The River In Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

Over the course of literary history, motifs have been used to symbolize emotions, signify ideas and qualities of a character, or bring new meanings to a reader’s sense of a novel. Imagery or symbols of nature are usually used because of their universal meanings and understandings. A river exists as a source of life. Even in the most barren deserts, a single river brings life to all living things. Herman Hesse invokes a deeper meaning to the river in his novel, Siddhartha. In the novel, Siddhartha travels the Indian countryside in search of Nirvana. Throughout his long journey he comes across the river several times and each encounter helps him to unfold the depths of the meaning of life, which eventually leads him to enlightenment. The river

He contemplates how the river flows “to the waterfall, to the lake, to the rapids, to the sea,” (Hesse 167). After it accomplishes everything it set out to do, the river becomes mist and rises to the heavens. Once the water reaches the heavens, it plummets from the sky as rain, into a puddle, into a brook, and back to the river again, returning to the start of the circle. Similarly, the river still exists, but returns anew. The river teaches Siddhartha that time has no existence, the river has no past and no future, however, it flows eternally. Similarly, Siddhartha’s soul, even after his physical death, shall continue to flow eternally because he reached nirvana. Throughout the whole novel, the river symbolizes life, but in Siddhartha, Herman Hesse explores a deeper web of meanings of that life. Siddhartha seeks nirvana, but becomes lost in his journey because he struggles to understand self. The river appears during his spiritual journey and grants him true understanding, and ultimately leads to his salvation. Since salvation is Siddhartha’s ultimate goal and it can only be achieved by crossing the river, it was only appropriate for it to be chosen as the symbol