Study for Siddhartha Test Tomorrow
Siddhartha Study Guide
Characters
Siddhartha - protagonist, searches for enlightenment, forges his own path, individualism is important
Govinda- Siddhartha’s friend and follower, becomes a follower of the Buddha, Siddhartha’s character foil
The Samanas- wandering ascetics who shun the material world in hopes of attaining spiritual insights
Gotama (Buddha) - religious leader, founder of the Buddhist faith, based on the historical Buddha, teaches not to love but to have compassion
Kamala - Siddhartha’s lover, mother of his son, represents the physical or sensual world
The Son - the story comes full circle when Siddhartha’s son teaches him to love and then suffer, Siddhartha must let him so so that he can follow his own path
Kamaswami - the merchant, Siddhartha’s employer in the town
Vasudeva - the ferryman, achieved enlightenment, teaches Siddhartha to listen to the river
Plot
External Conflict - Will Siddhartha reach enlightenment?
Internal Conflict - Will Siddhartha be able to accept and love all parts of himself?
Climax (p. 72) - Siddhartha has a spiritual reawakening after he contemplates ending his life.
Allusions/Allegory - The story is allegorical in that it is a simple story with a deeper symbolic meaning. Siddhartha’s journey is physical but his path to spiritual enlightenment is highly symbolic.
Point of View - Siddhartha’s perspective for the first 11 chapters -- then it changes to Govinda’s p.o.v.
Theme (A comes back to A, but is no longer A.)
What changes? Siddhartha. He achieves enlightenment and accepts every part of himself, which includes loving his son and suffering because of his love.
What makes it change? Siddhartha’s experiences. Namely his relationship with and loss of his son. He truly suffers as a result of his love and thus has to learn to accept his suffering.
Why does the author have it change that way? To arrive at the theme.
The theme is: If all is one, then we must learn to love all.
Symbolism:
The River - unity, timelessness, enlightenment
The Caged Bird - Siddhartha’s spiritual self, or his connection to the spiritual world
The Ferryman/Ferry - the bridge between two extremes, the middle path
Smile - enlightenment
The Voice - not entirely clear, but seems to be Siddhartha’s connection to the spiritual world or his soul
Hero’s Journey (Call to Adventure, Threshold, Mentor, Helper, Challenges/Tests, Abyss, Transformation, Return, Boon)
Call - Siddhartha is unhappy and wants to find enlightenment.
Threshold - The Samanas come into town and he leaves the known world to follow them.
Mentor - Himself, the Buddha, Kamala, the Ferryman, the river
Helpers - Govinda
Challenges and Tests - Numerous (one example is becoming a Samana and practicing self-denial)
Abyss - Siddhartha almost ends his own life, but hears the Voice again and feels a connection to the Brahman.
Transformation - Achieves enlightenment.
Boon - Knowledge/Wisdom (one example is that Siddhartha learns that “time is not real” on p. 115)
Main Ideas: Love, Sansara, Enlightenment, Oneness, Suffering, Transcendance, Wisdom Through Experience, Individualism, Asceticism (Self-Denial)
East vs. West (in order to experience the oneness of all things, a person must follow their own individual path) There are many examples of the coming together of Eastern and Western ideas.
Existentialism: a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.
The coming together of these two traditions is shown in various ways throughout the novel. One example is that, although this narrative is set in India and the characters espouse the beliefs of Eastern religion, Siddhartha must live authentically and follow his own path to achieve enlightenment. Thus, we see Siddhartha’s experience of the spiritual unity of all things (oneness) realized through the living an authentic life and following an individual path (Existentialism).
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