The Transformation Of Siddhartha

As the Hindu equivalent of a monk, Siddhartha was a knowledge-seeker, though he is far more inquisitive than anyone else in the story. He maintains a quiet focus on his goal through the entirety of Siddhartha that culminates with him being one of only four characters describable as enlightened.
In the beginning of his life, Siddhartha not only blends in, he is regarded as a future “prince among the Brahmans” (2) by his father. Every other person around him considers him the best among men in a similar way. Immediately after this description, however, Hesse shows Siddhartha’s inner thoughts towards the Brahman and their knowledge, “But was it valuable to know all of this,...not knowing the solely important thing?” (4).
He then leaves to become devoted to pain and fasting, taking his friend Govinda and telling no one else except his own parents about their departure.

As with the Brahman, Siddhartha absolutely excels: Govinda says to him, “‘You’ll be a great Samana, Siddhartha...often the old Samanas have admired you’” (14).

However, Siddhartha knows he has not attained enlightenment, as he says to Govinda “‘I believe out of all the Samanas out there, perhaps not a single one...will reach Nirvana’” (16).
However, Instead of saying anything similar to his viewpoint, Siddhartha says simply to the teacher “that he wanted to leave him”

(20).
The two left to find a specific teacher: the Buddha himself. Govinda swears allegiance to the Buddha immediately, but Siddhartha knows that he can not learn what he needs from the mentor. The only thing he says to Govinda is “‘Very good are the teachings of the exalted one, how could I find a fault in them?’” (29).
Unlike ever before, he talks to the Sublime One openly, giving a clearer and more abrupt version of something he tried to explain to Govinda during their time with the Samanas: “‘It [enlightenment] has not come to you by means of teachings!’” He says that the Buddha taught himself enlightenment, and that there is no other path. That is the belief of Siddhartha: enlightenment cannot come by any teaching or doctrine, but only through self-discovery.
He hid this view from the wisdom of the Brahmans, he hid it from the fasting of the samanas, and he later comes to hide it from himself: on page fifty-five he refers to Kamala as “my teacher,” and even accepts lessons from the merchant Kamaswami.
When accepting those teachings finally makes him want to “be food for fishes and crocodiles,... be chopped to bits by the daemons!” (81). But before he can kill himself, he remembers the sacred om. He finds no more doctrines, but he finds two more guides.
He learns from two devoted to silence: a ferryman and a river. He finds peace on his own with the two around. He seeks no one to tell. Through the entire story, Siddhartha only discussed his lesson with three people, because they were the only ones who could ever understand it. He tells the Buddha about it, he learns it with the ferryman, and he shares it with Govinda.
But Siddhartha knows that men cannot accept that teaching through words alone. He tries with Govinda, who merely asks “‘Are you kidding?’” (129). Due to the bond the two have shared since childhood, he is eventually able to help Govinda learn the lesson. However, this comes after an entire lifetime of hearing doctrines and prayers, practicing sacrifices and patiently fasting. Siddhartha stays in the audience for the vast majority of his life, but shows himself and the reader by the end that the man behind the podium can not deliver anyone to true wisdom.