Through the journey of life, all people for something, whether it be happiness, peace, fulfillment, and so on. We’re all driven with an inner goal and achieve it in our own ways. In Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, the protagonist Siddhartha is on an inward journey to find peace. This extends throughout his whole life, and he learns numerous things along the way to peace. In this novel, the theme of finding enlightenment through personal experiences is the most valid because Siddhartha goes through asceticism, worldly pleasures, and enlightenment to find peace. In the beginning of the book, Siddhartha is young, innocent, and starts his search for enlightenment with asceticism and learns the limitations of teachings. Siddhartha realizes
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He starts out feeling suicidal, but Govinda saves him (Hesse 87-94) and the ferryman takes care of him(Hesse 101-108). Siddhartha also meets his son when news of the Buddha’s last days circulates and Kamala takes him to the river. Kamala dies and Siddhartha takes his son in, who is very cold and aloof to him. Although it’s difficult, he lets his son go to find his own peace, which exemplifies the search for peace by oneself and is comparable to Siddhartha’s initiation of his journey (Hesse 110-125). As Siddhartha grows older, he’s still wounded by the loss of his son, but is prompted to listen to the river by Vasudeva. He hears every voice he's ever heard into one:Om. Siddhartha, after much trial and error, finally finds enlightenment and peace after understanding the unity and perfection of the world (Pages 129-137). He’s achieved this through multiple lifestyles and experiences. Later on, Govinda visits Siddhartha, the new ferryman, in search for enlightenment. Siddhartha tells Govinda his philosophies, the unity and eternal perfection of the world, and Govinda becomes enlightened after having a vision (Pages 139-152). This is especially important because although Siddhartha and Govinda followed very different paths to enlightenment, they both reached it through their own personal experiences. At the end, Siddhartha knows everyone has to go through their own
He starts out feeling suicidal, but Govinda saves him (Hesse 87-94) and the ferryman takes care of him(Hesse 101-108). Siddhartha also meets his son when news of the Buddha’s last days circulates and Kamala takes him to the river. Kamala dies and Siddhartha takes his son in, who is very cold and aloof to him. Although it’s difficult, he lets his son go to find his own peace, which exemplifies the search for peace by oneself and is comparable to Siddhartha’s initiation of his journey (Hesse 110-125). As Siddhartha grows older, he’s still wounded by the loss of his son, but is prompted to listen to the river by Vasudeva. He hears every voice he's ever heard into one:Om. Siddhartha, after much trial and error, finally finds enlightenment and peace after understanding the unity and perfection of the world (Pages 129-137). He’s achieved this through multiple lifestyles and experiences. Later on, Govinda visits Siddhartha, the new ferryman, in search for enlightenment. Siddhartha tells Govinda his philosophies, the unity and eternal perfection of the world, and Govinda becomes enlightened after having a vision (Pages 139-152). This is especially important because although Siddhartha and Govinda followed very different paths to enlightenment, they both reached it through their own personal experiences. At the end, Siddhartha knows everyone has to go through their own