SIDDHARTA

Description

Setting: Ancient India, along the banks of the Ganges River.
Plot
The novel is centered upon the life of Siddhartha, a young Indian prince who is unhappy with his life of luxury and privilege. Siddhartha seeks spiritual enlightenment and self-discovery.
Siddhartha abandons his palace and family to join the Samanas, a group of ascetic monks. Here, he undertakes extreme meditation and self-mortification but is later disillusioned with the strictures of the Samanas.
Eventually, Siddhartha meets the Buddha Gotama but denies his teachings, feeling that he alone can find his path to enlightenment. Siddhartha becomes a merchant and falls in love with a beautiful courtesan named Kamala.
However, in his pursuit of wealth and sensual pleasure, Siddhartha ultimately remains disillusioned and despairing. He retracts himself from worldly life and finds a place as a ferryman on the Ganges River.
Here, Siddhartha finally experiences enlightenment and inner peace; he discovers that the key to happiness lies in a detatched life, breathing with nature, and unity with all things.
Themes
Throughout the novel, Hesse follows the themes of:
Spiritual seeking and self-discovery
Nature of reality and meaning of life
War between desire and renunciation
Life should be lived in the moment
Characters
Siddhartha: The main protagonist of this Indian prince and a young Indian prince for spiritual enlightenment.
Govinda: Siddhartha’s childhood friend and companion on his spiritual path.
Gotama or the Buddha: Founder of Buddhism, who teaches Siddhartha all about the path to enlightenment.
Kamala: A beautiful courtesan, with whom Siddhartha falls in love
Style
Hesse’s writing style of Siddhartha consists of:
A lyrical and poetic prose
A strong concentration on the inner life and emotion of characters
Using symbols and metaphors to convey themes and ideas
Blending Eastern and Western philosophical and spiritual elements