A Siddhartha Essay

Walking Through Walls

 In life, many continue through the journey without fully grasping the true meaning of life. Through the book Siddhartha, Hesse depicts this, suggesting that one must experience and overcome many obstacles in one's way in order to truly understand and succeed in life. In the book, Siddhartha, like any other person, also faces such challenges. When trying to overcome such obstacles, Siddhartha, as somewhat of a representation of humanity, is hindered often by self-inflicted hubris and ignorance. Only by stripping away the need for frivolous material possessions and in a sense a losing of one's self is Siddhartha able to achieve enlightenment. Siddhartha must therefore, look outside of life itself to see the faults and corruption in order to fix it and gain important knowledge.  

            

 After witnessing this scene, Siddhartha describes another important aspect of these interactions. Siddhartha sees much deeper than ever before. “all [of these things] gave the illusion of meaning and happiness and beauty…” (Hesse 12). By saying this Hesse is expressing how what one believes has meaning may not, and that there is not true beauty of happiness to be found in material things. These things do not make one whole or satisfied. In the end, Siddhartha explains that these things are “just putrefaction that no one would admit to. Bitter waste the taste of the world. Life was a torment” (Hesse 12). Through this, the idea is expressed that one tells oneself that riches and possessions bring happiness, when in fact these things are what causes one’s being to decay. For one to be truly happy and truly whole one must understand that what makes one happy is something deeper and that that thing must be found, but that once it is, one’s life will be fulfilled and whole.

In this section, Siddhartha had to face many challenges. through this paragraph, Siddhartha reflection on this experience. "[Siddhartha has] had to pass through so much foolishness, so much vice,  so much error, so much nausea and disillusionment and wretchedness" (Hesse 81). This expresses the hardship and suffering one must go through in order to find the truth. This search is continued to the next phrase. "...merely in order to become a child again and be able to start over" (Hesse 81).

This part of the citation suggests the idea  that one must become what one hates the most before one is able to scrap away all the corruption of one's life and find the truth. One must be literally ignorant and childish in order to learn. This acts as a new beginning from which one can grow. And that new beginning becomes a starting point from which one has a place to push off of.

                

In this chapter, Kamala, both the elder and younger Siddharthas are grieving for the death of Kamala. As Siddhartha describes the boy, young Siddhartha "' Indeed...too has a calling; he too will enjoy eternal life. But do we know, you and I, to what has been called: to what path...'" (Hesse 100). This excerpt depicts Siddhartha's  hope for the boy's future. Like any parent, Siddhartha wants what's best for young Siddhartha. One's children are in someways one's future and ultimately one's legacy. Children are the part of one that is left after one's death and therefore very important to one's life and purpose. As Siddhartha continues speaking, the future struggles of young Siddhartha's life are discussed and the possible obstacles are analyzed. Siddhartha's concern for the boy is very evidence as Siddhartha continues to speak."'to what deeds, to what suffering? His sorrow will not be slight, for his heart is proud and hard; those like him must suffer a great deal, commit so many errors, do much wrong, pile much sin upon themselves'" (Hesse 100). Siddhartha then acknowledges the struggles one must face. This portrays the suffering one must endure and overcome in order to succeed in one's purpose in life and obtain knowledge and enlightenment.

           

Throughout the book Siddhartha, Hesse discusses the obstacles that one must face in life. It is by overcoming these obstacles that one is able to find one’s true path and purpose in life. These obstacles might be physical like thirst and hunger or psychological like hubris and ignorance. In the book, Siddhartha is able to overcome all these things in order to find the right path, gain the knowledge of one’s true purpose in life, and ultimately achieve enlightenment.