to becoming a simple man living a life next to the river. Another recurring theme is light and dark; on the first and second line, Hesse writes “I stand one more beneath the sun.” Many times in the novel Hesse has also brought up the theme of light and dark. Personally I think what Hesse means by the theme of light and dark, is that it represents the content and satisfying times in Siddhartha’s life, as the light, and the dark representing the often times when Siddhartha is sad, discontent and depressed with his life at that moment in time.
On the fourth and fifth line, Hesse uses an amazing metaphor that catches my eye that compares how one is born, naked, ignorant and empty to the world, which is exactly how SIddhartha felt at this moment while beginning his third new journey. Every new journey Siddhartha partakes in, he starts completely empty, a new person, completely forgotten about the past journey as that life has passed, just like a child being born into the world; completely empty, naked and new to their new journey and world.
"In a golden cage Kamala had a small, rare songbird. He dreamed about the bird. He dreamed the bird, who otherwise always sang in the morning, was silent. Noticing this, he went over to the cage and looked inside. The little bird was dead and lay stiff on the bottom of the cage. He took it out, weighed it a moment in his hand, then threw it away onto the street outside. That moment a terrible fright took hold of him and his heart pained him as though with this dead bird he had thrown away everything valuable and good."
ReplyDeleteAt this point in the novel, Siddhartha has lived in the material world, immersed in worldly possessions, for many years. He is lying in bed after a night of excessive drinking when he begins to dream. Symbolism is used in this passage to describe Siddhartha's life. The rare bird is symbolic of Siddhartha himself. It is made apparent throughout the novel that he has a very special mind, so the rarity of the bird stands for the rarity of Siddhartha's spirit. The golden cage is a symbol of the material world. He has trapped his unique personality and spiritual path in a sparkling and beautiful shell, but within, it is nothing more than a dirty bird cage. The dirt in this sense being all of the sin he has committed in the worldly life he currently resides in. Because this cage of sin looks so enticing on the outside, it lured him into its inescapable bars and lock. Now the bird (Siddhartha) is dead in his sins without ever being able to free himself from the chains of worldliness. The moment after Siddhartha throws the bird out the window he feels extreme pain and despair. This is because he realizes that he has lost all respect for the beauty of nature that originally brought him into his current life, where he is so immersed in the sensory experience.
My idea was similar to yours in which you believed that the rare songbird was a symbolism of Siddhartha. I also thought that actually the reasoning behind this comparison is that Siddhartha feels like working under Kamaswami’s standards, wearing nice clothes, eating delicious foods, entertaining dancers, and especially gambling was a diversion of his goal of reaching enlightenment. I also thought that Kamala herself was a distraction as well because although she thought him love, his lifestyle has changed and he hasn't focused on his goal. I also thought that another way the comparison between the songbird and Siddhartha is when Kamala releases the songbird and lets it fly because this scene shows that Siddhartha had woken up from his dream and avoided spiritual death as shown by the bird and that he also regretted making his decision to join this lifestyle to sidetrack him from reaching enlightenment.
Delete“That he had felt that despair, that profoundest revulsion, and had not been broken by it, that the bird, that wellspring, that happy voice, was still alive in him – that is where his joy came from. That is why he was laughing; that is why his face was radiant beneath his gray hair.
ReplyDelete“It is good, he thought, to experience directly for oneself what one has to understand. I already understood as a child that the pleasures of the world and wealth are not good things. I understood that long ago, but I have only just now experienced it. And now I know it, not only from memory but with my eyes, my heart, my stomach. Good for me for knowing it!” (Hesse 76-77).
Siddhartha’s realization that personal experience is necessary for understanding is part of Hesse’s broader theme of the individual journey. Throughout his life, Siddhartha frequently commits the folly of trying to act upon knowledge rather than experience. As a young man, he learns from the Brahmins the pitfalls of wealth and material possessions, yet this does not prevent him from falling into the trap himself. As a shramana, Siddhartha looks down upon the way common people love each other blindly – until he feels the same throes of longing for his runaway son. Siddhartha even knows what true enlightenment looks like after he sees the Buddha, who “moved quietly, calmly, with a hidden smile, not unlike a healthy child” (Hesse 23). However, Siddhartha is unable to achieve this childlike inner light by simply knowing that it exists. He must first suffer through samsara, “that profoundest revulsion,” and be reborn as a child. The new Siddhartha is much different from the child Siddhartha because rather than possessing knowledge imparted to him from others, he has learned the same lessons for himself. Siddhartha experiences great joy upon realizing that he truly knows things instead of relying on the illusory half-knowledge he had before. Hesse emphasizes the happiness personal knowledge can bring through the use of Siddhartha’s self-congratulations: “Good for me for knowing it!” Hesse’s emphasis on the individual journey shows his belief that people cannot learn from teachers or doctrines, but only from themselves.
“He pondered and pondered his transformation, listened to the bird as it sang for joy. Had this bird not denied him, had he not felt its death? No, something else had died in him, something that had long yearned for death. Was this not what he had wanted to kill in his years of ardent penitence? Was it not his ego, his small, proud, anxious ego with which he had fought for so many years, which had always defeated him, always returned after every killing, outlawing joy, feeling fear? Was it not this which had finally found its death today, here in the forest, on this lovely river? Was it not because of this death that he was now like a child, so full of trust, so without fear, so full of joy”(Hesse 87).
ReplyDeleteSiddhartha begins the next chapter of his life after he leaves his life with the child people to begin again as a child, reborn. While he was living in the village, he was playing a game, making himself miserable, and getting farther from his goal of reaching Nirvana. The night he leaves, he is struck by how disgusted he is with himself, and almost commits suicide, but he says “om” and his soul is reawakened. He finally hears the voice in his heart again after so many years of suppressing it, and with it his ego is killed, drown in the river with his former self. To finally defeat the one thing he had struggled with constantly, he had to almost destroy himself completely. He had to realize how vain he was and feel self hatred to see that he was just like the child people. For all of his life, he had been thinking that he was shrinking his ego, but he had fed it, so he could never truly be rid of it. Because of the death of his ego, Siddhartha can allow himself to begin again like a child. Now he is humble, and the bird in his chest is free and not in a cage anymore. The bird represents Siddhartha being trapped in his old life, and now that the bird is free, so is Siddhartha. Hesse wants readers to see that mistakes are good in life, because they help one see how they can change, and makes them humble. By sinning and making errors, Siddhartha is on the path to enlightenment once again and is nearing the end to his journey of finding Nirvana.
“Kamala kept a small, rare songbird in a gold cage. He dreamed about this bird. He dreamed that this bird, which normally sang in the morning, had grown mute, and noticing this, he went over to the cage and peered inside. The little bird was dead, lying stiff on the bottom. He took it out, weighed it into his hand for a moment and then threw it away, out into the street- and at the same moment, he was terribly frightened, and his heart ached as if, with this dead bird, he had thrown away all value and all goodness. Jumping from this dream, he felt a profound sadness. He had, it seemed to him, been leading a worthless life, worthless and senseless; no living thing, no precious thing, nothing worth keeping had remained in his hands. He stood alone and empty like a castaway on a shore.” (Hesse, 73)
ReplyDeleteThis quote is towards the end of the chapter titled “Samsara” and this is when Siddhartha falls asleep and he begins to dream about a rare songbird in a gold cage that is owned by Kamala. Hesse uses a metaphor to compare both the death of the songbird to Siddhartha because once the songbird dies it fills Siddhartha with a feeling of complete spiritual emptiness and the reasoning behind this is that Siddhartha feels like working under Kamaswami’s standards, wearing nice clothes, eating delicious foods, entertaining dancers, and especially gambling was a diversion of his goal of reaching enlightenment. He also believes that his relationship with Kamala brings him little peace and that even though she has taught him a lot about love and given him pleasure as well he believes that even that stands in the way of truly reaching enlightenment. Later on once Siddhartha finds out that he is playing the game of Samsara, the cycle of a person going through life, suffrage, and death, he leaves the city, and another quote that compares the songbird and Siddhartha would be “Kamala sent no one to look for him. When she had heard the first news of Siddhartha’s disappearance, she stepped over to the window , where she kept a rare songbird in a gold cage. She opened the door of the cage, took out the bird and let it fly.” (Hesse, 76) This also contributes to the metaphor of the songbird to Siddhartha because in the dream when he sees the dead songbird he feels emptiness and regrets his actions that didn’t contribute to his goal of enlightenment, but when Kamala releases the songbird and lets it fly, it shows that Siddhartha had awoken from his sleep in the real world and that he had avoided the spiritual death which had occurred in his dream.
“‘When someone is seeking,’ said Siddhartha, “it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal, You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.’”(Hesse 113)
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, found in the last chapter of the novel, Siddhartha is giving Govinda his words and wisdom as he leaves the hut and river to continue on with his own journey. This piece is so important, in my view, because here Siddhartha is teaching Govinda about something he has been searching for all his life, pure content and Nirvana within his life. His whole life, Siddhartha, had done exactly what he is explaining to Govinda, he was looking for a certain outcome with each journey he encountered, rather taking each as they are and seeing what he could learn. In the beginning of the novel he wanted to be a Samana, and tried to do whatever it took to become such a high Buddha, but the whole time he was really trying to convince himself rather actually believing in and understanding what they did to become a Samana. That making him not learn and only resent the idea rather believe in it. Then, as he became a rich merchant, he only did it to win over Kamala and prove to her what a man he could become. Sadly, it took many years for him to realize that what he was doing was not making him happy, only more miserable. Finally he stopped looking, stopped trying, stopped believing and returned to the river and the Ferryman, Vasudeva. Once that urge to constantly learn, expand, and force himself into something he is not, he began to finally realize the important aspects of life that were right under his nose but never realized since he was trying to hard to find something else within his life; contentedness, Nirvana, etc. Now after he stopped looking, he reached his full potential, he was content with his life and most important of all, he reached pure Nirvana. All this time he was searching and working so hard to achieve, but he was trying too hard that he missed the point. He missed the real parts of life that one should cherish and learn from. Siddhartha understands now and well enough to teach his old friend, Govinda, how to really achieve inner peace, Nirvana.
“His thoughts were that simple, without understanding: he had grown that similar to the child people. He now saw people in a different light, less cleverly, less proudly, but also more warmly, more curiously, more sympathetically. When he ferried normal travelers, child people, businessmen, warriors, women, they no longer seemed foreign to him. He understood them, he understood and shared their lives, which were led not by thoughts and insights, but solely by drives and wishes. And he felt like them. Although he was close to perfection, and enduring his final wound, he saw these child people as his brothers”(Hesse 113).
ReplyDeleteAt this point in Siddhartha’s journey, he has almost found Nirvana and has changed his views on the outside world. He finds out that he has a son, but his son leaves him because he cannot bear to live a life away from the outside world and its pleasures. While his son was with him, Siddhartha loved him blindly and would not let him go, but he did not realized that his son can never love him how he wants him to and can never see him as a father. After his son runs away, Siddhartha has a “wound” because he is heartbroken about the life he could have had with his son. He had never loved anyone like he had loved his son, and the loss allows him to feel empathy towards the child people. Before, he always looked down on them and thought their feelings were foolish, because he had never understood love. Now, Siddhartha can relate to their emotions and can see himself in their lives. Since he lost his ego, he sees them as equals to himself, but now can relate to all of humanity and is not separate from others. Although he is envious of their relationships that he cannot have with his son, he respects the love and passion they can have for one another. Hesse shows that love is Siddhartha’s connection to humanity and the world, and wants readers to see this as the final piece to Siddhartha’s puzzle of enlightenment. To fully understand life and find Nirvana Siddhartha has to accept love and its pain, and gain wisdom by finally taking part in it.
“When someone seeks,’ said Siddhartha, ‘it can easily happen that his eyes only see the thing he is seeking and that he is incapable of taking anything in, because he is always only thinking about what he is seeking, because he has an object, a goal, because he is possessed by this goal. Seeking means having a goal, but finding means being free, open, having no goal. Perhaps you, venerable one, are indeed a seeker, for in striving after your goal, there is much you fail to see that is right before your eyes”(Hesse 108).
ReplyDeleteHesse uses passive voice and repetition of sound to convey an intimate mood. Hesse’s use of “is” in this passage is very unlike the rest of the book. This passage is much more like a casual conversation, compared to the rest of the book that sounds rhythmic and lyrical. This makes the reader feel more at ease with the book. Hesse chose this point to use passive voice because Siddhartha is speaking with Govinda. Throughout Siddhartha’s life, he has seen everyone as having less value and intelligence. It is only after a long period of separation from Govinda that he realizes his respect for him. Because of this, he speaks to Govinda as his equal. Siddhartha also rationalizes his lack of effort in speaking eloquently when he tells Govinda later in the conversation that words are of no value. Siddhartha has transformed from his younger self, who used to speak gracefully.
Hesse’s repeated use of the word “seek” is a repetition of hard sounds. Hesse uses “seek” to juxtapose the soft sounds in the rest of the passage. Words such as “possessed”, “free” and “perhaps” are not only soft sounds, but also colloquial language which contributes to the passive voice. This helps to make the reader feel close to Siddhartha because Siddhartha is teaching a lesson to the readers. “Seeking” is the thing that he is warning against and that sticks with the reader because he uses it so often throughout the passage. He lets the reader into his mind with this lesson and explains his values and the reason behind the way he lives and his defiance of teaching. This is also slightly ironic because he is trying to teach Govinda that teaching is bad. This adds a comical element that adds to the relaxed, intimate tone of the passage.
I think your claim that this passage is similar to a casual conversation is very insightful and I hadn't thought about it that way before. I agree with your analysis of the change in Siddhartha's speaking because as his lifestyle changed throughout the book, the ways in which he went about things changed as well, one of those things being his speech. I also think that this relaxed way of talking gives the reader a better understanding of his relationship with Govinda. I like the way you connected Siddhartha's style of speaking with his idea regarding the significance of speech.
Delete“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 the 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, became a river, strove onward again, flowed anew. But the passionate voice had changed. It still 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 104-5).
ReplyDeleteThis passage describes a moment when Siddhartha is listening to and learning from the river. Siddhartha sees images of everyone who has been important to him “fused with one another” within the river. Hesse uses water imagery to illustrate the flow and unity that Siddhartha discovers is at the essence of all living things. The river is constantly “full of longing, ardent with sorrow” just as Siddhartha had been throughout his search for meaning and just as the child people are for their goals. This idea that striving and suffering are an integral part of life is conveyed through the use of passionate diction such as “unquenchable,” “hurrying on,” “questing,” “ardent,” and “hungering.” Once their goals are achieved, people begin again with new goals, creating an endless cycle of life. In the sentence “the waterfall…flowed anew,” Hesse describes this phenomenon through the use of a metaphor that compares human desires to the water cycle. Water flows purposefully towards its destination, only to evaporate and rain back down into the beginning of the cycle. Hesse’s syntax within this sentence also illustrates the concept of the water cycle; his comma usage and repetition of “became” cause the sentence to flow like the cycle it describes.
Siddhartha no longer sees the repetitive nature of life as something from which to break free, but rather something to embrace. When he first realized the parallel between his son’s disappearance and his own desertion of his father the brahmin, Siddhartha thought, “Was it not comical, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this movement in the same fateful circles?” (Hesse 102). While listening to the river, Siddhartha is able to accept that life contains suffering but also to see the beauty that comes alongside the suffering. Hesse uses pairs of opposites (“joy and suffering, “good and evil,” and “laughing and lamenting”) to show the unity within all human emotions and conditions. He suggests that the key to enlightenment is being able to look upon all aspects of life – the good and the bad – and smile.
I agree with your last point. Another example from the text that would also support your analysis is “Thus Govinda saw the smile of the mask, the smile of unity over the flowing forms, the smile of simultaneity over the myriad of births and deaths … this is the way the Perfect Ones smile” (Hesse 116) I think this because this is when Govinda, who had just kissed Siddhartha’s forehead, sees faces of all emotions: joy, pain, horror, love, etc. He specifically sees faces of a “fish, a carp, with its maw opened in limitless pain, a dying fish with bursting eyes,” a newborn child, a murderer, a criminal kneeling in chains, corpses, and more. Even though all these faces are different and contrasting in emotions, Govinda sees the “mask” smile. Siddhartha’s smile represents his acceptance to everything the way they are. Only by embracing life and fate with a smile will bring peace and Enlightenment.
Delete“Siddhartha made the effort to listen closer. 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 the 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, became a river, strove onward again, flowed anew.” (Hesse 104-105)
ReplyDeleteThis scene takes place in the chapter titled “OM”, soon after Siddhartha’s son departs for the city. Hermann Hesse’s description of the river is an extended metaphor for Siddhartha’s life. The constant repetition of the word “image” in the first three sentences is used to propose the idea that Siddhartha’s life thus far has consisted of mere images lacking feeling and depth. Up to this point in the novel, he had little emotional attachment to anything or anyone that crossed his path, simply letting their images flow by. Now, as he is gazing into the waters of this river, he is blindsided by the emotional baggage that came along with all of these people in his life, which he should have been carrying with him all along. All of these images forming into one and becoming the river is symbolic of the effect all of those people had on Siddhartha. The relationships and experiences he shared with each of those persons factored into the human being that he is at this moment as is seen in the quote, “this river composed of himself and those near him and of all the people he had ever seen” (Hesse 104).
The idea of movement toward objects and goals is a motif in this passage. This can be seen in quotes like, “all moved as the river toward their objects”, and “All the waves and currents hurried onward, suffering, toward object, many goals”. Simply put, Siddhartha realizes at this point that he no longer agrees with his previous philosophy on the purpose of life. Prior to this incidence, he basically believed that life should be nothing more than meditation and thinking, but he sees now that one’s life should have worldly goals with the potential to be obtained, and for newer objectives to be set.
Hesse’s reference to the water cycle relates back to the paradox of human ego at the beginning of the novel. Just as water will never physically escape from the cycle that is its existence, Siddhartha will never escape the cycle of ego that is his. His whole life Siddhartha tried to rid himself of the world and its noxious sins and temptations, but at this point, nearing the ends of his days, he finds himself more like the child people than ever before. More in touch with his emotions, more observant of his environment, more stupidly filled with love than ever before.
“At the moment Siddhartha ceased to struggle with fate, ceased to suffer. On his face bloomed the cheerfulness of wisdom that is no longer opposed by will, that knows perfection, that is in harmony with the river of what is, what the current of life, full of compassion, full of empathetic joy, surrendered to the flow, part of the unity.” (Hesse 105-106)
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Hesse writes about the exact moment Siddhartha attains Nirvana. Throughout the novel, Siddhartha had struggled to find the “right” path to Nirvana. He sought different teachings, experienced many things, and tried to learn his way to Enlightenment, but when Siddhartha “ceased to struggle with fate,” or in other words, surrendered to and accepted fate, Siddhartha finally found peace. Previously, he tried to control his fate, but by surrendering to fate, he was able to experience his way rather than learn his way to Enlightenment. Also, Siddhartha realizes that to attain Enlightenment, he has to listen rather than learn. Before, Siddhartha was always too busy learning and attaining knowledge and could only hear one voice of the river at most at one time. For example, when he was searching for his son, he only heard the river “laughing.” However, with Vasudeva’s guidance, he is now able to listen to the all the different voices of the river, united and harmonious.
One of the last pieces Siddhartha found in order to achieve Enlightenment was compassion and empathy, especially to the child people. Before he meets his son, he always held himself superior to the child people. He is unable to love even though he spent years in the material world. Without understanding and experiencing love, it is hard, if not impossible, to experience other emotions such as envy or adoration. However, after Siddhartha meets his son and goes through the pains of rejection, Siddhartha comes to understand what love is. Through this experience, he is able to relate to the child people and feel emotions such as empathy, envy, and compassion, and thus understand the “the current of life” is “full of compassion” and “full of empathetic joy.” This process is important because this last gap he covered allowed him to understand how not only life was a part of unity, but emotions and feelings such as passion, suffering, sorrow, joy, good, and evil are all harmonious and part of the unity of existence. With this last piece of understanding, Siddhartha “surrenders to the flow” and reaches Nirvana.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete“His face resembled that of another person, whom he had once known and loved and even feared. It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetic, how he had taken leave of him, how he had gone and never returned. Had not his father suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son?” (Hesse, 115)
ReplyDeleteThis quote is taken from the chapter titled “Om” and this takes place when Siddhartha’s son runs away and with Siddhartha not being able to keep up with him lets him go. He feels completely disappointed so he continues to work with Vasudeva as a ferryman, and looks into the river where he sees the reflection of his father. The author uses a lot of foreshadowing in this passage on example would be at the start of the book when Siddhartha left his father to become an samana and his father was extremely hurt by his decision, and that happens to Siddhartha as well since his son ran away so they both feel the same pain. Also another example would be with the determination in Siddhartha’s face to leave his father knew that his son had left him and that he had no control over his decision, which also goes with Siddhartha now as he also had no control over his son running away. Even though Siddhartha wanted to share with his son all he had learned about life, he accepts now that his son will have to come into his own understanding because Siddhartha could not have helped him in his search for meaning any more than Siddhartha’s own father was able to help Siddhartha. With that in mind Siddhartha begin his understanding of life as a river, and by going through the river’s current he begins to understand the ideas of timelessness and peace as well as Nirvana.
My idea is similar to your idea. I think Siddhartha really struggles with fate throughout the novel; he tries to control it, but it is impossible to do so. It is as if Siddhartha is swimming against the current of a river. For example, after Siddhartha’s son left, Siddhartha keeps trying to find him. However, it is futile because no matter what, his son will not come back. The moment he realizes this, he surrenders to fate and acknowledges that what will be will always be. Furthermore, the son’s running away is similar to Siddhartha himself when he ran away. As you said, this was foreshadowing, but I also believe that this represents fate and the cycle and repetition of life that can never be fixed. In fact, Hesse writes “Had his father not felt the same pain over him that he now felt over his son? Had his father not long since died, alone, without ever having seen his son again? Should he not expect the same fate himself? Was it not comical, a strange and stupid thing, this repetition, this movement in same fateful circles?” (Hesse 102) Despite Siddhartha’s attempts to prevent his son’s running away, this was something already set in stone from generations before by fate. The river will always keep flowing even if there is resistance. The only way one can achieve complete peace is by embracing the inevitable flow of fate.
DeleteThis blog is now closed!
ReplyDelete