Hesse's Siddhartha

If Hesse's Siddhartha, then that means that Siddhartha’s teachings in the book are his own. Hesse, a enlightened figure, responds to a personal crisis in the Siddhartha. In this novela Siddhartha is driven to psychoanalysis and is ultimately led him to embrace the East. This book was a response to his personal crisis and the book was so appealing to American youth in the 1960s and 1970s because during period time college students were embroiled in a period of cultural upheaval and they were able to connect with the main character,Siddhartha.

Siddhartha, or Hesse, comes to enlightenment and embraces foreign values at the end of this novel's. He explains to the reader he has become much wiser after embracing the East. He realizes that he cannot

impart this wisdom onto others, so he attempts to explain what he now understands. He explains that almost all of the teachings of Buddhism are metaphors and should not be taken literally, they are open for interpretation. Siddhartha thinks that we are all already in nirvana and that our sins have already been forgiven. Siddhartha sees time in a very different manner. He believes that time is an illusion that clouds the minds of those who are not enlightened. It is believed that all sinners after thousands of rebirths will return to be Brahma. Soif time is an illusion, then that would mean that everyone has already reached Brahma and that every person has already reached enlightenment. Siddhartha says he was able to reach this conclusion through hours and hours of meditation,during his meditation he says that he was able to see the past, the present and the future and was able to understand all of it. When he was young he live a life similar to a rock star.He got with hundreds of girls and partied all the time. He was able to reflect back on his sins and found a way to resist his temptations. He also gets the realization that since there is no time that means that all rebirths happen simultaneously. Siddhartha get very connected with nature and believes that everything must be treated with respect, no matter who or what. He began to love everyone and everything. This is how Siddhartha came to love the world for what it is.
Hesse was an enlightened figure, who inherited the spirit of Romanticism.

By doing so Hesse embraced a revolt against the aristocratic political and social norms of the Age of Enlightenment as well as a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature. Siddhartha was written after a difficult period in Hesse’s life. Though the novella was completed by the early 1920s and had been enjoyed by people in Europe, it did not made it overseas to the United States until the late 1960s. During this period of time, American teens and college students were entangled in a period of cultural upheaval and they identified with this character and his struggle transcend meaninglessness and materialism. During the 60s and 70s Hesse gained a massive following and seemingly every college student in America could not put the book down. Though set in India, the concerns of Siddhartha are universal, expressing Hesse’s general interest in the conflict between mind, spirit and body. It appeal so greatly because the idea of “finding yourself” was so attracting American youth. People saw from this text that self-awareness can further one’s self-realization; Hesse promised to reject traditional values and vowed to live the life of a radical individual, in order to be his most pure self. Siddhartha finds that individualism is an embrace of love and unity. People could not put this book down because this story was so unique and

interesting.
A 21st Century young man would find spiritual guidance in Siddhartha. The lessons given to us by Hesse would resonate with a young man who is searching for their own path, it would help them find themselves. Siddharth's understanding of time gives us a new way to look at the world. The teachings that Siddhartha gave shows that Hesse is truly one of the wisest men of this period of time. This book lets young people truly understand the world around them. They get a new perspective of life and most of those who are reading this wish to become wiser themselves. They know that wisdom cannot be imparted, just as Hesse said, the reader understands that they must gain it through their own experiences. So this book stimulates action and experience. It pushes people to try to find the world on their own. Siddhartha gives its readers a spiritual path to follow and this is something that resonates with the 21st century reader.