Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between very different concepts and experiences. In the novel Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse, the river is a symbol of all forms of life and that they are interconnected in a cycle without beginning or end. As Siddhartha attempts to find a group in which he can obtain Nirvana, Siddhartha cannot seem to be satisfied. Siddhartha continues to travel and does not stay in one place with a certain group for a long period of time because he never felt satisfied. Siddhartha finally arrived at the river, where there was a ferryman, later Vasudeva, who offered to take Siddhartha across the river into town, but Siddhartha did not have a favorable experience in town. Siddhartha
