Preview

Siddhartha Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
699 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Siddhartha Essay
Siddhartha Essay

Siddhartha, in the awakening, learns that the life of pleasure isn’t always the best life. In fact the life of pleasure can always bring you pain and sometimes more suffering. Siddhartha had to learn that the hard way because he felt disgusted in himself of what he had become. Just as Siddhartha was about to suicide he heard a voice. He heard the ancient holy word “Om”. Just from that word his whole life changed. Siddhartha also learned that there was more to the world then having pleasure and goods and that that the world was a beautiful piece of work. Siddhartha learned from the river who he really was and that he shouldn’t just give up because of a mistake, Siddhartha learned that he has to learn from it and take his mistake as an experience. The only way to succeed in life is to have experiences and learn from your mistakes. Although Siddhartha learned something from the river, he still needs to learn more and he does as he meets the ferry man. Siddhartha learned to love the river and treat the river with respect. The river saved him from his death and Siddhartha shall be with the river at all times. The river taught him how to become patient again and helped him awaken from his bad period of time. The river was also Siddhartha’s turning point in because Siddhartha was about to give up and just throw away his goal but he realized his mistake and became a new Siddhartha. The river was a similar to a teacher, it taught Siddhartha more and more about the world so much that his knowledge on the world expanded even more. Siddhartha took things more serious because everything the river taught him, he didn’t judge like his old teachers, he listened and trust the river’s knowledge.
Siddhartha taught me a lot of new knowledge and wisdom. Although all the chapters taught me something, the one that taught me the most was the awakening. The Awakening taught me that making a mistake is one thing, but learning from it is another thing and that it is the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha’s life journey is representative of the worldly human desire to find meaning and success within oneself.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The third reason this novel follows the hero's journey is the atonement that happens. The atonement happens between Siddhartha and his son. Siddharth learns that he needs to let his son go just as his father did to him. “His face resembled that of another person.... It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetic, how he had taken leave of him, how he had gone and never returned.” (Page 131-132) When young Siddhartha runs away, Siddhartha goes and looks for him. he sees the river laugh at him and he realises he is similar to his dad and needs to let his son go. this makes up siddhartha's atonement for relating to his father.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “There was a tree on the river bank, a cocoanut tree; Siddhartha leaned against it, placed his arm around the trunk and looked down into the green water which flowed beneath him; he looked down and was completely filled with desire to let himself go and be submerged in the water” (Pg. 88). Very ironic that Siddhartha wanted to commit suicide in the river which he said was very beautiful and learn a lot from it by listening to it. It wasn’t until the river showed Siddhartha his reflection which gave him a sort of enlightenment. “With a distorted countenance he stared into the water; he saw his face reflected, and spat at it; he took his arm away from the tree trunk.” (Pg. 89). Even though he was enlightened he still let himself get closer to his death, but then Siddhartha heard the word “Om”. Siddhartha learned that he was very close to death, and learns of his emptiness. Later on Siddhartha then remembers at the end of chapter 8, that the river brings a great pleasure to him. “Happily he looked into the flowing river; never had a river attracted to him as much as this one; never had he found the voice…

    • 1473 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    (C) Siddhartha remembers everything that he was taught and was how it was useful for him. Just like many children, including myself, were taught important values; like, not talking to a stranger or to learn our manners. Those little things that we were educated about as children, bring us a better future.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Siddhartha has spent many years pursuing enlightenment but his experience has showed him that enlightenment cannot be taught. However Siddhartha finds a teacher (peaceful man) who does not teach. Vasudeva listen to Siddhartha and encourages him to listen to the river. One of the most important lessons the river teaches Siddhartha is that time does not exist and the present is all that matters. With personification and exaggeration, it is explained that the river can be at all places at once, its importance never changes as well. In such way, Siddhartha resembles the river. Despite the changing aspect of his experience, his essential self has always remained the same. He uses metaphors to determine that time does not exist. Siddhartha, with…

    • 148 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, progresses on a quest for the true meaning of life, or Nirvana, through constant movement between distinct paths in order to fulfill his feeling of emptiness. Throughout the novel “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse, Siddhartha learns that enlightenment comes from within, and initially commences to seek external guidance from the Brahmins, Samanas and Buddism. Since his childhood, the Brahmins deposited their absolute knowledge into his “waiting vessel”, his spiritual mind, yet he was still not at peace. The Brahmins teach Siddhartha the virtue of patience, the art of prayer as well as make him well-versed in the different rituals. The feeling of desolation immersed in him provokes Siddhartha’s determination to leave,…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The River can be used as a timeline to mark Siddhartha’s milestones on his path. In the beginning, when Siddhartha decides to leave home he is by the river. He comes to the realization that his father, the holiest man he knows still washes away his sins every day. Again, he sits by the river when he decides to leave the Samanas and abandon his wealth and Kamala. Finally when he does reach enlightenment it's when he hears Om from the river. "They have heard its voice and listened to it, and the river has become holy to them, as it has to me ‘Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?’ That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future." (Hesse). Hesse uses the river as a symbol of connection between Siddhartha's inner and outer self. The river itself divides two different worlds. "Siddhartha, as ferryman, helps people to cross the water which separates the city, the outer world of extroversion, superficial excitement, and wild pleasures, from the introverted, lonely, and ascetic world of forests and mountains." (Detroit). The river is often a subtle sign of a transition between the different worlds Siddhartha lives in. The fact that he is a ferryman when he reaches Nirvana is not a…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Siddhartha’s best quality is his dedication to his quest. He is a young man who knows what he wants and goes after it. He is not bound to any place nor is he dependent on other people unless it is beneficial to his quest for enlightenment. Siddhartha left his father’s house and the samanas’ once he realized that they were not helping him find the inner peace that he was seeking. He was not afraid to give up on his wealth or go to Jetevana because he deemed those actions necessary to his mission. This show how dedicated he is and how much such goal means to him. A quality that is quite admirable as it portrays how strong Siddhartha is. On the other hand, a bad quality that Siddhartha has is that he is too independent. He prefers teaching himself…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book, Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha is on a quest to self-discovery, which was influenced by characters like Gotama, Kamala, and Vasudeva. These characters have impacted Siddhartha’s life considerably, and contribute to his path to enlightenment. They have brought him teachings, love, money, and the art of listening. Siddhartha has the most substantial impact on himself throughout the novel by questioning teachings, experiencing new concepts, and learning from the river of life, which flows inevitably.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Siddhartha Research Paper

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Siddhartha encounters the river several times throughout his life. Sometimes, just as landscape, something to be crossed, and later as point of rock bottom, where he considers killing himself, and finally where he spends his later years as ferryman, helping people across the river. The river helps Siddhartha reach enlightenment and understanding of the universe, Siddhartha learns from the river. This is significant for several reasons, because it is more accurately said that, Siddhartha used the river and nature to interpret the universe and to understand the universe. The river inspired the epiphany or shift in belief, it didn’t cause the shift in belief by itself. This is important, because Siddhartha was against learning doctrines from others, because while he did believe the Buddha when he outlined his plan for enlightenment, he couldn’t follow the Buddha, he had to make the same discoveries for himself, otherwise it wouldn’t work. A seeking man must seek his answers for himself, not learn them from others, and Siddhartha considers himself to be a seeking…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Written by Herman Hesse, Siddhartha provides a unique experience of how suffering can be overcome with an aspiration in mind, no matter how long it takes. Even at the beginning of the book, Siddhartha realizes he is discontent by the sheltered world of his fancy life of a Brahmin. He believes there is something more, to truly understand and find peace with his innermost self, the goal of achieving Nirvana. He begins with joining the Samanas, believing that one has to suffer to reach this enlightened state; living like the Samanas would create conditions of treacherous life, having to starve, feeling weak in order to feel better (13). Siddhartha even encounters Buddha, and decides it is not worth it to follow him, for he wants to experience life and suffering for himself, instead of being taught second-hand. Eventually he met a girl, Kamala, and it almost…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha, a young man from the Brahmin caste, goes through many stages during his quest to pursue deeper understanding and it is what he learns at each stage that brings him closer to wisdom whilst shedding previous aspects of himself. Siddhartha takes place in ancient India where all life is shaped by the scenery and culture of that time and the hero being influenced by such leaves his home to find spiritual enlightenment. The sole purpose of his journey is to find the wisest way to live and to achieve the Atman within. It becomes clear that he is dissatisfied with his life and also the knowledge he began to suspect was not full. “He had started to suspect that his venerable father and his other teachers, that the wise Brahmans had already…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha's Journey

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Throughout Siddhartha’s journey he encounters certain individuals that teach him significant lessons that remain with him despite his hesitation to learn from them, however, the river taught him the most profound lesson that impacted him the most.…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha

    • 960 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Siddhartha written by Herman Hesse is an inspiring novel about a young Indian’s travels to achieve his goal. Siddhartha’s previous learning affects him in both positive and negative aspects on his long journey to reach enlightenment. Enlightenment in the Indian culture means to reach total knowledge on life and the afterlife. Siddhartha’s journey as a Brahmin, a Samana, being rich and greedy, and living in the hut as a river man brought him great wisdom and helped him achieve total enlightenment.…

    • 960 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ferryman identifies himself as Vasudeva and tells Siddhartha that he has been studying the river for many years now. After talking with Siddhartha, Vasudeva lets him study the ways of the river with him. Siddhartha soon finds new types of enlightenment he has never experienced before. The new Siddhartha felt a deep love for the flowing water. Siddhartha continues to study the river for many more years and eventually learns the ways of the river. He learns key elements that he was in search for.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays