Siddhartha's Journey To Enlightenment

In Herman Hesse’s “Siddhartha” we see a man on his journey to enlightenment through his experiences, wisdom, and knowledge gained from the teachings of others around him. In the novel, the author goes into great detail and explores Siddhartha’s evolution towards enlightenment throughout the book. Siddhartha is introduced as a man trying to find his purpose in the beginning and by the end he has finally found himself and is at peace. The path to Siddhartha’s eventual enlightenment was paved with personal experiences, wisdom, and knowledge all gained from his adventures in the novel. In the beginning of the novel Siddhartha leaves both his home and family behind to embark on a journey to achieve true enlightenment. He finds himself travelling …show more content…
As he strays down this path he goes into the city to explore worldly desires. In the city he meets a young woman who goes by the name Kamala. He asks Kamala to “teach him the art of love” so he may undergo a worldly pleasure. She finds it amusing but eventually agrees while also recommending Siddhartha to a friend of hers, Kamazi. Kamazi is an extremely wealthy businessman who agrees to help Siddhartha learn about the art of the deal. However Kamala forces Kamazi to promise that he will treat Siddhartha as his equal and not as a servant or as a peasant. In this part of the book Siddhartha gains worldly knowledge from both Kamala and Kamazi. By experiencing worldly pleasures like love and wealth Siddhartha has experienced the extremes of both religion and wealth. He enjoys these worldly pleasures but eventually regrets them later, causing him to flee from the city. However him straying from the path of righteousness contributed to his journey by showing him how selfish one can be when under the influence of physical wants. At this point in the novel he has experienced religion and wealth which will eventually help him find a middle ground between the