Journey In Siddhartha's Journey

Like a river, one’s life journey may splinter from the conventional path into uncharted territory—but ultimately the lifetime of experiences converges to form destiny. In the face of spiritual uncertainty, the titular protagonist of Siddhartha seeks wisdom during every major stage of his life and eventually attains understanding as an elderly man. “From that hour Siddhartha ceased to fight against destiny. There shone in his face the serenity of knowledge, of one who is no longer confronted with the conflict of desires, who has found salvation, who is in harmony...surrendering himself to the stream, belonging to the unity of all things” (Hesse 136). Everything, from rocks to water to human souls, cycles through birth, death, and rebirth until

Without possessions, Siddhartha cannot pay the ferryman, but Vasudeva states that Siddhartha, “will give [payment] to [Vasudeva] some other time. [He has] learned that from the river too; everything comes back” (49). Crossing of divine river exemplifies the cyclic nature of his journey in which his past becomes his future; Vasudeva has already realized that Siddhartha, in his extended quest, will one day return to the river and settle the debt because the universe tends toward balance. Years later, Siddhartha will discover Self as he works in the field and ferry alongside his mentor and friend Vasudeva who is uneducated in the academic sense, but is spiritually enlightened (105). Like branching streets off of a highway, the path to enlightenment has unique routes for the same destination. Despite not being disciples of the Buddha, Siddhartha, Vasudeva, and Kamala find inner peace and fearlessly accept death as a natural consequence of living. Taking the feeling of aimlessness and dissatisfaction into account, Siddhartha’s fulfilled fate concludes like others who relied on Hinduism, Buddhism, and

However, his young son tests his father’s composure and rejects his love and generosity. Angrily, he runs away and starts his journey to independence demonstrating to heartbroken Siddhartha the grief and suffering he caused to his father especially as he was leaving home to travel with the Samanas. Just as Siddhartha trenched through samsara and finally found enlightenment, his son, like everybody else, is destined to repeat mistakes and learn. “Which father, which teacher could prevent him from living his own life, from soiling himself with life...from finding his own path? If [he] were to die ten times for him, [he] would not alter his [son’s] destiny in the slightest” (121). Hesse reaffirms that destiny is individualistic and that finding perfect unity with the world is worth the price of suffering. Finally, Siddhartha learns his final lesson: life is as cyclical as the river. Pain inflicted on others crashes onto his shoulders, and he is changed man. Loving his son reduces Siddhartha into an ordinary person, capable of feeling the distinct loneliness and pride of all the other beings who have walked on