Comparing the Theme of Self-Discovery in Demian and Siddhartha

Siddhartha and Gandhi strove for different goals during their lives. Siddhartha's goal was very personal, while Gandhi's goal encompassed the world. This was shown by their spiritual development throughout their journeys. Siddhartha evolved from an inexperienced spiritual being to a man, returned to spirituality, and ended with nirvana. Gandhi traveled a much straighter path, originally being a worldly man merely seeking his correct place in life, when his spiritual development unexpectedly…

creation, but the very second we are born it is our job to find out who we are. Life is described by some to be an epic journey of self-discovery and actualization, and that’s exactly what it is. Self-actualization is the term used to describe how individuals go their whole lives trying to reach their full potential. Now, what does this mean to an individual? Being self-actualized means that an individual knows who they are and what they want and what they were made for, and generally this notion is…

The Themes of Siddhartha There are two themes developed in Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. One theme is that people can teach religious doctrine, but it may not lead one to find one's true inner "self". The other theme is that knowledge can be taught, but wisdom comes from experience. The main character, Siddhartha, came to these understandings during his glorious journey to find spiritual enlightenment. In order to find his "self", Siddhartha…

important fiction piece that explores relations throughout black communities and families. It also examines different issues such as, gender and class and these issues bring forth the theme of voice. In Janie’s attempt to find herself, she grows into a stronger woman through three marriages. Janie’s first discovery about herself comes when she is a child. She is around the age of six when she realizes that she is colored. Janie’s confusion about her race is based on the reasoning that all her peers…

Knowing Self This semester, I had the privilege to experience unrestricted creativity in a structured writing class. Now, as I reflect upon the semester I come to realize how closed minded I really am. This semester, I was challenged as a student writer to draw upon something or find inspiration from within to constructively create a masterpiece with words. Often times, finding or even tapping into my creative nerve was very difficult. Then I came to realize, as a student writer, I am paralyzed by…

The Theme of Self-discovery in The Awakening and A Doll House In Chopin's The Awakening and Ibsen's A Doll House, the main characters each experience an awakening. Although they lead different lives, Nora Helmer and Edna Pontellier's respective awakenings are caused by similar factors. From the beginning, neither character fits the standard stereotype of women in the society in which they lived. Another factor that influences Nora and Edna's awakenings is their marital relationship. Neither…

I understand the idea of “college is about the experience”. Now I see what that means, at least to me, college is a long journey of self-discovery. While learning how to program, being proficient at Math and English are crucial to my major(Computer Science), the amount of self-exploration that going to college has enabled me to achieve has been just as vital to self -growth as academics. And I intend to extend and share with others this repository of myself at Rutgers University as much as possible…

Spiritual Growth in Gardener's Grendel and Hesse's Siddhartha A mythical beast who finds meaning in killing and a questioning wanderer who cannot find meaning in being: both John Gardener's Grendel and Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha grow and develop spiritually, yet their authors use vastly different styles to convey these changes. John Gardner's revolutionary style is not encompassed by a single genre; instead, he mixes first-person narrative and several different literary styles…

The Journey to Self Discovery Death and life are contrasting points of view while discovery seems to be the main point in Joan Didion’s essay “On Going Home and, N. Scott Momaday’s essay The Way to Rainy Mountain. For Joan Didion, returning home is a source of comfort, confusion, and conflict. The life she lives with her husband and child are a world apart from the life she grew up in. Her memories are a part of who she is and the kind of mother and wife she hopes to be. Perhaps in her quest…

Self Discovery in American Beauty and Hermann Hesse's Demian After Jane Burnham's first meeting with Ricky Fitts in American Beauty she responds by saying, "He's so confident. That can't be real." If it isn't real, is it a dream? If it is a dream, is it Jane's dream? If it is Jane's dream, is this her unconscious wish for pleasure or happiness...to be like Ricky Fitts? There seems to be a theme running through the movie American Beauty where we see people looking to other people as a source…