Herman Hesse

By: Group I

Siddhartha: By the River

The Author

A German-born Swiss novelist and poet who won the

Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946.

German Romanticism and Hindu philosophy influenced

his view of life and writings, for he was exposed to

the missionary works of his parents in India and its

literature and art.

Herman Hesse

spirituality

Plot

Arriving again at the river he had

crossed, Siddhartha stares into the

water, ashamed of what he has become. He

feels lost, since there is nowhere left to go.

Plot

He had lived amongst the people, became a

lover and a merchant, yet this path was a

dead end.

Plot

Clutching a tree at the water's edge he decides

that the only solution is to drown

himself, thus putting an end to his misery.

The songbird of his dream returns to

memory, and he thinks the bird is his inner

essence that has died.

Plot

He had been pure before in his youth, but had

come to live a life contradicting that, a life

filled with sin and excess. All values seem to

be lost, and Siddhartha realizes how

arrogant he has been.

THANK YOU!

Group I