Siddhartha and The Alchemist comparison essay

Siddhartha parted from Govinda to leave behind the childhood memories and with that decision, he felt at peace, he had renounced friendship too. He was no longer going to leave himself behind and begin his day with the thinking of Atman. Atman is the subject of knowledge (Smart 203). His identity was plain and simple, Siddhartha, the awakened one, not his father’s son and not a Brahmin. (Hesse 38).

After leaving Gautama, Siddhartha decides to experience the world of ordinary living. Siddhartha sees a beautiful young courtesan, Kamala, and begs her to teach him the art of love. She tells Siddhartha that he

The third and fourth obstacle Santiago faces is his fear of defeat and realizing his dream. For example, “They made him continue digging, but he found nothing. As the sun rose, the men began to beat the boy. He was bruised and bleeding, his clothes torn to shreds, and he felt death was near.” The obstacle he defeated was the fear of defeat people will meet on the journey to fulfilling our destiny. People have to be patient in difficult times and know that the universe is conspiring in our favor, even if some do not know. Santiago had patience and allowed the men to beat him. Because of his patience they eventually left him alone

Santiago made a reasonable sum of money working for the crystal merchant, and decided it was time to abandon his job to continue his search for his treasure. Along the way, he was halted by a tribal war in the desert and forced to stay in an oasis. During his visit he met a young woman named Fatima. After only a few interactions, Santiago decides he wants to marry this woman, “‘I came to tell you just one thing,’ the boy said. ‘I want you to be my wife. I love you’(Coelho, 95). What once was negative became positive. Santiago’s journey had been paused multiple times, and he was stuck in an oasis instead of venturing to the

Here Siddhartha is demonstrating that he is the only one that matters when it comes to thoughts of who he is, and only his opinion of himself matters. Acceptance and the ability to look into himself will lead to that road of happiness. Also, to be minimalistic as to if there is nothing to be needed then it is not. This is something many people should take into consideration as to stay away from being materialistic.

Siddhartha begins to deviate from his holy walk in life when he meets Kamala. In Siddhartha Kamala is a pleasure woman who owns a beautiful grove outside of a larger town. “Siddhartha saw how beautiful she was

Siddhartha is first taught by Kamala, who is a famous courtesan in the town he came across, and he immediately thinks she is a beautiful woman. She is not easy though, and makes Siddhartha become wealthier, and makes him wear better clothes. Siddhartha goes on to approach Kamala because she is beautiful and believes she can show him the art of physical love, “I have come to tell you this and to thank you because you are so beautiful. And if it does not displease you, Kamala, I would like to ask you to be my friend and teacher. . .” (Hesse 44).

This change in character, though it is more dominant towards the end of the novel, is also seen in the second part of Siddhartha’s journey when he meets Kamala for the first time. It is very surprising when Siddhartha asks Kamala to be his teacher, especially after he relays to Govinda that he was not satisfied with the teachings of the Samanas. But even so, Siddhartha follows through and is a good student, “He visited the beautiful Kamala regularly, learned the art of love in which, more than anything else, giving and taking become one. He talked to her, learned from her, gave her advice, received advice. She understood him better than Govinda had once done. She was more like him” (Hesse 58). This shows that Siddhartha has made a much deeper connection with Kamala than he has anyone before. These connections then show us that Siddhartha has learned about attachment, something that he did not have as a Samana.

        Siddhartha reaches a town and is moved by the beauty of the courtesan Kamala as she enters her grove in a sedan.  This starts Siddhartha stage of the flesh.  He asks her to be his teacher in the arts of love, but Kamala laughs and says that she receives only those young men who approach her in fine clothes and shoes, with scent in their hair and money in their purses. When she learns that Siddhartha can read and write, she conducts him to the businessman Kamaswami, who will help him to acquire the tokens necessary for entrance into her garden of pleasure.  Kamala gives him a kiss in exchange for a good poem, and the amount of knowledge in that kiss amazes Siddhartha.

Siddhartha comes to realize that he has discovered who he really is, he is Siddhartha. He knows himself more than any other teaching or religion. As he comes to self-realization, he comprehends he has been letting himself slip away, he has been running away from himself.

Siddhartha follows his journey through various changes in pace and mood, as he enters the samsara as a samana or one without possessions, he believes he can “think, wait, and fast”(64). Yet Siddhartha’s previous upbringing as a Brahmin and a samana, he refuses to accept the materialistic wealth “his heart was not in business”. (69) Yet his need to please Kamala, his love teacher, he needs to earn money therefore, by earning money he pleases Kamala “It (business) was useful in order to bring him money for

Thus, Siddhartha aspired to set out on a journey to discover his innermost self on his own; he knew he could not be taught so he would have to chart his own course and learn from his own experiences.

To begin his long journey, Santiago meets a wise old king name King Melchizedek. He is in a local market when the king walks up and asks Santiago what he is reading. The king continues to say that the book he is reading is important but irritating because it describes the characters inability to choose their own Personal Legend. When Santiago asks where this mysterious stranger is from, King Melchizedek replies with “I am from many places, but I was born in Salem as I am the king there” (Coelho 64). Accepting his statement as true, Santiago continues the conversation allowing them to eventually talk about his dream of the Pyramids. The king wants to help Santiago, but for a price of six sheep. Before leaving with Santiago’s sheep he shares, “’The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon’” (Coelho 32). His message to Santiago reminds him that by following his dream he will witness beautiful sights and people, but that he should always remember the purpose of his travels. Leaving it at that, the king pointed Santiago in the direction to follow his dream.

The novel Siddhartha written by Hermann Hesse is a philosophical novel that explores the journey of life and to enlightenment. This is done through the narration of the life of a young boy – the eponymous Siddhartha by a third-person omniscient narrator. My goal in this essay is to explore the role of the most important female character in Siddhartha, Kamala.

In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Santiago is a young Andalusian shepherd who is told he must go to Egypt by a gypsy after he keeps having the same dream about a child telling him to go to the Pyramids and find the treasure. This is the start of his journey of self discovery. The first person to tell him about his Personal Legend, which is what keeps him going