Siddhartha
(Hermann Hesse)

Nirvana

The main thrust of Siddhartha’s journey begins with him wanting to connect to that divine place inside of humanity that he feels unable to access. This leads him down many paths, from denying his body to indulging it, and from teachers to auto-didacticism. Govinda is more rigid, but is living a parallel life of searching for nirvana, as well. The entirety of Siddhartha’s life is merely a set of hypotheses meant to get to enlightenment. It’s in the end that Siddhartha learns that not one experience, but the entirety of all of them is what lets someone reach nirvana.

Spiritual vs. Physical

Siddhartha spends much time moving back and forth between these two realms. His time with the samanas as an ascetic is an example of him trying to escape the physical to reach a higher spiritual plane. Unsuccessful, he moves toward the physical, living a life of wealth and decadence in the city. As that life leads to a dulling of his spiritual senses, he leaves it to return to a simpler life as a ferryman. The appearance of his son though, leads to him diving into the physical world again, this time through his expression of love. After his son runs away from home, Siddhartha looks at his commitment to the emotion as quite silly, but realizes its the unity of both the spiritual and the physical that leads to nirvana.

The River

In the last parts of the book, the river becomes an indispensable motif. It is there where Siddhartha- after leaving the city in disgust of himself- chooses life over death. It’s the same river that he and Vasudeva listen to and watch often. It’s the same river that is the demarcation between Siddhartha’s life as a samana and a merchant. Lastly, it’s the river from which Siddhartha learns about the cyclical nature of existence- sansara- and the unity of all things at all times. With this realization, he reaches nirvana as Vasudeva had years ago.