Siddhartha: Journey to Nirvana

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Dow 1 The Undying Journey to Find Nirvana Herman Hesse’s infamous novel Siddhartha (1922) is about the story of a young man who progresses through life in search of enlightenment. Siddhartha is not just any person you would run across, he is very different in all aspects. Throughout the novel you witness Siddhartha’s will and just how powerful it truly is. He is of that rare, elusive breed where if there mind grabs ahold of something there is little to nothing that can be done to stop them. What captivates Siddhartha as a young man is what would be come to be known as Nirvana. Nirvana or enlightenment is the permanent release from the conditions that make pain possible, both physical pain and forms of psychological suffering such as sadness, grief, despondency, melancholy, frustration, and anxiety (Hayes 620). Siddhartha desires to attain this after becoming fed up with his current circumstances and unsatisfied. Since he was raised in what many would view as a posh lifestyle, it’s quite unordinary that someone of his status would feel such a way. Nevertheless, Siddhartha comes to a conclusion on how to reach his lofty goal and immediately decides to pursue it. This is why he is not like that many people in the world, they will set a goal and constantly think and fret about reaching it, Siddhartha on the other hand, will just go on and start progress right away, and that is what makes him so unique. A bright spot for the journey that Siddhartha is about to undertake is the fact that he has a loyal friend that will follow him to the ends of the Earth named Govinda. He is lucky in the sense that Dow 2 he has at least one true friend, as many don’t even have that. Govinda is critical to the journey because not only do they learn from each other; they also bounce ideas off one another which in turn leads to greater insight and understanding. What also separates

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