An Important Roles Of The River In Siddharth The River

Siddhartha is constantly flowing down the river of life, "Certainly I have learned that from the river too; everything comes back/ You, too, Samana, will come back" (49). He sees that life is never stagnant. It is constantly changing, ebbing and flowing. It takes a lifetime to satisfy Siddhartha's hunger for religious fulfillment. Siddhartha is found relating to the river: "A chilly emptiness in the water reflected the

How does the river function in the story? Is it a metaphor, a catalyst, or both? Is it a character?

Siddhartha's experience of a rebirth and his way of life after this experience is parallel

Suddenly “a small black snake, which had bitten her had crawled away”. (91) The snake was poisonous and Kamala died moments later leaving Siddhartha’s son in his own care. Siddhartha’s son was accustomed to riches, commanding servants, and other worldly desires. He did not want to live in a hut with two old banana eaters. Little Siddhartha wanted to return to the city from which he came. Siddhartha was troubled by this and asked his dear friend Vasudeva for guidance. One important thing Vasudeva told him was “Water will go to water, youth to youth”. (97) One day little Siddhartha was gone with the raft on the other side of the river. Siddhartha went after his son “And when he felt the wound smarting, he whispered the word Om” (103) Vasudeva came for Siddhartha and they both went back to their hut and “Neither spoke of what had happened”. (104)

9. The river is a vital symbol in this novel. What is the function of the river and how is it associated with

        The stage of transcendence was when the inner voice that has guided Siddhartha thus far surges out and becomes boldly manifest in this river, which, far more than simply water, is the voice of life itself.  In the river, Siddhartha sees images come together, just as he hears voices come together.  Here, "He saw that the water continually flowed and flowed and yet it was always there, it was always the same and yet every moment it was new."  The river can be everywhere at the same time.  Only the present means anything to the river, not the past or the

"Eventually the watcher joined the river, and there was only one of us. I believe it was the river." The river that Norman Maclean speaks of in A River Runs Through It works as a connection, a tie, holding together the relationships between Norman and his acquaintances in this remote society. Though "It" is never outwardly defined in the novella there is definite evidence "It" is the personality of the people and that the river is running through each individual personality acting as the simple thread connecting this diverse group of people.

Comparing the River and the Village of Desires is like comparing peanut butter and jelly, separately they have no relations but when you combine them they create something magnificent and something many can relate to. The village, for example, represents a distraction for Siddhartha. This distraction prevents Siddhartha from focusing on his enlightenment journey but also he eventually comes to a realization which helps guide him on the right path again, "He had finished with that. That also died in him. He rose, said farewell to the mango tree and the pleasure garden. As he had not had any food that day he felt extremely hungry, and thought of his house in town, of his room and bed, of the table with food. He smiled wearily, shook his head and said goodbye to these things" (68). Siddhartha finally leaves the city, leaving lonely and empty with no wealth, nor lover or any belongings where he realizes he hates the

1. The River – Almost any source of water will focus on the importance of life. Without water there is no life. A journey on or down a river is often a metaphor for life’s journey or a character’s journey, especially if the river is shown as a road or means of travel – pulling or pushing a character through changes. (Twain’s Huck Finn) Rivers can also be a metaphor for the passage of time (Big Fish) or the stages of a human life (creek, roaring river, sea; or the crossing of the river Styx in Greek myths). Since rivers are often used as political borders or boundaries, crossing one may be seen as a “passing over” or a decision that cannot be taken back. In Africa, and thus African literature, rivers are the

one side to the other. He too has learnt a lot from the river. He

With Vasudeva, Siddhartha begins spiritually as a child. By destroying his old Self, Siddhartha is no longer hindered by "too much knowledge...too much doing and striving." (99) Thus, as a child Siddhartha begins to hear the river, and learn from it. In his education, the concept of time repeatedly arises. The river is seen as always flowing and changing, just as the world does. Siddhartha comes to understand that life is transitory, a cycle that is eternally repeating. Looking at the river, it is made of water, water from the rains. Before that, the water was in the clouds, the air, evaporated from the river. Travelling from sky to earth, brook to river, the river is always present. The only change is how it is reflected in the ephemeral life. The continual flow from one to another illustrates the principle of timelessness.

Survival, both its temporary means and its ultimate permanence, is certainly a theme throughout this story, and the river is the most obvious metaphorical representation. Among the undulant hillsides, the river remains steady

The veins of this earth. Because of her oblivion like features she is often ostracized of her true form. She is slid into binaries of good and bad: constructions of man. Vasudeva, the wise fisherman Siddhartha uncovered in his trail of life, tells him to listen to her. Tells him that she is entrancing, kissed and bruised of so many secrets our ridiculous sentience grasps us from. Because of her immensity so many people often believe “the river has been in their way.” (106) stupidly pixelated by the fabrications of the meat space that the soul (and the needs of it) has been fictionalized. Siddhartha is unveiled the idiocracy of time, and the perversion of its bondage, that just as the waters of the river exists simultaneous in that moment, in that margin; the waters exist in the oceans and swamps and small puddles all at once. Time is a constant event, a song that plays all its parts at once, always. And we feel trapped in our own rumors of Time’s tyranny. And we fleet. We rush, foolishly thinking we can outrun an abyss. As the river whispers: just as we believe she is in our way, Time is sinned as being in the way of life. But it is our own conceit, our own pathetic absurdities that corrupts us from actually

Insignificant droplets of water plunging to the ground, gradually elaborating into a system which proclaims its existence with such scintillation and momentous significance, the river. The river that carries the same inexorable rate which we live our lives by, parallels to the current of an unstoppable river. Shifted to different directions by the different obstacles encountered, the river finds different routes to get to the destination it desires and life mimics its nature as many avenues close and others open. But the river carries on and does not pass through the same obstacle twice, it does not struggle or brawl the happenings opposed to it, it simply takes another path and learns from its mistakes. The river symbolizes life. In the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. The river plays a significant role on a reflective surface which redirects his actions into the eyes of the protagonist, Siddhartha.

"It is this what you mean, isn't it: that the river is everywhere at once?”. Siddhartha takes many journeys in his life. All of which are essential to him reaching enlightenment. In these journeys there are multiple factors that lead to this point but the most important ones are the city, Kamala, and the river. Without these he couldn’t reach enlightenment.