Finding True Happiness In Hermann Hesse's 'Siddhartha'

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is about a man's journey to find inner peace and happiness.  He first decides to try to seek peace by following the Samanas, holy men.  Then he seeks happiness through material things and pleasures of the body.  After this path fails to provide him with the peace for which he searches, he follows Buddha but soon realizes that Buddha's teaching will not lead him to his goal.  Siddhartha finally finds peace when Vasudeva, the ferryman, teaches him to listen to the river.

After leaving Gautama, Siddhartha decides to experience the world of ordinary living. Siddhartha sees a beautiful young courtesan, Kamala, and begs her to teach him the art of love. She tells Siddhartha that he

She insists Siddhartha should be friendly yet have a powerful voice. She tells him to not become his servant but rather Kamaswami’s equal for she will not take in Siddhartha as a student if he stoops below his position.

What is true happiness? I have chosen four texts which relate to my topic of how money can’t buy happiness. Macbeth and The Great Gatsby show how being the most powerful and wealthiest person can’t make you happy. Macbeth is set in in Scotland during the 11th century while The Great Gatsby is set in 1925 on Long Island. These two texts have many similarities and comparisons that i will cover throughout my piece. My other two texts; Money doesn’t buy happiness, neither does poverty and The Pursuit of Happyness are set in more current time and show how money can’t buy happiness and that to be happy you don’t need to be rich and famous.

Here Siddhartha is demonstrating that he is the only one that matters when it comes to thoughts of who he is, and only his opinion of himself matters. Acceptance and the ability to look into himself will lead to that road of happiness. Also, to be minimalistic as to if there is nothing to be needed then it is not. This is something many people should take into consideration as to stay away from being materialistic.

When Gotama admits he has still not found peace, he suddenly has an inexpressible experience much like Siddhartha had when he met Vasudeva years before. Siddhartha then summons Govinda to kiss him on the forehead. Govinda feels as if he is touching perfection, the illustrious one, eternity, and gets a mystical transference from Siddhartha.

        Siddhartha reaches a town and is moved by the beauty of the courtesan Kamala as she enters her grove in a sedan.  This starts Siddhartha stage of the flesh.  He asks her to be his teacher in the arts of love, but Kamala laughs and says that she receives only those young men who approach her in fine clothes and shoes, with scent in their hair and money in their purses. When she learns that Siddhartha can read and write, she conducts him to the businessman Kamaswami, who will help him to acquire the tokens necessary for entrance into her garden of pleasure.  Kamala gives him a kiss in exchange for a good poem, and the amount of knowledge in that kiss amazes Siddhartha.

one side to the other. He too has learnt a lot from the river. He

He starts out by finding friendship with his buddy, Govinda. They have been friends ever since their childhood. There are really close, like each other's shadow. They have traveled and lived most of their life together. Govinda was a very loyal friend. "Govinda, his friend, the Brahmin's son, loved him more than anybody else. He loved Siddhartha's eyes and clear voice. He loved the way he walked, his complete grace

Heroism is generally seen in society as an act of bravery, such as salvation of others from physical danger or facing danger without showing fear. In addition, heroes often have a great sense of morality. A romantic hero is a broader term referring to a character who attains his prize and follows the hero’s journey as outlined by Joseph Campbell. The novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, follows a character named Siddhartha who is a hero in his own right because he attains the wisdom he seeks. Despite Siddhartha’s sense of morality and his apparent lack of concern for others, he is a romantic hero because he learns how to distinguish between knowledge and wisdom, and finds his boon. Siddhartha’s heroism is evident because he is a seeker of truth and desires to discover himself and the world, and through it, enlightenment.

This change in character, though it is more dominant towards the end of the novel, is also seen in the second part of Siddhartha’s journey when he meets Kamala for the first time. It is very surprising when Siddhartha asks Kamala to be his teacher, especially after he relays to Govinda that he was not satisfied with the teachings of the Samanas. But even so, Siddhartha follows through and is a good student, “He visited the beautiful Kamala regularly, learned the art of love in which, more than anything else, giving and taking become one. He talked to her, learned from her, gave her advice, received advice. She understood him better than Govinda had once done. She was more like him” (Hesse 58). This shows that Siddhartha has made a much deeper connection with Kamala than he has anyone before. These connections then show us that Siddhartha has learned about attachment, something that he did not have as a Samana.

Siddhartha begins to deviate from his holy walk in life when he meets Kamala. In Siddhartha Kamala is a pleasure woman who owns a beautiful grove outside of a larger town. “Siddhartha saw how beautiful she was

Throughout Siddhartha, Herman Hesse demonstrations the different paths to enlightenment through the use of memorable characters such as Siddhartha and Govinda. Siddhartha and Govinda were the sons of Brahmins and thus grew up basked in the ways of religion. The boys were constantly praying and listening to teachings of the teachers in their town. Because of this, they are closer to enlightenment, or the knowledge of self, sought by everyone around them. Siddhartha believes that life has more to offer than praying and meditating like his father. Govinda, who is less of a leader than Siddhartha, believes that the only way to enlightenment is through following other teachers. Throughout the book it is shown the each person must find their own path to enlightenment.

   In Siddhartha's quest for enlightenment, Herman Hesse makes the river the final focal point of the novel. Siddhartha is set on his journey to the river by listening to his inner voice and questioning authority. The river comes to represent the ideas through which Siddhartha reaches enlightenment. The essential concepts of time and how it relates to life are discovered by Siddhartha through listening to the river. He comes to realize that his previous conclusion is correct, wisdom cannot be taught. When he reaches nirvana, he also sees how spiritualism and materialism both have a place in the cycle of life. Acting as Siddhartha's inspiration to his ultimate goal, the river

Kamala, is the main, and indeed, the only female main character in the novel Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse. Kamala, a wealthy courtesan, is the bridge between the lay people reading the novel and the main character Siddhartha, who is more of a holy man, than a relatable character. Kamala is a kind, yet selfish women who allows for the reader to connect to Siddhartha, by making him more imperfect. Later in the novel, even after Siddhartha has left town, she unintentionally brings Siddhartha, his son, and again provokes him to react as an imperfect human rather than a holy man. Thus, Kamala, while not necessarily a large character, she is integral to the plot and to the reader's ability to connect to the novel.