Symbolism And Symbolism In Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha

As with the Brahmins, Siddhartha’s experience with the Samanas is not a fulfilling one. Hesse writes, “he slipped out of his Self in a thousand different forms. He was animal, carcass, stone, wood, water, and each time he reawakened” (Pg-15). Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Samanas, yet he was still unable to reach enlightenment. During his time with the Samanas, Siddhartha never saw or heard of a single person achieving enlightenment. Feeling disillusioned with the teachings of others, Siddhartha decided to leave the Samanas, and seek out the venerable Buddha. Siddhartha seeks out the Buddha and hears his sermon, but he ultimately decides to seek his own path to enlightenment. In leaving the Buddha, Siddhartha begins to follow a Buddhist path. Siddhartha says, “But there is one thing that this clear, worthy instruction does not contain; it does not contain the secret of what the Illustrious One himself experienced he alone among hundreds of thousands" (Pg-34). In this part of his journey, Siddhartha realizes that no one can teach him how to achieve enlightenment. As Gautama did before him, Siddhartha heads out to find his own path to enlightenment.

   In Herman Hess's, Siddhartha, Siddhartha's constant growth and spiritual evolution is elucidated through the symbolism of the snake, the bird and the river.

As a result of this dream, Siddhartha leaves Kamala and his life as a rich man. When Kamala learns this, she releases the songbird, symbolic of how Siddhartha’s soul is now free from the sins sustained by leading a rich life. His soul now lives free of its spiritual cage, allowing Siddhartha to work towards his goal of Nirvana.

Siddhartha, written by Herman Heese, is a book about a man’s journey to find his inner self beginning when he is young and ending when he is of old age. Siddhartha, while on this quest, searched for different mentors to teach him what they know, hoping to find truth and balance in and of the universe. At the end of the novel, Siddhartha reaches the enlightenment through many teachings.

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 resolved that he would first go to the Samanas, ascetics that hard lives of self-denial of all comforts and pleasures in order to rid themselves of desire and those emotions that would hinder them on the journey to discovering Atman. Although joining these extremist monks was a high ambition, Siddhartha knew that he would succeed as a Samana, for he believed that the path of the ascetic would aid him on his journey of self-discovery. As his time with the Samanas lengthened, Siddhartha began to take pride in the knowledge that he was not blinded by the material world like everybody else was; he saw the world for what it truly was -- bitter lies and misery. Despite the fact that Siddhartha was becoming a great Samana, revered by even the older monks, he felt that what he had learned from them he could have learned on his own and in less time. Once again, he was not satisfied with the path that he was on and aspired to achieve even greater heights by parting from the Samanas. This ambition is plainly displayed when Siddhartha’s friend Govinda, who had become a Samana as well, proclaimed that Siddhartha would have learned to walk on water had he stayed with the ascetics. Siddhartha simply says that he would “let old

Siddhartha’s life was more of a journey, a journey filled with whimsical decisions and many questions; Siddhartha simply did as he pleased. After living this capricious lifestyle, he noticed that he felt empty inside. He wondered why he felt this way for a long time and decided to leave his current life. He abandoned all possessions and left his father in a quest to seek peace with the shramanas. Soon the cycle of the nature of Siddhartha was formed. Siddhartha would seek something and pursue that something blindly and by abandoning his previous lifestyle. It was not until he was an old man did he finally reach peace through the guidance of a river. Siddhartha’s life had changed immensely numerous amounts of times by the time he was old, but the change he experienced was not necessarily caused by of outside influences. He experienced change, but every change originated inside of him; of what he wanted to follow next. Of course, this still required Siddhartha to change to his new surroundings in every instance he obeyed new lifestyle. When he followed the shramanas, he left everything he had previously known and owned. When he left for the city, he completely changed his demeanor and became rich. Once again, when he lived by the river, he abandoned all possessions and former values. I believe that Siddhartha

The Great Gatsby is full of symbolism.The green light, the Valley of Ashes, and the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are just a few examples. In Thomas C. Foster’s book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, he writes about symbols and what they mean. The Rockpile in the literature book is another story that uses symbolism.

After his experiences, Siddhartha comprehends that he is not capable of individualistic love and decides to abandon Kamala. Later, he meets her again, but now she is not alone. While Kamala takes a journey with her son to visit the dying Buddha, she gets bitten by a poisonous snake and perishes. He loses Kamala’s love but hopes to gain the love of his son. Unfortunately, he never does. Siddhartha treats his son with consideration and respect although he realizes the boy has been spoiled by a wealthy lifestyle. He unsuccessfully tries to win over the love of his son, but his love is not mutual. Young Siddhartha soon runs away towards the village to continue his life without his controlling father. Although Siddhartha understands that he must let him go, his love for his son is overwhelming; he cannot bear to let the boy go. After speaking with Vasudeva, the Ferryman, and learning from the river, Siddhartha learns to accept the loss of love. Now, Siddhartha has gained wisdom and understanding of love—universal love. Enlightenment cannot exist without love, for love is “the most important thing in the world” (Hesse 147). Through Kamala and his son he has learned that one must “love the world, not despise it” (Hesse 147). At first, love is portrayed as an immoral feeling and thought of as an obstacle in his journey to reach Nirvana. Later, Siddhartha learns that one must love to prosper and that love is what keeps the world alive. In conclusion,

In the novel Siddhartha, the main character's life is changed greatly through the journey he embarks and the teachers whom he encounters. Many of the people that Siddhartha meets throughout the novel teach him important lessons that shape him into the person that he becomes at the end of the novel. He has his father, a respected brahmin and strong figure in Siddhartha’s childhood who teaches him everything he knows about religious doctrine. He has Vasudeva, the ferryman he meets on his travels who teaches Siddhartha a great deal about soul searching and patience. He also has Kamala as a teacher, who taught him sex and that the material world isn’t made for siddhartha.

Siddhartha is a young man on a long quest in search of the ultimate answer to the enigma of a man's role on this earth. Through his travels, he finds love, friendship, pain, and identity. He finds the true meaning behind them the hard way, but that is the best way to learn them.

In the poem, the purpose of symbolism is using an object or reference to describe a deeper meaning to a story. The poem " Music of Spheres" by displayes that how to use symbolism to describe an object with deeper meaning. This poem is written by Jean Follain who was a French author, poet and corporate lawyer. The reason why I selected this poem, is because Jean Follain only used a few sentences to reflect its deep symbolic meaning of this poem. Language makes us human. It helps us to understand our everyday experience and ideas. It will become more powerful by using symbolism instead of the customary language. In the written world, the role of symbolism in the poem is significant. It produces the same feeling as

Hermann Hesse's novel, Siddhartha, "is a novel of classical symmetry, a perfection achieved" (Hermann Hesse 25).  It tells the story of a young man who sets out to find his true self.  Throughout his journey, Siddhartha converts to various religions, searching for the one religion that will help him discover his identity.  As his journey continues, the main character is forced to overcome various obstacles in pursuit of his true self.  He learns the ways of reality and its many flaws.  As the story progresses, he comes across a river inhabited by Vasudeva,

He wakes up from this dream with the realization of his wrong doings. He leaves the city and all the negative associations it came with in order to continue his pursuit of reaching enlightenment. Throughout the end of his journey Siddhartha continues to miss his son. From seeing and envying children with their parents and a man with his wife he grasps the love that ordinary people feel. Sidhartha being consumed by his grief plans to go to Samsara again to find his lost

The story of a young man that searches high and low for the path of enlightenment. In Hermann Hesse’s, Siddhartha, it shows how a young man tries to find a balance in self and spirit. Many of Hesse’s books reflect the experiences he had as a adolescent, Hesse also had trouble balancing religious aspects of his life, in the same way Siddhartha did. Hesse had attempted suicide and was expelled from school. Unlike Siddhartha, he was not very loved among people in his early life. I believe that Hesse wrote about Siddhartha because he could relate and sympathise with his feelings.