Snorlax's Quote

"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 107).

What is the significance of this quote?

Pikachu's Quote

"Water will go to water, youth to youth. Your son will not be happy in this place. You ask the river and listen to what it says" (Hesse 119).

What is the significance of this line?

Charmander's Quote

"Which father, which teacher, could prevent him from living his own life, from soiling himself with life, from loading himself with sin, from swallowing the bitter drink himself, from finding his own path" (Hesse 121)?

What is the significance of this line?

Works Cited

Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha. New York: New Directions, 1951.

By The River: Why didn't Siddhartha kill himself?

In By The River, Siddhartha has lost his equanimity and comes to a point where he has decided that he wants to commit suicide. At the very last moment before he lets go of the tree, Siddhartha hears a voice, the voice of the Holy Om. This made Siddhartha come to another awakening and realize what he needed to do in life. Siddhartha had obstracized himself and left everyone, including Kamala and Kamaswami, without notice. He started to travel back to the river and sat down to reflect. He had become sick with himself and the way he acted and Siddhartha felt that suicide was the only way to end it all. This Om was a powerful force that affected Siddhartha. He states, " 'Om,' he pronounced inwardly, and he was conscious of Brahman, of the indestructibleness of life; he remembered all that he had forgotten, all that was divine"(Hesse 89). This new awakening was another start of a new path Siddhartha was to take in life. He had become avaricious and overwhelmed with the obsession of his riches, whether they were lost or gained, and forgot what it meant to be truely at peace. These actions had made Siddhartha unhappy. Siddhartha explains, "I had to experience despair, I had to sink to the greatest mental depths, to thoughts of suicide, in order to experience grace, to hear Om again, to sleep deeply again and to awaken refreshed again" (Hesse 97). Siddhartha's connection with his Om prevented him from killing himself and began the roots of the new path he was to take.

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The problem I have with this chapter is the stability of Siddhartha as a character. After realizing that he has awakened again, Siddhartha must convince himself everything in order for him to move on. He states, "[Siddhartha] found it difficult to think; he really had no desire to, but he forced himself" (Hesse 95). He seems very childish and impatient. His conversation with his childhood friend, Govinda, did not seem at all to be either welcoming or thankful. Siddhartha only obsesses over himself and becomes a hypocrite of who he was in the past. The way I see it, Siddhartha saving himself from death only made matters worse and more confusing for Siddhartha.

Works Cited
Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha. New York: New Directions, 1951.

Amongst the People: Why did Siddhartha not become attached to his work?

During Amongst the People Siddhartha gets a job as a merchant working under the old, but wise Kamaswami. He begins his work, and he is very proficient. Even though he becomes a good merchant, something in his practices is lacking. He is not very passionate about his work, which causes him to lose money sometimes. Trivial matters such as going out and meeting the people cause him to tarry duing long business trips. Once after a long business trip Kamaswami asks him why he had taken so long and lost so much money and he replies, "Do not scold, my dear friend. Nothing was ever achieved by scolding. If a loss has been sustained, I will bear the loss. I am very satisfied with this journey. I have become friendly with a Brahmin, children have sat on my knee, farmers have showed me their fields. Nobody took me for a merchant" (Hesse 68). Since he has lived without possesions for so long losing money does not bother him. He is more concerned about making friends so that next time he goes there they will be more inclined to buy from him. In addition to the fact that Siddhartha does not mind losing something as trivial as material possessions, he has also found love in the form of Kamala. Ever since he first sees her he knows she has to be with him. In the beginning when he asks for her friendship she is an avaricous being that ostrasizes him for not bringing her fancy gifts or wearing fancy clothes. Because of this, Siddhartha takes the job to give her these things. Once he becomes rich, their relationship starts to take off and they begin to see each other more and more. They start to make love and are infatuated with one another. The best way to describe how Siddhartha feels about the whole situation is, "Here with Kamala lay the value and meaning of his present life, not in Kamaswami's business," (Hesse 66).

Kamala: Why did Siddhartha come to Kamala and what did he have to do to earn her friendship?

In Kamala, Siddhartha comes upon a large town on his pilgrimage after leaving the Budda. Just outside the town, he encounters the grove of a popular courtesan. Once seeing this courtesan, Siddhartha is determined to become acquainted. Quickly, he returns to the town and discovers that her name is Kamala and that she also owns a home in the town. After making friends with a town barber, Siddhartha cuts his hair and beard and put oil in his new cut to impress the woman. The next morning he approaches Kamala's grove and given the chance to speak to her. She notices that he was at her grove the previous day, with dirt in his beard and long hair. Siddhartha explains, "You have observed well, you have seen everything. You have seen Siddhartha, the Brahmin's son, who left his home in order to become a Samana, and who was a Samana for three years. Now, however, I have left that path..."(Hesse 53). Siddhartha clarifies to Kamala that though his appearance is not one of a Brahmin's son, this is because he had been living the life a Samana who does not involve themselves with physical possessions and looks. He then goes onto explain, "...I would like to ask you to be my friend and teacher, for I do not know anything of the art of which you are mistress" (Hesse 53). He asks Kamala for her friendships and teachings about the pleasures of love. Respectfully, Kamala names three requirements Siddhartha must achieve before she will become his acquaintance. She verifies, "Many young men come to me, including Brahmin's sons, but they come to me in fine clothes, in fine shoes; there is scent in their hair and money in their purses"(Hesse 54). Siddhartha, who stands before her in old torn loincloth, no shoes, and no money, had much work to do in a short amount of time. He accepted her wishes, and asked for advice on the quickest way to achieve these possessions. 

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Siddhartha has begun to completely change his character. Just a few chapter's before, he was filling his life with the self-denial and the way of enlightenment. He did not focus on human desires or pleasures and had spent much time learning the teachings of Budda and the Samanas. Upon seeing this beautiful courtesan, he forgets his ways and wishes to learn about the human aspirations and possessions. He is not palliative about his change in life style but is honest with Kamala in explaining that he has left the ways of the Samanas and his previous path. Siddhartha is caught up in the desire to learn about love he had never experienced and a new way of life. When Kamala tells Siddhartha that he must have nice clothes, nice shoes, and money in his pocket, the previous Siddhartha would not have desired to possess these things, but he openly welcomes the challenge in this stage of his life. He is beginning to get caught up the valuables and mental wants. The mere fact that he came to Kamala in search of teachings about new information hinders that Siddhartha may in-fact not have changed his thoughts and actions completely.