Among western literature, the novel is notable for its 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.
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.
Tropes featured:
- All for Nothing: 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.
- Book Ends: 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.
- But Now I Must Go: After Siddhartha experiences his final moment of illumination and perceives the unity of all things, Vasudeva states that his work is done and departs into the woods, never to be seen again. The final words describing his departure imply that he would soon Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence.
- Child Prodigy: Siddhartha as a child, as he is handsome, intelligent, talented, and otherwise The Ace. The only one who isn't happy with Siddhartha is Siddhartha himself.
- Defector from Decadence: 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.
- 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.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.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: 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, Taoism, or maybe Zen Buddhism, which was very influenced by Taoism.
- Driven to Suicide: 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.
- Eccentric Mentor: Both Gotama (the Buddha) and particularly Vasudeva, who are eccentric but both (in their way) grant Siddhartha valuable clues on the nature of enlightenment. They know that they cannot force wisdom onto Siddhartha, and that he must attain enlightenment on his own.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: 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.
- Ethical Slut: Kamala, the courtesan who becomes Siddhartha's lover and guide into the world of wealth and privilege.
- Figure It Out Yourself: 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.
- Green-Eyed Monster: 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.
- Helping Would Be Killstealing: 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.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners:
- In Siddhartha's early life, Govinda is his companion and best friend, and the two of them are almost always together.
- 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.
- History Repeats:
- 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.
- 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.
- Historical Domain Character: 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.
- The Lancer: Govinda. Doubles as The Watson.
- Meaningful Name:
- 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.
- Kamaswami's name means something like "Mr. Pleasure" or "Master Pleasure", which is what Siddartha finds with him.
- Non-Action Guy: 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.
- The Needless: 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.
- One-Steve Limit: 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.
- Parental Hypocrisy: 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.
- Theseus' Ship Paradox: 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).
- You're Not My Father: Siddhartha's son takes this stance towards him, and he never lets up.
