From this week's readings, type out a quote and explain its significance to the book, to character development, to philosophical issues, or to grand ideas of any sort.
"Your poetry is very good, brown Samana, and truly there is nothing to lose if I give you a kiss for it. (47)" When Kamala says this it seems to have two meanings. His poetry represents his pure side. The Siddhartha from the previous chapter is a man who did things without expecting payment of any type. When she kisses him she says "there's nothing to lose." This is ironic, because this is the beginning of him losing his spiritual self. And "losing himself" to all worldly and materialistic things.
"Certainly I travelled for my pleasure," laughed Siddhartha, "Why not? I have been acquainted with people and new districts. I have enjoyed friendship and confidence." p.55
The above quote shows that although Siddhartha has decided to become more materialistic in his quest for Kamala, he still stays true to a part of himself. Siddhartha has not allowed himself to become a money driven merchant like his boss Kamaswami, and he has shown that he still enjoys learning from people and that he still may be on his track to seek out and find nirvana. Siddhartha goes on to explain that if Kamaswami had gone on the trip, he would have spent very little time there and would not have enjoyed the village as he had. I think that Siddhartha is trying to prove to Kamaswami and himself that he still has the traits of a Samana and that he has not completely changed.
"he was Govinda no longer, but a woman and out of the woman's gown emerged a full breast, and Siddharta lay there and drank"
I think this dream of Siddharta's spawns from his longing of companionship he used to have with Govinda and now he misses it. By being alone for such along time, Siddharta is beginning to desire company again more so than enlightenment. He has discovered much of what he set out to discover and now is at a pass where he doesn't know what to do. He begins to compare people like the ferryman to Govinda's friendship further demonstrating his longing of company.
"thereupon he embraced Govinda, put his arm round him, and as he drew him to his breast and kissed him, he was Govinda no longer, but a women and out of the woman's gown emerged a full breast, and Siddhartha lay there and drank; sweet and strong tasted the milk from this breast."pg 40 This is the quote is about siddhartha dream that he has. he has a lot of obscure thoughts and they could mean a lot of different things but i'm not positive on what they mean. The fact that he kissed another man could suggest that he is gay but we'll have to see if later on in the book there are any other illusions to that.
"I am like you. You cannot love either, otherwise how could you practice love as an art? Perhaps people like us cannont love. Ordinary people can-that is their secret." -Siddhartha pg. 59
This qoute occurs when Siddhartha is talking to Kamala. Kamala tells Siddhartha that he does not love her and he responds with maybe. I think this quote is important to the character development of Siddhartha because here he is finding what some of his limitations as a person are. His whole life he has strived to learn and achieve as much as possible but even so, he is still unable to love. This new knowledge that Siddhartha recognizes about himself can be used to see that, like every other person, Siddhartha too has faults that he cannot overcome.
“As a new dress grows old with time, loses its bright color, becomes stained and creases, the hems frayed, and here and there weak and threadbare places, so had Siddhartha’s new life which he has begun after his parting from Govinda, become old.” (Page 63)
Siddhartha refers to the dress in the quote as a reference of decay. He relates the dress to his own life. Like the dress, which has become stained and frayed, he feels that his own life is now without true meaning. Leading the life as a merchant and businessman isn’t fulfilling and he begins to think about leaving.
"He saw trees, stars, animals, clouds....All this, colored and in a thousand different forms, had always been there....but in previous times all this had been nothing to Siddhartha but a fleeting and illusive veil before his eyes" (37)
In this quote, Siddhartha has left the spiritual world and entered reality. He begins to notice more things in the world around him, even those as simple as trees. This also foreshadows Siddhartha's meeting with Kamala. Kamala represents the materialistic world, rather than the spiritual world. Siddhartha focuses more on materialistic qualities, rather than spiritual qualities in his life with Kamala.
"She opened the door of the cage, took the bird out and let it fly away. For a long time she looked after the disappearing bird. From that day she received no more visitors and kept her house closed. After a time, she found that she was with child as a result of her last meeting with Sidharthra." Pg. 69 This relates back to when Sidharthra has the dream about this same bird dying. Sidharthra dreams about the bird dying when he realizes that he needs to move on from the life of greed and riches that he is living. In the next chapter Sidharthra realizes that the bird has not actually died. The significance of Kamala setting the bird free is that the bird in a way is like a symbol of Sidharthra. Before the bird was trapped in the cage, which is the riches and greed that Sidharthra had fallen to. Once Sidharthra let those things go he was free, just as the bird was freed from the cage.
"He loved this feeling and continually sought to renew it, to increase it, to stimulate it, for in this feeling alone did he experience some kind of happiness, some kind of excitement, some heightened living in the midst of his satiated, tepid, insipid existence." (64) I believe that this is how Siddhartha runs his life. Just looking for the next thing to challenge him. Then, he thinks, “how can he change it to make it better, or that feeling stronger?” It's almost like he is just trying to find the next high. First it was the Samana, then the perfect one, and then Kamala. So I wonder what will be next. Maybe he'll retrace his steps. Because after all he is a father now.
"And yet he envied them; the more he became like them, the more he envied them"(62). This is when Siddhartha sees all the ordinary people and wants to be like them. This shows Siddhartha starting to realize that maybe it's not about what religion or philosophy he follows, but to do what he wants to do. Siddhartha learned that its better to be yourself than to be try to be someone else that has a good life or lives with good values. He needs to create his own values and decide whats best for him and not just follow everyone else.
"This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it." (pg. 78)
Siddhartha seems to be doing the same thing over and over again in his search for self and enlightenment. He finds a teacher to teach him about things and a new lifestyle until he feels that he can no longer learn from them and is no longer satisfied with that life style. Then he starts over and finds a new teacher and lifestyle. This pattern spirals in circles and will, Siddhartha hopes, eventually end with enlightenment, a higher understanding of his self and life.
"I possess nothing," said Siddhartha, "if that is what you mean. I am certainly without possessions, but of my own free will, so I am not in need." (52) This has to do with the ultimate goal of finding nervana and finding himself and about how he must not possess nothing so that he can reach the goal of enlitenment.
"Kamaswami conducted his business with care and often with passion, but Siddhartha regarded it all as a game, the rules of which he endeavored to learn well, but which did not stir his heart"(53). Here, we see that Sid is still very much a student, but a restless one at that. He is constantly learning new things (for example, the trade of the merchant) but he does not feel at peace, or does not feel emotionately attached or passionate about it. Up until now, his every step in life has been pure knowledge and learning new things, being clever, etc. He does not attach himself to his work, for it does not "stir in his heart". It will be interesting to see what Sid considers worthy of passion, or if he ever will find the Nirvana he strives for.
"'And what are you now, Siddhartha?' 'I do not know; I know as little as you. I am on the way. I was a rich man, but I am no longer and what I will be tomorrow I do not know.'...'The wheel of appearances revolves quickly'" (76). Here Siddhartha is talking to Govinda and by saying 'and what I will be tomorrow I do not know' he is implying that he doesn't know who he is going to be because his fate is not predestined and what he is tomorrow depends on the decisions he makes until then. This quote relates to the typical ideals of existentialism that your character is shaped and determined by the decisions you've made in your life. This is a recurring concept in the novel. Molly Riegel
"Sidhartha laughed. 'I have already been judged by my clothes today and regarded with suspicion. Will you accept these clothes from me, which I find a nuisance? for I must tell you that I have no money to pay your for taking me across the river.'" (84)
This shows Sidhartha's start of a 180 turn around from his materialistic downfall. He wants to give up the rich clothes that he has to shed himself of the appearance that he had being a rich merchant. He now asks the ferry man for a ride in exchange of his clothes because Sidhartha has already crossed the river before without paying so now he wants to be fair and actually pay for his ride.
“As a new dress grows old with time, loses its bright color, becomes stained and creases, the hems frayed, and here and there weak and threadbare places, so had Siddhartha’s new life which he has begun after his parting from Govinda, become old.” (Page 63)
I think that this quote is really important to the book as a whole and really captures the reality of certain situations everyday normal people get themselves into. We try acting one way for a while and for a while it serves its purpose and causes happiness. Then we see something else...in this case someone with a much more beautiful and colorful dress...and we suddenly are not content with the one we have been wearing. Sidhartha relates to the rest of humanity in this and repeats it over and over again. Each stage of his life was very different dresses and each one he got sick of.
"He remembered that at that time he had boasted of three things to Kamala, three noble and invincible arts: fasting, waiting, and thinking. These were his possessions, his power and strength, his firm staff. He had learned these three arts and nothing else during the diligent, assiduous years of his youth. Now he had lost them, he possessed none of them any more, neither fasting, nor waiting, nor thinking. He had exchanged them for the most wretched things, for transitory, for the pleasures of the senses, for high living and riches..and now, it seemed that he had indeed become an ordinary person" (77) This quote describes Siddhartha's loss of self control to desire. Throughout the book he had trained himself to resist temptation. He later states that as he grows older, he seems to become more like a child, and no longer in control.
"He must have clothes, fine clothes, and shoes, fine shoes, and plenty of money in his purse and presents for Kamala." pg. 45 Kamala is telling Siddhartha that he must have these things before he will be allowed to have Kamala teach him her art of love. This is very different from what originally Siddhartha had set out doing in his life. He had set out with the Samana's to learn that he did not need material things in life to be able to gain enlightenment. However, now he is changing his ways and must have these things to be able to learn what he wants from Kamala.
"A chilly emptiness in the water reflected the terrible emptiness in his soul." (page 71)
This quote shows that Siddhartha has given away everything he once knew to be himself and is now at such a loss that he feels the only way to return is by death to "make him forget" everything that he has done. I think he is refering to his life as a "wealthy" man as he had once said that men don't need material goods, just themselves to be happy. He had even in his past given up food until the point of starvation to prove this, and then everything that he had worked for and learned about himself as a person during his time as a poor samana was taken back when he gave into the temptation of Kamala and the Kamaswami. He had ventured from his path and had no desire, thirt or satisfaction despite all the blessings he had as a wealthy person.
Siddhartha is an unusual character. He seems to always be always questioning teachings of important people, including Buddha. He says, “There is one thing that this clear, worthy instruction does not contain; it does not contain the secret of what the Illustrious One himself experienced—he alone among hundreds of thousands.” Siddhartha believes that individuals must seek out their own beliefs. He goes on to say, “That is what I thought and realized when I heard your teachings.” As he listens to the teachings, his mind wonders and he becomes curious instead of the reserved character he seemed to be when he first set out on his journey. He finishes with, “That is why I am going on my way—not to seek another doctrine, for I know there is none, but to leave all doctrines and all teachers and to reach my goal alone—or die.” Once again this idea of death at the end of life comes up. Siddhartha reminds me of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, in the way that he is always questioning himself. The idea of believing in something and making decisions will have no affect on your destiny in the end is evident as we learn more about Siddhartha. (Siddhartha pgs. 27 & 28)
"Gradually, along with his growing riches, Siddhartha himself acquired some of the characteristics of the ordinary people, some of their childishness and some of their anxiety. And yet he envied them; the more he became like them, the more he envied them. He envied them the one thing that he lacked and that they had: the sense of importance with which they lived their lives, the depth of their pleasures and sorrows, the anxious but sweet happiness of their continual power to love, These people were always in love with themselves, with their children, with honor or money, with plans or hope." (pg. 62) It is like he is stating that although you are poor but happy, life will fullfilled, instead of being rich and being unhappy, life has not yet been fullfilled. He lacked many areas of happiness that in which many of these poor people had and in turn, becoming a wealthy person will mean nothing. Although money seem to get you every thing you want, it will not buy you the kind of happiness you desired for.
"IF there was only some wine, some poison, that would give him oblivion, that would make him forget..." (70)
Siddhartha has become troubled with the cycle of suffering he was been traveling in since the beginning of the book. He wishes he would simply go back to the way he was before he began his adventure toward enlightenment. This is a very important part of the book because Siddhartha must fight through this feeling to continue onward in his journey. If he cannot then the entirety of his adventure will have been for nothing, but some experience in how the rest of the world is. As the novel progresses I am sure Siddhartha will be able to defeat the desire he feels here.
"He saw that the water continually flowed and flowed and yet it was always there; it was always the same and yet every moment it was new. Who could understand, conceive this?" (83)
This quote relates to the overall theme of the book "Siddhartha" that life is a continuous spiral. Life does continuously repeat itself, but it also moves forward. This is like the river that Siddhartha is confused about because although his life is not changing in appearance, he is moving through different stages and understandings.
"He derived a passionate pleasure through the gambling away and squandering of wretched money. In no other way could he show more clearly and mockingly his contempt for riches, the false deity of businessmen." (64)
This is when the book is talking about how Siddhartha starts betting all his money and starts to become addicted to gambling. When he attains all the riches he could want and a steady way of life, he chooses to gamble against long odds at dice in order to subconsciously show how much he really hates all the riches and the way his life is going. The only way he can fill this need to show how much he hates money is to manage his money terribly by betting way too much on a game that is not profitable in the long run. Its almost like losing is what he wants.
"I have had to experience so much stupidity, so many vices, so much error, so much nausea, disillusionment and sorrow, just in order to become a child again and begin anew. (78)" Siddhartha finalyl learns that ho had to get rid of all these vices and corrupt needs in order to be happy. He has returned to the beginning but has not formed a circle so much as a spiral, learning more each time that he starts over. Eventually he will reach enlightenment.
"'Maybe,' said Siddhartha wearily. 'I am like you. You cannot love either, otherwise how could you practice love as an art? perhaps people like us cannot love. Ordinary people can--- that is their secret.'" Pg 59 I think this is a really interesting quote, and it sortof sums up the whole section about Kamala, and about how although she preaches how to love, it is not within her capabilities to love. It's also interesting to see how Siddhartha's feelings about love develop through the story.
"Where is Siddhartha the Brahmin, where is Siddhartha the Samana, where is Siddhartha the rich man? The transitory soon changes, Govinda." (76) I think this means in order for Siddhartha to learn and reach his goal he needs to be on the move and come under new teachings like he has. He has no lasting care once he leaves a teacher, he takes what he needs from it and goes on. He shows almost no selfishness throughout the novel. Even he rejects his riches and almsot takes his own life seeing that it doesnt bring him happiness.
"You have learned my art well, Siddhartha...and yet, my dear, you have remained a Samana. You do not really love me - you love nobody." page 59
I found this quote interesting because it could very well be true or false. Siddhartha only remains in a certain place until he has learned all that he can, but Kamala is the first woman teacher that he has had so it is possible that he would stay because he is actually in love. He noticed right away that she was very beautiful and made great efforts to make her happy, when usually he is only there to make himself happy. I am interested to see if Siddhartha actually does love Kamala and, if he does not love Kamala, is he really capable of loving another?
"I am like you. You cannot love either, otherwise how could you practice love as an art? Perhaps people like us cannont love. Ordinary people can. That is their secret." pg. 59
This is when Siddhartha is talking to Kamala and Siddhartha realizes that he cannot love a person. He has spent so much time trying to figure out who he is and what his limitations are. I think this is important to the book because it shows how much he still has to learn about himself.
"Siddhartha had wanted to drown himself in this river; the old tired, despairing Siddhartha was today drowned in it. The new Siddhartha felt a deep love for this flowing water and decided that he would not leave it again so quickly" (Hesse 81). Siddhartha is in a sense reborn at the river. He has been there many times before, but this time is different, he is awakened to the fact that the river will lead him places that a lifetime of wondering will not. Siddhartha is prepared to find a balance between self denial and materialistic things.
I do not know; I know as little as you. I am on the way. I was a rich man, but I am no longer and what I will be tomorrow I do not know. p76
I think that this quote is significant because it is a major theme throughout this book. Siddhartha knows nothing about where he is headed. He only knows where he has been and that he needs to keep on moving forward.
"Remember, my dear Govinda, the world of appearances is transitory, the style of our clothes and hair is extremely transitory. Our hair and our bodies are themselves transitory." Pg. 76
This is important because Govinda sees how Siddhartha looks yet he claims that he is a pilgrim. He makes a point that no matter what we look like or how we dress, our lives will continue to change and transition from place to place. At no one time will we be the same as we were at another time in our life.
"Deep was his sleep and free of dreams: he had not known such a sleep for a long time." Siddhartha Page 79.
After thinking about the analysis of this quote i came to an idea. The idea of sleep Taking you out of life for a time. Becasue in your sleep you desire nothing and you just are as you are. Maybe sleep is a sort of meditation and then when you reach that sleep that is so deep that you dream, your dreams are nirvana. You have no suffering and you are in a deep meditation. The idea dreams only come when you reach that deep sleep, and nirvana never comes till you reach that deep meditation within and on the outside.
"It is the same with me as it is with you, my friend. I am not going anywhere. I am only on the way. I am making a pilgrimage." PG 75
Siddhartha says this after he has asked Govinda where he was going and for the significance of this quote it sort of reinstates the journey/goal he is on to find enlightenment. When you have somewhere to go you have a final destination and you know when you will get there, but in Siddhartha's case he is on his way to enlightenment and does not know when it will happen to him.
"This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it." (pg. 78)
This quote describes sidharthas quest to find himself. He finds a teacher that will teach him a new life style and goes along with it for a short while and then discovers that its not exactly what he wants so he searches for a new teahcer and life style. This chain of events keeps going throughout the whole novel
"The new Siddhartha felt a deep love for this flowing water and decided that he would not leave it again so quickly." p.81
This quote is especially significant to the plot and Siddhartha's character. At one time he briefly began to believe that he was searching too hard to find his spiritual enlightment. He began to overthink his experiences and wonder how far it would all take him or if it would all be worth it. But, as he looked at the flowing water of the river he realized that finding his enlightment is worthwhile.
This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it. Pg. 78
This quote reflects the plot of the book and how Siddartha is on a journey to learn about life. As he ages goes up in knowlege and experience. He says this after he is done with his money and sex escapade and is ready to move onto something different and perhaps more meaningful.
The quote that always stuck out in my mond was the on on page 34, right at the end of part one. Sidd has come to the realization that he is alone. "Nobody was so alone as he." The actual quote thouh is "At that moment, when the world around himwelted away, when he stood alone like a star in the heavens, he was overwhelmed by a feeling of icy despair, but he was more firmly himself than ever." This is truly an awakening from life and from the mortality that so many fear. This was a powerful paragraph and showed me that Sidd's life would have a greater meaning now. To look at that aloneness and feel that despair and also feel at home with it, and accept it, to know that that is a deeper truth in life and yet only have it push you forward instead of choking you back shows a true understanding of oneself and life. That moment, to me, showed the beginning of enlightenment in Sidd.
"Listen, Kamala, when you throw a stone into the water, it finds the quickest way to the bottom of the water. It is the same when Siddhartha has an aim, a goal. Siddhartha does nothing; he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he goes through the affairs of the world like a stone through water, without doing anything, without bestirring himself; he is drawn and lets himself fall." I think this is a good insight into some of his character, because he seems naive as well as passive, in the fact he wants to learn all about life but he tends to throw himself in a direction and let things happen. It feels like he's trying to make things happen to him just to experience them.
"Nothing was, nothing will be, everything has reality and presence" (87). This quote takes place after Siddhartha has been staying with the ferryman for a while. He is talking about what he has learned from the river. He says that there is no such thing as time. I think that what he means is that nothing in the past matters, and what is to come does not matter, only what is happening in that precise moment is worth worrying about or thinking about. He is taking life one second at a time and worrying only about what to do with his existence in that moment, quite similar to the ideology of an existentialist.
"He remembered that at that time he had boasted of three things to Kamala, three noble and invincible arts: fasting, waiting, and thinking. These were his possessions, his power and strength, his firm staff. He had learned these three arts and nothing else during the diligent, assiduous years of his youth. Now he had lost them, he possessed none of them any more, neither fasting, nor waiting, nor thinking. He had exchanged them for the most wretched things, for transitory, for the pleasures of the senses, for high living and riches..and now, it seemed that he had indeed become an ordinary person." In this quote Siddhartha reflects on his complete neglect for the values that he had once kept so near. He had lost his way and needed to forget all the riches and belongings again to find his true self again. He has lost control and is unable to resist temptation.
"Now, he thought, all these transitory things have slipped away from me again, I stand once more beneath the sun, as I once stood as a small child." p.77
In this text when Siddhartha is reflecting back on his life he is realizing that he has lost the ability to fast, wait and think. All three of these were things that he had once been proud of being able to do. He realizes that everything is coming full circle and that he is just like a child because he no longer really knows anything, he doesn't own anything and he hasn't learned anything either. It seems as if Siddhartha is having a revelation at this moment in time, that even though he is older he can still start his life again.
“Although he found it so easy to speak to everyone, to live with everyone, to learn from everyone, he was very conscious of the fact that there was something which separated him from them – and this was due to the fact that he had been a Samana.” Pg 56-57 This quote is very important to the text because it explains Siddhartha’s attempts and failures to learn from other people. Throughout this entire book you learn about the new things that Siddhartha is trying to learn from different people he comes across. Unfortunately, because of his attitude and expectations that he can only learn from a woman he has a hard time understanding his separation with other people that he may meet. This is important to the book because you see Siddhartha travel in a metal circle and so fare is unable to find a way to find himself and learn the lesson that he was trying to seak.
"Nothing was, nothing will be, everything has reality and presence" (87) Siddhartha says this while asking Vasudeva if he had learned that there is no such thing as time. What i think this quote means is you can't change your past or forsee the future so you have to live your life moment by moment. Only worrying about what you do have control of, and the only thing you can control is the present.
"You are not strict with him, you do not punish him, you do not command him-because you know that gentleness is stronger than severity, that water is stronger than rock, that love is stronger than force." page 97.
This above quote is talking about the son and in a sense relates to the saying "Kindness can kill". Siddartha is not strict at all and in a sense his gentleness is almost scarier than if he were to get mad and become stricter. With the sense of the water being stronger than a rock an example of that is the Grand Canyon how after time water can fit anywhere and it can wear down the rocks if enough water flows over it.
46 comments:
"Your poetry is very good, brown Samana, and truly there is nothing to lose if I give you a kiss for it. (47)" When Kamala says this it seems to have two meanings. His poetry represents his pure side. The Siddhartha from the previous chapter is a man who did things without expecting payment of any type. When she kisses him she says "there's nothing to lose." This is ironic, because this is the beginning of him losing his spiritual self. And "losing himself" to all worldly and materialistic things.
"Certainly I travelled for my pleasure," laughed Siddhartha, "Why not? I have been acquainted with people and new districts. I have enjoyed friendship and confidence."
p.55
The above quote shows that although Siddhartha has decided to become more materialistic in his quest for Kamala, he still stays true to a part of himself. Siddhartha has not allowed himself to become a money driven merchant like his boss Kamaswami, and he has shown that he still enjoys learning from people and that he still may be on his track to seek out and find nirvana. Siddhartha goes on to explain that if Kamaswami had gone on the trip, he would have spent very little time there and would not have enjoyed the village as he had. I think that Siddhartha is trying to prove to Kamaswami and himself that he still has the traits of a Samana and that he has not completely changed.
"he was Govinda no longer, but a woman and out of the woman's gown emerged a full breast, and Siddharta lay there and drank"
I think this dream of Siddharta's spawns from his longing of companionship he used to have with Govinda and now he misses it. By being alone for such along time, Siddharta is beginning to desire company again more so than enlightenment. He has discovered much of what he set out to discover and now is at a pass where he doesn't know what to do. He begins to compare people like the ferryman to Govinda's friendship further demonstrating his longing of company.
"thereupon he embraced Govinda, put his arm round him, and as he drew him to his breast and kissed him, he was Govinda no longer, but a women and out of the woman's gown emerged a full breast, and Siddhartha lay there and drank; sweet and strong tasted the milk from this breast."pg 40
This is the quote is about siddhartha dream that he has. he has a lot of obscure thoughts and they could mean a lot of different things but i'm not positive on what they mean. The fact that he kissed another man could suggest that he is gay but we'll have to see if later on in the book there are any other illusions to that.
"I am like you. You cannot love either, otherwise how could you practice love as an art? Perhaps people like us cannont love. Ordinary people can-that is their secret." -Siddhartha pg. 59
This qoute occurs when Siddhartha is talking to Kamala. Kamala tells Siddhartha that he does not love her and he responds with maybe. I think this quote is important to the character development of Siddhartha because here he is finding what some of his limitations as a person are. His whole life he has strived to learn and achieve as much as possible but even so, he is still unable to love. This new knowledge that Siddhartha recognizes about himself can be used to see that, like every other person, Siddhartha too has faults that he cannot overcome.
“As a new dress grows old with time, loses its bright color, becomes stained and creases, the hems frayed, and here and there weak and threadbare places, so had Siddhartha’s new life which he has begun after his parting from Govinda, become old.” (Page 63)
Siddhartha refers to the dress in the quote as a reference of decay. He relates the dress to his own life. Like the dress, which has become stained and frayed, he feels that his own life is now without true meaning. Leading the life as a merchant and businessman isn’t fulfilling and he begins to think about leaving.
"He saw trees, stars, animals, clouds....All this, colored and in a thousand different forms, had always been there....but in previous times all this had been nothing to Siddhartha but a fleeting and illusive veil before his eyes" (37)
In this quote, Siddhartha has left the spiritual world and entered reality. He begins to notice more things in the world around him, even those as simple as trees. This also foreshadows Siddhartha's meeting with Kamala. Kamala represents the materialistic world, rather than the spiritual world. Siddhartha focuses more on materialistic qualities, rather than spiritual qualities in his life with Kamala.
"She opened the door of the cage, took the bird out and let it fly away. For a long time she looked after the disappearing bird. From that day she received no more visitors and kept her house closed. After a time, she found that she was with child as a result of her last meeting with Sidharthra." Pg. 69
This relates back to when Sidharthra has the dream about this same bird dying. Sidharthra dreams about the bird dying when he realizes that he needs to move on from the life of greed and riches that he is living. In the next chapter Sidharthra realizes that the bird has not actually died. The significance of Kamala setting the bird free is that the bird in a way is like a symbol of Sidharthra. Before the bird was trapped in the cage, which is the riches and greed that Sidharthra had fallen to. Once Sidharthra let those things go he was free, just as the bird was freed from the cage.
"He loved this feeling and continually sought to renew it, to increase it, to stimulate it, for in this feeling alone did he experience some kind of happiness, some kind of excitement, some heightened living in the midst of his satiated, tepid, insipid existence." (64)
I believe that this is how Siddhartha runs his life. Just looking for the next thing to challenge him. Then, he thinks, “how can he change it to make it better, or that feeling stronger?” It's almost like he is just trying to find the next high. First it was the Samana, then the perfect one, and then Kamala. So I wonder what will be next. Maybe he'll retrace his steps. Because after all he is a father now.
"And yet he envied them; the more he became like them, the more he envied them"(62). This is when Siddhartha sees all the ordinary people and wants to be like them. This shows Siddhartha starting to realize that maybe it's not about what religion or philosophy he follows, but to do what he wants to do. Siddhartha learned that its better to be yourself than to be try to be someone else that has a good life or lives with good values. He needs to create his own values and decide whats best for him and not just follow everyone else.
"This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it." (pg. 78)
Siddhartha seems to be doing the same thing over and over again in his search for self and enlightenment. He finds a teacher to teach him about things and a new lifestyle until he feels that he can no longer learn from them and is no longer satisfied with that life style. Then he starts over and finds a new teacher and lifestyle. This pattern spirals in circles and will, Siddhartha hopes, eventually end with enlightenment, a higher understanding of his self and life.
"I possess nothing," said Siddhartha, "if that is what you mean. I am certainly without possessions, but of my own free will, so I am not in need." (52) This has to do with the ultimate goal of finding nervana and finding himself and about how he must not possess nothing so that he can reach the goal of enlitenment.
"Kamaswami conducted his business with care and often with passion, but Siddhartha regarded it all as a game, the rules of which he endeavored to learn well, but which did not stir his heart"(53).
Here, we see that Sid is still very much a student, but a restless one at that. He is constantly learning new things (for example, the trade of the merchant) but he does not feel at peace, or does not feel emotionately attached or passionate about it. Up until now, his every step in life has been pure knowledge and learning new things, being clever, etc. He does not attach himself to his work, for it does not "stir in his heart". It will be interesting to see what Sid considers worthy of passion, or if he ever will find the Nirvana he strives for.
"'And what are you now, Siddhartha?' 'I do not know; I know as little as you. I am on the way. I was a rich man, but I am no longer and what I will be tomorrow I do not know.'...'The wheel of appearances revolves quickly'" (76).
Here Siddhartha is talking to Govinda and by saying 'and what I will be tomorrow I do not know' he is implying that he doesn't know who he is going to be because his fate is not predestined and what he is tomorrow depends on the decisions he makes until then. This quote relates to the typical ideals of existentialism that your character is shaped and determined by the decisions you've made in your life. This is a recurring concept in the novel.
Molly Riegel
"Sidhartha laughed. 'I have already been judged by my clothes today and regarded with suspicion. Will you accept these clothes from me, which I find a nuisance? for I must tell you that I have no money to pay your for taking me across the river.'" (84)
This shows Sidhartha's start of a 180 turn around from his materialistic downfall. He wants to give up the rich clothes that he has to shed himself of the appearance that he had being a rich merchant. He now asks the ferry man for a ride in exchange of his clothes because Sidhartha has already crossed the river before without paying so now he wants to be fair and actually pay for his ride.
“As a new dress grows old with time, loses its bright color, becomes stained and creases, the hems frayed, and here and there weak and threadbare places, so had Siddhartha’s new life which he has begun after his parting from Govinda, become old.” (Page 63)
I think that this quote is really important to the book as a whole and really captures the reality of certain situations everyday normal people get themselves into. We try acting one way for a while and for a while it serves its purpose and causes happiness. Then we see something else...in this case someone with a much more beautiful and colorful dress...and we suddenly are not content with the one we have been wearing. Sidhartha relates to the rest of humanity in this and repeats it over and over again. Each stage of his life was very different dresses and each one he got sick of.
"He remembered that at that time he had boasted of three things to Kamala, three noble and invincible arts: fasting, waiting, and thinking. These were his possessions, his power and strength, his firm staff. He had learned these three arts and nothing else during the diligent, assiduous years of his youth. Now he had lost them, he possessed none of them any more, neither fasting, nor waiting, nor thinking. He had exchanged them for the most wretched things, for transitory, for the pleasures of the senses, for high living and riches..and now, it seemed that he had indeed become an ordinary person" (77)
This quote describes Siddhartha's loss of self control to desire. Throughout the book he had trained himself to resist temptation. He later states that as he grows older, he seems to become more like a child, and no longer in control.
"He must have clothes, fine clothes, and shoes, fine shoes, and plenty of money in his purse and presents for Kamala." pg. 45
Kamala is telling Siddhartha that he must have these things before he will be allowed to have Kamala teach him her art of love. This is very different from what originally Siddhartha had set out doing in his life. He had set out with the Samana's to learn that he did not need material things in life to be able to gain enlightenment. However, now he is changing his ways and must have these things to be able to learn what he wants from Kamala.
"A chilly emptiness in the water reflected the terrible emptiness in his soul." (page 71)
This quote shows that Siddhartha has given away everything he once knew to be himself and is now at such a loss that he feels the only way to return is by death to "make him forget" everything that he has done. I think he is refering to his life as a "wealthy" man as he had once said that men don't need material goods, just themselves to be happy. He had even in his past given up food until the point of starvation to prove this, and then everything that he had worked for and learned about himself as a person during his time as a poor samana was taken back when he gave into the temptation of Kamala and the Kamaswami. He had ventured from his path and had no desire, thirt or satisfaction despite all the blessings he had as a wealthy person.
Siddhartha is an unusual character. He seems to always be always questioning teachings of important people, including Buddha. He says, “There is one thing that this clear, worthy instruction does not contain; it does not contain the secret of what the Illustrious One himself experienced—he alone among hundreds of thousands.” Siddhartha believes that individuals must seek out their own beliefs. He goes on to say, “That is what I thought and realized when I heard your teachings.” As he listens to the teachings, his mind wonders and he becomes curious instead of the reserved character he seemed to be when he first set out on his journey. He finishes with, “That is why I am going on my way—not to seek another doctrine, for I know there is none, but to leave all doctrines and all teachers and to reach my goal alone—or die.” Once again this idea of death at the end of life comes up. Siddhartha reminds me of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, in the way that he is always questioning himself. The idea of believing in something and making decisions will have no affect on your destiny in the end is evident as we learn more about Siddhartha. (Siddhartha pgs. 27 & 28)
"Gradually, along with his growing riches, Siddhartha himself acquired some of the characteristics of the ordinary people, some of their childishness and some of their anxiety. And yet he envied them; the more he became like them, the more he envied them. He envied them the one thing that he lacked and that they had: the sense of importance with which they lived their lives, the depth of their pleasures and sorrows, the anxious but sweet happiness of their continual power to love, These people were always in love with themselves, with their children, with honor or money, with plans or hope." (pg. 62)
It is like he is stating that although you are poor but happy, life will fullfilled, instead of being rich and being unhappy, life has not yet been fullfilled. He lacked many areas of happiness that in which many of these poor people had and in turn, becoming a wealthy person will mean nothing. Although money seem to get you every thing you want, it will not buy you the kind of happiness you desired for.
~~Mea Pen~~
"IF there was only some wine, some poison, that would give him oblivion, that would make him forget..." (70)
Siddhartha has become troubled with the cycle of suffering he was been traveling in since the beginning of the book. He wishes he would simply go back to the way he was before he began his adventure toward enlightenment. This is a very important part of the book because Siddhartha must fight through this feeling to continue onward in his journey. If he cannot then the entirety of his adventure will have been for nothing, but some experience in how the rest of the world is. As the novel progresses I am sure Siddhartha will be able to defeat the desire he feels here.
"He saw that the water continually flowed and flowed and yet it was always there; it was always the same and yet every moment it was new. Who could understand, conceive this?" (83)
This quote relates to the overall theme of the book "Siddhartha" that life is a continuous spiral. Life does continuously repeat itself, but it also moves forward. This is like the river that Siddhartha is confused about because although his life is not changing in appearance, he is moving through different stages and understandings.
"He derived a passionate pleasure through the gambling away and squandering of wretched money. In no other way could he show more clearly and mockingly his contempt for riches, the false deity of businessmen." (64)
This is when the book is talking about how Siddhartha starts betting all his money and starts to become addicted to gambling. When he attains all the riches he could want and a steady way of life, he chooses to gamble against long odds at dice in order to subconsciously show how much he really hates all the riches and the way his life is going. The only way he can fill this need to show how much he hates money is to manage his money terribly by betting way too much on a game that is not profitable in the long run. Its almost like losing is what he wants.
"I have had to experience so much stupidity, so many vices, so much error, so much nausea, disillusionment and sorrow, just in order to become a child again and begin anew. (78)"
Siddhartha finalyl learns that ho had to get rid of all these vices and corrupt needs in order to be happy. He has returned to the beginning but has not formed a circle so much as a spiral, learning more each time that he starts over. Eventually he will reach enlightenment.
"'Maybe,' said Siddhartha wearily. 'I am like you. You cannot love either, otherwise how could you practice love as an art? perhaps people like us cannot love. Ordinary people can--- that is their secret.'" Pg 59
I think this is a really interesting quote, and it sortof sums up the whole section about Kamala, and about how although she preaches how to love, it is not within her capabilities to love. It's also interesting to see how Siddhartha's feelings about love develop through the story.
"Where is Siddhartha the Brahmin, where is Siddhartha the Samana, where is Siddhartha the rich man? The transitory soon changes, Govinda." (76)
I think this means in order for Siddhartha to learn and reach his goal he needs to be on the move and come under new teachings like he has. He has no lasting care once he leaves a teacher, he takes what he needs from it and goes on. He shows almost no selfishness throughout the novel. Even he rejects his riches and almsot takes his own life seeing that it doesnt bring him happiness.
"You have learned my art well, Siddhartha...and yet, my dear, you have remained a Samana. You do not really love me - you love nobody." page 59
I found this quote interesting because it could very well be true or false. Siddhartha only remains in a certain place until he has learned all that he can, but Kamala is the first woman teacher that he has had so it is possible that he would stay because he is actually in love. He noticed right away that she was very beautiful and made great efforts to make her happy, when usually he is only there to make himself happy. I am interested to see if Siddhartha actually does love Kamala and, if he does not love Kamala, is he really capable of loving another?
"I am like you. You cannot love either, otherwise how could you practice love as an art? Perhaps people like us cannont love. Ordinary people can. That is their secret." pg. 59
This is when Siddhartha is talking to Kamala and Siddhartha realizes that he cannot love a person. He has spent so much time trying to figure out who he is and what his limitations are. I think this is important to the book because it shows how much he still has to learn about himself.
"Siddhartha had wanted to drown himself in this river; the old tired, despairing Siddhartha was today drowned in it. The new Siddhartha felt a deep love for this flowing water and decided that he would not leave it again so quickly" (Hesse 81). Siddhartha is in a sense reborn at the river. He has been there many times before, but this time is different, he is awakened to the fact that the river will lead him places that a lifetime of wondering will not. Siddhartha is prepared to find a balance between self denial and materialistic things.
I do not know; I know as little as you. I am on the way. I was a rich man, but I am no longer and what I will be tomorrow I do not know. p76
I think that this quote is significant because it is a major theme throughout this book. Siddhartha knows nothing about where he is headed. He only knows where he has been and that he needs to keep on moving forward.
"Remember, my dear Govinda, the world of appearances is transitory, the style of our clothes and hair is extremely transitory. Our hair and our bodies are themselves transitory." Pg. 76
This is important because Govinda sees how Siddhartha looks yet he claims that he is a pilgrim. He makes a point that no matter what we look like or how we dress, our lives will continue to change and transition from place to place. At no one time will we be the same as we were at another time in our life.
"Deep was his sleep and free of dreams: he had not known such a sleep for a long time." Siddhartha Page 79.
After thinking about the analysis of this quote i came to an idea. The idea of sleep Taking you out of life for a time. Becasue in your sleep you desire nothing and you just are as you are. Maybe sleep is a sort of meditation and then when you reach that sleep that is so deep that you dream, your dreams are nirvana. You have no suffering and you are in a deep meditation. The idea dreams only come when you reach that deep sleep, and nirvana never comes till you reach that deep meditation within and on the outside.
"It is the same with me as it is with you, my friend. I am not going anywhere. I am only on the way. I am making a pilgrimage." PG 75
Siddhartha says this after he has asked Govinda where he was going and for the significance of this quote it sort of reinstates the journey/goal he is on to find enlightenment. When you have somewhere to go you have a final destination and you know when you will get there, but in Siddhartha's case he is on his way to enlightenment and does not know when it will happen to him.
"This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it." (pg. 78)
This quote describes sidharthas quest to find himself. He finds a teacher that will teach him a new life style and goes along with it for a short while and then discovers that its not exactly what he wants so he searches for a new teahcer and life style. This chain of events keeps going throughout the whole novel
"The new Siddhartha felt a deep love for this flowing water and decided that he would not leave it again so quickly." p.81
This quote is especially significant to the plot and Siddhartha's character. At one time he briefly began to believe that he was searching too hard to find his spiritual enlightment. He began to overthink his experiences and wonder how far it would all take him or if it would all be worth it. But, as he looked at the flowing water of the river he realized that finding his enlightment is worthwhile.
This path is stupid, it goes in spirals, perhaps in circles, but whichever way it goes, I will follow it. Pg. 78
This quote reflects the plot of the book and how Siddartha is on a journey to learn about life. As he ages goes up in knowlege and experience. He says this after he is done with his money and sex escapade and is ready to move onto something different and perhaps more meaningful.
The quote that always stuck out in my mond was the on on page 34, right at the end of part one. Sidd has come to the realization that he is alone. "Nobody was so alone as he." The actual quote thouh is "At that moment, when the world around himwelted away, when he stood alone like a star in the heavens, he was overwhelmed by a feeling of icy despair, but he was more firmly himself than ever." This is truly an awakening from life and from the mortality that so many fear. This was a powerful paragraph and showed me that Sidd's life would have a greater meaning now. To look at that aloneness and feel that despair and also feel at home with it, and accept it, to know that that is a deeper truth in life and yet only have it push you forward instead of choking you back shows a true understanding of oneself and life. That moment, to me, showed the beginning of enlightenment in Sidd.
"Listen, Kamala, when you throw a stone into the water, it finds the quickest way to the bottom of the water. It is the same when Siddhartha has an aim, a goal. Siddhartha does nothing; he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he goes through the affairs of the world like a stone through water, without doing anything, without bestirring himself; he is drawn and lets himself fall." I think this is a good insight into some of his character, because he seems naive as well as passive, in the fact he wants to learn all about life but he tends to throw himself in a direction and let things happen. It feels like he's trying to make things happen to him just to experience them.
"Nothing was, nothing will be, everything has reality and presence" (87).
This quote takes place after Siddhartha has been staying with the ferryman for a while. He is talking about what he has learned from the river. He says that there is no such thing as time. I think that what he means is that nothing in the past matters, and what is to come does not matter, only what is happening in that precise moment is worth worrying about or thinking about. He is taking life one second at a time and worrying only about what to do with his existence in that moment, quite similar to the ideology of an existentialist.
"He remembered that at that time he had boasted of three things to Kamala, three noble and invincible arts: fasting, waiting, and thinking. These were his possessions, his power and strength, his firm staff. He had learned these three arts and nothing else during the diligent, assiduous years of his youth. Now he had lost them, he possessed none of them any more, neither fasting, nor waiting, nor thinking. He had exchanged them for the most wretched things, for transitory, for the pleasures of the senses, for high living and riches..and now, it seemed that he had indeed become an ordinary person." In this quote Siddhartha reflects on his complete neglect for the values that he had once kept so near. He had lost his way and needed to forget all the riches and belongings again to find his true self again. He has lost control and is unable to resist temptation.
"Now, he thought, all these transitory things have slipped away from me again, I stand once more beneath the sun, as I once stood as a small child." p.77
In this text when Siddhartha is reflecting back on his life he is realizing that he has lost the ability to fast, wait and think. All three of these were things that he had once been proud of being able to do. He realizes that everything is coming full circle and that he is just like a child because he no longer really knows anything, he doesn't own anything and he hasn't learned anything either. It seems as if Siddhartha is having a revelation at this moment in time, that even though he is older he can still start his life again.
“Although he found it so easy to speak to everyone, to live with everyone, to learn from everyone, he was very conscious of the fact that there was something which separated him from them – and this was due to the fact that he had been a Samana.” Pg 56-57
This quote is very important to the text because it explains Siddhartha’s attempts and failures to learn from other people. Throughout this entire book you learn about the new things that Siddhartha is trying to learn from different people he comes across. Unfortunately, because of his attitude and expectations that he can only learn from a woman he has a hard time understanding his separation with other people that he may meet. This is important to the book because you see Siddhartha travel in a metal circle and so fare is unable to find a way to find himself and learn the lesson that he was trying to seak.
"Nothing was, nothing will be, everything has reality and presence" (87)
Siddhartha says this while asking Vasudeva if he had learned that there is no such thing as time. What i think this quote means is you can't change your past or forsee the future so you have to live your life moment by moment. Only worrying about what you do have control of, and the only thing you can control is the present.
"You are not strict with him, you do not punish him, you do not command him-because you know that gentleness is stronger than severity, that water is stronger than rock, that love is stronger than force." page 97.
This above quote is talking about the son and in a sense relates to the saying "Kindness can kill". Siddartha is not strict at all and in a sense his gentleness is almost scarier than if he were to get mad and become stricter. With the sense of the water being stronger than a rock an example of that is the Grand Canyon how after time water can fit anywhere and it can wear down the rocks if enough water flows over it.
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