Siddhartha

The symbol of a bird in a cage is a classic (and sometimes overused) analogy for a loss of freedom. It is in the bird's nature to fly, and yet flying is impossible inside the cage. Thus we might...

Siddhartha learns several lessons from the river, including the unimportance of wealth and status, how things are connected, and that time is an illusion. Indeed, Siddhartha grows up by the river...

Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, is a novel which follows Siddhartha's quest for self-discovery. While physical intimacy should certainly happen within a true, loving relationship, love is obviously...

Siddhartha belongs to a socially and intellectually "superior" class of people, the Brahmins. However, he chooses to discard their teachings. He rejects the idea of being a disciple of the Buddha....

In chapter 5, the chapter named, "Kamala," Siddhartha spends a night in a ferryman's hut where he has a dream. In that dream his childhood friend, Govinda, whom he has just parted with for the...

Siddhartha, son of a Brahman, is unable to find peace and harmony and embarks on a journey that he believes will help him learn and achieve his goals. He leaves his father’s home to join the...

One example of imagery in the novel "Siddhartha" by the writer Herman Hesse is "shade poured into his black eyes." Here the reader immediately can see the darkness of the eyes and the other...

Despite Siddhartha's unique life, the situation in which he finds himself is a common father-son conflict in which a boy typically feels closer to his mother, does not appreciate his father's...

As Siddhartha seeks the enlightenment of losing his "self" he encounters the Samanas, and he seeks out and listens to the Buddha Gotama Buddha. He learns from each the concept of discipline of the...

Siddhartha is a Brahman's son and, as such, is expected and trained to fulfill his role in the capacity of a Brahman when he becomes older. A Brahamn is a well respected role within the community...

It is difficult to imagine two works less likely to appear in a compare and contrast experiment. On the surface, Siddhartha concerns a journey of enlightenment and spiritual fulfillment, whereas...

While Siddhartha was among the samanas, he learnt the ascetic way of life, whereby he was able to achieve a higher level of self discipline and abstinence from worldly pleasures. He gave away his...

Siddhartha is speaking to Gotama, the Buddha. In chapter three, titled "Gotama," Siddhartha and Govinda have left the samanas to investigate the rumors of Gotama the Buddha because "he had reached...

The first reference in Siddhartha to the similes likening people to either leaves or stars occurs in the chapter "Amongst the People," as Siddhartha is telling Kamala why he believes he and she are...

Certainly, there is the conflict between Siddhartha and his father when Siddhartha first decides that he wants to leave home and rejects the teachings that have not allowed him to reach nirvana....

Having left the Semanas and his friend Govinda, Siddhartha realizes he must be in the world before he can be removed from it: to look at a beautiful woman without lowering his eyes, to shave his...

At the end of the novel, when Siddhartha has finally achieved the Enlightenment he has been so desperately searching for, Siddhartha invites Govinda to kiss him on the forehead. As Govinda does...

In the first chapter of the novel Siddhartha, author Herman Hesse describes just how much Siddhartha is loved and admired by those around him. Though he is still a young man, for some time he has...

Hesse depicts Siddhartha as unhappy with life because it lacks the real sense of meaning that he so desperately seeks. Siddhartha is shown to be precocious and one who seeks to understand more...

Govinda and Siddhartha both seem impressed with the Buddha when they meet him. He radiates serenity. He seems genuinely holy. Of all the renunciates they have met, he impresses them both the most....

The statement about truth as being one where its force and counter-force are equally present in consciousness helps to bring about the realization of the transitory nature of life. The "opposite...

Part II begins with: Siddhartha learned something new on every step of his path, for the world was transformed, and his heart was enchanted. So, Hesse uses Part II as a period transition for...

Before answering this question, it's important to consider the different definitions associated with the word guru. Guru 1. Hinduism: a preceptor giving personal religious instruction 2. an...

"Peace" is used no fewer than 15 times in Siddhartha. Peace is mainly connected to Gatama (Buddha). Siddhartha says: ...his quietly dangling hand expressed peace, expressed perfection, did not...

As the song goes, "Three is a Magic Number" in religion, literature, and philosophy--and for good reason. Siddhartha can be divided into three parts: In part 1 (chapters 1-4), Siddhartha could have...

In chapter 3, "Gotama," Siddhartha and his friend Govinda meet the Buddha. They have just left the samanas in the woods after Siddhartha rants that they have nothing to teach him. He feels...

It's helpful to understand that a good translation of the "Kama" of "Kamala" is desire, especially in the context of sensual desire. In fact, Kamala is a name of the Hindu goddess of desire. The...

Siddhartha's entire journey through life is a "learning process" in which, as with many other characters in literature, he seeks some level or degree of fulfillment beyond the usual experiences of...

Rebirth is presented as the continual state of the cyclical nature of life in this novel. This is most clearly seen at the end of the text, when both Govinda and Siddhartha reach their goal of...

Before his ego dies by the river, Siddhartha considers his love for his son and his fear of losing the boy. His ferryman friend, Vasudeva, tells him that he must give these feelings up in order to...

In Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, the young Siddhartha insists on leaving family and village life to join a band of ascetic holy men to pray and meditate and do yoga to find enlightenment. His father...

The various people that populate the pages of this classic seem to present different ways of pursuing Nirvana and therefore, the lesson that they teach us as readers is how to pursue enlightenment...

The fundamental idea encapsulated by this quotation is the Buddhist idea that one can never be satisfied, and indeed will always suffer, if one pursues and depends for one's happiness upon...

The novel of Siddhartha is divided into two parts, each part divided into four and then eight parts. The reason for this is to parallel the Eastern beliefs of Hinduuism and Buddhism. Part 1 is...

Siddhartha becomes disillusioned with the ablutions as well as other religious practices because he has learned them and practiced them faithfully -- just as his father and others have -- and he...

This chapter comes in the section of the novel where Siddhartha has rejected religion on his quest for Enlightenment and now makes a deliberate choice to explore the senses and a life of sensuality...

I never thought about this before, but here's something to speculate about. In the novel, neither the Buddhist path nor the traditional path of renunciation as a Samana leads to liberation. One way...

The novel's opening scene depicts Siddhartha's dukkha, one of the most essential components of the Buddhist religion. In Buddhism, "dukkha" takes place when a person has become aware of the...

The fourth chapter of Siddhartha begins just as Siddhartha has left behind the greatest teacher he has ever met, the Buddha, as well as his devoted friend, Govinda, and set out on a path to an...

Siddhartha partakes of the qualities of the traditional Bildungsroman but is overlaid with a setting unconventional by Western standards. Like many characters in literature, Siddhartha is a man in...

In the chapter entitled "Om," Siddharta is shown to spend a long time meditating on the loss of his son as he lives his life as the ferryman on the river. This process of meditation is shown to...

In chapter 11 of Hesse's "Siddhartha," the title character is experiencing great longing for the normalcy of common people's lives as he ferries them across the river. He sees men with their sons...

As Siddhartha meditates on the river at the direction of Vasudeva he listens to the river and what it has to say to him. Having already heard only the laugh of the river, Vasudeva encourages him to...

There are two encounters with the ferryman, Vasudeva, and I'm assuming you mean the first. At the time of the first encounter, Siddhartha has just experienced a type of rebirth. He is filled with...

In the chapter “Samsara” Siddhartha has a dream of a songbird that his lover, Kamala, keeps in a cage. He dreamed that one morning he found the bird dead. Siddhartha took the dead bird and threw it...

The river symbolizes balance. In the first part of the book, Siddhartha lives in a spiritual world. He experiences life with his family in the village practicing Hinduism. He lives with the Samanas...

An epithet is an adjective or phrase that describes someone or something by expressing an important quality of that person/thing. In the first chapter, Siddhartha is referred to as "the handsome...

At the end of the novel, Govinda is still "the seeker." He has not yet found Nirvana, but he realizes that Siddhartha has. The entire novel is about seeking peace within yourself...it...

Brahman is defined (in some texts) as the supreme self. It is the connecting energy throughout all things. The Native Americans would call it “The Great Spirit” that abides in all living things,...

In Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, the title character Siddhartha goes on a quest to find his true self. Though it takes some time for him to realize it, his quest finally leads him to an acceptance of...