The Steppenwolf, a novel written by German poet, author and painter Hermann Hesse, is a fictional story presented in the form of a manuscript written by a middle-aged man named Harry Haller. Harry Haller leaves his manuscript titled ‘Harry Haller’s records (For Mad Men only)’ to the nephew of the lady he is renting a room from, after adding a short preface to the manuscript the nephew has it published. Our protagonist, Harry, is an intellectual who is riddled with despair and melancholy. He feels he is not a fit for the world in which he finds himself. He does not allow himself to be dictated to by time, by societal expectations or what could be viewed as the bourgeoisie life style. He is disconnected, detached and, as noted by the young nephew of his landlady, he is lonely. After a chance encounter with the nephew we learn Harry refers to himself as the Steppenwolf “a wolf of the Steppes,” alone and a wanderer in this world which is unconceivable and unfathomable to him and offers him no joy, nor pleasure. The novel narrates Harry’s unease and anxiety as he attempts to overcome his debilitating sense of displacement and misery at the Whilst at a professors home, Harry decides to break his last tie to humanity by insulting the well known German poet, Goethe. Certain that he has severed all ties he decides to commit suicide that evening. However, in a tavern that night he he meets a captivating young girl and she gives him motherly advice. The following week they meet again. This girl resembles a male friend Harry had as a child, named Herman. Harry guesses her name is Hermine, and it is. Hermine and Harry are soon friends, she helps him out of isolation and in turn Harry agrees to obey all her commands. Hermine informs Harry that he will eventually fall in love with her and once that happens she will ask him to
Hermann Hesse’s novel “Siddhartha” is one of spiritual renewal and self discovery. The novel revolves around the life of one man named Siddhartha, who leaves his home and all earthly possessions in an attempt to find spiritual enlightenment. The novel contains many themes, including the relationship between wisdom and knowledge, spirituality, man’s relationship to the natural world, time, love, and satisfaction. To portray these themes, Hesse employs many different rhetorical devices, particularly diction, symbolism, and point of view. These devices allow us, as a reader, to reevaluate our lives and seek fulfillment in the same way that Siddhartha did.
He discusses demise in the primary sentence, saying, “The marvelous thing is that it’s painless” (Hemingway 826). As the story creates, Harry as often as possible specifies his desire to pass on or the way he feels that passing is close now. “You can shoot me.” (Hemingway 826) and “I don’t want to move” (Hemingway 827), and “There is no sense in moving now except to make it easier for you” (Hemingway 827) and “Can’t you let a man die as comfortably as he can without calling him names? “ (Hemingway 827). It sounds as though Harry is surrendering, not so much, since he is a weakling, despite the fact that his wife calls him that, yet more since he feels that, it is more agreeable for him right now to set down and pass on as opposed to sitting tight for a truck or plane that will most likely never arrive. During the rest of the story, Harry has several moments when he feels the proximity of
Consistent in literature throughout every era and culture, archetypes represent a recurring image, pattern, or motif mirroring a typical human experience. An idea developed by Carl Jung, archetypes in literature exist as representations reflecting vital perceptions of the human psyche expressing the manner in which individuals experience the world. Using Jung’s concept, writers of all epochs embeds archetypes in structures, characters, and images of their narratives. John Gardner, in his novel Grendel, integrates several of Jung’s archetypes into his epic tale derived from the early story Beowulf. Gardner associates Jung’s personas of the outcast, the shadow, and the mentor-pupil relationship through the identities of Grendel, the narrator of events, and the dragon.
In three dynamic pieces of literature, the desperate yet hopeful characters gallantly endure the struggles of achieving their dreams as they experience the pain of desolation and the life-fulfilling happiness of a friendly companion. Through hostile resentment, the intense repulsion created by generations of territorial disputes tears apart two vengeful foes, Ulrich and Georg, in Saki’s captivating tale. Whereas in Remarque’s gory war novel, the pure terror of battle brutally slaughters the once innocent minds of soldiers as they undergo changes in their heart and soul within themselves. Although impervious to the influence of the reclusive residents tied to the ranch, as they quest for their shared aspirations, George and Lennie forge an invincible friendship in Steinbeck’s calamitous novelette.
named Julia, he finds someone else who shares in his beliefs. The two have several meetings throughout the book, in which they
Harry, named at birth as Erich Weisz, had an unsettled childhood. He was born to a father who was a Jewish Rabbi and was one of seven children. At the age of four, he moved with his family to the United States of America, where he the family changed its surname to Weiss. At first, they lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, but then moved to New York City when he was at the age of 13. He took on a lot of odd, magic-related jobs while calling himself “Ehrich, the Prince of the Air”. He began to get interested in trapeze arts and performed in many small places like museums and side-shows.
It has been said that the wolf is one of the most voracious and horrifying animals that exist in nature today. But, in all reality, is that actually true? One is unable to make an assumption such as this without a firsthand experience, or so that is expressed in In The Shadow of a Rainbow and Never Cry Wolf. Authors Robert Franklin Leslie and Farley Mowat make every attempt to convey the true nature of the wolf throughout their journeys, as they prove claims falsely accusing wolves, with documented evidence of complete vigilance. These works of literary nonfiction effectively refute anti-wolf claims made within them through being dangerous to the wildlife, dangerous to humans, and viciousness.
When reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” or Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener,” the audience might notice how they are stories of men who become detached from the society after a notable change in how they act towards the world. However, while Bartleby’s disconnection stems from work-related changes, Young Goodman Brown’s disconnection is caused by a “spiritual” experience. I want to focus on how many things these characters have in common, to show what may have caused their change of view in the societies around them.
Anyone who reads The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe instantly feels the emotional intensity portrayed by Werther, the protagonist. His speculations about life are indeed unique, especially in modern times when life often goes by quickly without notice. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why his immense emotion strikes a chord with readers as coming from someone crazy or dangerous. Werther’s mental state seems incredibly alive at some times while seemingly lifeless at others. This lifeless state of mind is similar to another sorrowful character in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. In his story of Billy Pilgrim, a similar wonder engulfs the reader, causing us to question the cause of both his mindset and of our own. These books bring a couple of interesting questions to mind… How much emotion is too much? How little is too little? These characters struggle with powerful emotion in many ways, and are therefore judged as mad. The two protagonists engage in totally different journeys, but each of them leads the reader to discover the limits of human emotion. These limits are reached by Werther and Billy, therefore leading to both characters’ demise.
At First the article Touches on the questioning of what Faust is. In summery, Faust is the protagonist of an old German story about a guy who is actually really successful, but at the same time is somewhat dissatisfied with his life life. He had a serious lust for earthly happiness, alo...
...me and the Structure of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha." Symposium 11.2 (Fall 1957): 204-224. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 196. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.
Tobias Wolff’s “Hunters in the Snow” and William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” have related elements, but also divergent styles. The two stories expose that their characters were desperately looking and needed a change in their lives; either a change to help get over the limitation of the character’s freedom or a change in domination. The way Wolf and Faulkner wrote their stories caught many different types of audience by how similar and different their stories share, even though the stories were written in different time periods.
14. Walter, Soreil. Hermann Hesse The Man Who Sought and Found Himself. London: Oswald Wolff, 1974.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the brilliant mind behind the 17th century’s “Faust”, illustrates a combining structure of desire and self-indulgence. As a brilliant poet and artiste during the Enlightenment Age; Goethe’s poetry debates on the far-reaching rationalism that man is willing to go above and beyond to achieve his goals. All throughout the poem, Goethe projected a sense of unrelenting dissatisfaction of how a man’s sense of inaccessibility, and his emotional need to come to a realization of the world he lives in.