Commentary on Siddhartha Essay

Siddhartha

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse tells the story of a Buddhist man searching for enlightenment. Siddhartha Gotama founds Buddhism in Northern India in 535 BCE. It now stands as the forth-largest religion in the world. Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths and the 8 Fold Path. Both the Heron and the Golden Cage Bird symbolize teachers to Siddhartha and his relationships. In Siddhartha, Birds are an important part of the noel because they symbolize Siddhartha trying to find enlightenment through the teachings of others.

In the novel, Siddhartha is constantly looking to find the teacher in every aspect of life. A heron flew over the bamboo wood and Siddhartha took the heron into his soul (Hesse 15). In this quote Siddhartha is examining nature and life through different perspective. He becomes this heron to escape himself and try to reach enlightenment. Flew over the forest and mountains became a heron, ate fishes, suffered heron hunger, used heron language and died a heron death. In this, he uses the life cycle of a heron as a teacher and by this he gains another perspective of life.

Also, another time, Siddhartha looks for a teacher in his lover and friend, Kamala. Kamala kept a small rare songbird in a small golden cage. It was about the bird that he dreamt. This bird, which usually sang in the morning, became mute, and as this surprised him, he went upto the cage and looked inside. The bird was dead and lay stiff on the floor (Hesse 82). Siddhartha dreams of Kamalas songbirds death. This is a symbol of their relationship, both physical and intellectual. The birds death symbolizes the end of both of these relationships and because of this Siddhartha leaves to search for another teacher. He took it out, held it a moment in his hand and then threw it away on the road.

Lastly, the symbol of the bird is relevant after Siddhartha leaves Kamala. She went to the window where she kept the rare song bird in a golden cage. She opened the door to the cage, took the bird and let it fly away (Hesse 85). This symbolizes her also noticing the end of their relationship. For a long time she looked for the disappearing song bird. This shows that she didnt want either of her relationships to end because she wasnt done with Siddhartha.

In Siddhartha by Herman Hesse a Buddhist man searching for enlightenment. Siddhartha Gotama founded Buddhism in Northern India in 535 BCE. It is now the forth-largest religion in the world. Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths and the 8 Fold Path. Both the Heron and the Golden Cage Bird symbolize teachers to Siddhartha and his relationships. In Siddhartha, Birds are an important part of the noel because they symbolize Siddhartha trying to find enlightenment through the teachings of others.