Line #13 Literature/Siddhartha


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/siddharthahesse.jpg]]
2	''Siddhartha'' is a 1922 German novel by Creator/HermannHesse, about a young man's search for enlightenment. Heavily inspired by UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} and UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, it is set in and near Kapilavastu, along the UsefulNotes/{{India}}[=-=]UsefulNotes/{{Nepal}} border.
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4	Among western literature, the novel is notable for its [[BeigeProse simple (but meaningful) prose]] and deeply philosophical tone -- there is almost no violence, and the narrative is more focused on what the protagonist thinks or feels than on what he actually ''does''.
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6	Contrary to what his title might imply, it is not a biography of Siddhartha Gautama, but one of a fictional boy also named Siddhartha. Gautama does appear in the work too, though.
7	----
8	!!Tropes featured:
9	* AllForNothing: Ultimately defied. Again and again, we see Siddhartha abandon everything he has worked for to seek a new path to enlightenment. His promising childhood with the Brahmin, his years as a poor Samana, his life of wealth and decadence -- none of it seemed to be the path to his ultimate goal. In the end, however, Siddhartha realizes that all of these experiences ''together'' did help him find enlightenment.
10	* BookEnds: Part 2 opens with Siddhartha meeting Vasudeva the ferryman, who proves to be the first step to a new stage in Siddhartha's life. It closes with Siddhartha having inherited Vasudeva's place as ferryman, and acting as the first step to a new life for Govinda.
11	* ButNowIMustGo: After Siddhartha experiences his final moment of illumination and perceives the unity of all things, [[EccentricMentor Vasudeva]] states that his work is done and departs into the woods, never to be seen again. [[spoiler:The final words describing his departure imply that he would soon AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.]]
12	* ChildProdigy: Siddhartha as a child, as he is handsome, intelligent, talented, and otherwise TheAce. The only one who ''isn't'' happy with Siddhartha is Siddhartha himself.
13	* DefectorFromDecadence: Zig-zagged. Siddhartha begins by leaving his promising life to join the austere Samanas (and later the Buddhists) in search of enlightenment, but ultimately defects ''to'' decadence. In the end, though, he plays the trope straight, abandoning his (now meaningless) life of wealth to become a humble ferryman.
14	* {{Determinator}}: Siddhartha may not be a violent man, but there is ''nothing'' he will not sacrifice, be it allies, lovers, wealth, beliefs, or years of his life, if letting go of it will bring him closer to enlightenment.
15	-->''Siddhartha does nothing; he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he goes through the affairs of the world like the stone through the water, without doing anything, without bestirring himself; he is drawn and lets himself fall. He is drawn by his goal, for he does not allow anything to enter his mind which opposes his goal.''
16	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: While the novel is primarily influenced by (Theravada) Buddhism and Hinduism, Siddhartha's musings on the opposite of a truth also being true, along with his statement that every entity carries within it the seed of its inversion, echo another school of philosophy, UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}, or maybe Zen Buddhism, which was very influenced by Taoism.
17	* DrivenToSuicide: Narrowly averted. After twenty years of living in decadence, Siddhartha feels so spiritually empty that he almost allows himself to drown in a river. Thankfully, he is saved at the last minute by remembering the holy ''Om''.
18	* EccentricMentor: Both Gotama (the Buddha) and particularly Vasudeva, who are eccentric but both (in their way) grant Siddhartha valuable clues on the nature of enlightenment. [[spoiler:They know that they cannot force wisdom onto Siddhartha, and that he must attain enlightenment on his own.]]
19	* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: Touched on when Siddhartha and Govinda abandon the Samanas. The elder Samana is unhappy with their desertion, but Siddhartha manages to hypnotize him into letting them go. On their way out, an impressed Govinda jokes that had he remained with the Samanas, Siddhartha would have soon learned to walk upon water.
20	* EthicalSlut: Kamala, the courtesan who becomes Siddhartha's lover and guide into the world of wealth and privilege.
21	* FigureItOutYourself: The novel ends with Siddhartha telling his friend Govinda that he cannot teach him enlightenment - Govinda has to figure it out himself. Yet the final moment turns this on its head, as Siddhartha seems to grant all of his wisdom to Govinda with a kiss.
22	* GreenEyedMonster: After Siddhartha's son abandons him, he feels bitterness whenever he sees ordinary people with their children. Unlike most examples of this trope, however, he is never inspired to hurt anyone. Rather, overcoming his heartbreak is one of the final steps of his journey to enlightenment.
23	* HelpingWouldBeKillstealing: A key point of Theravada Buddhism is that each person must find enlightenment by themselves, and there is only so much that others can do to help. In this novel, the Buddha, in a way perhaps meant to reflect early, pre-Theravada Buddhism, teaches a one-size-fits-all philosophy of controlling desire and working towards enlightenment. However, when Siddhartha tells him that this instruction (worthy as it is) does not satisfy him, the Buddha is content to let Siddhartha follow his own path with just a warning against being too clever.
24	* HeterosexualLifePartners:
25	** In Siddhartha's early life, Govinda is his companion and best friend, and the two of them are almost always together.
26	** Much later, Siddhartha becomes a ferryman alongside Vasudeva, living with him and eventually becoming so like him that other people often mistake the two of them for brothers.
27	* HistoryRepeats:
28	** As a young man, Siddhartha leaves his father to seek his own path (much to the heartbreak of the latter), and the two never see each other again. Decades down the line, Siddhartha's own son abandons ''him'' (much to Sid's heartbreak), and the two never meet again.
29	** In the years after Siddhartha and Govinda part, Govinda occasionally encounters Siddhartha again, but only after Sid has drastically changed his life since their previous meeting. As a result, Govinda always fails to recognize Siddhartha at first.
30	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Gotama, the Buddha. Curiously, in real life the Buddha's first name was Siddhartha too, yet it is oddly never mentioned in the book, possibly to avoid confusing the reader.
31	* TheLancer: Govinda. Doubles as TheWatson.
32	* MeaningfulName:
33	** Siddhartha means "he who has found what he searched for" or "he who has achieved his goal". It is also the birth name of the Buddha, and Siddhartha's life mirrors that of the Buddha in many ways.
34	** Kamaswami's name means something like "Mr. Pleasure" or "Master Pleasure", which is what Siddartha finds with him.
35	* NonActionGuy: Siddhartha himself, unusually for a main protagonist. His entire narrative passes without a single act of violence on his part, and his lifelong quest is much more about the spirit than finding anything or defeating anyone.
36	* TheNeedless: The Samanas (and, while he is with them, Siddhartha) ''aspire'' to this, fasting and exposing themselves to the elements in pursuit of enlightenment. Gotama's followers also touch on this, as Gotama himself is described as being able to function despite eating less than a ''bird''.
37	* OneSteveLimit: Subverted. The Buddha's real first name was Siddhartha, just like the book's protagonist, but this is never brought up, and instead the Buddha is solely referred by his surname, Gotama.
38	* ParentalHypocrisy: Somewhat justified -- while Siddhartha leaves home against the wishes of his father to seek enlightenment, he is heartbroken when his own son leaves him to follow ''his'' own path.
39	* TheseusShipParadox: Touched on towards the end. One of the keys to Siddhartha's (eventual) enlightenment is coming to understand that "you cannot step into the same river twice" (because the water which makes it up has kept flowing downstream).
40	* YoureNotMyFather: Siddhartha's son takes this stance towards him, and he ''never'' lets up.

Context Literature / Siddhartha