Questions in Mind?
As I started to read Siddhartha, I was struck by many different questions. At the beggining of the story, Hesse tells us how Siddhartha grows up into a handsome, intelligent young man. Govinda his friend and companion, as well as everyone in town, loves him: "That was how everybody loved Siddharta. He delighted and made everybody happy" (Pg.2). It was said that he was a pure spirit and would become a god someday.
While I read this I wondered how would life be for Siddhartha?
Why was he loved so much?
Did he ever make mistakes, and if he did were they recognized?
Siddhartha started to feel "the seeds of discontent" rise beneath him. He started to question everything he new: religion, family, rituals, the meaning of life etc.
If he was so unhappy with himself, how could he make others happy?
Did he not show his bad energy?
How could a person that is so magnificent be questioned by their own existence?
Gilgamesh and Siddhartha:
As I started to read Siddhartha, I was struck by many different questions. At the beggining of the story, Hesse tells us how Siddhartha grows up into a handsome, intelligent young man. Govinda his friend and companion, as well as everyone in town, loves him: "That was how everybody loved Siddharta. He delighted and made everybody happy" (Pg.2). It was said that he was a pure spirit and would become a god someday.
While I read this I wondered how would life be for Siddhartha?
Why was he loved so much?
Did he ever make mistakes, and if he did were they recognized?
Siddhartha started to feel "the seeds of discontent" rise beneath him. He started to question everything he new: religion, family, rituals, the meaning of life etc.
If he was so unhappy with himself, how could he make others happy?
Did he not show his bad energy?
How could a person that is so magnificent be questioned by their own existence?
Gilgamesh and Siddhartha:
Gilgamesh and Siddhartha:
Through the story, I did some connections from the books Siddhartha and Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh and Siddhartha are both magnificent characters. "He wanted to follow Siddartha, the beloved, the magnificent"....That was how everybody loved Siddharta. He delighted and made everybody happy" (Pg.2). Both have companions: Enkidu and Govinda. "Govinda, his friend, the Brahmin's son, loved him more than anybody else. He loved Siddharta's eyes and clear voice...and above all he loved his intellect..." (Pg.2). Their story revolves not only around their magnitude but also around the gods. "And if he ever became a god, if he ever entered the All-Radiant, then Govinda wanted to follow him...." (Pg. 2). These characters also share one question, what is the meaning of life? Gilgamesh searched for it and Siddhartha questions its essence, as he tries to understand the meaning of the Self, the only important thing. "...where did His eternal heart beat, if not within the Self, in the innermost, in the eternal which each person carried within him? But where was this Self, this innermost? It was not flesh and bone, it was not thought or conciousness." (Pg. 2) Though the story, both characters enrich themselves with experience, though sacrifice and tolerance. "We have learned much, Siddharta. There still remains much to llearn. We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is spiral; we have already climbed many steps."(Pg.14).
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