Using Symbolism Dramatic Irony And Imagery

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Formal Outline

Thesis: Using symbolism, dramatic irony, and imagery Herman Hesse’s "Siddhartha" highlights how people find happiness and comfort through spiritual peace, in addition to people thinking that riches bring happiness.

People often find happiness through inner peace but often cannot escape reality.

Siddhartha searches for Spiritual Enlightenment which he finds in the river.

Siddhartha meditates as a samana to try and escape the reality of life.

People often think that great riches or power brings happiness.

Siddhartha discovers that things and riches do not bring happiness.

Scar discovered that great power may be only temporary and will never really satisfy him.

Contentment is one of the most important elements that make out everyday life. Since the beginning of time humans associated contentment with religion, and have often found inner peace not letting anything disturbed them while also acknowledging the wonders of life. Contentment could be as simple as a child playing with a ball or as complicated as solving a quadratic equation, but in the end happiness is what all of us are trying to achieve. Happiness can be interpreted many different ways from psychological and religious and everything in between. Using symbolism, dramatic irony, and motif Herman Hesse’s "Siddhartha" highlights how people find happiness through spiritual peace, in addition to people thinking that riches bring happiness.

People often find happiness through inner peace but often cannot escape reality. People will often go their whole life time trying to achieve this internal happiness. Hesse portrayed this perfectly in his novel "Siddhartha", as Siddhartha searches for Spiritual Enlightenment (Nirvana) which he finds as he starts to listen to the river. The author lets the reader know through symbolism that "That the river led Siddhartha to find enlightment." The author made the river one of the biggest symbols in the book, representing "unity and eternity" (131). When Siddhartha finally listened to the river "Heard it laugh" (134) for the first time and saw the river made up of "Himself and relatives"(135) the author clearly pointed out that he was on his way to spiritual enlightment. The river was what influenced Siddhartha in his journey towards enlightment. The river always stayed flowing, although Siddhartha was always constantly changing.It seemed that he was unchanging at the same time. He went through different phases during his life span, yet he had always been searching for true happiness during all the different phases. It was always apparent that obtaining his main goal of which was happiness was the intention for every adjustment that he went through. Certain views of Siddhartha’s life were not permanent and they vanished. The river also characterized his knowledge of life.

Siddhartha meditates as a samana to try and escape the reality of life. Meditation has been around for over four thousand years, and has been known to clear the mind while also diminishing your heart and soul of pain. This was clearly shown as Siddhartha "Silently stood in the fierce sun rays filled with pain and thirst"(14) but he stood there until he could "No longer feel pain [or] thirst"(14) . Siddhartha had to learn the way of self-denial in order to get away from it all. The author showed the reader through visual imagery what Siddhartha was going through as he meditated and "Slipped out of himself into thousands of different forms" (15). Yet in the end he learns how to defeat his bodies’ senses as if he had not learned anything. With the Samanas Siddhartha hopes that asceticism will aid him to break free of what his father had been teaching him all this time, but it does not. Siddhartha only achieves to enlighten one of the four noble truths. The author makes Siddhartha discover that staying with the Samanas will not bring him enlightment. The author also points out that Siddhartha is no better than a "drunkard" (17) just simply because it is a "flight from the self" (17). Siddhartha does indeed find escape through meditation such as the "drunkard" but they return from the illusion and find that everything is as it was before. They have not gained any knowledge nor have grown any wiser from the experience; it is to just unaffectedly "[escaping the] pains of life" (17). Siddhartha only finds a short delay in his exercises and meditation, and is remote from wisdom, from salvation, "as a child in the womb" (17). Nothing will change even if you meditate for 2 days, you will come back as hungry as you were before or even worse. In order for Siddhartha to go up his psychological spiral staircase of life, he must notice that staying as a samana would not take him any further up the stairs, but rather hold him back and he does realize it and is able to break free and continue on with his journey to find nirvana.

People often think that great riches or power brings happiness. People often associate happiness with money or power, but they do not realize that most of these things are often temporary. No matter the amount of money that a person has it could all be gone in a split second, and at the end of it all money is not what brings true happiness. The author showed this quite well as the main character Siddhartha felt trapped by these possessions and riches. They were no longer a "game" and a "toy" (79) but rather "chains and a burden" (79). He will never be satisfied or happy with his riches. As far as enlightment Siddhartha would not reach it through his riches or possessions he is just simply leaving his old self behind, the samana, and the Buddha’s son. Just like asceticism was a dead end and lead him no closer to finding nirvana his riches are doing the same thing to him. The author shows the reader through symbolism that Siddhartha spiritual self is trapped in a cage just like Kamala’s little pet bird. Siddhartha has a dream about the bird dying which symbolically represented "all that was good and of value in himself" (82). He comp

He reflects upon the desert of his soul and resolves that because his life among the child-people is a slow, corrosive death, he must leave the city that night. The sterile life of the city has become a prison for his soul as the cage is a prison for the little songbird.