Examples Of Idealism In Siddhartha

Derek Lendin

Mrs. Westhoff

English 10H

15 November 2022

The Idealism of Siddhartha

Peaceful, calm lions roam carefree among dry grasslands and vast open plains of nothingness. The instant this relaxed-looking but aggressive creature spots an ideal food source, it immediately only has one idea in mind: kill. This once calm, now suddenly ferocious creature does not let anything prevent it from achieving its goal. In Siddhartha, a novel by Herman Hesse, the protagonist acts as a determined lion focused on hunting its prey. During the novel, Siddhartha, the protagonist, holds an ideal view of achieving Nirvana, or Enlightenment, as many other Buddhists did in the period in which the story takes place. Throughout the story, Siddhartha travels to

Along his journey, Siddhartha goes through many unique and uncomfortable experiences, which ultimately allows him to attain an abundance of new wisdom. Through his journey, the novel's central ideas are developed- one being that people can only gain wisdom through experiences, not teachings, and another being the philosophy that all life is interconnected. Furthermore, Hesse's clever approach to developing Siddartha's desire for Enlightenment, resembling a lion stalking its prey, leads to Siddhartha facing both positive and negative consequences. Negatively, as Siddhartha leaves to go on his journey, he upsets his father by leaving him behind. Positively, however, he learns what is needed to know about life to attain his particular goal. These consequences further help illuminate the work's message or meaning that all

During this introduction, Siddhartha starts to elucidate his "ideal view" is. Hesse writes, "Siddhartha had begun to feel the seeds of discontent within him. He had begun to feel that the love of his father, mother, and Govinda, would not always make him happy, give him peace, and satisfy him. He had begun to suspect that his worthy father and his other teachers, had already passed on to him the bulk and best of their wisdom…; his intellect wasn't satisfied, his soul was not at peace, his heart was not still…. They knew a number of things but… they did not know the one important thing, the only important thing. (pg. 3-4)," which allows readers to begin to sense the discontent Siddharthahas about his current life. It is determined that Siddhartha needs something more than love from his family and friends, for he needs "one important thing." In the first stage of his journey, Siddharthabegins life with Samans, a different religious group than Siddhartha was initially born and raised. He joins them to see if he can discover the "important thing." Once profoundly involved with the Samans, Hesse further describes Siddartha's "idealism." He explains, "Siddhartha has 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