Friday, January 21, 2011
Siddhartha Free Response #3 (Wed 1/26)
Bodies of water are common archetypes in literature, representing the origin of life, a source of purification or rebirth, and the natural border between one state of being and another. Write a well-organized and textually supported post in which you explain how Hesse used water as a structural and metaphoric foundation for the development of Siddhartha.
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In Siddhartha, the river plays a major role in the story even though it is not an actual character. The river was the foundation for Siddhartha's path to reach Nirvana because it guided Siddhartha on his path to enlightenment. It represents life because he searched for knowlegde from it and it made sounds like laughing. The river didn't just guide Siddhartha, it taught him. The river has
ReplyDeletetaught me to listen, from it you will learn it as well. It knows everything, the river, everything can be learned from it. See, you've already learned this from the water too, that it is good to strive downwards, to sink, to seek depth. The rich and elegant Siddhartha is
becoming an oarsman's servant, the learned Brahman Siddhartha becomes a ferryman: this has also been told to you by the river. You'll learn
that other thing from it as well."
Water became a key component in Siddhartha reaching oneself, or nirvana. It was at the water where he met the ferryman, whom shared the wisdom with Siddhartha in which Siddhartha took as a joke. The ferryman told Siddhartha that he didn't have to pay for the ride, but there will come a time where he's going to come back, and that's what he did. The river was the most key when he started to learn that the river could be asked anything and help Siddhartha with his problems, without giving bad advice or saying anything in context. He looks into the river and sees himself and what he's become. He steadily loks into the river to see what is it that he needs in order to find himself. Through journeys of helping people, and traveling people along the river, Siddhartha conversates with the river and his reflections to understand a larger scale of life, like as focusing in on the stars in the sky and being able to find the little dipper. It takes the knowledge inside of one to first understand the star pattern, then be able to identify in order of how they align, to the figure itself. Siddhartha first had to get slapped back into reality, which was done by kamala. Then, it took his own knowledge and wisdom to understand the words of both Vasudeva and the river to finalize the inner self that he wanted to feel in the first place of the journey. In the conclusion, he was able to realize love within the water (river) to prioriterize the nirvana from within.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Pryor