The River in Siddhartha Essay

Siddhartha and the Teaching River

Herman Hesses Siddhartha a bildungsroman tells the story of the journey to enlightenment. Siddhartha, a Brahman that lives as a Samana, becomes a rich man, and then finds enlightenment as a ferryman. The river, which the ferryman Vaseduva teaches Siddhartha to hear, leads him to enlightenment. Siddhartha finds a teachers in the river and learns about how to love, time, that even in the darkest hours Om can lead to enlightenment, and that the river knows all through Om.

The river symbolizes a teacher of love and time, in the sense that it does not matter how events reoccur. Siddhartha comes back to the river and starts thinking about suicide because he loses his Samana heart. He then he hears it say the word Om, meaning perfection and he immediately thinks The new Siddhartha felt a deep love for this flowing water and decided, that he would not leave it so quickly (Hesse 101). Siddharthas new understanding of the river reveals that many people just see it as an obstacle in their way, but now he sees the river as teacher of all and of love. This connects to the theme of finding a teacher because the river shows him the path to enlightenment through Om. Siddhartha almost leaves the river for his son who ran away because of him. The river realizes he makes the wound of the love of his son worse and The River was laughing clearly Siddhartha stood still; he bent over the water in order to hear it better. He saw his face reflected in the quietly moving water it resembled the face of his father (Hesse 131). The river reflects how things repeat themselves, just as the water in the river continues to flow towards the ocean. Siddharthas father went through the same pain as he went through when he left. Now Siddhartha faces this pain and the river teaches him patience, that time does not mater and the he will see his son again in a different life. This connects to the theme of finding a teacher because when Siddhartha begins to feel overcome by his pain for his missing son, the river teaches him patience to move past the pain. Siddhartha finds a love for the river and never leaves it again even when his wound become too painful, the river teaches him how to overcome it, the way his father overcame the pain he felt.

Om, meaning perfection, leads Siddhartha out of his sinful ways and into enlightenment through the river and soon learns about life and how it signifies a river. Siddhartha reaches the river and stops to stare at the water, he wraps his arms around a tree, and contemplates about letting go, feeling A chilly emptiness in the water reflected the terrible emptiness in [Siddharthas] soul (Hesse 88). Siddhartha contemplates suicide as an escape from his sins as a gambler and a greedy man and he almost let go and then he heard Om coming from the river. Om, meaning perfection, begins and ends all prayers that a Brahman says and this symbolizes Om because it begins Siddharthas journey to enlightenment and Om gives Siddhartha enlightenment. This connects to finding a teacher, since in the river he finds a teacher of life, and that every life matters, even that of a sinner. He then meets the ferryman Vaseduva who takes Siddhartha as his apprentice ferryman. Eventually he learns to listen to the river well and understand that every life signifies a river. Siddhartha sat by the river listening to it and he realizes 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). Every persons life begins at the source. This proves that no life can follow single path to enlightenment because you have to obtain wisdom. This symbolizes a persons life. This shows life as not just a single path, but also one that sin and atonement justifies. This connects the theme; since the river teaches Siddhartha that one can never try and seek a single path, but find a winding path that leads to enlightenment. Enlightenment symbolizes the ocean because it demonstrates the final destination of the river. Om, which begins and ends all Brahman prayers, gives Siddhartha his enlightenment, and the river teaches that life can never follow a single track but it must take wrong turns, hit bumps, and eventually reach its destination.

The all-knowing river, which through the thousands of voices of Om knows all and instills enlightenment by hears it in these voices, communicates it to Siddhartha. Siddhartha heard the river speak and accepts to stay with Vaseduva as an oarsmen apprentice. Siddhartha decides to learn to listen from the river because The river has taught me to listen, from it you will learn it as well. It knows everything, the river, everything can be learned from it (Hesse 105). Vaseduva learned to listen, from the river because it taught it to him and now it shall teach Siddhartha to listen in the same way. This connects to the theme because Siddhartha now found a teacher of love, time, and enlightenment. This enlightenment happened to Siddhartha when he sat along the bank of the river and heard the river speaking a word very lightly. Then the river made a powerful noise and said in the voice of a king, and of a warrior, and of a bull, and of a bird they said Om (Hesse 108). The voice of the river became thousands in one and this signifies that Enlightenment brings unity to all aspects of Siddharthas life. These voices belong to people from a king to bull to bird, and they all say Om. This connects to the theme of finding a teacher because Siddhartha now listens to thousands of teachers since he belongs to the unity of life. The river, which knows all, teaches Siddhartha through the thousands of voices speaking Om.

Siddharthas quest for finding a teacher begins when he becomes Vaseduvas apprentice and end when he reaches enlightenment through Om. The river teaches Siddhartha proper love in that if you love something, let it go. The river signifies past events that reoccur showing Siddhartha that time does not matter. The river teaches Siddhartha about life and that every life deserves saving, even the life of a sinner. The river symbolizes life itself showing Siddhartha that every life moves in its own path towards the ocean, but never in a straight line. The river that knows everything leads Siddhartha to enlightenment through the power of thousands of voices speaking Om. The river, which signifies the ultimate teacher of all things, knows everything and if you can hear it you can learn from it.