An Analysis Of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha

Siddhartha, the protagonist of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, was a young man born from a Brahmin family perceived as a gifted thinker even from a young age. His goal, like many others’, was to reach enlightenment, the release of worldly desires, and he went to many extents to achieve that goal. He left his comfortable lifestyle for the life of a Samana; one of extreme fasting and meditation in the effort to let go of all connections to the self. Later on he became a merchant and finally, a ferryman before reaching enlightenment. Siddhartha’s life as a Brahmin and ferryman helped him on his path to Nirvana, and his life as a merchant hindered him on his path to enlightenment. Siddhartha was born from a Brahmin family and being a Brahmin was

On his path, his awareness of the sensory world increases and he allows the world to influence him. As soon as he enters the city, he meets the beautiful courtesan Kamala, who taught him that the most wanted things in life are never free, so Siddhartha became a merchant. During his first couple of years as a merchant, he upheld his virtues he was taught. He did not become anxious about the business as many other merchants did, “he seemed indifferent about business” (Siddhartha pg 67), and he still did not have any attachment to worldly possessions. His curiosity “lay only with people whose work, troubles, pleasures, and follies were more unknown and remote from him” (Siddhartha pg 69). But as the years went by, he grew wealthier and he slowly became like the other merchants; he “acquired some of the characteristics of the ordinary people, some of their childishness, and some of their anxiety” (Siddhartha pg 77). He became attached to all of the luxuries of life he had gotten used to as a wealthy man. Siddhartha fell into the endless cycle of gambling, drinking, and business and felt empty and numb. This endless cycle represents Samsara, the cycle of endless drifting, and getting caught in Samsara delays enlightenment. This stage of Siddhartha’s life hindered him from his path to

He is by the river when he hears Om and rejects his suicidal impulse. Hearing Om symbolizes the return of his spiritual self; he has moved closer on his path to enlightenment. He lives with another ferryman who teaches him how to listen to the river. Siddhartha learns to hear all the voices in the river as one voice, therefore the river symbolizes unity. When all the voices in the river unite, he hears Om; “the great song of a thousand voices consisted of one word: Om--perfection” (Siddhartha pg 136). Siddhartha has united with Om which is what he needed to reach enlightenment. By learning from the river and listening to it, he unites with Om and reaches enlightenment. Quote describing siddhartha as he becomes enlightened, his smile “was exactly the same as the calm, delicate, impenetrable, perhaps gracious, perhaps mocking, wise, thousand-fold smile of Gotama” (Siddhartha pg 131). Siddhartha’s stage in life as a ferryman helped him on his way to enlightenment, as a ferryman he reached