Analysis Of Siddharta Essay, Research Paper

There had been many different books by numerous authors that have

impacted the way one looks at life. The book Siddharta is one of these. This book shows

Heese’s fascination with eastern religions, legends, and fairytales. It is about an Indian

prince name Siddharta who goes on a quest to find who he really is. In his quest, he

encounters many different pleasures and pains, each having an affect on him and the way

he thinks. As he grows up, he continues to learn different things and experience different

events. He finds out that he is exactly what he is hiding from and then discovers his true

self. The book Siddharta was started 1919 and was finished in 1922 in Switzerland.

World War I influenced Hermann Heese to write Siddharta. Heese was born in 1877 in a

small town of Cawl, Germany. He was the son of misssionaries and had a wide amount of

exposure to different religions, especially Indian religions. He disliked the tough beliefs

of his parents, and seeked for the answer to the real meaning of life. And that is how

Siddharta came upon, which has been called his best and most famous book. Few people

had negative criticisms to offer this book. Some of this criticisms were that the book is

historically inaccurate and that it is boring and uninteresting to those who has no interest

in religion. Although there were also many positive criticisms. People have said that

Heese use great structure, and that the book opened up the western world to the eastern

world. Also the book uses great symbolism. According to the Merriam Webster

Dictionary, symbolism is the practice of representing things by means of symbols or

significance to objects, events, or relationships. Although this is suppose to be about

the east, there are some western attitude and ideas in this book. Therefore, Siddharta is

an eastern but also a western book.

Siddharta takes place around the fifth century B.C. in India. Siddharta, a young

boy in the beginning of the book is looking for a great challenge and wanted to join the

Semanas way of life. Siddharta and his best friend, Govinda, then went along with the

Semanas. For three years, they practiced the semana ways of living and thinking like

sleeping on harsh grounds, fasting, and many more. While the semanas tried to get rid of

all desires, Siddharta felt that he has learn nothing from them. And so they both decided

to leave the semanas and joined the “illustrious one,” Gotama. Although Siddharta

realized the greatness of Gotama, he could not accept the teachings of anyone else. This

made Siddharta think like a westener. He left Govinda behind and went on a journey to

discover himself. Siddhartas’ eyes soon were opened and saw the goodness in all things.

He was now free to control his own life. Through his journey, he came upon the

“ordinary” people. This is where he meets a courtesan named Kamala. According to the

Houghton Mifflin Dictionary, a courtesan is a woman who is a prostitute, especially one

whose clients are men of rank or wealth. Siddharta, for the first time in his life, felt a love

for her. Kamala, being rich, wanted to be showered with gifts. Siddharta wanted to give

Kamala everything she wants and so he undertook the task of becoming wealthy. This is a

western philosophy “the pursuit of money and therefore happiness.” He soon becomes a

merchant and gives Kamala great gifts. And in return, he learns how to love. All of these

aspects are considered important in the west. But after a few years, Siddharta becomes

tired of his wealth and tries to gamble it all away. He felt that he suffered from an

intellectual death and soon leaves his wife. He then meets Vasudeva, a ferry man. He

learned from him how to listen, to think, and to view. Kamala soon died, leaving his son

with him. His rebellios son eventually runs away from him. Siddharta looks for him and

finds nothing. Although time slowly healed Siddharta’s pain. He then again learned to

love things. This doctrine of love, is Christian in origin and not Buddhist. Siddharta had

now found the way within knowing his task was complete. Soon after, Siddharta remeets

his confuzed childhood friend Govinda. Siddharta then showed him the way to Nirvana.

According to the Webster Dictonary, Nirvana is the ineffable ultimate in which one has

attained disinterested wisdom and compassion. And Govinda concluded this book bowing

down to Siddharta, the Buddha. This book has many of Heese’s experience. He makes

Siddharta have a western attitude because Siddharta reflected Heese in some ways. At the

same time, Heese made Govinda have an eastern attitude. This way is Heese’s way of

saying that although Buddhism is good, western attitudes are better.

Siddharta was started in 1919, shortly after World War I. Heese wrote this book

in Switzerland, which was a neutral state in the war. People, including Heese, were tired

of the war and the bad financial situation in their countries. Heese hated fighting, maybe

because he was constantly fighting with his parents. The war in Germany greatly

influenced him to write the book Siddharta. It was finished in 1922 in Switzerland where

he lived most of his life. Siddharta became the most famous favorite, of all Heese’s work.

Although he was unknown until he recieved a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946.

Siddharta was first translated and published in the United States at the end of the 1950s. It

appealed to many of the hippies who were searching for Nirvana. In the thirteen years,

following its first appearance on the American market, Siddharta went to nineteen

printings. Because of this book, many people widely studied Buddhism. It spreaded to

many parts of the world. And according to the Chicago tribune, Chicago is now one of

the largest Buddhist societies in the United States.

Hermann Heese was born in Cawl, Germany in 1877. He was the second child of

his parents six children. His father served as a missionary in India and his mother had

been born there. Heese was taught religion at a young age by his parents especially his

father. He also had access on Eastern books about philosophy and religion. This books

greatly influenced his outlook on life and his writing. Heese did not share his parents

Christianity and form of ideas. They disapproved of dancing, sports, and public

performances. Heese rebelled against his parents and decided that Buddhism was the right

religion for him. As a youth, Hermann Heese dropped out of school twice. He constantly

ran away and is an outcast of society. From the age of twenty one, he worked as both a

mechanic and an apprenticed to booksellers, and then decided to become a writer. He

learned by reading as many books as possible. He studied Indian, as well as Chinese

religions. This had a tremendous impact on his life. In 1904, he married and moved to

Switzerland. After World War I, he concetrated in writing novels with anti war themes.

Many of his writings were influenced by the war in Germany. Heese closely studied the

works of Sigmund Freud. His intense studying resulted from the serious illness of his son

and also the serious mental condition of his wife. Heese soon divorced his wife with

whom he had three sons. This enabled him to travel to different countries and learn about

the religion Buddhism, which is very closely related to him. Also his thoughts soon

become much more deep. The book Siddharta shows the deeper side of Heese’s principles

and philosophies. Siddharta is also actually Hermann Heese in real life. Like Siddharta,

Heese also dodged many obstacles to find himself and experience life to the fullest.

Hermann Heese’s Siddharta has gone through some significant types of crticisms.

Most crtics, like Oscar Seidlin, argued that the book is to historically inaccurate. Gotama,

which is actually spelled Gautama, was only Siddharta’s name. Also, Siddharta never

encountered anyone named Kamala that played a significant role in his life. Hermann

Heese has also been criticized for the lack of romanticism. Many of Heese’s books have

been about his personal life and religion. This can be boring and very uninteresting for

people that has no interest on religions. Many critics also point out that many questions

are left unanswered in this book. For example, what happenned to Siddharta’s family?

How did Gotama achieve enlightment? And whatever happenned to Govinda at the end

of his life? It was definitely an incomplete book. Eventhough, Heese’s novel also has

many positive criticisms. For one thing, Heese used excellent symbolism. For example,

Kamala, really means “sensual love,” Kamaswami, means “master of the material

world,” and Siddharta means ” he who attains his goal.” Besides the meaningful names,

there are other forms of symbolism. The river and the serpent are examples. The serpent

played a role as the spiritual boundary. And the river, is the seperation point between the

ordinary people and the enlightened.

Siddharta used a mix of eastern and western philosophies in this book. Although

this book continues to be one of the greatest novels of all time, there were some negative

criticisms. Many critics pointed out that many questions were left unanswered and that

the book is definitely incomplete. Some positive criticisms, as mentioned earlier, is that

Siddharta uses great style and structure. Despite any criticism, however, it continues to

change the way people think. Hermann Heese, the author of Siddharta, was a great man.

Like Siddharta, he also needed to find himself. Both his life and his book had suffered

and overcomed pain. Born in Germany, he was the second child out of six children.

Although he was rebellious, Heese lived a good life. Siddharta, a prominent book of the

twenthieth century, was finished in 3 years but was quite successful when it was

introduced in the United States. It appealed to the hippies who were searching for

Nirvana. This book is about the spiritual quest of an Indian prince named Siddharta. It

opened up the west to eastern ideas. And showed many people the good things of eastern

religions, especially the Indian religions. This short book requires you to search within

yourself for understanding. All great books not only teaches us a lesson but also forces us

to look within ourselves for answers. This book is delightfully intriguing and is worth

reading. It is an extremely good book. Anyone that has not read the book should go read it

as soon as they can.

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