 |
hermann hesse's siddhartha
|
|
|
|
The Structure of Siddhartha The book is physically divided into two sections, parts one and two, but this division is superficial and almost misleading. The first four chapters are, rightly, the first section. They follow Siddhartha at home, with the Samanas, and as he takes his departure from the Buddha. There is an additional division at Chapter Eight, and both are accompanied by the following themes: The Awakening and Rebirth The first and most obvious indication of this structural division is Siddhartha’s “Awakening” in Chapter Four that no one can teach him the way to himself. Siddhartha feels “like a newborn baby,” and he sees the world as if for the first time. In Chapter Eight, in a suicidal act of desperation, Siddhartha lets himself fall into the river just as he hears the word, “Om.” As a result, he becomes “awakened” and is like “a little child.” Both events mark significant turning points in Siddhartha’s development. Siddhartha experiences an “awakening” and is symbolically young again in both instances. The River The next consistent structure within the story is the physical and symbolic presence of the river in Chapter Four. Siddhartha was born “in the sun of the riverbank.” He leaves home and joins the Samanas, representing an extreme in religious asceticism. In Chapter Four, Siddhartha crosses the river at another turning point in his life. He has just left his best friend and the best teacher with the best teaching (the Buddha). He then experiences the physical world of “maya,” representing another extreme in the physical world. At Chapter Eight, Siddhartha returns to the river and begins to lead a modest life in which he avoids both extremes. The river also supports the extended water metaphor that runs strongly throughout the book. Govinda In Chapter Four, Govinda and Siddhartha part, and in Chapter Eight, Govinda finds Siddhartha by the river. Govinda returns again in Chapter Twelve to confirm Siddhartha’s ascent to perfection. Therefore, Govinda serves a structural reminder, returning every four chapters to acknowledge Siddhartha’s attainment of a new level.
Setting The setting is India, and though Siddhartha encounters the Buddha (563 BCE – 483 BCE), it appears as though Hesse intended the story to reach beyond that time period and into the modern day. The caste system in India has kept social changes to a minimum, making this story as possible today as it was almost 2000 years ago. |