Lillianna Burton

Mrs.Jenkins

EBA Honors English 10

Siddhartha Literary Analysis

In Herman Hesse’s novel, ​Siddhartha​, he uses the characterization of Siddhartha in order to

reveal that you must learn happiness through the experience of life. In the beginning of the book,

Siddhartha is melancholic because of the materialistic life he has been living. Hesse describes how

Siddhartha is sitting in “shade of his house and tree” (3). The author puts Siddhartha in this setting to

illustrate that the character doesn’t feel comfortable in his own home anymore because it is so

extravagant. Another example of Hesse’s characterization is when Siddhartha gets to the city of Savathi

(25). After listening to the Illustrious One, Siddhartha has an exchange of words with him that makes him

realize he must continue his pilgrimage (31). Hesse uses Siddhartha's dialogue to explain the reasoning

behind his journey. When Siddhartha was talking to the Illustrious One he states “that nobody finds

salvation through teachings” (34). Siddhartha wants to have the enlightenment the Illustrious One has

achieved but cannot do that through worshipping him directly. Towards the end of the novel Hesse gives

a description of what Siddhartha looks like now that he has finished his quest by saying “[h]e smiled

peacefully and gently...exactly as the Illustrious One had smiled” (151). This moment embodies what the

entire novel is about and what it means to find enlightenment. Siddhartha wanted to be happy and knew

that the only way to do this was through a journey only he could have.