Critical Evaluation

One of the major twentieth century writers and an important cultural and intellectual force, Hermann Hesse was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946 for his achievement as a novelist, particularly for his masterpiece, Das Glasperlenspiel: Versuch einer Lebensbeschreibung des Magister Ludi Josef Knecht samt Knechts hinterlassenen Schriften (1943; Magister Ludi, 1949; also The Glass Bead Game, 1969). Hesse stated, “All the prose works of fiction I have written are biographies of souls.” Siddhartha, his most widely read work of fiction, is a biography of the soul in the essential sense of the term. It evokes the magical realm of the spirit in exploring the protagonist’s quest for self-knowledge and the unity of being.

Hesse called Siddhartha “an Indic Poem.” Of all his fictional works, it is undoubtedly the one most impregnated with Indian religion and philosophy. Hesse himself unequivocally acknowledged his long-standing interest in India and his preoccupation with Hinduism, Buddhism, Vedanta, and Yoga. “More than half of my life,” he stated, “I tried to come to an understanding of the Indian view of Life.” India was his family’s spiritual homeland for two generations, and he himself undertook a voyage to India in 1911 “to go back into that source of life where everything had begun and which signified the Oneness of all phenomenon.” Siddhartha was an artistic expression of his understanding of the Indian view of life, modified by his own romantic vision.

Using the historical Buddha’s life as a framework of his fictional narrative, Hesse appropriated Buddha’s given name Siddhartha for his mythical hero and endowed him with many qualities of the Enlightened One. However, he presented them as two separate figures in the novel and used the encounter between them as a catalyst to reinforce his romantic concept of the bildungsroman. Hesse believed that all knowledge must come from personal experience rather than from formal training and doctrinaire teaching. Siddhartha’s rejection of the teachings of Buddha served as a turning point in his quest, fortifying his conviction that, to attain the state of perfect enlightenment, he, too, must extinguish his ego and merge with the unity underlying the universe. That he attains his supreme destiny, Nirvana, through pure disinterested love and self-surrender is confirmed by the novel’s conclusion.

Because Siddhartha deals with themes of initiation and search for the self and focuses on the emotional, intellectual, psychological, and spiritual development of the protagonist, it can be viewed as a bildungsroman, a novel of growth and education. All the major characters, episodes, and symbols in the novel serve as important milestones in Siddhartha’s journey toward self-realization.

The predominant, all-inclusive symbol in the novel is the river. The river represents the continuum of life and time, the eternal process of being and becoming, and the constant flux in nature. It defines, divides, entwines, and merges the transitions in Siddhartha’s journey and ultimately manifests the cosmic vision of totality and timelessness that he attains at the end of his quest. Siddhartha’s vision on the riverbank leads to intuitive wisdom.

Though Siddhartha, like all great literature, has a timeless dimension, it had a profound impact on the youth culture in the United States from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. Its gospel of disinterested love appealed to the American flower children, as its emphasis on self-realization, integration, and wholeness attracted many alienated youth to Eastern religions and philosophies. Many Western youth were in rebellion against the institutionalization, growing materialism, and fragmented, scientific worldview of their own society. Written in a lucid, poetic, rhythmical, symbolic, and dignified style, Siddhartha presents the spiritual heritage of the East to the West. It came to be recognized as an important landmark in the history of East-West literary relations.

India

India. Asian country in which the young Siddhartha, a tall and handsome Brahman’s son, lives and travels in his search for fulfillment. His quest for enlightenment parallels the Buddha’s legendary journeys in India: He departs his father’s house to join the Samana ascetics; after forsaking them, he goes to the city, and eventually abandons the city to become a ferryman on the river.

India, where Herman Hesse traveled in 1911 to study Eastern religions and philosophies, is the birthplace of Buddhism and its promise of enlightenment, as well as Hesse’s conscious opposition to it. Whereas Buddhism attempts to prescribe an established pattern of development, Hesse attempts to show, through Siddhartha’s journey through India, that quests for spiritual fulfillment are voyages of discovery in which each person finds his or her own path to absolute peace. The setting of India, with its nameless features, incorporates the Buddha’s legendary journeys and their accumulated wisdom, through which Siddhartha pursues his own quest for universal oneness.

River

River. Unnamed river that is the central natural element in the novel. The river functions symbolically, marking Siddhartha’s evolution. Siddhartha’s early years in his father’s house are spent on the river’s bank in a state of innocence. At the age of eighteen, Siddhartha hopes to find truth by joining the Samanas, whose prescribed truth stirs his doubts. He then crosses the river and goes to the city. Representing boundaries of time and development, the river symbolizes Siddhartha’s passage from the realm of spirit to sense and back again.

When Siddhartha returns to the river, twenty years after his first crossing, he suffers from sickness of the soul and desires death. He listens to the river’s characteristic om murmuring—a sound that is the sacred syllable of the Hindu priestly Brahmin caste—for the unity of all being. The same om wells up within his soul and forms a bond between him and the river. The river’s murmuring lulls Siddhartha into a trancelike sleep. Eventually he awakens, refreshed, and begins the process of restoration to his former state of innocence.

The river proves to be the agent through which Siddhartha finds fulfillment. He assists Vasudeva, the wise old ferryman who transported him across the river twenty years earlier. He learns that the river represents the natural synthesis of sense and spirit; he also realizes that life is a river and that the past, present, and future are all one. The river embodies all creation, all layers of consciousness, memories and impulses common to humankind as a whole; the eternal om brings them to the surface, awakening in Siddhartha knowledge of the essential unity of being.

The river has one last lesson to teach Siddhartha—love. Many years later, Kamala, Siddhartha’s love from the city, arrives at the river with the son she has borne him and soon dies of snakebite. Little Siddhartha runs away to the city, leaving his father stricken with grief. Once again, the river speaks the sacred syllable om and heals the wound produced by his grief.

City

City. The projection of feeling into abstract geographical places continues with the unnamed city, Siddhartha’s destination after leaving the Samanas—a move signifying a progression from the spirit to the senses. There he meets the beautiful courtesan Kamala, through whose assistance he becomes prosperous and comes to lead a life of luxury. At length, sickened by his own degeneracy and intent on suicide, he quits the city, unwittingly abandoning Kamala, who is pregnant with his son. The city represents the second step in Siddhartha’s development, which cancels out the earlier excursion into the spirit and leads to his return to the river and his state of innocence.

Ancient India
In the fifth century B.C., northern India was divided into sixteen major states. The southern regions, however, remained largely undeveloped. These states were governed by kings or chiefs who generated revenue through taxes and trade. The Brahmans, or religious leaders, held significant influence in each state and often had the power to endorse the ruling class. On some occasions, they even ruled themselves. Besides the major states, there were numerous smaller regions consisting of various tribes organized as oligarchies, each led by a single ruling family. One such oligarchy, located in what is now Nepal, was ruled by the Shakya tribe, to which Prince Siddhartha Gotama belonged. The control of the Ganges Valley became a major point of contention among the northern Indian states during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., leading to continuous conflicts over the lucrative trade routes. By the mid-fifth century B.C., the state of Magadha had established dominance in the region, though internal conflicts persisted into the following century. The unification of India was only achieved with the formation of the Mauryan Empire in 325 B.C.

The Story of Buddha
Siddhartha Gotama, later known as Buddha, meaning the "Illustrious One" or "Enlightened One," founded Buddhism around 500 B.C. Raised as a Brahman prince, he married a neighboring princess, Yasodhara, at the age of sixteen, and they had at least one child. Despite his comfortable and luxurious life, he grew increasingly discontent. At twenty-nine, he left home against his parents' wishes to embark on a spiritual journey.

At that time, wandering ascetics roamed northern India, seeking deeper meaning in life. They aimed to achieve inner peace and freedom from attachment to worldly things through the emerging discipline of yoga, earning deep respect from ordinary Indians. In this context, Siddhartha began his Great Renunciation. He meditated and practiced extreme bodily asceticism, as advocated by the Jains and others. He learned to "think, wait, and fast," but after six years, he had not attained enlightenment. At thirty-five, he abandoned the ascetic life and traveled to a place now known as Bodh-Gaya, near the town of Uruvilva. There, he sat under a fig tree, later called the bodhi (enlightenment tree), to meditate. During this meditation, he achieved a profound awareness that all things are mutable, impermanent, insubstantial, and sorrowful. He realized that humans tend to become attached to things as though they were permanent and substantial. When these attachments inevitably disintegrate, people experience panic and anguish. Buddha believed that this insight could free him from craving and, by following the Middle Way between indulgence and denial, he could break the negative cycle of rebirths and liberate himself from the wheel of life.

Siddhartha championed the principles of peace, love, nonviolence, and respect for all living beings. His teachings, known as the dharma, arose as a response to the violence, suffering, and inequality he observed in Indian society. He specifically criticized the Brahmans, who were meant to be the spiritual and moral leaders, for their involvement in animal sacrifices and their endorsement of war. Siddhartha also believed that the caste system caused suffering and diminished the value of life. This system, parts of which still exist today, directly contradicts Buddhist beliefs in social equality and personal freedom. Despite being born into the highest Brahman caste, Siddhartha taught that all individuals are born equal and must pursue their own destinies, free from external dictates.

Over the forty-five years between his enlightenment and death, the Buddha traveled across central India, spreading his teachings and gaining many followers. After his death, the Mallas of Kusinagara took his body, honored it with flowers, scents, and music, and then cremated it. His remains were divided among eight communities in central India, who each built stupas (reliquary monuments) to house their share. These monuments became the predecessors of many others that were later constructed throughout India, serving as focal points for Buddhist worship.

Turn-of-the-Century Germany
At the dawn of the twentieth century, Germany experienced rapid industrialization. Between 1895 and 1907, the number of industrial workers doubled, and exports of manufactured goods surged from thirty-three to sixty-three percent. National wealth and urban populations grew significantly, as did national pride. However, working conditions were poor, and industrial workers did not enjoy full political rights. Within Germany's social hierarchy, industrial workers and minorities were viewed as subordinate. When the economy slowed or cities became overcrowded, anti-Semitism would flare up, and Jews were often scapegoated as outsiders.

By 1912, Germany's government had become increasingly militaristic and aggressive. The German navy had grown to be second in strength only to Great Britain's. Bolstered by their newfound economic and military power, Germany began to adopt an aggressive stance across Europe and North Africa. In response, France, Great Britain, and Russia formed the Triple Entente alliance to counter the potential threat of a German invasion. World War I erupted after the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, was assassinated by Serbian terrorists in 1914. The Triple Entente nations found themselves in a fierce conflict against a formidable German force.

World War I concluded in 1918 with Germany's defeat. However, nationalism and aggression soon reemerged in Germany. Exploiting the nation's desire to reclaim power after its loss, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis fostered strong anti-Semitic sentiments and intense national pride among the German populace. By 1921, the German government was condemning writers like Hesse, labeling him and others as "Jew-lovers" due to their anti-war and anti-prejudice stances.

Setting
Hesse situates his story in ancient India, but the realism in the narrative serves as a symbolic reflection of an inner vision, an "inward journey," rather than an effort to depict external reality. Hesse criticized the inclination to place too much significance on "so-called reality" in the form of physical events. His goal was to transport his readers into an elevated, poetic, legendary, or "magical" realm. By utilizing the Indian landscape, the book achieves a unity of style, structure, and meaning that Hesse never replicated with the same level of perfection. He referred to Siddhartha as "an Indic poem"; others might describe it as an extreme example of symbolic lyricism. The Indian setting offers a timeless, mythic validity—the legendary era allows readers to lose their sense of differentiation and come closer to the oneness of humanity. The parallels to the Buddha's life further contribute to this legendary quality.

Style
Hesse employs an exotically formalized style, more evident in the original German but still noticeable even in translation. The novel flows on a strong rhythmic current, akin to a river, with an undertone that suggests a chant. Harsh sounds are avoided, while alliteration and assonance are prevalent. There is frequent use of parallelism in clause structure and repetition of words and phrases. The threefold repetitions, corresponding to the tripartite structure of the work, create a liturgical quality reminiscent of the Bible. However, the language is not truly biblical but rather evocative of Pali, the language found in Buddhist canonical texts. At times, this language can achieve an incantatory effect, but generally, it reflects a serene, balanced attitude of meditation. This antiquated, liturgical mode of expression enhances the gospel-like quality of the tale.

Structure
The short novel is split into two parts, containing four and eight chapters respectively. However, the narrative clearly falls into three thematic segments: Siddhartha's life at home, among the Samanas, and with Buddha (four chapters); his time with Kamala and among the "child people" of the city (four chapters); and his life with Vasudeva by the river (four chapters). The river, which serves as the novel's overarching symbol, not only carries the weight of conveying truth but also provides the structural framework. Both temporally and spatially, Siddhartha's quest for meaning is delineated by his interactions with the river. These divisions align with Siddhartha's balanced journey from the realm of the mind, through the body, to the soul. This triadic structure extends to the mechanics of expression, influencing sentences, clauses, phrases, words, and paragraphs. Hesse even broadens his usual projection of the actual self and one alternative to include the actual self and three possibilities. Siddhartha represents Hesse's fictionalized self, while Govinda, Buddha, and Vasudeva embody different possibilities: Govinda is the self-effacing, institution-oriented person Siddhartha should avoid becoming; Buddha is a commendable but undesirable life-denying model; and Vasudeva is an exemplary life-affirming ideal. When Siddhartha attains this ideal, Vasudeva exits the scene.

The novel's structure is also influenced by its legendary form. Siddhartha is clearly portrayed as a "saintly" figure. His reunification with the All at the novel's conclusion mirrors the miraculous union with God found in Christian legends. Similar to Christian canonization trials, his saintliness is confirmed by witnesses—Vasudeva, Kamala, and Govinda—each of whom recognizes a divine and serene quality in his face.

Symbols
In literature, rivers are often used as symbols of timelessness, from Heraclitus to Thomas Wolfe. Hesse expands this symbol of simultaneity to encompass a realm where all opposites merge: totality. This is a realm of pure existence where everything coexists harmoniously. Siddhartha illustrates this concept of fluidity: "of every truth it can be said that the opposite is just as true." As a ferryman, Siddhartha helps people cross the water, which separates the city's extroverted, superficial excitement and wild pleasures from the introverted, solitary, and ascetic world of forests and mountains. Siddhartha himself has crossed this river twice during his journey, successfully reconciling these two worlds. The river, with the city on one side and the forest on the other, symbolizes Siddhartha's inner development projected onto the physical realm. Thus, the book's geography mirrors the landscape of the soul. In the book's final vision, Hesse visually depicts Siddhartha's fulfillment by reversing this process. When Govinda looks into Siddhartha's face at the end, he no longer sees the landscape of the soul but rather the soul as a landscape. Siddhartha has internalized the river's lesson so profoundly that his entire being now embodies the totality and simultaneity the river represents. Govinda "no longer saw the face of his friend Siddhartha. Instead, he saw other faces, many faces, a long series, a continuous stream of faces—hundreds, thousands, which all came and disappeared and yet all seemed to be there at the same time, which all continually changed and renewed themselves and which were yet all Siddhartha."

In all his writings, from poetry to essays to lengthy prose, Hesse employs a number of distinct techniques. It could be argued that his love for poetry is the primary influence, seeping into all his prose. His sentences are typically direct, often short, and grammatically simple, resembling poetry. Their rhythmic flow resembles a melody, with words acting like musical notes. This poetic and musical quality imbues his prose with a loftiness that complements its meditative and philosophical content.

Despite the poetic imagery in his writing, there is no sign of an unconventional or avant-garde style. Hesse himself claimed he never aimed for novelty in form, choosing instead to remain traditional in his use of language. The unconventional aspect is found mainly in his ideas.

Hesse's thoughts are always balanced by acknowledging their opposites. This duality is the core of all his works. Even the titles of his novels highlight or suggest an awareness of duality: for instance, Narcissus and Goldmund, Demian (Emil Sinclair), Siddhartha (Govinda), Steppenwolf (sheep). His works evoke dichotomies such as meditation and action, pleasure and pain, love and hate, heterosexual love and homosexual love, peer love and mother love, the bourgeoisie and the artist's world, introversion and extroversion, God and Satan. His technique involves blending these opposites to create a complete person. In the Cabinet of Mirrors in the Magic Theater of Steppenwolf, he even uses mirrors to reflect the innermost secrets of individuals, aiming to reconstruct their psyche. He explained: "Any work of art that is not faked has this provocative, smiling dual face, this male-femaleness, this togetherness of naked drives and pure spirituality." The blending of these polarities results in works that are psychologically authentic, though symbolically presented.

The core subject of all Hesse's works is ultimately people and their relationships, especially concerning friendship and love. On this foundation, Hesse attempts to construct the complete person from their various polarities, using a language that seductively instructs through the rhythms of poetic prose.

Disillusioned by the attitudes that led to and sustained World War I, Hesse turned to the Orient in search of meaning. Having been raised in a family of Pietist missionaries to India and living surrounded by Eastern cultural artifacts, he often felt more at home with Eastern thoughts and traditions than in his hometown of Calw.

Hesse was deeply introspective, determined to uncover the essence of his being. His hope was to find a way to affirm life. He did not see the answers he might discover as material for proselytizing, but rather as fuel for his own inner growth. This ideal is reflected in the character Siddhartha (based on the Buddha Gautama Siddhartha), who reaches self-realization by the story's end.

Fascinated by opposites, Hesse found much in the East that starkly contrasted with the West. He sought to extract the most valuable aspects from Eastern practices for Western benefit. High on his list was meditation, a practice uncommon in the West, aimed at achieving an understanding of one's relationship to reality, known in Buddhism as "enlightenment" (bodhi) and Nirvana, i.e., attaining a higher state of being. In this state of enlightenment, time becomes irrelevant in the face of all history and the future. Every moment and every individual life is indestructible; there is no "was," no "will be." Each moment is part of a continuum that simultaneously reaches into the past and future. In a sense more religious than philosophical, Hesse offers a statement of faith in humanity and life to all who seek self-knowledge.

In Siddhartha, two ideals are presented: the Eastern Gautama Buddha and the Western Siddhartha. While the former embodies a rejection of self and life, the latter embraces a positive attitude toward both. Hesse undoubtedly hoped that Siddhartha's message would be clear: There is no universal solution to life's problems—answers cannot be found solely in the East or the West, but within oneself as an example for all. Hesse believed that only by influencing the individual could the world be improved.

Though Hesse's philosophical clarity crystallized after his 1911 trip to India, the foundation was already laid through his earlier readings of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Jakob Burckhardt. Hesse admired Nietzsche's artistry but dismissed much of his philosophy. In Basel, Burckhardt supplanted Nietzsche as the main intellectual influence in the latter half of Hesse's life. The character Pater Jakobus in "Magister Ludi" symbolizes the same wisdom and goodness that Burckhardt represented for Hesse.

In the 1930s, Hesse delved into the works of Goethe and the German romantics, as well as diverse authors like Maeterlinck, Dante, Meyer, Fontane, and Bohme. While he saw no future for naturalism, he acknowledged the artistic depth of Ibsen, Hauptmann, Turgenev, and Zola. However, he rejected Dostoevsky and other Russian writers, associating them with a grim, near-nihilistic movement.

Hesse maintained cordial, even close, relationships with contemporary authors. Photographs show him alongside notable figures such as Thomas Mann, Jakob Wassermann, Bertolt Brecht, Henry Miller, and Stefan Zweig. Many of these authors visited him in Montagnola.

The array of literary and philosophical influences on Hesse is extensive and varied. Identifying specific works that set literary precedents for him is challenging, but certain general characteristics—philosophical content, romantic spirit, introspection, internal conflict, autobiographical elements, mysticism, and unresolved themes—are evident. Hesse, a solitary visionary and a wordsmith, synthesized these aspects to create truly innovative and unparalleled writings.

• Siddhartha was turned into a movie by Conrad Rooks, featuring Shashi Kapoor, one of India's top actors. It was produced by Lotus Films and Columbia-Warner in 1972, and a cassette version was released by Newman Communications in 1986.

Further Reading
Boulby, Mark. Hermann Hesse: His Mind and Art. Cornell University Press, 1967. This comprehensive study of Hesse's fiction includes a chapter on Siddhartha that explores how Hesse's use of Indian motifs supports a Western, Christian perspective.

Brown, Madison. "Toward a Perspective for the Indian Element in Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha," in German Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 2, March 1976, pp. 191-202. This article examines how Siddhartha incorporates themes from Indian religious and cultural traditions while adapting them to reflect Hesse's own worldview.

Chander, Harish. "Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha and the Doctrine of Anatman," in South Asian Review, Vol. 2, No. 8, July 1979, pp. 60-66. This analysis delves into how Siddhartha engages with Buddhist themes related to the universal soul.

Conrad, Robert C. "Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, Eine indische Dichtung, as a Western Archetype," in German Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 4, Fall 1975, pp. 358-69. This study analyzes how Hesse employs Indian themes to create Western archetypal patterns.

Field, George Wallis. Hermann Hesse. Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1970. This book is an in-depth study of Hesse's novels, supplemented by biographical and factual details.

Kassim, Husain. "Toward a Mahayana Buddhist Interpretation of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha," in Literature East and West, Vol. 18, No. 2, March 1974, pp. 233-43. This article explores how Siddhartha develops a Buddhist philosophy rather than a Christian one.

LuZanne, Celian. Heritage of Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha Gautama. Philosophical Library, 1953. This book offers historical insights into the life of the Buddha, who serves as the model for Gotama Buddha in Hesse's novel.

Malthaner, Johannes. "Hermann Hesse: 'Siddhartha,'" in German Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 2, March 1952, pp. 103-09. This article outlines Siddhartha's spiritual journey and suggests that his quests mirror Hesse's efforts to restore his harmonious relationship with the world.

Mileck, Joseph. "Hermann Hesse," in Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 66; German Fiction Writers, 1885-1913, edited by James Hardin. Gale Research Company, 1988, pp. 180-224. This essay provides a comprehensive overview of Hesse's life and work by one of the leading Hesse scholars.

Misra, Bhabagrahi. "An Analysis of Indic Tradition in Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha," in Indian Literature, Vol. 11, 1968, pp. 111-123. This analysis explores how Siddhartha draws on both Hindu religious beliefs and Western existentialism.

Rose, Ernst. Faith from the Abyss: Hermann Hesse's Way from Romanticism to Modernity. New York University Press, 1965. This volume provides significant biographical details and connects Hesse's major works to different periods in his life and mental state.

Shaw, Leroy. "Time and Structure of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha," in Hermann Hesse: A Collection of Criticism, edited by Judith Liebmann. McGraw-Hill, 1977, pp. 66-84. This article analyzes how the narrative structure of Siddhartha is influenced by Buddhist religious principles and an Eastern sense of timelessness.

Smith, Huston. The Religions of Man. Harper & Row, 1958. This classic study offers an extensive examination of eight major world religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism.

Verma, Kamal D. "The Nature and Perception of Reality in Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha," in South Asian Review, Vol. 11, No. 8, July 1988, pp. 1-10. This analysis delves into the philosophical and metaphysical themes in Siddhartha.

Zeller, Bernhard. Portrait of Hesse. Herder and Herder, 1971. This biography is enriched with a variety of photographs.

Ziolkowski, Theodore. The Novels of Hermann Hesse: A Study in Theme and Structure. Princeton University Press, 1965. This book delves into the core themes prevalent in much of Hesse's literature and examines the structure of individual novels, including Siddhartha.