Cultural Differences In Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha

Siddhartha in Twenty First Century America
Prompt: Consider which aspect of Siddhartha might cause resistance, doubt, or objections for a twenty-first century American audience. Might different segments of society today react differently to the novel? Would all segments likely take issue with some aspects of the text?
From sizes of door frames and soda cups to the most sacred ideologies and political views of people, between distinct societies there are often rather ubiquitous cultural differences. An object that is considered sacred in one culture may be thought of as useless in another, whilst a third may even think of it as a common gadget used in everyday life and a fourth may have no idea what such an item could be. The subjectivity of each view means that no single culture is definitively correct, however it also makes misunderstandings and miscommunications inevitable. Throughout Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, a novel following the life of a young Brahmin man and his quest for enlightenment, multiple ideologies and themes are introduced: some that are universal for each culture, whilst …show more content…
In shorter terms, tolerance for different opinions and ways of life. Throughout his childhood and teenage years, Siddhartha shows a strange lack of empathy and tolerance towards people: abandoning who he wants, when he wants, without a even one ounce of thought given to how they might feel or anything of the sort. Eventually, this even leads to his abandonment of his family to join a group that he believes will lead him to enlightenment and though Siddhartha shows incredible talent as well as willpower and patience, he is incapable of loving and understanding others, describing people with disdain simply for living their