Essay Comparing Siddhartha And Sidfume

One can find many similar recurring themes in the novels Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, and Perfume, by Patrick Suskind. Both authors use an aspect of nature as a symbol, the river. Since the time of the ancient Chinese, Pharaohs, Romans and Greeks, people have believed that the flow of the river represents the flow in one 's life. They use the river to symbolise peoples ' existence. In both books, the river portrays spiritual aspects that tell the characters ' life stories, whether they take place in the past, present, or future, to show the consistency of the river and of life.

In Siddhartha, Hesse uses the river to reflect the life cycle of organisms on earth. For example, Vasudeva explains to Siddhartha that the river has taught him that,
In Siddhartha, the river works as a means towards Kamala 's death because she crosses it in order to reach her final destination, to meet Siddhartha again. So, Kamala dies without worrying about leaving her son with the wrong person because she leaves him with his father, Siddhartha, whom she knows will take care of their son. Then Siddhartha explains to Vasudeva how the river comforts him after Kamala 's death, saying "[he] sat [t]here and listened to the river, fill[ing] [him] with many great thoughts of unity; he [had] become richer and happier [for his] son [had] been given to [him]" (Hesse, 94). With the circle of life, Kamala dies assured, not needing to worry about her son, because his father takes him in. Just as the river gives and takes, so does life. When young Siddhartha runs away, the river brings old Siddhartha to a realisation, he "remember[s] how...he had compelled his father to join the ascetics...how [his father] suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son" (Hesse, 107). Siddhartha went through the exact same experience as his son, who must now go through life just as his father has. Similarly to his father, young Siddhartha has become a part of the cycle of life, so, he needs to live his own journey to obtain his own
It is the most important spiritual aspect of the characters ' lives, literally and figuratively. Both novels had religious and spiritual meaning through the river 's constant appearance, which is similar to constant recurrence of prayer and meditation in one 's life. The river reflected the lifecycle of humans on earth to emphasize the river 's consistent flow. In both books, the river serves as a mirror reflection of the characters ' lives. Whether a character is healthy and opulent, or at the verge of dying , the river always portends that character 's life story and views and acts upon people 's life and death. So the river acts like a judge, ready to take lives of the avaricious. Through the river, both stories acquire overall unity between the characters, the setting, and the