Amongst the People

Siddhartha decides to follow Kamalas advice and goes to meet Kamaswami, a rich merchant. In order to have an affair with the courtesan, he has to "have clothes, fine clothes, and shoes and pleanty of money in his purse and presents for Kamala."  (Pg. 44) He does so by going to the merchants house and trying to become his equal. After some time, Siddhartha wore fine clothes and had everything the courtesan had instructed him to have. They finally started having an affair. 

While reading, I realized that Siddhartha and Kamala were not only similar, but had the power to control all of their senses by not loving others. They had freedom and could do what they wanted. This reminded me of a movie I saw in Global Studies called "Iron Jawed Angels". This film talks about the role woman played before and during World War 1, and how they stood up for their rights and beliefs. 

One of their leaders was Alice Paul. She dedicated her life to getting woman´s equality, and did not care about anything else, including herself. At some point in the movie, she said "When you're alone you can make any choice you want. But when someone loves you, you lose that right. I won't give anything away until we have it all. I can't". This is the idea that Siddhartha has, indirectly. He does not love, nor has any fears of not being loved. He does not expect anything from anyone, and receives what he can get from others.  

He has won his serenity by the freedom of having nothing but himself, and does not depend on the thoughts of others. "And yet, my dear, you have remained a Samana. You do not really love me-you love nobody. Is that not true?(Kamala)____"Maybe, said Siddhartha wearily. I am like you. You cannot love either, otherwise how could you practice love as an art? Perhaps people like us cannot love. Ordinary people can-that is their secret".  (Pg 59).