Pip's Quest For Identity In Siddhartha

The purpose behind many captivating works of art, engrossing literary compositions, legendary architectural feats, and the cause of some new lives and untimely deaths, can be traced back to one single, powerful source — love. Unconditional love has the potential to evoke the most profound sentiments in any man, arguably more so than any other human emotion; consequently, in Great Expectations, a novel by Charles Dickens, Siddhartha, a novel by Hermann Hesse, and in everyday life, love often has a significant impact on one’s quest for identity. For Siddhartha, his love for Kamala opens doors to new experiences that help to shape who he is. After he travels with the strictly ascetic samanas for three years, he feels unfulfilled and chooses to leave them; upon his arrival in a nearby village, he sees a beautiful woman, Kamala. Immediately he resolves to do whatever it takes to persuade her to teach him love, asks her exactly what commodities he needs before he can court …show more content…
Pumblechook hears that Miss Havisham is looking for a boy for entertainment, and sends Pip to the Satis house. After one visit, Pip laments to Joe about how the beautiful and proud Estella relentlessly taunts him about his coarse upbringing, and how he wishes that he could be more of a gentleman (Dickens 70). Pip’s attraction to Estella’s beauty and alluring aura cause him to unknowingly bear his heart to her, and she devastates him by taking the opportunity to use his heart as a target and throw jagged knives of insults that cut deep into his ego. Prominent scars from her attacks are seen as Pip works hard to become more like a literate gentleman and less like the common blacksmith he originally wanted to be. After just one visit, Pip changes his mind about who he wants to be, and continues to morph himself into what he believes is most desirable to Estella, a girl who doesn’t even care for him at this