In Herman Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, the title character Siddhartha deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery. Siddhartha searches for personal enlightenment through the search for independence from all teachings and freedom from all earthly knowledge. He confronts many obstacles throughout his search for enlightenment with ignorance, prayer, loyalty, friendship, and desire. During his quest for the essence of human existence, he seeks the truth through his experiences. Throughout his experiences, Siddhartha struggles with his relationship with his dearest friend, Govinda. Govinda serves various functions in this novel; to further the plot and to reveal aspects of Siddhartha we might not see throughout the novel.
Govinda is one to …show more content…
Like Siddhartha, Govinda devotes his life for the search and understanding of enlightenment, but unlike Siddhartha, Govinda tends to be a follower. Herman Hesse displays this form of characteristic when he writes, “He wanted to follow Siddhartha, who was beloved and majestic…Govinda wanted to follow him as his friend, his escort, his servant, his spear-carrier, and his shadow.” (Hesse, 14) Following Siddhartha, could be because of Govinda’s strong love and admiration towards him. His strong connections towards Siddhartha is shown when Herman Hesse writes, “He loved the eye of Siddhartha and his sweet voice, his gait and the perfection of his movements; he loved everything that Siddhartha did and said, and above all he loved Siddhartha’s mind, his sublime and fiery thoughts, his blazing will, and Siddhartha’s high calling.” (Hesse, 14) Govinda is a representation of Siddhartha’s cheerleader, or supporter, in everything Siddhartha does. An example of this is shown when Herman Hesse writes, “Govinda knew that this would be no ordinary Brahmin, no lazy official presiding over the sacrifices, no money-grubbing merchant hawking magic trinkets, no vain and vacuous speaker, no wicked and lying priest, and also not a good-hearted but dim-witted sheep in the plebian herds.” (Hesse, …show more content…
The faces were constantly changing and renewing themselves, and yet they were all still Siddhartha. He saw the face of a fish of a dying carp – with a moth opened in unending pain. It was the face of a dying fish, with fading eyes. He saw the face of a murderer, and saw him plunging a knife into someone else’s body. In the same instant, he saw this criminal in bondage, kneeling while his head was chopped off with on blow from the executioner’s sword. He saw the naked bodies of men and woman in positions and struggles of frenzied love. He saw corpses that were stretched out, cold, motionless, and empty. He saw the heads of various animals: boars, crocodiles, elephants, bulls, and birds. He saw gods: Krishna and Agni. He saw all these figures and faces in a thousand relationship with one another, helping, loving, hating, destroying, or giving birth again to each other. Each one had a will to die, and a passionate, painful recognition of ephemerality – and yet none of them did die, they were only transformed, and were always reborn. They eternally received a new face, without any time passing between the one face and the next, and all of these figures and faces rested, flowed, and conceived themselves. They floated along and merged with
Govinda is one to …show more content…
Like Siddhartha, Govinda devotes his life for the search and understanding of enlightenment, but unlike Siddhartha, Govinda tends to be a follower. Herman Hesse displays this form of characteristic when he writes, “He wanted to follow Siddhartha, who was beloved and majestic…Govinda wanted to follow him as his friend, his escort, his servant, his spear-carrier, and his shadow.” (Hesse, 14) Following Siddhartha, could be because of Govinda’s strong love and admiration towards him. His strong connections towards Siddhartha is shown when Herman Hesse writes, “He loved the eye of Siddhartha and his sweet voice, his gait and the perfection of his movements; he loved everything that Siddhartha did and said, and above all he loved Siddhartha’s mind, his sublime and fiery thoughts, his blazing will, and Siddhartha’s high calling.” (Hesse, 14) Govinda is a representation of Siddhartha’s cheerleader, or supporter, in everything Siddhartha does. An example of this is shown when Herman Hesse writes, “Govinda knew that this would be no ordinary Brahmin, no lazy official presiding over the sacrifices, no money-grubbing merchant hawking magic trinkets, no vain and vacuous speaker, no wicked and lying priest, and also not a good-hearted but dim-witted sheep in the plebian herds.” (Hesse, …show more content…
The faces were constantly changing and renewing themselves, and yet they were all still Siddhartha. He saw the face of a fish of a dying carp – with a moth opened in unending pain. It was the face of a dying fish, with fading eyes. He saw the face of a murderer, and saw him plunging a knife into someone else’s body. In the same instant, he saw this criminal in bondage, kneeling while his head was chopped off with on blow from the executioner’s sword. He saw the naked bodies of men and woman in positions and struggles of frenzied love. He saw corpses that were stretched out, cold, motionless, and empty. He saw the heads of various animals: boars, crocodiles, elephants, bulls, and birds. He saw gods: Krishna and Agni. He saw all these figures and faces in a thousand relationship with one another, helping, loving, hating, destroying, or giving birth again to each other. Each one had a will to die, and a passionate, painful recognition of ephemerality – and yet none of them did die, they were only transformed, and were always reborn. They eternally received a new face, without any time passing between the one face and the next, and all of these figures and faces rested, flowed, and conceived themselves. They floated along and merged with