River in "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse
The river is a source of knowledge. It symbolises a teacher, a guru,
one who knows and is aware of this knowledge and who imparts it to
those who seek knowledge from it. In Herman Hesse’s novella Siddhartha,
the protagonist Siddhartha is deeply mystified by the secrets and
puzzles of the river. He seeks to unravel and them and gain knowledge
from the river in order to achieve his goal of attaining nirvana,
enlightenment. He is helped in his course by a ferryman Vasudeva, who
has lived all his life close to the river, transporting people from
one side to the other. He too has learnt a lot from the river. He
helps Siddhartha in understanding the river and at instances,
clarifies his doubt. The river’s knowledge, for Siddhartha, is the
last knowledge with which he can attain nirvana. It was the only thing
that could help him to take the last step in achieving salvation.
When Siddhartha approaches the river the second time in his life,
after enjoying all the worldly pleasures of wealth, love, power, he is
deeply attracted to it, he is enchanted by it. He says “Love this
river, stay by it……..many secrets, all secrets” on pg 166. Siddhartha
wants to learn from the river, he wants to listen to it; he wants to
unravel its secrets. Siddhartha is looking towards the river as an
abundance of knowledge which he wishes to seek. He believes that by
understanding the river’s knowledge, secrets, one can know more about
other different things, other secrets, all secrets. The river’s
knowledge is like a gateway to other kinds of knowledge. He has
already understood one secret; the river is omnipresent. It flows
continuously but it always there. This statement foreshadows that
Sid...
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...ted to him all its
knowledge at that precise moment which turned Siddhartha from a common
man to a spiritual soul.
In conclusion, the entire story has a greater meaning to it that is
applicable to our present world. The story is not asking us to follow
Siddhartha’s way or to spend hours near the river, trying to
understand it. The story’s greater meaning is that to achieve any
goal, it is us who need to take the path. We may or may not accept
teachings; we may or may not reject teachers who are our guides.
However, it is our Self that will have to reach its final destination.
Our guides, who are experienced, who have walked on the path we are
about to take, who are full with knowledge and wisdom can impart all
what they to know to us but these can only show the way to attain our
goal. It is only us who have to walk the final path of attaining our
goal.
Siddhartha is a much respected son of a Brahmin who lives with his father in ancient India. Everyone in their town expects Siddhartha to act like his father and become successful. Although he lives a very high quality life, Siddhartha is dissatisfied and along with his best friend Govinda- wants nothing more than to join the group of wandering ascetics called Samana’s. This group starves themselves, travels almost naked and must beg for the food they survive on. This group of people believes that to achieve enlightenment and self-actualization: body image, health, physical and material desires must be thrown away. Although this is the life Siddhartha wished for himself, he soon discovers that it is not the right choice for him. Near desolation, Siddhartha happens upon a river where he hears a strange sound. This sound signifies the beginning of the life he was born to live – the beginning of his true self. Hesse uses many literary devices to assure Siddhartha’s goal of self-actualization and creates a proper path for that success.
In “Ask Me” by William Stafford, Stafford uses tone,idiom, and symbolism to explain why thought his life was like a river. William Stafford uses the river to help him be able to answer any questions people might have for him.
As people, we all have pleasures that we enjoy doing or having. For example, eating your favorite food or playing your sport may give you satisfaction. In Chapter 7, Samsara, Siddhartha goes through a time of finding self-actualization through pleasures. Kamaswami, a business man, teaches Siddhartha how to earn money. Instead of continuing to follow the Samana teachings, he began to eat, buy clothes, and drink alcohol. Siddhartha turned materialistic, for example, he had his own servants with a house, a garden, and he became a gambler. He had money, wealth, and luxurious pleasures that began to fade away the previous Siddhartha. As a gambler, “he played the game as a result of a heartfelt need” (79). When Siddhartha would play dice, he would
In this novel the protagonist of the story, Siddhartha, believes that the teachings of others will not allow you to reach Nirvana. Therefore, he sets out on a journey to experience the world for himself, the good and the bad, in order to become closer to enlightenment and to eventually become an enlightened one himself, a Buddha. After each experience Siddhartha comes to a new conclusion as his outlook on life changes, as he becomes closer to enlightenment.
Rivers often serve several purposes, may it be physically or metaphorically they enhance life as a whole. The son of Nazareth being baptized in a river signifies it 's importance of enlightenment, becoming overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit. As our protagonist searches for complete Nirvana in the beautifully illustrated Siddartha, he is ultimately instructed by a river. Going far beyond a physical landmark, Herman Hesse exemplifies the significance of the river. The river provided the lighting path for Siddartha and satisfying his thirst for knowledge. As Siddartha encounters the river several times in his quest for Nirvana, he is lead through various obstacles that act as a catalyst to his enlightenment.
The novel River God by Wilbur Smith is set in Ancient Egypt, during a time when the kingdoms were beginning to collapse and the Upper and Lower Egypt were separated between two rulers. The story is in the view-point of Taita, a highly multi-talented eunuch slave. At the beginning of the story, Taita belongs to Lord Intef and helps manage his estate along with caring for his beautiful daughter, Lostris. She is in love with Tanus, a fine solider and also Taita’s friend. Unfortunately, Lord Intef despises Tanus’s father, Lord Harrab, and Intef was actually the one who the cause of the fall of Harrab’s estate, unknowingly to Lostris and Tanus. Taita’s goal is to bring back Egypt to its former glory, but with so many bandits and invaders it would be a difficult task.
"Eventually the watcher joined the river, and there was only one of us. I believe it was the river." The river that Norman Maclean speaks of in A River Runs Through It works as a connection, a tie, holding together the relationships between Norman and his acquaintances in this remote society. Though "It" is never outwardly defined in the novella there is definite evidence "It" is the personality of the people and that the river is running through each individual personality acting as the simple thread connecting this diverse group of people.
Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha describes the journey and maturation of Siddhartha. Siddhartha is a young Indian, whose journey to find internal peace takes him to many different places. One of these is the city, where he soon accumulates a large fortune. Wealth and material possession haunt Siddhartha and hinder him from attaining internal peace. This is also demonstrated Brahmin village where he is unhappy with the rituals, and sees wealth and material goods destroying him Herman Hesse uses Siddhartha demonstrate that success is not derived from material wealth, but from personal successes that may have nothing to do with wealth.
Nick is the overseer in the novel, and shook by the pretentious of the upper class 's carelessness, causing him to desire to leave the East back to where he originally began. He witnesses innocent dreamers get crushed by the harshness of the world. The fallacies of America are utilized to depict the faults in the dreams of each character. In the end, death inevitably killed their endeavor to pursue the American
When reflecting and writing on Eiseley’s essay and the “magical element”, I balk. I think to myself, “What magic?”, and then put pen to page. I dubiously choose a kiddie pool to draw inspiration from, and unexpectedly, inspiration flows into me. As I sit here in this little 10x30 foot backyard, the sky is filled with the flowing gaseous form of water, dark patches of moist earth speckle the yard, the plants soak up their scattered watering, and the leaves of bushes and trees imbue the space with a sense of dampness from their foliage. As my senses tune into the moisture that surrounds me, I fill Braedon’s artificial pond with water. I stare at the shimmering surface, contemplating Eiseley’s narrative, and the little bit of life’s wellspring caught in Brae’s pool. I see why Eiseley thought the most abundant compound on the earth’s surface is mystical.
The Battler has been yet another tale of the life of Nick Adams. An odd tale at that. We are introduced to Nick as he is tossed out of a train, falling on his hands and knees. His clothes are torn and his knees are scraped. He goes to the nearest body of water and begins to wash his hands carefully. Nick Adams is traveling alone, possibly from something in his past (47). He is washing his hands to rid of the dirt, but this may symbolize him washing his hands clean of what he had been through or what he had done in his past. Nick then watches the lights going out of sight, watching what he used to know completely disappear. Nick sees his past disappear as his hands become clean and the last of the train is out of sight. He is starting anew.
Happiness is perhaps the only clear ultimate end. Happiness is what we strive for by itself and not to get anything else. "So it appears that happiness is the ultimate end and completely sufficient by itself. It is the end we seek in all we do.';(Aristotle, 461) Mans' good is related to his purpose; the purpose of a man involves the actions of his soul (the soul being a part of his reasoning). By carrying out the activities of his soul and doing so with proper excellence and virtue, man is able to reach a desirable end.
...f our acts do not have an impact on the ultimate goal. In regard to this response, I would say that it is in our nature to do what makes us happy, whether it is true happiness through virtues or happiness from material things. Either way one is going to do whatever they can to obtain what pleasures their soul. Our acts shape and mold us whether we know it or not. Our acts and decisions shape us, which can change our goals as well. If we perform virtuous acts then our goal will be virtuous which is why all of our acts should be aimed towards that goal.
to achieve that goal, but rather just to set our faces toward peace, and act and speak
The most perfect goal would be perfect happiness, and just like what stripe thought, we will find the perfect happiness on the top, up there where we came from, up there where we always wanted to be: beside God, in the arms that nurtured us from the very beginning.