Influences In Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha

Any individual lives their life with many different types of influences, coming from both objects and people. In Hermann Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, a man unknowingly travels down the path of enlightenment. The man known as Siddhartha travels to seek the knowledge he longs for and encounters multiple influences along the way. These influences play an important role in the novel for him. Some of the influences in Siddhartha’s life include Kamala, his son, and the river since they help him to understand what he seeks and are the main reasons for him achieving enlightenment. Kamala was a major influence in Siddhartha’s life. She was what set Siddhartha onto the wrong path that was necessary for him to understand life. On his travels as a Samana, he encounters the beautiful woman known as Kamala and asks for her to become his teacher. In order to become her student in the art of love, Siddhartha must look rich and actually be wealthy in order to afford gifts for her (Hesse 54). This reason is what sent Siddhartha into the material world, where he became a rich gambler who eventually lost everything. Losing his wealth was an important aspect of his life. At first he had become depressed and did not understand why however he began to

Each of these influences show elements of the 4 noble truths in Buddhism, the core concept of the novel. These three influences are connected with each other and show Siddhartha that desire causes suffering but that it is necessary to feel in order to make your way towards enlightenment by getting rid of it. The influences for Siddhartha are what allow him to more clearly understand how to come at peace in oneself and finally acquire enlightenment. Without them, Siddhartha would not have become enlightened and continue to live a life of suffering and misunderstanding until his