Lit. Analysis #2 Spring Semester

SIDDHARTHA by Hermann Hesse

Summary: This tale is about the life of young Siddhartha and his journey to find purpose in his existence. The young, Indian Siddhartha sets off on his journey and meets Buddha whose teachings are increasingly popular, but cannot bring himself to follow in someone else's footsteps. He decides to find his own destiny. He meets people all along the way including old friends, new ones, a beautiful woman named Kamala who he falls in love with and even has a son during his journey. Near the end of his journey Siddhartha spends time with the ferryman Vasudeva who teaches Siddhartha the art of truly listening. Siddhartha finally stops fighting against destiny and realizes that all the good and the bad the struggle and happiness make up Om, perfection. Siddhartha accepts that he is a part of the unity that makes up all things and finds peace within himself.

Theme: questioning/discovering one's purpose on this planet.

Tone: reverent, awed

"His wound was healing, his pain was dispersing, his Self had merged into unity."

"Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Samanas. He learned many ways of losing the Self."

Character: Siddhartha was a dynamic character. Each stop during his journey altered him I either mind, body, or soul. At the beginning of the book he is truly just a young, almost naïve boy and he grows through experience into a thoughtful man who at times seemed to carry the weight of the world on his back until he finally found peace.

Style: The authors syntax and diction stayed relatively consistent throughout the story. There was flowery descriptions and a mix of succinct, quick observations with long and drawn out musings.

Take-Away: After reading I felt like I had read a character and not so much a person. The story is so incredibly and there were times when I really either empathized or understood the lessons Siddhartha was learning. However, it's unimaginable to me that a person with that type of journey actually exists out there and I couldn't really relate past the overall question of "why am I here?".