Post #2 Siddhartha
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Siddhartha by Herman Hesse follows the Hero's Journey monomyth by Joseph Campbell. In Siddhartha, one of the most interesting parts of the story is after he meets Vasudeva again. During that time, Siddhartha achieves many steps of the journey, such as the Ultimate Boon and Refusal of Return. In the most important part of the book, it follows the Hero's Journey.
I think my favorite step of the Hero's Journey that is portrayed in the book is the Refusal of Return. According to Wikipedia, "the hero may not want to return to the ordinary world to bestow the boon onto their fellow beings." In this case, the thing that is holding Siddhartha back is his son. Instead of being a ferryman like in the end of the chapter, In Page 118, it says that "Vasudeva had taken over all the work at the ferry." This is his moment in which he refuses to return. What I find interesting about this is that Siddhartha was much like this in the beginning. He protested to his father that he wanted to go live with the Samanas, but his father did not let him. This also shows this cycle that the book talks about all the time.
I also noticed how the town acted as the "unknown world" in the hero's journey. The river acts as the threshold through the known and unknow worlds. This I find interesting, because Siddhartha actually crosses over back to the land of the unknown in search of his son. This once again shows the reluctance that Siddhartha has in leaving this world. Though deep inside he knows that it is useless and a waste of time to teach the son, he still tries even if it meant returning back to the unknown world.
The Ultimate Boon is also depicted in this book. In this case, I would argue that the Ultimate boon happens later in the book than the Refusal of Return. Only after realizing that he must sever ties with his son does he truly understand. Wikipedia states that the Ultimate Boon is "the achievement of the goal of the quest." In this case, the goal was to achieve Nirvana, which Siddhartha does so. When he leaves his son, his desire is extinguished, allowing him to achieve what he once could not achieve.
I think that your description of the town as the unknown world is very intriguing. The town in Siddhartha represents everything that Siddhartha wanted to avoid or was running away from in life, and so it makes a lot of sense that it serves as the unknown world as well. When he allowed himself to leave the unknown world and separate himself from that part of life without looking down on it, he was able to master and understand both worlds and reach Nirvana.
ReplyDeleteHi Mason! I like that you focused in on only two steps of the journey instead of trying to broadly speculate and biting off more than you can chew. I also like that you included you opinions! It's nice to hear what other's preferences of favorites are. You even go as far as making an argument which makes this interesting to read. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Mason, I agree with your connections of the town, Siddhartha jr, and the refusal of the return. I think that, contrary to Campbell's description, the refusal of return happens because Siddhartha lacks wisdom that Vasudeva would inevitably show him, instead of any ties to the unknown. Only then does Siddhartha realize that he has to let his son go on his own journey.
ReplyDeleteMason I found this post very engaging. Although I disagree, I do see the points you made and I am open to this other idea. I think its a very reasonable the connections you made between Siddhartha Jr and the refusal. I think the whole story is so unique and the whole point is to develop your own understandings which I find fascinating about this work. Good job!
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to read about your perspective on how you viewed how these steps of the hero's journey were represented. I hadn't previously considered how significant Siddhartha's physical location played a role in his journey. I agree that the town is a representation of the his unknown world since it brought actions and feelings that were new and unknown to him.
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