Siddhartha# 3

Rossy Jerez

Assignment #3

Siddhartha (1922) by Hermann Hesse

But now, his liberated eyes stayed on this side, he saw and became aware of the visible, sought to be at home in this world, did not search for the true essence, did not aim at a world beyond. Beautiful was this world, looking at it thus, without searching, thus simply, thus childlike. Beautiful were the moon and the stars, beautiful was the stream and the banks, the forest and the rocks, the goat and the gold-beetle, the flower and the butterfly. Beautiful and lovely it was, thus to walk through the world, thus childlike, thus awoken, thus open to what is near, thus without distrust. Differently the sun burnt the head, differently the shade of the forest cooled him down, differently the stream and the cistern, the pumpkin and the banana tasted. Short were the days, short the nights, every hour sped swiftly away like a sail on the sea, and under the sail was a ship full of treasures, full of joy.

The passage:

                This passage is saying that Siddhartha began to see things for what they simply appear to be instead of analyzing everything that surrounds him.  Siddhartha's curiosity and intend to search for answers has vanished because he is now seeing things from a different perspective.  He sees how beautiful things come into view and how wonderful it makes him feel.This is what Siddhartha has traded his questioning for. He looked at flowers and butterflies like a child would and was open to whatever life presented to him. Therefore, Siddhartha lived life as it happened, giving him a sense of happiness and joy.

Hesse and Nietzsche had similar interpretations about one’s religion .Both protested against religion. Hesse believed that everything in the universe from a small insect to human nature was important and should be thought of just as equal in the world. Just because one studies the word of god as a father, does not make you better than someone with or without a religious title or nonreligious belief.

This passage is important to me:

                This passage is important to me because I never see things just for what they are. I usually still feel curious of how many things came about to this world. When I read this quote I thought about how I want to see things when I become an elderly person. I want to spend the last years of my life stepping back from what I want to know. It would be great to one day live life fulfilling my senses.