Siddhartha by Hermann Hermann Hesse - Essay Example

Theoretically, it is a justified and beautiful allegory of man’s inner desire for peace and rebirth. It greatly shows the eternal oneness of man with his environment. Calvin (1996) asserted that Siddhartha is the best of Hermann Hesse’s outstanding collection of work. De Rossi (1999) described Siddhartha as poetic, vibrant, and extremely captivating resulting in a work of pure and inconceivable art.
The Indian tale, Siddhartha, is the story of the spiritual awakening of an Indian man born into a wealthy Brahmin family. He was exposed to the extremities of man’s wanting to be made of lust and greed and thus, he decided to leave his family and wealth to gain the freedom to do whatever he likes. This stubbornness resulted in a child born out of wedlock. Yet, these material illusions caused by Siddhartha’s desire to enjoy life have bored him and out of despair, he came to a river. He then heard a peculiar sound that signaled his enlightenment. This marked a new life for him, a life with inner peace and wisdom, which he never knew he had been wanting for a long time.
As a young man blessed with intelligence and charm, he first believed that the true meaning of life was using his assets to live life to the fullest. In his quest for spiritual enlightenment, he wandered, hoping to eventually find what he was looking for. Then, he met a ferryman who was sitting in the shade of a banyan tree, listening to the sound of a river. The ferryman was believed by many natives as a sage but in fact, he was once a wandering shaman and a follower of Gotama, the Buddha. Siddhartha, on the other hand, was not a follower of Buddha. He grew up following his desires without being enraptured by anyone’s sermons but himself.
Yet, after a long quest for truth and satisfaction, he later found what he was looking for. The ferryman and the friendships he gained in his quest have greatly helped him search his path. Neither did he find it in material things nor other person’s wealth. He found his true self, uncovered by the light of his spirit.
Overall, the book Siddhartha comprises a mutual combination of man’s angst and selfishness. It teaches life-earned lessons Siddhartha learned himself in his journey for inner peace. It is a superbly written spiritual quest. Theoretically, Siddhartha represents an ordinary man of today born with almost every material gift life has to offer. Yet, in his maturity, he later finds out that an enlightened path of life is not taught nor practiced. It is earned through experience. Hence, one has to experience years of the sorrows and joys of life before he finds what he was searching for.
Since the plot is set in India, it is a moral metaphor for Indian theology. The story, itself, depicts man’s mystery of loneliness and discontent. It metaphorically shows how the protagonist goes through various stages of life to gain enlightenment and complete rebirth. The happiness he later earned was the result of the complexities he earned himself. Read More