Longing In Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

Have you ever lost something in your room; frantically searching, you realize minutes later that it was in your hand, on your head, or in your pocket the whole time? You could have found it earlier, but it was the search that distracted you from what you were truly looking for. This sense of being lost in the search is perfectly portrayed in Herman Hesse’s, Siddhartha. This book, focusing on the life and journey of Siddhartha, shows the different points in his life, who he has met, the things he has done, and what has distracted him from his goal. Longing for something “more” is something almost everyone, including Siddhartha, experiences throughout life. It was that longing which sent Siddhartha on a journey in search of the Buddha and the …show more content…
It is with Kamala he realizes his new goal, to learn the art of love from her. In order to achieve this goal, Siddhartha falls down into the real world and is distracted by women and material things. “Property, possessions, and riches had also finally trapped him. They were no longer a game and a toy; they had become a chain and a burden” (Hesse 63). In search for the means to please Kamala, the search distracted him, sidetracking him away from love toward that of power, greed, and women. Siddhartha once again found himself following after something he did not really want; he spiraled out of control and became so obsessed with the material world.
Finally, comprehending what was preventing him from achieving …show more content…
He let things come to him naturally and it was through this he discovered what he has been searching for this whole time. By truly letting the search go, his answer was brought forth to him. Without a purpose, goal, or search, Siddhartha wandered off into the woods where he stumbled upon what ended up being the answer to his goal, the river. Siddharta explains what he has learned from the river, “Siddhartha looked into the river and saw many pictures in the flowing water. He saw his father, lonely, mourning for his son; he saw himself, lonely, also with the bonds of longing for his far away son; he saw his son, also lonely, the boy eagerly advancing along the burning path of life’s desires; each one concentrating on his goal, each one obsessed by his goal, each one suffering. The river’s voice was sorrowful. It sang with yearning and sadness, flowing toward its goal” (Hesse 109). The river not only opened Siddhartha’s eyes to what his goal has done to him, but he realized what the river has taught him; that was his real goal. By just stumbling across the river, he unintentionally found what he was looking for; while he did not know what that was until he found